THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,075) The Shadows of Knight — “I’m Gonna Make You Mine”
Enshrined in the Nuggets CD collection, this Chicago garage classic by the Shadows of Knight (see #184) is “devastating”, “60’s punk at its sexually charged, aggressive best” with a “searing guitar break”, which was “[r]ecorded totally live in the studio, with the amps cranked beyond distortion”. (Mike Stax, liner notes to the CD comp Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968) ”Like no other song, this has got the true snotty, arrogant swagger” (TheGrandmasterMan, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWc-IKQM3Rs) — “[t]he heaviest song of 1966!!” (impalaman9707, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66wg6nEEunc) that “should be in the textbook on How To Be a Garage Band”. (allan0318, https://www.45cat.com/record/45141us3) ”Make You Mine” was co-writen by Carole Bayer Sager (along with William Carr and Carl D’Errico)! It got up to #90, #25 on WLS radio in Chicago.
The liner notes to WLS Rarities & Chicago Hits tell us that:
The Shadows of Knight liked to cultivate a nasty reputation, and songs like this one certainly helped them do just that. Lyrics like, “I believe in me, that’s how I live; I’m gonna take, girl, and you’re gonna give” were an eye-opener in 1966 (and would probably be considered abusive behavior today in our oh-so-offended society). Add to that the grating fuzz guitar/heavy bass backdrop, and it becomes an early version of the type of heavy metal music we would hear in the 1970s. Surprisingly for a Bill Traut production, the lyrics were largely buried in the mix. One can only guess that it was mixed that way in hopes it wouldn’t get banned right off the radio. WLS and WCFL both played it, but outside of the Chicago area, few other stations would even touch it.
https://www.45cat.com/record/45141us3
Of SOK, Mark Deming says:
[T]he Shadows of Knight were at once one of the most popular and among the toughest acts on the Windy City’s teen scene; they were also one of the few who achieved genuine stardom nationwide. . . . [W]hile plenty of American bands learned about the blues from the Rolling Stones and other U.K. acts, the Shadows of Knight were one of the first, and their best music was a swaggering fusion of urban blues and the raw, muscular sound of the harder British Invasion acts. . . . [F]ormed in 1964 . . . . [t]he band’s initial lineup [was led by] lead singer Jim Sohns . . . [and] most . . . attended Prospect High School in Mount Prospect, Illinois. . . . [T]he band started to make a name for themselves playing parties and school dances in suburban communities like Mount Prospect and Arlington Heights. . . . [I]n 1965 when Jerry McGeorge took over on rhythm guitar . . . . [T]he band had learned [of the] British . . . Shadows so they changed the name to the Shadows of Knight, in part because Prospect’s athletic teams were known as the Knights. In 1965, the[y] landed a steady gig as the house band at the Cellar, a teen club in Arlington Heights. . . . [T]hey attracted the attention of Bill Traut and George Badonski, Chicago-based producers who ran Dunwich Records. . . . [who] signed the[m] . . . . [I]n the spring of 1966, they released their first single, a cover of Van Morrison’s “Gloria” that captured the swagger of Them’s original recording while slightly bowdlerizing the lyrics (“She come into my room” was changed to “She call out my name,” which made a big difference in radio airplay). ”Gloria” became a Top Ten smash, and while their second release, “Oh Yeah,” didn’t fare as well, it still cracked the Top 40 . . . . [But] singles like “Bad Little Woman” and “I’m Going to Make You Mine” barely cracked the Hot 100. In 1967, the Shadows of Knight began to crumble, as [Jerry] McGeorge, [Joe] Kelley, and [David] Wolinski all left the band, and soon Sohn fired the remaining members and took control of the band’s name. . . . [T]he single “Shake” . . . rose to number 46 . . . . [but] the Shadows never scored another hit, and . . . the band quietly broke up in the mid-’70s. . . . In 1967, Jerry McGeorge helped form the offbeat psychedelic band H.P. Lovecraft [see #829, 1073].
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/shadows-of-knight-mn0000791247#biography
Bill Traut recalls that “[w]e used to have to form a double line of police from the dressing room to the stage to prevent the group from getting mauled by the girls.” (liner notes to If You’re Ready!: The Best of Dunwich Records… Volume 2).
Here is the American Breed:
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Pretty cool song
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