THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,104) The Barbarians — “Hey Little Bird”
The Barbarians’ November ’64 A-side is “easily their best track” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/are-you-a-boy-or-are-you-a-girl–mw0000603778), and is “one of the earliest garage rock recordings – combining the energetic and crude American garage style with British invasion influence” and “one of the earliest recordings prominently to feature the fuzz guitar”. (Hans Pfaall, https://www.swapacd.com/Barbarians-Boy-Girl/cd/60277/) The “studio version isn’t as ferocious as their rendition on” The T.A.M.I. Show (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/are-you-a-boy-or-are-you-a-girl–mw0000603778), “more fiery and energetic” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/song/hey-little-bird-mt0034368345), and so I feature the latter.
Richie Unterberger analyzes the bird:
The Barbarians are almost exclusively known for their small hit single “Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl” and their even smaller hit “Moulty.” Those 1965 singles were preceded by the 1964 45 “Hey Little Bird,” which, although few heard it, was probably their best recording. Starting with an emphatic drum stroke, the opening section was devoted to a growling primitive fuzz guitar riff. Though the song, penned by non-member Tommy Kaye, was obviously an attempt to simulate the British Invasion, American garage influence couldn’t help creeping in via the snarled vocals and overall lumpy execution, the fuzz riffs counterpointed by higher bluesy, somewhat sub-Rolling Stones lines. Yet there were Beatlesque attributes to the tune as well, particularly in the harmonized vocal lines ending the verses, and the overtly British Invasion-like soaring melody of the bridge, though that ended with a particularly ominous, sour blast of fuzz. The result was an odd but appealing collision of influences, British Invasion cheer getting twisted into a rather surly and brooding melody.
https://www.allmusic.com/song/hey-little-bird-mt0034368345
As to the Barbarians, Unterberger writes:
With their appearances on the Nuggets compilation and The T.A.M.I. Show, the Barbarians are one of the best-remembered garage bands of the ’60s. Not that it’s easy to forget the sight of a one-handed drummer, complete with hook, driving his band through a garage punk number in the company of the day’s biggest British Invasion, soul, and surf stars. Moulty was hardly self-conscious about his handicap; on the tiny hit single immortalized on Nuggets (titled, logically enough, “Moulty”), he tells the story of the triumph over his loss in no uncertain melodramatic terms. The band also managed a somewhat bigger hit single, the British Invasion-inspired novelty “Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl.”
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-barbarians-mn0000047849#biography
A Bit Like You and Me adds:
Formed in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1964, this band was originally composed of band members Victor “Moulty” Moulton (drums), Bruce Benson (rhythm guitar), Ronnie Enos (lead guitar), and Jerry Causi (bass). . . . The group decided to make their stage outfits resembles those of pirates/beach bums, as their drummer “Moulty” Moulton had a hook for a hand. The band worse baggy, long-sleeve blouses, had longer than usual hair, and wore leather sandals. In 1965, guitarist Geoffrey Morris replaced Ronnie Enos on lead guitar and brought the song “Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?” with him. After [“Moulty”] began to take off, the band wanted to tour around in Boulder, Colorado. Moulty refused. Morris, Benson, and Causi went anyway with . . . replacements. After their stint in Boulder, the new members took their act to San Francisco and renamed themselves Black Pearl.
http://abitlikeyouandme.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-barbarians-moulty-1966.html?m=1
Harvey Kubernik tells us of The T.A.M.I. Show:
One of the most heralded rock events ever captured on film, the 1964 concert known as The T.A.M.I. Show [Teenage Awards Music International], filmed in . . . Southern California by director Steve Binder, presented a lineup like no other: the Rolling Stones, James Brown, the Beach Boys, Marvin Gaye, the Miracles, the Supremes, Chuck Berry, Lesley Gore and others. The artists rehearsed and filmed over two days and nights on October 29 and 30 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.
https://bestclassicbands.com/tami-show-film-1964-rolling-stones-10-26-22/
David E. James adds:
A superlative dance between cinema and music, “The T.A.M.I. Show” brought together rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues, black and white performers, audio and visual excitement, and the US and UK musical countercultures. Shot only four months after the end of the fifty-four day filibuster that allowed the enactment of the Civil Rights Act on 2 July 1964, Binder’s orchestration of music, dance, and cinema transcended the social reality of its time. And as it became the model for mid-sixties’ rock ‘n’ roll television shows mixing black and white teenagers, especially ABC’s “Shindig!” and NBC’s “Hullabaloo” (also directed by Binder and choreographed by Winters), its utopian social and aesthetic innovations quickly entered both mass culture and the wider political field.
https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/TAMI.pdf
Here is the A-side:
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