THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,112) Shades of Morley Brown — “Pretty Blue Bird”
From “a nice, very obscure [’68 UK] psych/pop single”, here is the “particularly nice [B-side] with touches of wah-wah, and a good psychy feel.” (Popsike.com, https://www.popsike.com/SHADES-OF-MORLEY-BROWN-Silly-Girl-UNKNOWN-UK-PSYCH/4014924238.html) This song has a timeless slinkiness to it — it may have had more success in the slinky 80’s, maybe by Soft Cell! The single was the only one to come from Chris Morley and Malcolm Brown, “who had worked together in a brick manufacturing plant before leaving their native Hampshire” for London. (liner notes the CD comp Piccadilly Sunshine: Volumes 11-20: A Compendium of Rare Pop Curios form the British Psychedelic Era) ”They found that they could harmoni[ze] loading & unloading bricks. Malcolm attempted to write lyrics and Chris attempted tunes. They were signed as songwriters to KPM after a whirlwind tour of the Music Publishers in April 1968. KPM prefered Morley/Browns demo so Mercury did a one off deal with them.” (chrismorley9230, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLUwCmZhsWs) Supposedly, they went on to write “Thick as a Brick” and “Brick House”.
Oh, and the song was arranged by Keith Mansfield (see #599). We have all have heard Mansfield’s music — used by Quentin Tarantino, Danger Mouse, Gnarls Barkley, the NFL, and on and on — but few know his name. He wrote some of the “funkiest, grooviest and memorable orchestral themes” of the ’60’s (Gareth Bramley, https://www.robertfarnonsociety.org.uk/index.php/jim/jim-new-articles/2014/the-world-of-keith-mansfield)
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