Monthly Archives: March 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,162) Bob Dylan — “Kickin’ My Dog Around” Recorded in Big Pink’s doghouse, this is the song that fetched the Pulitzer for Dylan. Dalriadajohannsen says that “My dad used to sing this when he was drunk.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odybt2tHOB4) That also seems to be stateContinue reading “Bob Dylan — “Kickin’ My Dog Around”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 1, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,161) Aretha Franklin — “Won’t Be Long” Released on December 23, 1960, this A-side was Aretha’s first charting song (#76 and #7 R&B) and the first track on her first album. It displayed “wanton exuberance in the (broken) mold of Ray Charles’ ‘IContinue reading “Aretha Franklin — “Won’t Be Long”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 31, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,160) Ian & the Zodiacs — “No Money, No Honey” Germany’s favorite Star-Club playing British beat group! OK, other than the Beatles. This ‘66 A-side “is exceptional, powerful mod R&B with fuzz guitar and a pounding beat with forceful drumming in a tightContinue reading “Ian & the Zodiacs — “No Money, No Honey”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 30, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,159) Freddie Scott — “He Ain’t Give You None” Freddie Scott (see #735) cut a “fine version of Van Morrison’s [see #188, 253] big-voiced beat ballad” (Heikki Suosalo, https://www.soulexpress.net/freddiescott.htm), and it reached #100 (#24 R&B). Fine? It is so fine, so funky, andContinue reading “Freddie Scott — “He Ain’t Give You None”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 29, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,158) The Syd Dale Orchestra — “Eliana” If Swinging London had a theme song, it would be . . . OK, it would be “Soul Bossa Nova” by Quincy Jones. But had Austin Powers never shagged its way into our collective consciousnesses, itContinue reading “The Syd Dale Orchestra — “Eliana”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 28, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,157) Skip Bifferty — “Yours for at Least 24” Here is a rollicking, shuffling, UK pop psych album track from Skip Bifferty* (see #288), who “RCA allowed . . . to cut a full LP, which contained some notable psychedelic and experimental tracks”Continue reading “Skip Bifferty — “Yours for at Least 24”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March , 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,156) Kippington Lodge — “Turn Out the Light” Kippington Lodge* is “[b]est remembered as the vehicle for the earliest Nick Lowe . . . recordings . . . stemm[ing] from Lowe’s first band . . . which he formed with school pal, BrinsleyContinue reading “Kippington Lodge — “Turn Out the Light”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 26, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,155) Double Feature — “Baby Get Your Head Screwed On” Here is a mod-tastic A-side cover of a track off Cat Stevens’ first album — “gritty vocals combine with R&B guitar, percussion, cello, organ and horns in a superb production . . .Continue reading “Double Feature — “Baby Get Your Head Screwed On”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 25, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,154) Sandy Posey — “Patterns” Countrypolitan icon Sandy Posey blesses us with Barbara Cooper and Frank Catana’s alluring “supremely moody [song] (released by Cooper herself in 1967)[, which] showcases Posey at her finest”. (Joe Marchese, https://theseconddisc.com/2024/01/23/its-wonderful-to-be-in-love-cherry-red-reissues-sandy-poseys-complete-mgm-recordings/) “For countrypolitan)[, it has an] unusually broodingContinue reading “Sandy Posey — “Patterns”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 24, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,153) Los Cuatro Monedas — “Mira de Frente”/“Look Straight” First “Groovin’”, then “Groovy”, and now just an irresistible groove. This ‘71 B-side is “one of the[] best” (liner notes to the CD comp Fading Yellow, Vol. 14: Spanish Popsike and Other Delights) fromContinue reading “Los Cuatro Monedas — “Mira de Frente”/“Look Straight”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 23, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,152) The Fireballs — “Groovy Motions” In the 60s, squares sometimes tried their hand at psychedelia and the results were expectedly awful, but sometimes they were positively groovy. There’s a whole CD comp — Marshmallow Skies — featuring both varieties. This ’68 B-sideContinue reading “The Fireballs — “Groovy Motions”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 22, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,151) The Sound Barrier — “Groovin’ Slow” This ’68 B-side is “an interesting slice of [UK] psychedelic pop” that “has a number of tempo changes before culminating in a hazy, disorienting ending”. (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited). The song is aContinue reading “The Sound Barrier — “Groovin’ Slow”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 21, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,150) Sun Dragon — “Far Away Mountain” This absolutely gorgeous and “achingly beautiful” ’68 UK B-side “is melodic, orchestrated pop of the highest order” (Stefan Granados, liner notes to the CD comp Listen to the Sky: The Others/Sands/Sun Dragon: The Collected Recordings 1964-73)Continue reading “Sun Dragon — “Far Away Mountain”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 20, 2024″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,149) The Enfields — “I’m for Things You Do” Did this ‘66 B-side, a “wonderful rocker” (On the Flip-Side, https://ontheflip-side.blogspot.com/2012/03/song-of-week-enfields-she-already-has.html) by a Wilmington, Delaware band, inspire Tom Hanks’ “That Thing You Do”? Only Gump knows for sure, but I do know that theContinue reading “The Enfields — “I’m for Things You Do”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 19, 2024″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,148) The Four Tops — “Look Out Your Window” From the fab Four Tops’ ’69 album Soul Spin comes a song with “a fantastic, brooding, ominous and dark quality that was as far away from anything most would have expected from a FourContinue reading “The Four Tops — “Look Out Your Window”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 18, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,147) Frabjoy & the Runcible Spoon (Godley & Creme) — “To Fly Away” From another contender for the greatest lost album of the 1960’s comes this “starkly beautiful” song, one of the ones that “entranced” Giorgio Gomelsky, who “immediately view[ed Kevin Godley andContinue reading “Frabjoy & the Runcible Spoon (Godley & Creme) — “To Fly Away”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 17, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,146) 5 Gentlemen — “Dis-nous Dylan”/“Tell Us Dylan” The 5 Gentlemen (see #724) were “the best French band of the mid-60s” (Fou de Rock, http://www.fouderock.com/rock_fr/five-gentlemen.html) and they give us a song that “satiri[z]es the earnestness of the music of pop-folk artists like Bob DylanContinue reading “5 Gentlemen — “Dis-nous Dylan”/“Tell Us Dylan”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 16, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,145) Fuchsia — “Me and My Kite” A whimsical British prog delight, the song, “a favourite amongst fans of the album and group, is a gorgeously twee pop-charmer with a sweet and achingly simple chorus”. (Aussie-Byrd-Brother, https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=12662) It “could have easily been aContinue reading “Fuchsia — “Me and My Kite”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 15, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,144) The Flys – “Reality Composition #1” Here is one of the great garage kiss off songs. Man, those hurting on the inside teenage boys can put on quite a show of false bravado! “The vocals are ruff and ready and the soundContinue reading “The Flys – “Reality Composition #1”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 14, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,143) Dan Casamajor — “Leaving You Alone” This song is “[i]nstantly beautiful right from the beginning” (BlueParadoxical, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4lIoRMmBP4) — in fact, it is impossibly beautiful, sending shivers down my spine. It comes from a private press LP of “[v]ibrant 1960s-style folk . .Continue reading “Dan Casamajor — “Leaving You Alone”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 13, 2024”