THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
Our July 4th Spectacular starts off with one of Paul Revere and the Raiders’ first singles, retelling the “Midnite Ride” of, of course, Paul Revere! Then we turn to songs of freedom from the Netherlands and England. OK, that may be a little tone deaf!
109) Paul Revere and the Raiders — “Midnite Ride”
No, not the ‘66 album, the ‘61 B-side telling it like it was, rockabilly style! Um, no offense meant to my English friends.
William Ruhlmann tells us of the Raiders’ first album (including an alternate version of “Midnite Ride”) that:
Gardena Records issued Paul Revere & the Raiders’ debut album in the wake of the Top 40 success of the instrumental “Like, Long Hair,” and much of it is in the same vein as the single, which is a boogie-woogie arrangement of Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-Sharp Minor.” Pianist and bandleader Paul Revere and saxophonist (and occasional vocalist) Mark Lindsay lead the instrumental attack . . . . It’s lively, if basic music, but offers little hint that the group would go on to make polished pop/rock in a few years.
Of the Raiders’ early history Michael Jack Kirby writes that:
Of all the acts that sprang up out of the Pacific Northwest during rock and roll’s early years, Paul Revere and the Raiders were the most fun-loving of the bunch, possessing the ability to excite an audience and make them cry out for more. . . . Paul Revere Dick spent most of his early life in Caldwell, Idaho, about 30 miles east of Boise, while . . . Mark Lindsay . . . moved to the same area and began singing at age 15 with a local band, Freddy Chapman and the Idaho Playboys. . . . Revere had worked as a barber at age 18 and by 1958 he owned a small walk-up/drive-thru burger restaurant in Caldwell called Reed & Bell Root Beer, which he kept running even after his music career had kicked in. Lindsay had a job as a baker but walked out after meeting and singing for Paul one night at the Elks Lodge in Caldwell. Both were fans of Jerry Lee Lewis . . . . Paul and Mark joined forces in a band called The Downbeats, performing mostly instrumentals and gaining a word-of-mouth reputation in Southern Idaho and parts of Washington and Oregon. In 1960, after recording some songs in a local studio and shopping the tapes around, they got a bite from John Guss, the owner of a small L.A.-based label, Gardena Records, who suggested taking advantage of Revere’s given name, which the two had previously considered. They thought Night Riders sounded good but settled on the Raiders . . . and promoted themselves as “the wildest sound for miles around.” . . . They began working in Los Angeles with Gary Paxton (fresh off his “Alley-Oop” chart-topper); the idea of arranging classics as rock numbers was further explored with “Like, Long Hair,” based on Sergei Rachmaninoff’s 1892 “Prelude in C-Sharp Minor.” This third single hit the national charts and entered the top 40 in April 1961. Paul was drafted by the Army, leaving Mark and the band to go out on performance dates as Paul Revere’s Raiders, though only for a short time as Paul was designated a conscientious objector. Paul and Mark cut their first album (Like, LONG Hair) with studio musicians . . . . Portland, Oregon was the group’s home base . . . . Top 40 deejay Roger Hart of KISN, a Vancouver, Washington station that broadcast from downtown Portland and made “91-derful” the most popular spot on the radio dial, began promoting their local appearances on his show, which guaranteed packed houses. Roger became fast friends with all the Raiders and wound up as their full-time manager. The band’s shows have since become the stuff of legends; the guys worked out choreographed steps that the crowd would mimic, Lindsay blew sax while hanging from the rafters if the building’s interior design allowed for it, and Paul lit his piano on fire more than a few times. Musicianship was hot and tight and people rocked out at their shows. It was not unlike the kind of mania Jerry Lee had become famous for.
1,260) The Motions — “Freedom”
This ebullient number about being free “like the fish in the sea” is a “Great song!!! . . . makes me feel like a kangaroo” jumping in the zoooooo!!! :)” (rhondaeverett8284, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBxc7jrMJXQ)
As to the Motions (see #1,224), Richie Unterberger is dismissive:
A pretty typical Dutch “beat” group of the 1960s, the Motions were pretty popular in their native land, releasing seven albums and over 27 singles in their eight-year career. Far from the best Dutch group, and far from the worst, most of their hits were fairly ordinary fare, ranging from dippy folkish ballads to tough mod rockers. Their best cut is the positively ferocious mod stomper “Everything That’s Mine” (1966), with a searing feedback break worthy of the early Who. They’re really most remembered for their lead guitarist and songwriter, Robby van Leeuwen, who left in 1967 to form Shocking Blue [see #1,214], and penned . . . “Venus.”
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-motions-mn0000479965#biography
I disagree. Had they been an English group, the Motions would have been huge in the UK and revered to this day. In any event, the Dutch online record store Platenzaak.NL says (courtesy of Google Translate):
Founder and main songwriter Robbie van Leeuwen had already given up after two albums to undertake other musical adventures, so the band recorded their third album Impressions Of Wonderful without him. After this album, the band and their then label Havoc also split up. Singer Rudy Bennett subsequently released a number of singles on Decca, the label where The Motions also found new accommodation in 1968 to record a new album. The result was Electric Baby, recorded with producer Hans van Hemert, which was released in 1969.
1,261) Gordon Jackson — “Song for Freedom”
This “lost dancefloor friendly sixties anthem” (Derek Anderson, https://dereksmusicblog.com/2019/03/27/gordon-jackson-a-story-of-what-might-have-been/) A-side was stuck in heavy Traffic in ’69 along with the rest of the album Thinking Back (“intimate and mellow psychedelic folk, with a jazzy feeling to several songs”, Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) Brum Beat Reviews writes of “Song for Freedom” that:
The highly-driven ‘Song For Freedom’ is really one of the stand-out tracks on the album. With Gordon Jackson’s acoustic intro, it combines a fantastic rhythm section powered along by congas courtesy of Rocky Dzidzorni and Jim Capaldi’s characteristic drumming along with Dave Mason’s distinctive bass. You can really dance to this one and indeed will have a hard time resisting the urge to! Brilliant backing vocal by Julie Driscoll (of Brian Auger and The Trinity) [see #1,032-33] . . . . Note also the atmospheric tenor sax and organ contributed by Chris Wood and Poli Palmer respectively.
Of the album, Richie Unterberger opines that:
Gordon Jackson’s only album sounds a little like a Traffic LP with a singer who isn’t in the band. The similarity is really no surprise, since Traffic men Steve Winwood, Dave Mason, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood all played on the record, and Mason produced. . . . There’s a languid, minor keyed jazz-folk-psychedelic vibe to the songs, which have a meditative, spontaneously pensive air, appealingly sung by Jackson. Touches of Indian and African music are added by occasional tabla and sitar. What keeps this from being as memorable as Traffic or some of the other better late-’60s British psychedelic acts is a certain meandering looseness to the songs that, while quite pleasant, lacks concision and focus. . . . the songs are more interesting mood pieces with a yearning, mystic tone than they are outstanding compositions. . . .
Thinking Back had the same sort of loose mixture of psychedelic rock with jazz, folk, and bits of soul and world music that characterized some of Traffic’s work. The material wasn’t as strong or focused as Traffic’s or Family’s but it had a nice, introspective groove with haunting, minor-keyed melodies.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/thinking-back-mw0000543552, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gordon-jackson-mn0000450368#biography
Brum Beat Reviews adds as to Jackson and his album:
Although often described as a “lost Traffic album”, Gordon Jackson’s Thinking Back, upon closer examination, reveals itself to be something more. It’s true that almost every track on this rare 1969 album does have Dave Mason, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood, and Steve Winwood playing on it, but what we have here is a highly personal collection of songs composed by a long-overlooked talent who was then at the crossroads of his career. In the beginning, there were The Hellions – a Worcester-based band who during the mid 1960s came close to breaking into the charts with a series of finely crafted pop singles. The line-up was drummer/vocalist Jim Capaldi, and guitarists/vocalists Dave Mason and Gordon Jackson along with bass guitarist Dave Meredith and John “Poli” Palmer on flute and vibes. The Hellions (minus Dave Mason and Meredith) with the addition of Luther Grosvenor, evolved into Deep Feeling who, produced by Yardbirds manager Giorgio Gomelsky, could well have developed into a force to be reckoned with. Ultimately, this was not to be and Deep Feeling were sacrificed when Jim Capaldi left to form the legendary Traffic along with Steve Winwood, Dave Mason and Chris Wood. Poli Palmer joined Blossom Toes [see #709, 1,115] and later became a pivotal member of Family. Luther Grosvenor went on to success in Spooky Tooth and later Mott The Hoople under the alias of “Arial Bender”. . . . [F]ollowing the demise of Deep Feeling, Gordon Jackson and Poli Palmer continued on as a song-writing team until Georgio Gomelsky offered Gordon a solo contract on his own Marmalade Records label. The result of this was the release of a single in 1968 by Gordon Jackson entitled Me Am My Zoo which was produced by Dave Mason as well as featuring the complete Traffic line-up. By late 1968, Gordon Jackson began the recording of tracks for his solo album . . . with the sessions produced by Dave Mason. All the songs were composed by Gordon Jackson who sings the lead vocal and plays acoustic guitar on every track. . . . [A] large number of other luminaries from the late 1960s British rock scene [also] dropped by the studios to contribute. The list includes Gordon’s former Deep Feeling band-mates Poli Palmer and Luther Grosvenor, Chicken Shack’s Robbie Blunt, Julie Driscoll, Rick Grech, Jim King and Meic Stevens, percussionist Rocky Dzidzorni as well as members of the Blossom Toes. . . . ‘Thinking Back’ was issued on the Marmalade Records label in July of 1969 with an initial pressing of around 2,000 copies. . . . [T]here were immediate problems with distribution and the record received little if any promotion. The financial collapse of the Marmalade label [was a final blow].
Here is the album version:
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Great tune for today!
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