THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,303) Bobby Jameson — “Metropolitan Man”
Who else but Bobby Jameson (see #219, 1,255) would give us an ultra-rare anti-Vietnam War single (“Vietnam”/“Metropolitan Man”), both sides searing indictments seething with anger . . . in early ‘66?! “Jameson’s howl of rage was released on a 45 and went nowhere.” (Jon Savage, https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2010/nov/10/savage-song-bobby-jameson) For me, MM, the B-side, is the greater song.
Jon Savage tells us that:
After recording a couple of 45s with Frank Zappa, Jameson found himself in a studio working with the Leaves – a local band who had released a couple of killer singles, “Too Many People” and their cover of “Hey Joe”. What they concocted was an all-time garage-punk classic . . . . [T]he session was filmed by director Robert Cohen for [the ‘60’s exploitation flick] Mondo Hollywood]. Cohen wrote that Jameson “. . . fulfill[ed] one or more of the three required criteria: 1. Be typically Hollywood (ie trying to live-out a dream self-image in the LA area) 2. Or be very WEIRD, or 3. Be both 1. and 2.” “Vietnam” is the highlight of a patchy film in which genuine culture participators . . . jostle against irritating attention seekers. . . . [As Jameson] loses himself in the song’s abrasive noise, you can feel the madness of the times.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2010/nov/10/savage-song-bobby-jameson
Jameson himself recalled:
1965 was a big year for me. I took my first LSD trip and started using downers on a regular basis. My first acid trip was with Danny Hutton, who went on to Three Dog Night fame. . . . When it was over I was different. My use of downers gave me a sense of well being like nothing I’d ever known in my life. . . . When I mixed them with booze I would fight anyone anywhere. This became a trademark of mine over the next number of years and got me into a whole lot of trouble. After being bounced off the wall by Randy Wood at Mira’s offices [see https://bobbyjameson2.blogspot.com/2009/04/friday-march-7-2008-part-40-no-contract.html?m=1] I vowed that no one would ever touch me again in the music business and I made that promise stick without exception. As far as LSD went it altered all of my perceptions about everything and I used way too much of it. After Chris Lucey [see #219] was finished I figured I was too at least where Mira Records was concerned, but Pam Burns kept after to me to go back and cut a single for Mira, telling me that Randy was ashamed of what he’d done to me and wanted to make it right by letting me make a record of my choice under my own name. I was being confronted with a number of issues and had received a letter from my mother containing my draft notice. The war in Vietnam was really starting to escalate and I was going to get sent there. “Jesus Christ man just what I needed,” I thought, when I first saw it and found out I was 1-A which meant I was on my way there period. This fact, as you may have guessed, was the reason I wrote the song “Vietnam.” Randy Wood was not too keen on this selection, but said, “If that’s what you want to cut then go ahead.” I wrote “Metropolitan Man” as a b side and gathered the guys from “The Leaves” together to record the two songs. The Leaves were also on Mira and had recorded my song “Girl From The East” off the Chris Lucey album for their album after scoring a cover hit with “Hey Joe”. I was lucky to have their help and the record came out pretty well I thought. There were 2 versions of “Vietnam.” I wrote the song at the end of 65 and made a demo of it with just me, guitar, and harmonica. The version with a band was cut in early 66. As promised, it was released on Mira-Mirwood, but was never promoted whatsoever. Randy was reluctant to back an anti war song on his label so the record just died without ever getting a chance. I once asked a group of LA DJ’s at the Whisky A Go Go (Reb Foster) why they never played any of my records in L.A. and one of them told me I was using the politics of anti war demonstrations to further my own career. He (Foster) was referring to the anti war demonstrations that were beginning to occur on the Sunset Strip with great regularity at the time. They all laughed when he said that and chimed in, “Yeah, you’re too political.” . . . Randy had kept his promise alright, but had managed to kill the record anyway. I never knew whether he did it on purpose or just didn’t get the point with “Vietnam”. Hell there was a war going on and a lot of people didn’t like the war so one would think that a song as relevant as “Vietnam” would have had a real shot if Mira/Mirwood would of gotten behind the record. . . . It was basically Pam Burns that kept any balance going between Randy and me. She was stuck in the middle, because she worked for and liked Randy, but she really believed in me so she was always the one who kept things from going out of control around Mira. As usual I made no money for recording or writing “Vietnam/Metropolitan Man” and unfortunately I was getting used to that so it kind of seemed natural. . . . When “Vietnam” was recorded with The Leaves, Bob Cohen filmed it for a movie he was making . . . [I] was going out with a girl I’d met at “The Trip” on Sunset Blvd. It was a new rock n roll club on Sunset Blvd. and she was a cocktail waitress there, her name was Gail Sloatman. If you’ve ever watched “Mondo Hollywood,” an depending on which version you watch, there is a scene at the beach where I am with a girl, that’s Gail, I drive away with that girl in a Corvette. . . . [S]he became Mrs. Frank Zappa about a year later.
https://bobbyjameson2.blogspot.com/2009/04/saturday-march-22-2008-part-44-mondo.html, https://bobbyjameson2.blogspot.com/2009/04/tuesday-march-18-2008-part-43-lsd.html
As to Bobby Jameson, Jason Ankeny tells us:
West Coast folk-rocker Bobby Jameson is best known — or, perhaps, not known at all — for Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest [see #219] the sought-after cult LP he recorded under the alias Chris Lucey. . . . Jameson cut his debut single, “I Wanna Love You,” for the Talamo label in early 1964. The record was a regional hit, and even earned him an appearance on American Bandstand. Although the follow-ups . . . went nowhere, Jameson nevertheless captured the attention of Rolling Stones producer Andrew Loog Oldham, and in late 1964 he flew to London to record the Decca single “All I Want Is My Baby,” co-written by Oldham and . . . Keith Richards . . . . After a 1965 one-off for the Brit imprint, “I Wanna Know,” Jameson returned to Los Angeles, where he befriended producer Marshall Lieb. . . . [who] was in the midst of helming the debut Surrey Records release by folkie Chris Ducey, but with the album covers already printed and the disc ready to ship, contractual snafus forced the project into limbo. Lieb coerced Jameson into writing and recording a new batch of tunes based on Ducey’s existing song titles, and after some creative tinkering with the cover art, [the album] — now credited to Chris Lucey and, for reasons unknown, featuring a photo of Rolling Stone Brian Jones — finally hit retail. Promoted via what was then the most expensive and lavish Billboard advertising supplement ever printed, the album — a deeply idiosyncratic psych-folk opus . . . proved a commercial flop . . . . Jameson did not resurface until mid-1966, releasing “Gotta Find My Roogalator” — arranged by Frank Zappa . . . . He then signed to Verve, where the Our Productions team of Curt Boettcher, Jim Bell, and Steve Clark helmed his 1967 LP Color Him In. That same year, Jameson also appeared in the infamous American International Pictures documentary Mondo Hollywood . . . . A 1969 album for GRT, Working!, proved Jameson’s swan song. During the ’70s, his frustrations with the music industry manifested themselves in substance abuse and two suicide attempts. . . . After he left the music business in 1985, he lived so quietly with his mother in San Luis Obispo County, California that many thought he was dead. He didn’t resurface until 2003, when he learned that Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest had been reissued unbeknownst to him . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bobby-jameson-mn0001425046#biography
If you’d like to read Jameson recounting his life, and his overwhelming bitterness, see:
https://bobbyjameson.blogspot.com/?m=1, https://lifeandtimesofbobbyjameson.blogspot.com/
He also left this disturbing video monologue:
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (“relating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainment” — dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” that are available on Spotify — now over 750 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! / Off the Charts: 60s Rock Revelations😊 