THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
A glorious, delirious, hallucinatory walk down a circus midway, through the sideshows. What could be more 60’s than that?! I don’t know which is better, the writer’s version, or the Creation’s heavier cover.
1,642) John Wonderling — “Midway Down”
John Wonderling and Lou Shapiro wrote, and Wonderling released as a A-side, this “loose yet solid, psychotic stormer delivered in all seriousness . . [a] corker”. (liner notes to the CD comp Electric Sound Show: An Assortment of Antiquities for the Psychedelic Connoisseur) Larry tells us that:
[Wonderling’s version has] softer, more psychedelic focus, opening with a calliope and moving along with a ringing rhythm guitar and pulsing organ, as well as lots of echoed, trippy vocals. Things get a little heavier in the chorus . . . but never quite as much as the Creation.
https://ironleg.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/john-wonderling-midway-down-bw-man-of-straw/
Richard Morton Jack writes that:
Cash Box . . . raved that a “Distorted carnival atmosphere gives this track a staying power which will peg it for immediate response. Song is the first pop-flavored release from Loma, and has outstanding appeal for teen and progressive listeners. Should be welcomed by radio spots for exposure that should create a sales explosion.” In fact, the disc barely made a whimper in the marketplace.
http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2018/08/john-wonderling-daybreaks-1973-france.html?m=1
Jack gives us a wonderful history of Wonderling:
Johnny Wonderling was born in France . . . and moved to Queens, New York, at the age of five. Always a music enthusiast, he began his career at Cameo-Parkway Records in the mid- 60s, before finding a job at Alouette, an independent NY music production publishing company . . . . April 1968 Wonderling’s song Midway Down – co-written with Lou Shapiro – was recorded by the Creation in the UK, via his publishing connections, but didn’t sell. . . . That autumn Wonderling became the first pop artist to sign to Jerry Ragovoy’s Loma Records [a subsidiary of Warner Brothers), which had previously devoted itself to R’n’B. On September l1th he recorded his only 45 for the label [with “Midway Down”] at Ragovoy’s Hit Factory studio in New York. He produced it himself . . . . both on Loma and Warner Brothers, one pressing for each Coast. . . . Wonderling therefore became studio manager at the Hit Factory, at a time when Jimi Hendrix, the Stooges, the James Gang and countless others were working there. He hadn’t abandoned his own creative ambitions, however. In 1971 his haunting song Jessica Stone – co-written with [engineer Bill] Szymczyk – was recorded by Jimmie Haskell on his eccentric California ’99 LP. The same year, he set about making an album of his own, in collaboration with Szymczyk. . . . The LP was scheduled to follow in mid- 1973 . . . but something went awry. The singer-songwriter scene was at its commercial peak, but Day Breaks seems not to have been distributed, and was effectively stillborn. Only a handful of copies are known to exist, and no promo material or references to it in the contemporary press (including trade papers) have yet surfaced. It was clearly expensive to make, and was packaged with a custom lyric inner sleeve, so the reason for its evidently tiny pressing size is baffling.
http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2018/08/john-wonderling-daybreaks-1973-france.html?m=1
1643) The Creation — “Midway Down”
The UK’s Creation (see #129, 165, 1,502) “beguiling” (John Reed, liner notes to the CD comp “Our Music Is Red — with Purple Flashes”) but “heav[ied “Midway”] up a bit” (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD5qbGC5yso), with a “hard-edged, UK mod pop sound with some of that heavy . . . guitar”. (Larry, https://ironleg.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/john-wonderling-midway-down-bw-man-of-straw/)
The Creation recorded “Midway Down” after the departure of guitarist Eddie Phillips. Wikipedia tells us that:
He was replaced for several European tour dates by guitarist Tony Ollard, but within a matter of weeks, vocalist Bob Garner also quit the group and by February 1968, The Creation had officially ceased to exist. However, demand was still strong in continental Europe for Creation records and live shows, and almost immediately after the band had disbanded drummer Jack Jones formed a new Creation lineup, bringing back Kenny Pickett as singer. Kim Gardner returned as bass player . . . and brought in his old bandmate from The Birds [see #33, 99, 220], Ronnie Wood on guitar. This lineup debuted with the single “Midway Down”, released in the UK and Germany in April 1968. However this Creation lineup splintered almost immediately, and by June, the band was no more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creation_(band) (citing C Larkin, Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music)
John Reed says that “Tours of Holland and Germany boded well, as did a new single, “Midway Down” . . . But then Wood was offered an American tour with the Jeff Beck Group and the band disintergrated”. (liner notes to “Our Music Is Red — with Purple Flashes”)
Mark Deming talks of the Mark Four and the Creation:
One of the most powerful and forward-thinking British bands of the 1960s, the Creation fused mod style to a freakbeat sound in a manner that anticipated psychedelia and boasted a sonic impact that was matched in their day only by the Who. Rooted in the adventurous guitar work of Eddie Phillips, whose bracing use of feedback and work with a violin bow gave him a unique sound, and the impassioned vocals of Kenny Pickett, the Creation also incorporated the influence of pop art in their music, and they attracted a loyal cult following. However, the group’s popularity in Europe far outstripped their following in England or the United States . . . . [The Mark Four] got signed to Mercury Records’ British division in 1964, but the resulting two singles failed to sell. Though audiences in the U.K. were slow to warm to their music, German audiences were greeting their performances at the Big Ben Club . . . with rousing enthusiasm. . . . [T]he band chanced to cross paths with a local band called the Roadrunners who were wowing fans with their use of guitar feedback in their songs. Eddie Phillips made note of the effect and started working out how he might assimilate it . . . . The Mark Four got a second crack at recording success with Decca Records, which resulted in the single “Hurt Me (If You Will)” b/w “I’m Leaving.” Sales were disappointing, but [“I’m Leaving”] did establish the beginning of a new sound[.] Phillips incorporated his own approach to guitar feedback. . . . [T]he band’s rhythm guitarist, Mick Thompson, and their bassist, John Dalton quit (soon to join the Kinks . . . ). The Mark Four finished their history with a temporary lineup and one last single in early 1966. During the weeks that followed, Pickett and Phillips, along with drummer Jack Jones . . . began rethinking their precise image and direction . . . . By the spring . . . the group had evolved into the Creation, with ex-Merseybeats bassist Bob Garner filling out the lineup, and they had also signed with an ambitious young Australian-born manager . . . named Robert Stigwood. The Creation burst on the British pop/rock scene that June with “Making Time,” a single that seemed to have everything going for it . . . . In portent of their future, “Making Time” soared to number five in Germany but peaked at an anemic number 49 in England, even as the Creation were getting enthusiastic press for their stage performances, which included artists creating and destroying “action paintings” on stage. . . . The group finally saw some slightly significant chart action at home in the fall of 1966 with “Painter Man,” a cheerfully trippy pop anthem with a feedback-oozing guitar break that made the Top 40; predictably, the same record hit number one in Germany. The B-side, “Biff Bang Pow[]” . . . jumped into a pop/rock idiom with a psychedelic edge that should have earned it airplay on its own. By the start of 1967, however, the Creation had hit a crisis point, as Kenny Pickett quit over creative differences and frustration over constant touring in Europe, where their biggest audience was rooted. He was eventually replaced by Kim Gardner, late of the group the Birds. . . . Still struggling for a commercial foothold in England despite being one of the most widely touted live acts of the time, the group’s German label decided it was time to release a Creation LP. We Are Paintermen was highlighted by the titular hit plus a surprisingly good, crunchy rendition of “Like a Rolling Stone,” and a jagged, powerful version of “Hey Joe.” . . . One more single, “Life Is Just Beginning” b/w “Through My Eyes [see #129],” showed up in the fall of 1967 — the A-side was a rousing psychedelic showcase, with elements of Indian raga and a catchy, chant-like main body, plus forceful guitar and a string orchestra. “Through My Eyes” was no throwaway, either, with a lean, crunchy guitar, beautiful choruses, and a great central tune, with three-minutes-and-change of spacy sensibilities ending in a feedback crescendo. Eddie Phillips apparently felt that the single was as good a showcase as he would ever get, and in October of 1967 he quit the Creation. His departure was followed by Kim Gardner’s decision to exit the group for a team-up with Ron Wood, Jon Lord, and Twink in what became known as Santa Barbara Machinehead. The Creation was kept “alive” into the spring of 1968 when their U.K. label, Polydor, released a single of “How Does It Feel” b/w “Tom Tom” on both sides of the Atlantic, with the U.S. version tarted up with all sorts of dubbed-on psychedelic effects. They were both impressive but failed to chart, and that might have been the end of the group, but for the sudden re-emergence of Kenny Pickett, who got Gardner and Jones back together to form the core of a new Creation. That band went through a couple of lineup changes, played around Europe for a bit with Ron Wood as a member, and then dissolved.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-creation-mn0000110341#biography
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 1,000 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😊 
Both versions are excellent!
LikeLiked by 1 person