THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,662) Trevor McNamara — “Silver”
I could swear Bono was singing this “sweet open[ing song to McNamara’s sole LP Yeah Captain] sung with regret bordering on tears” (KildareJohn, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/trevor_mcnamara/yeah_captain/), a “pounding guitar-driven [number] . . . complete with a shattered, scratching guitar solo” (Steve Rostkoski, https://substack.com/home/post/p-158102075?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web) that is almost Edge-y. I can’t believe McNamara so blatantly ripped off U2 . . . wait a second, it was recorded in ’69 and released in ’71! Joey Dryfka says that “if Trev only ever recorded [this] one song . . . he would go down as one of the all-time great Aussies. It simply does not get much better than this.” (https://www.facebook.com/groups/176062052466424/posts/29481524741493433/)
As to Yeah Captain, “the whole album is great but very loner at times and trippy ta boot.” (Joey Dryfka again) Discogs notes that “Trevor creates a sound part way between acid rock and folk rock with multi-layered fuzz guitar mixing with acoustic guitar simple percussion and bass.” (https://www.discogs.com/release/3940562-Trevor-McNamara-Yeah-Captain?srsltid=AfmBOoqkSOchmnsHR58fbJS0wXx3LxdLgw_j-icvLs2siN0fhaQYUWjH) TastyOdds.com adds that it “is influenced by British electric singer and songwriters but also by early Pink Floyd and ranges between psychedelic, experimental folk and heavy rock in a fabulous and individual style. Trevor sang and played all instruments (all guitars, drums, flute, Moog, piano, cello). He created a perfect and fresh sound.” (https://www.tastyodds.com/en/Compact-Discs/Relics-from-the-past/Trevor-McNamara-Yeah-Captain-CD.html) And Steve Rostkoski writes that:
[Yeah Captain] bounces around from genre to genre like a pinball. . . . Australia’s version of the McCartney [see #132, 840] or Emitt Rhodes albums with the artist playing all the instruments himself. McNamara was a member of Musick Express who toured Australia extensively in the late 1960s and issued a hit single “Jackie’s Thing” [see #734] in 1970. The band broke up soon after and Trevor then gathered material for Yeah Captain, released in 1971. . . . [and] hav[ing] the flavor of a kaleidoscopic stage musical. It jumps from one short song to the other . . . . All in all, Yeah Captain is quite a trip. A trip that Trevor McNamara doesn’t particularly remember very fondly, so it turned out to be his last recorded work. The LP shows him to be a very imaginative musician who had the potential to create even more.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-158102075?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
The liner notes to the CD reissue of Yeah Captain tell us:
[After leaving] Musik Express to stage a rock opera called Piano which he wrote. . . . Trevor was urged to record, and the album Yeah Captain was made [in 1969] — Trevor was then 19. . . . All songs were written and performed by Trevor McNamara. . . . The record company suggested that short tracks be included on the album, because radio stations used “fillers” between hourly newsbreaks etc., and this would enable more airplay for the local release. . . . Trevor never liked [the LP].
Buffalo Billycan tells us more about McNamara:
Trevor McNamara’s career started in the Adelaide group 5 Sided Circle. During that time he also wrote “H.M.S. Buffalo”, picked up by psychedelic band Inside Looking Out for their last 45. He left after two years with and formed Musick Express. Their only single “Jackie’s Thing[“] . . . reached the Top 100 in 1970 but they quit soon afterwards. . . . He then recorded enough material for a solo album, which was finally released in 1971 on the little Nationwide label . . . . Musically speaking not much was heard about him since. As far as I understood he changed his instruments with brushes and found fulfillment in paintings but in 2010 he reformed his first band 5 Sided Circle for a few gigs.
The liner notes add:
He played in a band called 5 Sided Circle which was considered unique and ahead of its time in the “mod era” of music. He left after two years and formed . . . Musik Express. . . . [which] achieved national success in Australia and released . . . “Jackie’s Thing”, written by Trevor. . . . His work had been featured on many recordings, film scores, opera and a wide range of commercials in Australia. . . . [T]hese days Trevor is a successful businessman and contemporary artist. His paintings are featured all over Australia and the demand for his work grows daily.
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