THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,794) Mark LeVine — “Better Dad Than Dead”
Today, I’m gonna let my freak flag fly and spin a “lyrically cryptic drum dominant” (recorddigger, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/mark-levine/pilgrims-progress/) wacked-out tale of lust and loss by “wiseguy L.A. singer/songwriter Mark Levine (see #692, 864) (https://powerpop.blogspot.com/2011/01/words-fail-me.html?m=1), “a Dylanesque purveyor of trippy poetic lyrics and unschooled vocals. (https://www.allmusic.com/album/pilgrims-progress-mw0000482945) Oh, and the song features Ry Cooder on acoustic bottleneck guitar. (http://www.rylanders.free-online.co.uk/RySite/RyPages/PilgrimsProgress.html)
The album — Pilgrim’s Progress — from which it comes is a “psychefolkedlic” (http://www.slipcue.com/music/country/countrystyles/hippiebilly/L_01.html) “underground classic of Acid Folk-Rock” (http://thelakeband.blogspot.com/2014/11/mark-levine-pilgrims-progress-featuring.html?m=1), an “ultra-obscuro ‘folk freak’ offering from the hills of Hollywood, made during the acid-laced tail end of the ‘Sixties.” (http://www.slipcue.com/music/country/countrystyles/hippiebilly/L_01.html)
Steve Simels says:
Despite the stellar personnel, the album was originally released on Hogfat Records, which must have been either a vanity label or the least heralded indie imprint in rock history. . . . The album itself is uneven; as somebody over at Redtelephone66 said, some of it sounds like Levine was trying to make the greatest rock record of all time and some of it sounds like he was just goofing around with some friends.
https://powerpop.blogspot.com/2011/01/words-fail-me.html?m=1
Slipcue.com adds that:
Songwriter Mark Levine was hanging out with some cool cats at the time, including a bunch of West Coast show biz heavyweights. Studio pros Mike Deasy, Larry Knechtel and Joe Osborn — all members of the fabled, A-list “Wrecking Crew” — anchor these loose-limbed psychefolkedlic sessions, along with drummer Toxey French and . . . roots music superpicker Ry Cooder, who was just finding his legs in the LA music scene, and a couple of years away from busting out as a solo artist.
http://www.slipcue.com/music/country/countrystyles/hippiebilly/L_01.html
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
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