THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,864) Hendrickson Road House — “Forget About You”
This sounds like a huge Linda Ronstadt hit that never was- – from 19 year old Sue Eakins’ (see #909) “lost classic of the West Coast psychedelic folk genre” (https://www.lpcdreissues.com/item/hendrickson-road-house), “[s]o good [a] slice of acid West Coast folk that it’s difficult not to go overboard” (Jan Zarebski, http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2012/08/hendrickson-road-house-hendrickson-road.html), “one of the great holy grails of the psych/folk rock world”. (https://thatrealschitt.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/the-hendrickson-road-house-reissue-is-a-reality/) PHILL MOST CHILL aka SOULMAN “fell in love with [“Forget”] instantly”. https://thatrealschitt.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/the-sue-akins-interview/)
Well, Jan Zarebaki found it too difficult not to go overboard, not that there’s anything wrong with that:
[The LP’s] sophisticated jazzy undertow … and sparse, intelligent arrangements are bound together by a female vocal so delicious, it could be picked and eaten. Opener “Forget About You” could be a template – pure, sparkly guitar and wispy, shuffling drums underpin that voice”
http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2012/08/hendrickson-road-house-hendrickson-road.html
Oh, and Sue Eakins herself commented on YouTube a few years ago: “Happy [“Forget About You”] is still here. In 2023, amazing! — Sue Akins ♡ you all”. (@suenamifree, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M54vMqzD1c)
LPCD Reissues tells us:
Recorded to showcase the prodigious talents of teenage singer/songwriter Sue Eakins, the Hendrickson Road House album was issued in 1970 as a limited edition pressing by the Ojai-based Two:Dot studio/label. Widely regarded these days as one of the rarest vinyl artefacts to emerge from the late 60s Californian counterculture, the LP now sells for in excess of $1000 on the rare occasions that copies surface.”
Zarebski adds:
Lost for more than 40 years and coveted by a handful of acolytes willing to exchange $1,000 for a copy, this is a rediscovered gem so pure it makes all previous claims to that title look like uneducated sycophancy. . . . [T]he coherence of the material belies its variety. Intense harmonising . . . prog-like time changes . . . and free-roaming jazz . . . the album is littered with unique and varied touches of class in all departments. . . . Whoever you are – or think you are – you need this record.
http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2012/08/hendrickson-road-house-hendrickson-road.html
Aaron Milenski:
This rare, moody folkrock album is one of the few from the era in which the creative force is a woman, Sue Eakins. It isn’t much like all of the Airplane- wannabe bands, either. [It] has a distinctive sound with mildly jazzy arrangements, subtle lead guitar, a tad of autoharp, smooth vocals and a definite late-night feel. The guitar playing has a bit of a westcoast influence, though it’s not the least bit heavy. The closest comparison would be the Serpent Power songs with Tina Meltzer on lead vocals [see #873]. . . . [L]ocal Ojai [California] 19 year-old Eakins (listed as “Akins” on the sleeve) sings all of the songs, and the album has a coherence not often felt in the genre.
The Acid Archives, 2nd Ed. (Patrick Lundborg, ed.)
Sea Eakins tells PHILL MOST CHILL aka SOULMAN:
About half of my songs were from personal experience, (like) “Forget About You”. Of course, you figure when I’m nineteen how experienced am I? I haven’t had the great heartbreak of the century or anything. But “Forget About You … very personal if you understand what the song’s about. . . . The funny thing is the better songs, at least the ones I like, almost literally wrote themselves. It was almost as if someone stepped into the room, or stepped into the brain and said “get a pencil and write this down as fast as you can- here’s the melody, now go figure out the chords.” And literally, when a song would start to come to me the words would be coming and I wrote them down as fast as I could so I wouldn’t forget them. The melody was there, it was coming right along with (the lyrics). “Forget About You” was like that . . . a couple of others… very little changes made to those. And it really was like someone was in my head saying “here, here’s what you need to do.”
https://thatrealschitt.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/the-sue-akins-interview/
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
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