Author Archives: georgefishman2

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,610) Mike Batt — “Fading Yellow” From Volume 1 of Jörgen Johansson’s “legendary pop-sike compilation series” (The Strange Brew, https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/fading-yellow/), here is, appropriately enough, “Fading Yellow” by Mike Batt. The song is “a beautiful, melancholy ballad, with atmospheric instrumentation” (Martin Crookall, https://mbc1955.wordpress.com/2025/02/24/the-infinite-jukebox-mike-batts-fading-yellow/) includingContinue reading “Mike Batt — “Fading Yellow”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 5, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,609) The Attack — “Magic in the Air” One of Swinging London’s greatest psych/freakbeat A-sides . . . was never released by Decca “on the grounds of it being too heavy”! (Jon “JoJo” Mills, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-attack-mn0000759243) Well, it was definitely way too “[t]remendously insane…cool!”Continue reading “I Shall Be Released: The Attack — “Magic in the Air”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 4, 2025″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD Oklahoma’s Ted Taylor gave us a stunning ’64 R&B A-side romp, and then the UK’s Ted “King Size” Taylor gave us an equally stunning cover the same year. They were not related — this was just meant to be! 1,607) Ted Taylor —Continue reading “Somebody’s Always Trying Special Edition: Ted Taylor — “Somebody’s Always Trying”, King Size Taylor — “Somebody’s Always Trying”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 3, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,606) Sheridan/Price — “Tracy Smith” Two Brumbeat Move-rs and shakers (see #1,299) take us on a “baroque pop ride” (Garwood Pickjon, https://popdiggers.com/rick-price-mike-sheridan-this-is-to-certify/) to very ratified heights. The song is from the LP This Is To Certify. Bruce Eder writes: [The album is] an astonishinglyContinue reading “Sheridan/Price — “Tracy Smith”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 2, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,605) The Byrds — “I Knew I’d Want You” This ineffable B-side to ‘65’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” “gave many listeners their first taste of Gene Clark’s [see #655] songwriting talent. A classic in [his] early canon, the mid-tempo folk-rocker is a great exampleContinue reading “The Byrds — “I Knew I’d Want You”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 1, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,604) Jane Birkin — “Jane B.” “How could Gainsbourg better prove his love for Birkin than by giving her Chopin [fourth prelude from opus. 28 in E minor]? How could he better prove his love for Chopin than by giving him Birkin?” (francoishugloContinue reading “Jane Birkin — “Jane B.”: Brace for the Obscure 60s rock)! — May 31, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,603) The Soul Survivors — “Can’t Stand to Be in Love with You” Warning: If you are from Denver, read no further! This song reached #1 on KIMN on November 15th, 1965, and stayed at the top for four straight weeks! (https://kimsloans.wordpress.com/pop-bop-rock-honoree-soul-survivors/) ItContinue reading “The Soul Survivors — “Can’t Stand to Be in Love with You”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 30, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,602) New Dawn — “Last Morning” More haunting and hypnotizing psych from the Pacific Northwest. Yeah, there’s a New Dawn (see #986, 1,295), but it’s still raining outside. Ron Moore writes about the Dawn’s sole album: Dreamy downer LP with rhythm-centered (monotonous?) drums, organ,Continue reading “New Dawn — “Last Morning”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 29, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,601) Eddie Floyd — “I’ve Just Been Feeling Bad” This ’67 B-side co-written with Steve Cropper is an expression of sincere regret over how a man has treated his love. It is sooooooooo good. “Ohhh My My MY!!!” (CherylJ7501, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWCGZF4QUrk) Indeed! Steve HueyContinue reading “Eddie Floyd — “I’ve Just Been Feeling Bad”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 28, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,600) The Liverpool Five — “She’s (Got Plenty of Love)“ These British invaders decided to stay in the States, where they gave us two sterling LPs, a song that reached #98, and this unforgettable and definitive version of a Coventry band’s ’65 B-side.Continue reading “The Liverpool Five — “She’s (Got Plenty of Love)”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 27, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,599) Bob Dylan — “John Brown”  Bob Dylan’s greatest anti-war song never to appear on a Dylan studio album, released under the name Blind Boy Grunt on a Folkways Compilation LP. The “hair-raising” song’s “novelistic depiction of a mother’s misguided patriotism and herContinue reading “Bob Dylan — “John Brown”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 26, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,598) Elton John — “Turn to Me” Before Reginald Dwight (see #175) was Elton John, he was Regimental Sgt. Zippo. Here is his unreleased Sgt. Pepper-inspired ‘68 album’s “lost gem, a truly lovely tune which finds [him] offering his heart to a lonelyContinue reading “I Shall Be Released: Elton John — “Turn to Me”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 25, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,597) The Sorrows —  “Let Me In” This “[k]iller” “monster garage punk tune (last_heard, https://www.45cat.com/record/7n35336) is “boisterous” UK freakbeat, “perhaps the[ Sorrows’ (see #407, 567)] finest recorded moment” (N.E. Fulcanwright, liner notes to the CD comp Freakbeat Freakout), a “Pretty Things-inspired” “gem[] fromContinue reading “The Sorrows —  “Let Me In”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 24, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,596) Scrugg — “I Wish I Was Five” From South Africa by way of London, here is Nuggets II-worthy “nicely melodic psychedelic pop with penetrating organ work not unlike that used by Pink Floyd on their early records” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/scrugg-mn0000309723#biography), “wistfully melodic” with aContinue reading ” Scrugg — “I Wish I Was Five”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 23, 2025″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,595) Hamilton Camp — “Travelin’ in the Dark”  Hamilton Camp (see #1,432) was the first to record and release Felix Pappalardi’s and Gail Collins’ “Travelin’ in the Dark’”, released by Bo Grumpus a year later and Pappalardi’s own Mountain four years later. Camp’sContinue reading “Hamilton Camp — “Travelin’ in the Dark”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 22, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,594) Sweet Feeling/Rupert’s People — “All So Long Ago” Sweet Feeling, later to become Rupert’s People (see #370), gives us “an absolute gem . . . a faultless piece of pop perfection” that is “very reminiscent of the Paul McCartney showcases on RevolverContinue reading “Sweet Feeling/Rupert’s People — “All So Long Ago”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 21, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,593) Majic Ship — “Wednesday Morning Dew” A NYC band trending toward hard rock gives us a beautiful and languid ballad that is “like a warm summer evening” (xiropigado, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmRG-OddRy0), a “fabulous track which shows theres no justice[, s]hould have been huge”. Qrogbrown1965,Continue reading “Majic Ship — “Wednesday Morning Dew”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 20, 2025″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,592) Johnny Adams — “Georgia Morning Dew” Johnny Adams’ (see #827) ’70 A-side and album-opening track is “magnificent . . . marr[ying] soul with a distinctive country feel”. (Soulmakossa, https://www.funkmysoul.gr/johnny-adams-heart-soul/) “The bouncy country-funk and nostalgic lyrical trail . . . provide a giddy,Continue reading “Johnny Adams — “Georgia Morning Dew”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 19, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,591) The Kinks — “Sitting By the Riverside” The Kinks (see #100, 381, 417, 450, 508, 529, 606, 623, 753, 865, 978, 1,043, 1,108, 1,302, 1,330) gift us “irresistible . . . balm for the ears and the soul . . . a little momentContinue reading “The Kinks — “Sitting By the Riverside”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 18, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,590) Dave Waite & Marianne Segal — “Paper Flowers” The dorks at Polydor didn’t release this glittering UK folk rock gem?! They folked themselves. It would have been a hit! Richard Allen tells us that “[t]hree tracks, ‘Paper Flowers’, ‘It’s Really Quite Alright’Continue reading “I Shall Be Released: Dave Waite & Marianne Segal — “Paper Flowers”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 17, 2025”