Author Archives: georgefishman2

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,558) Edwin Starr — “I’m Still a Struggling Man” This ’69 A-side by Edwin Starr (see #693) is a “jewel[]” that “feature[s] one of Starr’s most moving vocal performances, and in its lyric was the distant precursor to the musical/social vision that wouldContinue reading “Edwin Starr — “I’m Still a Struggling Man”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 16, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,500) Piero Umiliani — “Bob And Hellen” Get ready for an “overload” of joyful and exuberant “coolness” (OakHillAcademy, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j9ruA_skKro&pp=ygUnUGllcm8gVW1pbGlhbmkg4oCUIOKAnEJvYiBBbmQgSGVsbGVu4oC) from “one of the unsung heroes of soundtrack music”. (Efrén del Valle Peñamil, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/piero-umiliani-mn0000240758#biography) Italy’s Piero Umiliani “[i]ncorporat[ed] styles like jazz, easy listening/lounge, rock,Continue reading “Piero Umiliani — “Bob And Hellen”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 15, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,556) Powder — “Grimbley Leitch” Before Thomas and Richard Frost had a minor hit and created one of the great lost albums of the 1960s (see #209, 211, 247, 385, 595, 775, 967), these two Who-obsessed brothers had ignited Powder (see #789) (as inContinue reading “I Shall Be Released: Powder — “Grimbley Leitch”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 14, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,555) Buffalo Springfield — “Expecting to Fly” Off of Buffalo Springfield’s second LP and reaching #98, here is “perhaps the most beautiful melody Neil Young would ever create and the most ethereal singing from just about anyone of his era” (serendipity_, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/the-buffalo-springfield/expecting-to-fly-everydays/), “perhaps Neil’sContinue reading “Buffalo Springfield — “Expecting to Fly”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 13, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,554) The Artwoods — “Goodbye Sisters” “A great [’65] R&B Freakbeat rocker” (VinylAddict5, https://www.discogs.com/master/924706-The-Art-Woods-Goodbye-Sisters-) by the incredible Artwoods (see #58, 845, 1,241). Yes, they were founded by Art Wood — Ronnie Wood’s older brother — and were a top touring UK R&B band. Alas,Continue reading “The Artwoods — “Goodbye Sisters”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 12, 2025”

“Oh Baby Please” starts at 7:41. THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,553) The Soul Explosion — “Oh Baby Please” Oh baby, “Oh Baby Please” should have been big, big, big! A Granadilla Music press release puts it well: “Detroit? Chicago? Well, no not at all. This 1968 [LP]Continue reading “The Soul Explosion — “Oh Baby Please”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 11, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,552) The Truth — “Who’s Wrong” This infectious ’65 mod A-side is “a snarling self depreciating slab of UK Freakbeat” (Mod Zeb, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bFt2IAwUUDk&pp=ygUVdGhlIHRydXRoIHdobydzIHdyb25n) that “boasts some gutsy guitar work and a good melodic hook” (Mark Deming, https://www.allmusic.com/album/whos-wrong-mod-bedlam-1965-1969-mw0002809900), “a wonderful mixture of fuzz guitar,Continue reading “The Truth — “Who’s Wrong”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 10, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,551) Jason Crest — “A Place in the Sun” Killer UK pop psych that deserves a place in the spotlight! The band’s fifth and final A-side is “[o]utrageous great pop psych – wonderful melotron, superbly crafted, ……and [was] a total flop. Crazy.” (mahatmacote,Continue reading “Jason Crest — “A Place in the Sun”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 9, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,550) Victor Brady — “Brown Rain” This “[h]eavy psych funk fuzz eruption” is the “[b]est track [on the LP] by this outer space psychedelic psteel drummer. (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPVHAyvVi48, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1eqvcatY6A) “The combination of fuzz psych and steel drums sounds terrible on paper, but reallyContinue reading “Victor Brady — “Brown Rain”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 8, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,549) Focal Point — “Love You Forever” This lovely ballad was the only A-side, though not the band’s choice, from one of the greatest coulda/shoulda-beens in the annals of British pop psych (see #4, 43, 198, 538, 747, 991, 1,094). “Despite . . . beingContinue reading “Focal Point — “Love You Forever”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 7, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,548) The Humblebums — “Saturday Round About Sunday” Here is a Billy Connolly-written song off the first Gerry Rafferty/Billy Connolly Humblebums (see #556, 847) LP — The New Humblebums— pondering why a relationship went bad. “Instead of all those endless plans we shouldContinue reading “The Humblebums — “Saturday Round About Sunday”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 6, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,547) Rick and Sandy — “Lost My Girl” Who’s dat? Super producer to be Alexander “Sandy” Roberton gives us “driving mid to uptempo [‘65] mod beat with very fine ringing and fuzz guitar, powerful drums and an excellent lead vocal” (Bayard, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/rick-and-sandy/lost-my-girl-i-cant-help-it.p/), aContinue reading “Rick and Sandy — “Lost My Girl”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 5, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,546) The Livin’ End — “She’s a Teaser” Texas ‘67 garage bliss. The subject is self-explanatory. “Awesome guitar fuzz. She might have been a teaser but this is a psych pleaser”. “thomassmith8721, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwfB_9EaydA&pp=ygUaTGl2aW4gZW5kIHNoZeKAmXMgYSB0ZWFzZXI%3D) Indeed. Bolt 24 Hot Sounds tells us: Wichita Falls TexasContinue reading “The Livin’ End — “She’s a Teaser”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 4, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,545) The Cherry Slush — “I Cannot Stop You” This “classic [Dick Wagner* written] fuzztastic garage smasher”(narinderdhanjal221, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps7nuiVqr-o) by Saginaw, Michigan’s finest features “angry dismissive lyrics of a formerly rejected boyfriend who just just doesn’t care anymore. Brilliantly introduced by a sweeping FuzzContinue reading “The Cherry Slush — “I Cannot Stop You”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 3, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,544) The Impressions — “Ridin’ High” The title track from the Impressions’ (see #118, 285, 1,347) ‘66 LP Ridin’ High tells truth to power — a man who has everything but not love has nothing. I’d add that the man who has everything butContinue reading “The Impressions — “Ridin’ High”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 2, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,543) Iron Butterfly — “Ban Roll On” Iron Butterfly’s (see #1,040) most important lyrical statement might not have been about the Garden of Eden or even the nuclear test ban, but about Ban Roll On deodorant — “Ban won’t wear off as theContinue reading “Iron Butterfly — “Ban Roll On”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 1, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,542) Kathy and Larry — “Time” Former teen idol and ace songwriter Keith Colley, three of whose compositions I have featured [see #718, 862, 1,128], wrote this “great . . . 1967 b-side [by an obscure group that] veers into some pretty fluteyContinue reading “Kathy and Larry — “Time”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 31, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,541) Ramases & Selket — “(In My) Mind’s Eye” Swinging London was not just a powerful and groovy beacon that reaches all the way to Lebanon [see #951, 1,535] — it even reached back in time to ancient Egypt. For after his reincarnation,Continue reading “Ramases & Selket — “(In My) Mind’s Eye”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 30, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,540) The Ambassadors — “Ain’t Got the Love of One Girl on My Mind” Ladies, don’t hate this Philly soul stunner even though it advocates the “find ‘em, fool ’em, forget ’em” philosophy! Guess who wrote it — Barbara Mason! Pete Rock lovedContinue reading “The Ambassadors — “Ain’t Got the Love of One Girl on My Mind”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 28, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD Once upon a time in Australia, Harry Vanda and George Young of the Easybeats (see #201, 1,310, 1,359, 1,415) wrote this “incredibly catchy” (Matt Singer, https://screencrush.com/what-are-the-songs-in-the-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-trailer/) song for Spain’s Los Bravos. Thank you, Quentin Tarantino, for reminding us of the genius of theContinue reading “Bring a Little Lovin’ Special Edition: Los Bravos/Katty Line: Los Bravos — “Bring a Little Lovin’”, Katty Line — “Un Petit Peu D’Amour”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 27, 2025”