Author Archives: georgefishman2

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,409) The Peppermint Trolley Co. — “I Remember Long Ago” Take a ride on the peppermint trolley with this glorious ’68 B-side by America’s greatest 60’s TV band. This beautiful and bittersweet confection “sounds like S.F. Sorrow-era Pretty Things stripped of their menace” (MikeContinue reading “The Peppermint Trolley Co. — “I Remember Long Ago”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 23, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,408) Pearls Before Swine — “The Jeweler” A true psych pop/folk pearl, one of the band’s “finest songs . . . . simply lovely, as is the quiet, orchestral arrangement”. (Stewart Mason, https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-jeweler-mt0002573568) It is an “exquisite tale . . . [that] exemplifies [Tom]Continue reading “Pearls Before Swine — “The Jeweler”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 22, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,407) Gladys Knight and the Pips — “You Don’t Love Me No More” Here is a stirring song of betrayal from Gladys Knight and the Pips’ ‘67 LP Everybody Needs Love, written by Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, and Roger Penzabene. Andy Kellman tellsContinue reading “Gladys Knight and the Pips — “You Don’t Love Me No More”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 21, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,406) The Music Machine — “Absolutely Positively” This ’67 Music Machine (see #171, 1,179) B-side, which also appeared on the ’68 Bonniwell Music Machine LP, is a garage anthem if there ever was one. If the Machine ever played an arena, I couldContinue reading “The Music Machine — “Absolutely Positively”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 20, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,405) The Mockingbirds — “You Stole My Love” Who killed the Mockingbirds, “one of the most mystifying failures of the mid-Sixties UK beat scene”? (liner notes to the CD comp The Immediate Singles Collection) The UK record buying public, that’s who! Future 10cc’er GrahamContinue reading “The Mockingbirds — “You Stole My Love”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 19, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,404) Childe Harold — “Brink of Death” “[P]robably the most dreamy Psychedelic song I’ve ever heard” (KingcoldCell, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnZ9fVNNuIA), an “[a]mazing psychedelic mind-melter”, displaying “[o]therworldly electronic psych brilliance”. (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRth6KPDjkc, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrumO2bQRCU), a “trippy orchestrated flower pop delight” with “strange mysterious sounds” from “a slightlyContinue reading “Childe Harold — “Brink of Death”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 18, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,403) The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” Written by the Rolling Stones’ (see #382, 398, 537, 579, 1,098) bassist Bill Wyman (see #1,348) and recorded during the sessions for Beggar’s Banquet and Let It Bleed, this “good-time boogie with a portion of acousticContinue reading “I Shall Be Released: The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 17, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,402) The Deviants — “You’ve Got to Hold On” From deep in the London underground comes the Deviants’ (see #564) “forgotten gem brought to the surface!” (EdwinJack64, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3Oe_LIZ3gQ), a “ramshackle . . . a harp-wailing, speed-freak update of the mid-Sixties garage R&B sound”Continue reading “The Deviants — “You’ve Got to Hold On”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 16, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,401) The Standells — “Medication” The lead-off track from the NOT FROM BOSTON Standells’s first LP in ‘66 is garage gold, a “great” song (Larry Tamblyn (the Standells), liner notes to the CD reissue of Dirty Water) that is “definitely the[ir] masterpiece!!!” (Oldschoolhero2006,Continue reading “The Standells — “Medication”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 15, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,400) John Martyn — “Sandy Grey” The Glasgow raised Scottish/Belgian folk legend’s ‘67 debut LP London Conversation includes a quite “beautiful” (Graeme Thomson, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jul/15/nick-drake-john-martyn-complex-friendship-small-hours-extract) song by his friend the singer-songwriter Robin Frederick — about her getting stood up by Nick Drake! It is “aboutContinue reading “John Martyn — “Sandy Grey”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 14, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,399) Jeremy Dormouse — “Just to Hear the Bells” Why hasn’t this gorgeous folk song from Canada been covered a million times? “Don Tapscott’s sublime” song is “a highpoint” of an “[o]bscure folk LP with a transition sound from 1960s coffee house intoContinue reading “Jeremy Dormouse — “Just to Hear the Bells”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 13, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,398) Fourmyula — “Nature” WARNING — If you are a New Zealander, read no further regarding this “now-iconic” (New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, https://www.musichall.co.nz/portfolio/the-fourmyula/) song which “can’t be topped for sheer atmosphere, and harmonious amalgamation of lyric and melody” (Graham Reid, https://timberjackdonoghue.com/157435146/157435161), asContinue reading “Fourmyula — “Nature”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 12, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,397) Wilson Pickett — “This Old Town” Look within one of Wilson Pickett’s most underrated and poorly selling LP’s — ‘70’s Right On (only reaching #197)— and you will find one of the era’s great unappreciated songs of racial reconciliation. Pickett wrote itContinue reading “Wilson Pickett — “This Old Town”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 11, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,396) Billy Nicholls — “Feeling Easy” Another installment of gorgeous UK pop psych from Billy Nicholls, who gifted us with one of, if not the, greatest “lost” albums of the ’60’s — Would You Believe (see #2, 64, 144, 428, 757, 964, 1,085, 1,205). As David WellsContinue reading “Billy Nicholls — “Feeling Easy”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 10, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,395) Nuevos Horizontes — “Tio Vivo”/”Live Uncle” From Spain’s Mamas and the Papas (but funkier), “one of the best Spanish vocal groups of all time” (Angelo C Turetromusic (courtesy of Google Translate), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxatHUP2Zew) comes the B-side of their second single, “a fantastical storyContinue reading “Nuevos Horizontes — “Tio Vivo”/”Live Uncle”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 9, 2024″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,394) The Ugly’s — “Mary Cilento” Birmingham’s Ugly’s give us a gorgeous B-side not to be, “late ’60s UK Pysche at it’s very best” (https://www.heavysoul45s.co.uk/product-page/the-uglys-i-ve-seen-the-light-mary-colinto), “David Watts meets David Bowie”. (Paul Cross, liner notes to the CD comp Sweet Floral Albion: 23 Pop &Continue reading “I Shall Be Released: The Ugly’s — “Mary Cilento”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 8, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,393) Argosy — “Mr. Boyd” Blind Faith may have been the Supergroup of ’69, but Argosy was the BeforeTheyWereSuperandBeforeTheyWereSupertramp-Supergroup of ’69. Blind Faith had Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Rick Grech and Steve Winwood. Well, Argosy had Roger Hodgson, Elton John (then Reginald Dwight)Continue reading “Argosy — “Mr. Boyd”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 7, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,392) Peter and the Wolves — “Lantern Light” Oh man, does John Pantry (see #494, 1,242) kick ass. OK, since he followed his calling and embarked on a notable career in Christian music and broadcasting after the 60’s came to a close, let meContinue reading “Peter and the Wolves — “Lantern Light”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 6, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,391) Zakary Thaks* — “Face to Face” Yesterday, I featured an unreleased garage rock classic by Corpus Christi, Texas’s Liberty Bell, written by singer Chris Gerniottis. Today, I travel back in time to Gerniottis’s earlier band, the Corpus Christi garage rock legends ZakaryContinue reading “Zakary Thaks — “Face to Face”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 5, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,390) The Liberty Bell — “Reality Is the Only Answer” “There was West Coast psych. There was East Coast psych. This is Gulf Coast psych, the forgotten psychedelic coast.” (thomassmith8721, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQjeIa7ex1U) Out of Corpus Christi, Texas, here is intergalactic garage gold from the Liberty BellContinue reading “I Shall Be Released: The Liberty Bell — “Reality Is the Only Answer”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 4, 2024”