Author Archives: georgefishman2

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,009) The Koobas — “Gypsy Fred” “Great [whimsical] UK 1967 Psych [that] should be mentioned with Pink Floyd[‘s] “Arnold Layne’”& the two Pretty Things Psych 45s”. (Vintage Vinyl Via Valves, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6l2SNjmYVc) “[T]he Koobas [see #178] gr[ew] their hair out, donn[ed] hippy garb andContinue reading “The Koobas — “Gypsy Fred”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 7, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,007) Les Problèmes — “Je Ne Vois Rien”/”I See Nothing” An “[a]bsolutely incredible . . . fuzz garage song[]. . . . one of the best sixties french [45’s]”. (vinylomania, https://www.discogs.com/release/7215663-Les-Probl%C3%A8mes-Je-Ne-Vois-Rien-Passe-Ton-Chemin) France? Absolument! “The Fuzz guitar intro is awesome!! [T]he good times whereContinue reading “Les Problèmes — “Je Ne Vois Rien”/”I See Nothing”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 6, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,006) Tony Colton — “I’ve Laid Some Down in My Time” This self-penned (along with Ray Smith) ’66 A-side dishes some “[e]pic monster freakbeat Modness!” (Narindude, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QU6ggR9Stg) “Amazing how this disc managed to slip past the censorship of the day”. (liner notes toContinue reading “Tony Colton — “I’ve Laid Some Down in My Time”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 5, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,005) The Vejtables — “I Still Love You” Wait, is it a Byrd (song)? Is it a Beatle (song)? No, it’s the first A-side by the San Francisco Bay area band (reaching # 84), “a jangly synthesis of the Beatles and the Byrds”Continue reading “The Vejtables — “I Still Love You”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 4, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,004) Bettye Swann — Don’t You Ever Get Tired (of Hurting Me)?” The real Queen of Country Soul reached #102 in ’69 with this killer soulified version of the Hank Cochran song first recorded by George Jones (’65) (and also done country styleContinue reading “Bettye Swann — “Don’t You Ever Get Tired (of Hurting Me)?”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 3, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,003) Fortes Mentum* — “Green Mello Hill” A delicious UK pop psych confection by Danny Beckerman, a “mercurial producer/arranger/writer/musician . . . an archetypically precocious studio whizzkid who was one of [the] Morgan [Blue Town label] owner Monty Babson’s favoured lieutenants”. (David Wells,Continue reading “I Shall Be Released; Fortes Mentum — “Green Mello Hill”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 2, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD I’m not sure I would have believed when I started this blog in July of 2021 that I would hit the 1000 non-hit (in the U.S.) song mark in a little over two years. But here I am. I just hope you haveContinue reading “#1,000 Special Edition!: The Namelosers/The Electric Banana/Millennium: The Namelosers — “Land of 1,000 Dances”; The Electric Banana — “A Thousand Ages from the Sun”; The Millennium — “There Is Nothing More to Say”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 1, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 997) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown — “Devil’s Grip” “Devil’s Grip” is “a haunting and powerful track that showcases [Arthur] Brown’s [see #783, 797] ability to captivate listeners with his unique blend of rock and theatricality. . . . [It] delves intoContinue reading “Halloween Special Edition: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown/The Laurels/The Bunnies: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown — “Devil’s Grip”, The Laurels — “The Devil’s Well”, Takeshi Terauchi and the Bunnys — “Little Devil”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 31, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 996) Jimmy Campbell — “Forever Grateful” This blog o’ mine gives me great joy, as when I played as my 22nd song “Michel Angelo”, by Jimmy Campbell (see #22, 648, 736-38) and his band at the time the 23rd Turnoff. I called theContinue reading “Jimmy Campbell — “Forever Grateful”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 30, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 996) Bobby Fuller Four — “Little Annie Lou” Bobby fought little Annie Lou and Annie won! Bobby and his brother/bandmate Randy wrote this firecracker of a number that “rattles with rockabilly inspirations” (Beverly Paterson, https://somethingelsereviews.com/2015/02/01/the-bobby-fuller-four-krla-king-of-the-wheels/) and is a fitting B-side to “I FoughtContinue reading “Bobby Fuller Four — “Little Annie Lou”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 29, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 994) Tidal Wave — “Spider Spider” This soaring ‘69 A-side reached #1 in South Africa. Jay-Z, you need to sample this one! Brian Currin tells us: The Tidal Wave was one of South Africa’s foremost exponents of psych-influenced pop music in the lateContinue reading “Tidal Wave — “Spider Spider”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 28, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 993) Poet and the One Man Band — “The Fable” Utterly magical and haunting folk rock by some future musical luminaries, including guitar legend Albert Lee and two future members of Sandy Denny’s Fotheringay. “The Fable” has “[s]imilarities to the late-period Zombies, thoughContinue reading “Poet and the One Man Band — “The Fable”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 27, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 992) Edge of Darkness — “Mean Town” Sort of a mashup of Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town” and Scorsese’s Mean Streets. No, really! This A-side from the upstate New York (Oswego) band’s only single, is “[b]rooding ’68 . . . guitar/organContinue reading “Edge of Darkness — “Mean Town”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 26, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 991) Focal Point — “Far Away from Forever” Focal Point is one of the greatest coulda/shoulda-beens in the annals of British pop psych (see #4, 43, 198, 538, 747). This “languid, introspective” (Len, https://therisingstorm.net/focal-point-first-bite-of-the-apple/) and trance-like number was a favorite in Beatleland. Co-bandContinue reading “Focal Point — “Far Away from Forever”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 24, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 990) The Heirs — “You Better Slow Down” I love my moody teenage 60’s garage rock, and here is a fabulous example from Eugene, Oregon — “delicious jangle introduces a moody, melodic beat ballad with haunting backing vocals” (maxmyndblown, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJp8nFMlJks) that “conjures anContinue reading “The Heirs — “You Better Slow Down”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 23, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 989) Boudewijn de Groot — “Aeneas Nu”/“Aeneas Now” A “[t]roubadour with a Dylan-esque impact, who shoots to fame in [the Netherlands in] the ’60s and ’70s” (https://en.muziekencyclopedie.nl/action/entry/Boudewijn+de+Groot) (see #107, 161, 305), gives us the only A-side I know about Aeneas, Trojan hero fromContinue reading “Boudewijn de Groot — “Aeneas Nu”/“Aeneas Now”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 22, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 988) Val McKenna — “House for Sale” Northern soul doesn’t get much better than this “marvellous and baroquely atmospheric” self-penned ‘68 A-side. (Kieron Tyler, liner notes to the CD comp Sassy and Stonefree: Prime Late ’60s Brit Girl Rock & Soul) Of course,Continue reading “Val McKenna — “House for Sale”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 21, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 987) Ottilie Patterson — “Spring Song” Ottilie, “the world’s only Irish blues singer”, wrote this totally unexpected and magical ’69 B-side and album track — “jazzy, laid-back pop that flirted carelessly with psychedelia in the genre’s dying days” and was produced by GiorgioContinue reading “Ottilie Patterson — “Spring Song”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 20, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 986) The New Dawn — “Dark Thoughts” A stunning dark psyche/garage cut from the Pacific Northwest that “is the ultimate in doomy bumblebee fuzz guitar”. (Ron Moore, The Acid Archives (2nd ed.)) Ron Moore calls the New Dawn’s album: Dreamy downer LP withContinue reading “The New Dawn — “Dark Thoughts”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 19, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 985) The Renegades — “Thirteen Women” The Renegades “[s]avage[ly] maul[]” (https://www.nortonrecords.com/158-the-renegades-thirteen-women-cant-see-you-158/) Bill Haley and the Comets’ pondering of the age-old question: What happens when there are “Thirteen Woman” but “Only One Man in Town”? The accompanying promotional video is “a brilliant maniacal clipContinue reading “The Renegades — “Thirteen Women”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 18, 2023”