Author Archives: georgefishman2

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 693) Edwin Starr — “Time Is Passing By” Super soul song from the SuperStarr’s first album, telling a girl who got hurt in love to dust herself off, get up and try again, ‘cause the clock is tickin’. I like Starr better whenContinue reading “Edwin Starr — “Time Is Passing By”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 6, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 692) Mark LeVine — “21 Years Older than Yesterday” Today I will let my freak flag fly and spin a: “psychefolkedlic” (http://www.slipcue.com/music/country/countrystyles/hippiebilly/L_01.html) “underground classic of Acid Folk-Rock” (http://thelakeband.blogspot.com/2014/11/mark-levine-pilgrims-progress-featuring.html?m=1) and “ultra-obscuro ‘folk freak’ offering from the hills of Hollywood, made during the acid-laced tailContinue reading “Mark LeVine — “21 Years Older than Yesterday”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 5, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 691) The Sunshine Company — “A Year of Jaine Time” False advertising — a beautiful, laid back, sad song from the first album by southern California’s Sunshine Company! J Rodger says that: [Q]uite a few tunes on the record contain moments of beautifulContinue reading “The Sunshine Company — “A Year of Jaine Time”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 4, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 690) Pisces — “A Flower for All Seasons” This delicate, wistful, and magnificent pop psych/folk rock floret was finally allowed to bloom four decades after it was recorded. It is at once both timeless and seemingly of Civil War vintage. The band shouldContinue reading “Pisces — “A Flower for All Seasons”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 3, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 689) Ted Neeley — “Autumn Afternoon” This ’67 and ’68 B-side (https://www.45cat.com/artist/ted-neeley) by the future Christ figure is “simply one of the best blends of Association-styled harmony pop and lysergic influences you’re liable to ever hear” (http://badcatrecords.com/NEELEY.htm) and “sounds like a long-lost follow-upContinue reading “Ted Neeley — “Autumn Afternoon”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 2, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 688) Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera — “Long Nights of Summer” Happy New Year everyone, and I hope I bring you Peace on Ear! Here is a glorious and timeless cut from the Opera’s ’68 “minor masterpiece” of an album. (Jan Zarebski, https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/elmer-gantrys-velvet-opera) (seeContinue reading “Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera — “Long Nights of Summer”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 1, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 687) The Canterbury Music Festival — “First Spring Rain” Call this ’68 A-side baroque pop, call it soft pop, call it sunshine pop, call it pop psych, but call it a masterpiece by the CMF (see #358). If you are looking for ultra-rareContinue reading “The Canterbury Music Festival — “First Spring Rain”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 31, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 686) Faine Jade — “Cold Winter Sun (Symphony in D Major)” Here is stunning psych from Long Island’s Syd Barrett (see #314). Cosmic Minds at Play calls it a “bona fide psychedelic wonder[]” (https://cosmicmindatplay.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/classic-singles-51-the-bohemian-vendetta-enough-half-the-time-1967/) and Antonio Mendez says it’s “an excellent lysergic, laxContinue reading “Faine Jade — “Cold Winter Sun”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 30, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 685) Head West — “Some Day” A sinuous/funky/jazzy rock song by a future member of Fleetwood Mac. Vernon Joynson says the song’s “vocals have a haunting quality and the song . . . has a certain charm”. (The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) It’sContinue reading “Head West — “Some Day”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 29, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 683) Alex Harvey — “Midnight Moses” Here is another magical selection from Alex Harvey’s ’69 solo LP Roman Wall Blues (see #440). Harvey redid the song with the Sensational Alex Harvey Band in ’72 and its hard rock core became apparent. Eric KamauContinue reading “Alex Harvey — “Midnight Moses”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 28, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 683) The Human Expression — “Every Night” Mesmerizing and haunting ‘66 B-side by a hugely talented L.A. band whose music, as Mark Deming says, “lurked somewhere in between garage rock and psychedelia” and who had “imaginative songwriters with a clever, slightly bent approach,Continue reading “The Human Expression — “Every Night”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 27, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 682) Johnny Young — “Good Evening Girl” This delightful pop psych B-side from down under was “written by three of the Easybeats but never recorded by that group, although it’s easily up to the standards of their better songs.” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/hot-generation-1960s-punk-from-down-under-mw0000660957) TheContinue reading “Johnny Young — “Good Evening Girl”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 26, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 679) Bob Seger and the Last Heard— “Sock It to Me Santa” https://www.discogs.com/master/1419447-Bob-Seger-And-The-Last-Heard-Heavy-Music-The-Complete-Cameo-Recordings-1966-1967/image/SW1hZ2U6MzYwMTY0MjA= ‘66 A-side by Bob Seger (see #233, 234). Mark Deming says that it “is a Christmas novelty that burns like Mitch Ryder on trucker’s speed” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/heavy-music-the-complete-cameo-recordings-1966-1967-mw0003002528). The song makes NickContinue reading “Christmas Special: Bob Seger and the Last Heard/The Staple Singers/A440: Bob Seger and the Last Heard — “Sock It to Me Santa”, The Staple Singers — “Who Took the Merry Out of Christmas”, A440 — “Santa Klaus Is Coming, Yeah!”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 24, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 678) The Collage — “Any Day’s a Sunday Afternoon” ‘67 A-side is a self-written soft pop psych masterpiece by the Collage (see #415). Richie Unterberger feels that the song’s “psych-pop-circus feel . . . might have made for the best attempt at aContinue reading “Collage — “Any Day’s a Sunday Afternoon”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 23, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 677) Ferguson Tractor — “12 O’Clock High” Here is a fuzz/riff monster post-garage era (‘69) garage track, the A-side of the only single by a pretty unknown band. SF Scene calls it “a great sounding fuzz-a-delic track”. (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mHJtTI8YZB0). So have a Fuzzy NavelContinue reading “Ferguson Tractor — “12 O’Clock High”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 22, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 676) The Quiet Five — “When the Morning Sun Dries the Dew” This gentle strummed ballad of “haunting folksiness” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-quiet-five-mn0000896096) originally meant for Marianne Faithfull, hit #45 in the UK. Richie Unterberger gives us some band history: [The Quiet Five] ma[d]eContinue reading “The Quiet Five — “When the Morning Sun Dries the Dew”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 21, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 675) George Gallacher and the Pathfinders — “Dawn” How was this “[v]ery catchy, unknown psych gem with a great keyboard riff and beautiful vocals” (AldousLeary, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-4lhgFdGTBU) not a hit? Man, it wasn’t even released. George and the Pathfinders just recorded it “for aContinue reading “George Gallacher and the Pathfinders — “Dawn”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 20, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 674) Appaloosa — “Bi-Weekly” “Bi-Weekly” is an absolutely gorgeous “folk-baroque” song off of Appaloosa’s sole album (see #463). Richie Unterberger calls it one of “the album’s standouts” with “soaring orchestration and distinctive [Al] Kooper organ”. (http://www.richieunterberger.com/appaloosa.html). Oldscreamo describes a “full orchestra reflect[ing] theContinue reading “Appaloosa — “Bi-Weekly”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 19, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 673) Thomas Edisun’s Electric Light Bulb Band Vaudevillian pop-psych ’67 A-side by Louisiana forerunners to power-pop band Zuider Zee. Igor Igorev tells us: [This is a] previously unreleased album from 1967 by [an] obscure US psychedelic band . . . . Thomas EdisunContinue reading “Thomas Edisun’s Electric Light Bulb Band — “No One’s Been Here for Weeks”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 18, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 672) Kippington Lodge — “Tomorrow Today” A groovy pop psych ode to living for today (or, “Tomorrow Today”) by the band that was to become Brinsley Schwarz. It was written by “the hitmaking team of Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway”. (Joe Marchese, https://theseconddisc.com/2011/07/08/nick-lowe-welcomes-you-to-kippington-lodge/).Continue reading “Kippington Lodge — “Tomorrow Today”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 17, 2022”