Author Archives: georgefishman2

360) Kissing Spell — “Gente” Los Pajaros, the ‘70 album by Chile’s Kissing Spell, “is one of the best and most sought after South American psych albums . . . . [It has w]ell-crafted songs with an attractive dreamy quality enhanced by spacey effects, occasional bursts of well-handled fuzz guitar, and strong harmonies . .Continue reading “Kissing Spell — “Gente”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 18, 2022″

359) The Illusion — “Happy Days” This is not your mother’s “Happy Days Are Here Again”, or even Richie and the Fonz’s “Happy Days.” Bruce Eder and John McCarthy say that the song, from the band’s ’69 album Together (as a Way of Life), is “a dramatic mid-tempo number with choral vocals and prominent electricContinue reading “The Illusion — “Happy Days”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 18, 2022”

357) Canterbury Music Festival — “Super Duper Trooper” What more could you want: a super fun fuzz guitar-driven romp of a song “about a psychedelic cop that will pull you over using a light show”? (https://www.gullbuy.com/buy/2003/9_2/canterburymusicfest.php) Contrary to scurrilous rumor, ABBA did not steal “Super Trooper” from the CMF. “Super Trooper” is about a rockContinue reading “Canterbury Music Festival — “Super Duper Trooper”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 16, 2022”

357) Duncan Browne — “The Death of Neil” Duncan was one of those beautiful souls who was lost to us all too early (in ‘93). Bruce Eder says that: [His revered ’68 album — Give Me Take You] was one of the jewels of the Immediate Records catalog, a quietly dazzling work that embraced elementsContinue reading “Duncan Browne — “The Death of Neil”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 15, 2022”

356) Alfredo Luna — “Theme from Claudine ‘69” From Nymphomania: A Collection of Sexy European Go-Go Music from the ‘60’s, Vol. 1 — an exceedingly hard to come by compilation. I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined,Continue reading “Alfredo Luna — “Theme from Claudine ‘69”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 14, 2022”

353) Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” Some of my favorite Bee Gees songs were written and sung by Maurice and were never (or only barely) released. What are the odds? Let’s start with the wonderful “The Loner.” Bruce Eder writes that: Maurice . . . has been almost exclusively a backing vocalist for his four-decadeContinue reading “Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb/Tin Tin: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner”, Maurice Gibb — “Touch and Understand Love”, Tin Tin — “She Said Ride”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 13, 2022”

352) The Searchers — “Popcorn, Double Feature” Oh, the wonderful Searchers. the thought of their signature songs — “Sugar and Spice,” “Needles and Pins,” “Love Potion Number Nine,” “When You Walk in the Room” . . . — always brings a smile to my face. As Bruce Eder writes in All Music Guide: Hailing fromContinue reading “The Searchers — “Popcorn, Double Feature”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 12, 2022″

351) The Blue Rondos — “Baby I Go for You” This Joe Meek* written and produced November ‘64 B-side is some friggin’ phenomenal freakbeat.** Roger Dopson’s liner notes to the Joe Meek Freakbeat comp rightly calls it “magnificent.” Owen Adams calls this one of Meek’s 10 landmark recordings (not including “Telstar”): “Boasting a singer withContinue reading “The Blue Rondos — “Baby I Go for You”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 11, 2022”

350) John Bromley — “If You Are There With Me” As much as I love John Bromley’s songs (see #337), I would not have predicted that my blog featuring his classic “Weather Man” would be my second most popular of 2022. Well, as someone once said, “You might need a weatherman to know which wayContinue reading “John Bromley — “If You Are There With Me”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 10, 2022″

349) Tony Worsley and the Fabulous Blue Jays — “Oh, How Can It Be?” Tony’s ‘65 cover of the Birds’s (see #33, 99, 220) “How Can It Be” is “considered by many to be superior to the original” (Paul Culnane, http://www.milesago.com/artists/worsley.htm) and is “a savage take” on the song (Mike Star, http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2012/07/). Alec Palao’s linerContinue reading “Tony Worsley and the Fabulous Blue Jays — “Oh, How Can It Be?”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 9, 2022″

348) Circus Maximus — “You Know I’ve Got the Rest of My Life to Go” Geoffrey Himes recounts that: [Jerry Jeff Walker] was born Ronald Clyde Crosby on March 16, 1942, in Oneonta, N.Y. He joined the National Guard and went AWOL under the name of Jerry Ferris, thanks to the borrowed ID of aContinue reading “Circus Maximus — “You Know I’ve Got the Rest of My Life to Go”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 8, 2022”

347) Gene Chandler & Jerry Butler — “You Just Can’t Win (By Making that Same Mistake Again)” Two soul greats combine forces to make a wonderful album — ‘70’s Gene & Jerry One & One — and no one buys it. Well, the album did produce two minor R&B hits, including “You Just Can’t Win,”Continue reading “Gene Chandler & Jerry Butler — “You Just Can’t Win (By Making that Same Mistake Again)”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 7, 2022”

Nobody’s talkin’, everybody’s singin’ “That’s the Bag I’m In.” Take one classic semi-comic song and listen to two radically different but fab and buzz-worthy interpretations. 344) Fred Neil — That’s the Bag I’m In” This sly ‘66 album track was also a ‘68 B-side to Neil’s original version of “Everybody’s Talkin’”, which Harry Nilsson famouslyContinue reading ““That’s the Bag I’m In” Special Edition: Fred Neil/The Fabs/Buzzy Linhart: Fred Neil — That’s the Bag I’m In”, The Fabs — “That’s the Bag I’m In”, Buzzy Linhart — “That’s the Bag I’m In”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 6, 2022″

343) The Idle Race — “The Morning Sunshine” Let there be Light. The Idle Race (see also #30) and its “cheerfully trippy” (Bruce Eder, All Music Guide) first album, ‘68’s The Birthday Party, are the divine sparks that lit the Electric Light Orchestra. Fittingly, this gorgeous and fleeting album track and B-side is titled “TheContinue reading “The Idle Race — “The Morning Sunshine”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 5, 2022”

342) Keith Everett — “She’s the One Who Loved You” I don’t play hometown favorites. We’ll, actually I let YouTube do the playing — witness the Del-Vetts from Highland Park, Illinois (see #250) and today’s selection — Keith Everett (real name Keith Gravenhorst) from the bordering town of Deerfield. I went to Highland Park HighContinue reading “Keith Everett — “She’s the One Who Loved You”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 4, 2022”

341) The Remains — “Why Do I Cry” (May 26, 1966 live in the studio version) “Why Do I Cry,” the band’s second A-side (’65) (see also #125), was a hit in the Remains’s home town of Boston. Mark Deming in All Music Guide calls the song “swaggering” while Nuggets says it “demonstrates how theContinue reading “The Remains — “Why Do I Cry” (May 26, 1966 live in the studio version): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 3, 2022”

340) Pinkerton’s Assorted Colors — “Magic Rocking Horse” “Magic Rocking Horse” was a ‘66 A-side by PAC that didn’t achieve the success it so richly deserved. It is a wonderful song about cherished childhood memories helping one emerge intact from troubled times, which Anorak Thing calls “great baroque pop with ringing acoustic guitars and aContinue reading “Pinkerton’s Assorted Colors — “Magic Rocking Horse”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 2, 2022”

339) Joe Bataan— “Gypsy Woman” Joe Bataan (see #55). Boogaloo. Not down Broadway, we’re talking 106th and Lexington. Richard Pierson in All Music Guide tells us that: Born Peter Nitollano, of African-American/Filipino parents, Joe Bataan grew up in Spanish Harlem, where he ran with Puerto Rican gangs and absorbed R&B, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Rican musical influences. .Continue reading “Joe Bataan — “Gypsy Woman”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 1, 2022”

338) The Glass Family — “House of Glass” Here is a second helping of Glass (see #309). Light in the Attic Records says that “‘House of Glass’ is the impressive opening track, full of tension and convincing vocals over some 13th Floor Elevators style grooves”. (https://lightintheattic.net/releases/1758-electric-band). And Nathan Ford writes that: Why more people don’tContinue reading “The Glass Family — “House of Glass”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 31, 2022”

337) John Bromley — “Weather Man” English songwriter John Bromley has written “over 200 works with over 60 recorded and performed worldwide by major artists such as Shirley Bassey, Sacha Distel, Petula Clark, Richard Harris, Paul Anka . . . John Farnham”, Jackie De Shannon and the Ace Kefford Stand. (Facebook). He also recorded someContinue reading “John Bromley — “Weather Man”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 30, 2022″