Author Archives: georgefishman2

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 461) The Hollies — “To You My Love” Here is a wonderful Hollies original, a minor chord love song from their second album, an album that failed to chart in the UK and wasn’t even released in the U.S. in any form. Alan’sContinue reading “The Hollies — “To You My Love”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 24, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960S THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 460) The Factory — “Try a Little Sunshine” The fifth song I ever featured on this blog was the Factory’s “Path Through the Forest”, one of the most titantic slabs of ’60’s British psych to be found. Today I feature the A-side ofContinue reading “Factory — “Try a Little Sunshine”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 23, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD Here I present a stunning folk rock song from Tim Hardin’s debut album, including a fish-out-of-water live performance at Woodstock (I can see people emerging from the mud, saying “This is a good time to pee and score some more acid!”), along withContinue reading ““Hang on to a Dream” Special Edition: Tim Hardin/Gandalf/Francoise Hardy: Tim Hardin — “How Can We Hang on to a Dream”, Gandalf — “Hang on to a Dream”, Francoise Hardy — “Hang on to a Dream”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 22, 2022″

456) Chantal Kelly — “Notre Prof’ D’anglais” Fab ‘66 yé-yé single by Chantal Kelly. As to Chantal: One of the lesser-known yé-yé girls is French singer Chantal Kelly, who had a short-lived music career, but made her mark during the movement nonetheless. She debuted in 1965 with “Caribou,” a song with a world music vibe.Continue reading “Chantal Kelly — “Notre Prof’ D’anglais”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 21, 2022”

455) Joe Tex — “Anything You Wanna Know” I featured my favorite Joe Tex song a long while ago (see #42). Here’s my second favorite, also off Tex’s ’69 album Buying a Book (see #42). RDTEN1 is spot on calling “Anything You Wanna Know” “[s]ide one’s funkiest performance . . . a surprisingly funny andContinue reading “Joe Tex — “Anything You Wanna Know”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 20, 2022″

454) The Fenmen — “I’ve Got Everything You Need Babe” Fantastic ‘65 beat single! Why wasn’t it a hit, not the least because it has a killer guitar solo that sounds just like Jimmy Page? Anorak Thing says: Backed by some strong brass The Fenmen give it their all on this Kooper/Levine composition with theirContinue reading “The Fenmen — “I’ve Got Everything You Need Babe”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 19, 2022”

453) Kissing Spell — “Cerraron Sus Ojos” Spellbinding and mournful track from the Chilean band’s classic ‘70 psych LP Los Pajaros was also the B-side of the album’s only single (see #360). The album “is one of the best and most sought after South American psych albums . . . . [It has w]ell-crafted songsContinue reading “Kissing Spell — “Cerraron Sus Ojos”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 18, 2022”

452) Bruno — “Wander Boy”/“Wonder Boy” I talk about Bruno! Well, I talk about Bruno Kretchmar and his delightful and winsome UK ‘66 A-side (one of his two singles). Teabiscuit calls “Wander Boy” (“Wonder Boy” in some printings) “midtempo [pop psych], a nice dreamy folky pop dancer with a hypnotic edge, the fuzzy sounding brassContinue reading “Bruno — “Wander Boy”/“Wonder Boy”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 17, 2022”

451) Ann-Margret & Lee Hazlewood — “Sam” This song is a bonus track on the CD reissue of the Lee Hazlewood/Ann-Margret ’69 album The Cowboy & the Lady. I can’t believe it was an outtake, because it would have been so totally out of place on that album. Rather than being countryish, the song essentiallyContinue reading “Ann-Margret & Lee Hazlewood — “Sam”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 16, 2022″

450) The Kinks — “Shangri-La” I may be skirting the outer limits of “obscure” here, but “Shangri-La” is one of my favorite Kinks songs (see #100, 381, 417), from the ’69 concept album Arthur (Or the Decline of the British Empire), and as my daughter says, “I [meaning she] make the rules.” David Levesley tellsContinue reading “The Kinks — “Shangri-La”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 15, 2022”

449) Kim Fowley — “Animal Man” “Animal Man” is the opening track of Fowley’s outrageous ’68 album Outrageous. As to Fowley (see #89) and the album, Rob Fitzpatrick tells truth to puker: LA-born legend Kim Fowley was already 30 when this album came out in 1969 and had lived about eight lifetimes’ worth of debaucheryContinue reading “Kim Fowley — “Animal Man”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 14, 2022″

448) Earth Island — “Mother Earth Is a Beautiful Lover” This “Sunshine Psychedelic gem” (https://psychedelic-rocknroll.blogspot.com/2009/02/earth-island-we-must-survive.html) from Earth Island’s sole album We Must Survive (’70) is, per Dr. Schluss, an “entertaining hippie nightmare . . . which spins through both waltz time and a chilled version of a garage rock rave-up.” (http://psychedelicobscurities.blogspot.com/2008/07/earth-island-1970-we-must-survive.html) I guess the takeContinue reading “Earth Island — “Mother Earth Is a Beautiful Lover”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 13, 2022”

447) The Fairytale — “Guess I Was Dreaming” In ascending order of adulation: 1) 23 Daves says that the song “is a gentle, slightly fey track with a foreboding piano riff and throbbing bassline occasionally popping its head up into the mix”. (http://left-and-to-the-back.blogspot.com/2009/07/fairytale-guess-i-was-dreaming-bw-run.html) 2) Vernon Joynson calls it “quite an interesting debut of flowery psychedelia”.Continue reading “The Fairytale — Guess I Was Dreaming”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 12, 2022”

Who was John Greek? The Louie Report explains: Years before the Wailers recorded LOUIE LOUIE with Rockin’ Robin Roberts, they were considered one of the hottest rock bands to emerge from the Pacific Northwest. In 1959, when they were still in high school, they were signed to Golden Crest Records, their song “Tall Cool One”Continue reading “John Greek Special Edition: The Beautiful Daze — “City Jungle, Pt. 1”, The Sacred Cows — “Kill, Kill, Kill”, The Seeds — “The Wind Blows Your Hair”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 11, 2022″

443) William Bell — “I Got a Sure Thing” This song is a sure thing. Bell co-wrote it with Booker T. Jones. Ollie and the Nightingales first released it in ‘68, and reached #73 (#16 R&B). Bell’s version is so much better in my mind . . . it’s so smmmmooooooth, it’s criminal! The lyricsContinue reading “William Bell — “I Got a Sure Thing”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 10, 2022″

442) Sharon Tandy — “The Way She Looks at You” OK, I couldn’t resist, another classic by Sharon Tandy (see #371, 441). This “very Sandy Shaw-like” song (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/you-gotta-believe-its-mw0000741620 ) is “upbeat and undeniably commercial . . . squarely in the vogue of 1968 British pop and thus once again its total lack ofContinue reading “Sharon Tandy — “The Way She Looks at You”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 9, 2022”

441) Sharon Tandy — “For a Little While” An unissued at the time (’66) Isaac Hayes-David Porter composition by the great Sharon Tandy (see #371, including for more on Tandy). It was later released by the Goodees (a white girl group on Stax?!), but Sharon’s version is a gazillion times better. Let’s say she addsContinue reading “Sharon Tandy — “For a Little While”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 8, 2022”

440) Alex Harvey — “Roman Wall Blues” Exquisite B-side and title track from Harvey’s ‘69 solo album, with lyrics courtesy of W.H. Auden. Yes, a sonnet by W.H. Auden about a Roman soldier! Why didn’t Pink Floyd ever give this a spin? All in all you’re just another brick in the Roman wall blues. OrContinue reading “Alex Harvey — “Roman Wall Blues”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 7, 2022”

439) Barry Gibb — “This Time” Matt Collar writes that “[t]he Bee Gees’ tempestuous personal relationships led to their 1969 breakup, and when the band members stopped working together, Barry turned to thoughts of a solo career [as did Robin and Maurice (see #353, 354)]. He began recording an album, which was supposed to be calledContinue reading “Barry Gibb — “This Time”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 6, 2022”

438) Haymarket Riot — “Trip on Out” “Trip on Out” is the A-side of the Riot’s only single (’68), an “ear scorcher” and an “[e]xtra strength fuzz overload from an Enid, OK sextet of teenage misfits.” (The 30 Seconds Before the Calico Wall! garage comp), and an “absolute monster[].” (Vol. 6 of the Pebbles garageContinue reading “Haymarket Riot — “Trip on Out”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 5, 2022”