Author Archives: georgefishman2

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 480) Jun Mayuzumi— “Black Room” The French yé-yé girls had nothing on Japan’s Jun Mayuzumi. Sheila Burgel tells us that: Once the [Group Sound] boom hit . . . “Koi No Hallejujah” [was] a monster hit for a little-known singer named Jun Mayuzumi.Continue reading “Jun Mayuzumi — “Black Room”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 10, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 479) Jan & Dean — “Mulholland” In my mind, this is the greatest ode to a street in song since “Penny Lane.” Terry Staunton sees “a formidable sophistication to . . . the epic LA poetry of Mulholland.” (https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/carnival-of-sound). Domenic Priore & MarkContinue reading “Jan & Dean — “Mulholland”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 9, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 478) Minnie Riperton — “Rainy Day in Centerville” Today, I feature a second track from Minnie’s glorious debut album (see #23), the soaring “Rainy Day in Centerville.” Derek Anderson says that: [T]he lyrics have a wistful, melancholy sound when sung by Minnie. .Continue reading “Minnie Riperton — “Rainy Day in Centerville”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 8, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 474) Nirvana — “Tiny Goddess” Vernon Joynson calls Nirvana’s debut A-side “sad but beautiful” and “outstanding” (The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) and David Wells calls it an “impossibly delicate Summer of Love single[.]” (Record Collector: 100 Greatest Psychedelic Records: High Times and StrangeContinue reading ““Tiny Goddess” Special Edition: Nirvana/Françoise Hardy: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 7, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 473) Tyme — “Land of 1000 Dances” OK, we’ve all heard “Land of 1000 Dances” at least 1,000 times. But few of us have heard it transformed into a “raw[-]assed unissued 1967 Connecticut garage PUNK BLASTER!!!!! 100-mile-per-hour screeching fuzzblastin BRUTAL version of the Kenner/PickettContinue reading “Tyme — “Land of 1000 Dances”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 6, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 474) Chris Farlowe — “We’re Doing Fine” Farlowe is “widely regarded as Britain’s finest ever blues and soul singer” (http://www.merseysidermagazine.com/site/features/chris-farlowe-interview/), and boy does he show it here. While he is best known for his iconic cover of the Rolling Stones’s “Out of Time”,Continue reading “Chris Farlowe — “We’re Doing Fine”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 5, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 472) Norman Greenbaum — “Marcy” If the Spirit is willing, let me demonstrate once again (see #46) that Norman Greenbaum was anything but a one-hit wonder. As the renowned rock critic Robert Christgau argued that “[n]or was ‘Spirit in the Sky’ anything likeContinue reading “Norman Greenbaum — “Marcy”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 4, 2022″

471) Harumi — “What a Day for Me” “What a Day for Me” is taken from the self-titled ’68 album by Harumi, who, as Last.fm says, “came from Japan to New York to record an album, and [then] disappeared” (https://www.last.fm/music/Harumi/+wiki). The album is a treasure trove of unique pop psych. Dr. Schluss says that: [TheContinue reading “Harumi — “What a Day for Me”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 3, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 470) Jeff St. John and The Id — “Watch Out” Take this ‘66 B-side and ’67 album track by “Australia’s finest rock vocalist” [Jeff St. John] (https://www.thirdstonepress.com.au/archive-blog/2018/3/20/jeff-st-john-the-id-big-time-operators-1967) outside — it’s smoking! Ian McFarlane says of the song that “[t]he band-penned ‘Watch Out’ opensContinue reading “Jeff St. John and the Id — “Watch Out”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 2, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 469) The Boys Blue — “You Got What I Want” I previously featured the Sorrows’ take on “Take a Heart”, a song written by Miki Dallon and first released by The Boys Blue (see #407). Well, what goes around comes around. Today IContinue reading “The Boys Blue — “You Got What I Want”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 1, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 468) Compton & Batteau — “Homesick Kid” After Appaloosa (see #463) broke up, John Parker Compton picked up and drove to California. He and Robin Batteau then recorded In California, a magical album “drenched in lazy West Coast sunshine [which fell] into theContinue reading “Compton & Batteau — “Homesick Kid”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 31, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 467) Black Merda — “The Original Man” “The first black rock group” (see #134). This stuff is intense. It’s the truth! Steve Huey: Black Merda were a funky rock combo with a significant debt to Jimi Hendrix, mixing fuzz-toned, psychedelic blues-rock with folky acousticContinue reading “Black Merda — “The Original Man”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 30, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 466) Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine” As I’ve said, some of my favorite Bee Gees songs were written and sung by Maurice and were never (or only barely) released (see #353-54). What are the odds? “Give Me a GlassContinue reading “Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 29, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 465) The Starfires — “I Never Loved Her” This “brutally awesome” (On the Flip-Side, http://ontheflip-side.blogspot.com/2015/04/southern-california-spotlight-starfires.html) ‘65 A-side by the L.A. garage band the Starfires is so groovy that “[o]riginal copies sell for over $1,000 . . . . It’s believed only 25 copiesContinue reading “The Starfires — “I Never Loved Her”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 28, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 464) David Bowie — “I Dig Everything” I dig this song! Richie Unterberger: “Before landing his first commercial success with 1969’s ‘Space Oddity,’ David Bowie released a number of flop records in a variety of styles. He first emerged in the mid-1960s asContinue reading “David Bowie — “I Dig Everything”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 27, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 463) Appaloosa — “Pascal’s Paradox” “Pascal’s Paradox”* is an absolutely gorgeous “folk-baroque” song off of Appaloosa’s sole album. The album is “chockfull of irresistible melodies and folk-baroque orchestration” with “romantic sensibilities” and “soul-searching lyrics”. (https://www.dailyom.com/cgi-bin/display/articledisplay.cgi?aid=5979) Or, as RDTEN1 puts it: While [singer, songwriterContinue reading “Appaloosa — “Pascal’s Paradox”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 26, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 462) The Moguls — “Ski Bum” ’66 B-side by the Moguls from Eugene, Oregon is a garage rock classic dishing out some great career advice — be a ski bum! Popsike.com says: [T]his outfit was originally known as The Centurians but changed theirContinue reading “The Moguls — “Ski Bum”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — May 25, 2022″

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″