Author Archives: georgefishman2

392) Gordon Lightfoot — “Oh Linda” From his wonderful ‘66 album Lightfoot! (see #92, 167). The lyrics stand in stark contrast to the album’s “I’m Not Sayin’”! “Oh gal, don’t you say goodbye now that I need you by my side” vs. “I’m not saying that I care if you love me . . .Continue reading “Gordon Lightfoot — “Oh Linda”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 23, 2022”

391) Nirvana — “Girl in the Park” No, this is not “About a Girl”! This is the original Nirvana!! The feel-good/feel-bad ‘68 A-side comes from Nirvana’s second album All of Us, which Vernon Joynson calls “an even more poignant collection of dreamy pop songs” than the band’s first, The Story of Simon Simopath (see #287).Continue reading “Nirvana — “Girl in the Park”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 22, 2022”

390) Johnnie Taylor — “Hold On This Time” As Ian McCann notes, while “Stax had dubbed Taylor The Philosopher Of Soul . . . his kind of philosophy was strictly down-home, barroom, over the back fence, and sometimes downright no good.” (https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/johnnie-taylor-whos-making-love/) Well, this down-home guy has received a well-deserved honor — It was announcedContinue reading “Johnnie Taylor — “Hold On This Time”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 21, 2022”

389) Reparata and the Delrons — “Saturday Night Didn’t Happen” Girl group goes psycho! Sorry, that was a typo. Girl group goes psych! This ‘68 A-side by RAD is a “psych pop masterpiece [full of] demented psych (https://www.gullbuy.com/buy/2006/2_1/onekisscanlead.php). Rob Chapman writes that “the chorus plays off denial against desire and wishes that the weekend’s indiscretionsContinue reading “Reparata and the Delrons — “Saturday Night Didn’t Happen”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 20, 2022”

388) Electrified People — “Electrified People” After yesterday’s jazz rock instrumental, here is a super-cool pure rock near-instrumental (well, someone does shout a few things like “Hey mama, I don’t need you no more”!). Chris Bishop writes that: “Electrified People” is a funky instrumental . . . with shameless use of the wah pedal. .Continue reading “Electrified People — “Electrified People”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 19, 2022”

387) Joe Zawinul — “The Soul of a Village, Pt. II” Yes, as Larry says, this song is “a slice of groove perfection”. When he first heard the “laid back but funky drums, and the electric piano . . . and the spooky strings, [his] spidey sense started tingling[!]” (http://funky16corners.com/?p=828) Jim Todd says that “ZawinulContinue reading “Joe Zawinul — “The Soul of a Village, Pt. II”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 18, 2022”

385) The Dovers — “She’s Not Just Anybody” The Dovers were Santa Barbara garage greats — “a group everyone agrees should’ve been big stars. Their four [’65-’66] singles are classics one and all. Yet, although one was picked up for national release by Reprise, nothing came of it . . . .” (liner notes toContinue reading “The Dovers — “She’s Not Just Anybody”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 17, 2022″

385) Thomas and Richard Frost — “Fairy Tale Affair” Another cut from the Frosts’s magnificent Visualize album– this time a horn-driven stomper (see #209, 211, 247). Let me quote Bryan Thomas again: [By 1970,] Thomas and Richard Frost had already recorded a handful of classic pop singles for Imperial and Liberty, including “She’s Got Love,”Continue reading “Thomas and Richard Frost — “Fairy Tale Affair”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 16, 2022”

384) Wimple Winch — “Atmospheres” The band released three singles (see #49). This was to be the 4th A-side. Well, it did sort of sneak out as the B-side of the 3rd single: 1967 Fontana notification to records shops that the Wimple Winch’s 3rd single had been withdrawn. [T]he band’s 3rd single was mis-presssed withContinue reading “Wimple Winch — “Atmospheres”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 15, 2022”

383) The Sir Douglas Quintet — “Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day” How could this pop rock masterpiece not have been a smash hit? Well, being left off the SDQ’s classic ‘69 album Mendocino and not released till two decades later might help answer the question. Think Pleasant Valley Sunday without the ironic social commentary.Continue reading “The Sir Douglas Quintet — “Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 14, 2022″

382) The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” The Stones, with Gene Pitney providing vocals, “lovingly take the piss out of” their wunderkind manager Andrew Loog Oldham in this raunchy sing-a-long (https://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_rolling_stones_phil_spector_and_gene_pitney_get_drunk), which Stansted Montfichet calls “an obscene studio shtick”. (https://www.allmusic.com/album/black-box-mw0001081820) Ah, ALO. Richard Havers writes that: Oldham masterminded The Rolling Stones rise . .Continue reading “The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney “Andrew’s Blues”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 13, 2022”

381) The Kinks — “Time Song” A stunning ‘68 meditation on time, lost opportunity, and mortality. Ray Davies didn’t actually mix the song — a Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society outtake — until 2018. Ryan Reed explains that: The Kinks meditate on lazy days and mortality in “Time Song[.]” . . . “TimeContinue reading “The Kinks — “Time Song”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 12, 2022”

380) Tom Jones — “Dr. Love” When I last featured a song of Tom Jones (see #330), I proclaimed that Jones’s take on “Hold On, I’m Coming” was so lascivious that he made Sam and Dave sound like choirboys. Well, today’s song by the Voice makes his “Hold On” sound like “Puppy Love.” I giveContinue reading “Tom Jones — “Dr. Love”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 11, 2022″

379) Hard Meat — “On the Road” Hard Meat hailed from Birmingham, and “were basically a hippie outfit who played a brand of progressive rock”. (Vernon Joynson, Tapestry of Delights Revisited). “On the Road” is from the second of their two ‘70 LPs. The song has an irresistible groove. The band, however, had an unfortunateContinue reading “Hard Meat — “On the Road”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 10, 2022″

378) The Zipps — “Kicks and Chicks” “Well I’m a bloody guy with a knack. I read all the books of Jack Kerouac.” I so love Dutch garage rockers with their over-exuberant use of the English language. “Kicks and Chicks”, a Zipps ‘66 A-side, is “cocky beat-punk rebellion” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/be-stoned%21-dig-zipps-mw0000952858) and a “stone coldContinue reading “The Zipps — “Kicks and Chicks”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 9, 2022”

377) Lazy Smoke — “Under Skys” This previously unknown John Lennon song comes from his lost Lazy Smoke weekend. Don’t believe me? Well, where do you think “People say I’m lazy dreaming my life away” came from? OK, actually, it’s “Beatles-tinged psyche rock, aided largely by a lead singer whose vocals conjure John Lennon” (JitteryContinue reading “Lazy Smoke — “Under Skys”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 8, 2022”

376) Jan and Dean — “Girl, You’re Blowing My Mind” You know those songs of Bruce Springsteen on Tracks that surely would have been iconic hits had they actually been released on or around the time of The River? Well, “Girl, You’re Blowing My Mind” by Jan and Dean SURELY would have been a smashContinue reading “Jan and Dean — “Girl, You’re Blowing My Mind”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 7, 2022″

375) Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera — “Reactions of a Young Man” The opera ain’t over till the fat Elmer sings! This “proto-prog” (https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/elmer-gantrys-velvet-opera) “brilliant ballad” (https://psychedelicized.com/playlist/e/elmer-gantrys-velvet-opera/) came from the Opera’s ’68 “minor masterpiece” of an album. (https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/elmer-gantrys-velvet-opera) The album, and especially “Reactions”, sounds as if it was written yesterday. The song is so wise, andContinue reading “Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera — “Reactions of a Young Man”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 6, 2022″

374) Paul McCartney — “Heather” How many times has it been said that most musicians would sell their souls to write a “throwaway” composition scribbled by a musical genius as an afterthought or on a whim? Well, I’m not sure, but I do remember that movie Amadeus. Hey, I’m not saying that Paul McCartney isContinue reading “Paul McCartney — “Heather”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 5, 2022″

373) The Great Scots — “The Light Hurts My Eyes” ‘66 A-side from “the most kick-ass garage band ever to don kilts” (https://sundazed.com/great-scots-great-lost-great-scots-album.aspx) and “Canada’s answer to the Beatles”! (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-great-scots-mn0000070866/biography). Utterly fantastic song — compelling riff and the message that sunlight isn’t always the best disinfectant. Cub Koda informs us that: [T]he biggest group fromContinue reading “The Great Scots — “The Light Hurts My Eyes”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 4, 2022”