Author Archives: georgefishman2

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″

336) Kaleidoscope — “A Dream for Julie” How can Kaleidoscope not bring a smile to your face and send you into a childhood reverie? (see #154) As David Wells says, it is “one of the most fondly remembered of the more cultish UK pysch pop bands, even if their fey sensitivity and high whimsy quotientContinue reading “Kaleidoscope — “A Dream for Julie”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 29, 2022”

335) The Lords — “Shakin All Over” Ah, “Shakin’ All Over,” it sends quivers down my backbone. The song has a long and proud pedigree, beginning as a #1 UK hit for (and written by) Johnny Kidd & the Pirates in ’60, then a #1 Canadian hit in ’65 for Chad Allan & the Reflections/TheContinue reading “The Lords — “Shakin All Over”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 28, 2022”

332) Freedom’s Children — “Stories Towards the North (Parts 1 & 2)” As Nick Warburton writes in Ugly Things: One of the best rock bands the world never heard? . . . Just another one of those “what if” stories by your average ’60s rock aficionado bent on hyping their favourite obscure band[?]* But inContinue reading “Freedom’s Children’s Children Special Edition: Freedom’s Children/John and Philipa Cooper: Freedom’s Children — “Stories Towards the North (Parts 1 & 2)”, John and Philipa Cooper— “Man in a Bowler Hat”, John and Philip Cooper — “The Mad Professor”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 27, 2022″

331) The Tallifer Group — “This Happiness Feeling” “This Happiness Feeling” was the A-side (’68) of the only single by this Aussie band. It is the PERFECT sunshine pop song — perfect melody — perfect lyrics. Well, the sun does shine a lot in Australia. “Micko’s Aussie Rock & Pop Legends (..well mostly)” posted theContinue reading “The Tallifer Group — “This Happiness Feeling”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 26, 2022”

330) Tom Jones — “Hold On, I’m Coming” Tom does Sam and Dave! — from his ’67 album 13 Smash Hits and ’68 album Tom Jones’ Fever Zone (and an A-side in Lebanon). Stephen Cook says of the album in All Music Guide that: Tom Jones dives into a soul bag to bring on theContinue reading “Tom Jones — “Hold On, I’m Coming”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 25, 2022″

329) Ike and Tina Turner — “Game of Love” “Game of Love” is a track on Ike and Tina’s (see #212) most successful album, ’70’s Workin’ Together, which reached #25 (yes, the “Proud Mary” album). As Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes in All Music Guide, Workin’ Together “feels like a proper album, where many of theContinue reading “Ike and Tina Turner — “Game of Love”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 24, 2022”

328) Annie Philippe — “Plus Rien” “Plus Rien,” a ’67 B-side, is another wonderful exercise in yé-yé by Annie Philippe (see #206). It has a soaring melody but bitter lyrics that say good riddance to a lover. What is yé-yé? Matt Collar explains: Yé-yé pop showcased young, cherubic-voiced female singers framed against dance-ready beats andContinue reading “Annie Philippe — “Plus Rien”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 23, 2022″

327) Fapardokly — “Mr. Clock” Forget Astrid Kirchherr, “Mr. Clock” is the ultimate expression of rock ‘n’ roll existentialism — from the perspective of a grandfather clock questioned as to whether it would have been better had the person that made it never made it at all.  The song also sounds very reminiscent of theContinue reading “Fapardokly — “Mr. Clock”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 22, 2022”