Departing from the band’s typical Blues-Rock style, this song features a dark, mystical atmosphere with a chorus inspired by Gregorian chants. The somber, droning chants combined with a steady, driving drumbeat create a profound sense of melancholy and isolation . . . . This track proved that The Yardbirds were not just skilled Blues musicians but also explorers of new sonic frontiers, incorporating electronic experimentation and Eastern influences into Rock, thus laying the groundwork for the future Psychedelic Rock movement.
When this album was released I was in the 8th grade. One day in gym class a guy noticed that the shower and locker room had the perfect echoey acoustics and launched into this chant and soon 3 classes of boys (about 100) were chanting this song.The teachers freaked and thought we were devil worshiping or something.
A fabulous, early example of psychedelic pop, this exquisite ballad is one of the Yardbirds’ most treasured mid-’60s recordings. The main hook of the song refutes the standards of the pop “chart” ethos of the day, being led by a wordless, droning almost Gregorian chant, which mirrors the song’s main melody. Rather than including all of the instrumental virtuosity of the group’s other records, the song itself sounds as though it was conceived as a record, rather than a “performance” piece, and is filled with an undeniably full atmosphere. The lyrics are dark and foreboding, giving the listener a peek into the depressed and repressed mind of the lyricist. Different than anything that the band had cut before . . . paving the way for the band’s ever-growing cult status among the early “underground” movement of the time.
Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty tell us how “Sad” came to be:
[Dreja]: “After “For Your Love” there was a realization among us that we didn’t want to stay trapped in the blues idiom….” [McCarty]: “Even Mick Jagger said you can’t play 12-bar blues forever” [Dreja]: “[Manager] Giorgio (Gomelsky) was encouraging us to write and we actually wrote most of this while driving to a gig in the van. The inspiration was “The Lion Sleeps At Night” (sic) [McCarty]: “I dunno about that. Paul (Samwell-Smith) and I did it on a piano. We wanted to do something moody and we got Giorgio singing a Gregorian chant, which was perfect.” [Dreja]: “We did it on Top Of The Pops with Giorgio dressed as a monk, which was great for Giorgio because he always wanted to be in a band anyway!”
liner notes to the CD reissue of Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,923)The New Wave — âWhere Do We Go from Hereâ
“[A] Stunning & Hauntingly crafted song” (spacecadett47, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tc5u29ivvw), incomparable L.A. baroque pop by the New Wave (see #1,200) courtesy of Ken of Ken and Barbie fame — yes, that Ken. The duo’s Reid King commented that it “was written/composed 35 years before 9/11 happened, and it was not in release in 2001, but should have been the music behind the footage of that tragic time.” (reidaux, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tc5u29ivvw)
Scott Blackerby says the New Wave’s sole LP (Little Dreams) is full of “heavily orchestrated soft-pop moves. . . . Most of the songs boast fairly attractive melodies, though the arrangements are occasionally overwhelming and their lyrics suffer from standard college student angst, which probably drove young female English major crazy.” (Scott Blackerby, The Acid Archives (2nd Ed.))
Richie Unterberger’s opinion?
[The New Wave was] a soft rock sunshine pop duo . . . . The album is . . . so soft and pop-ish that its relationship to rock music is slight and it sometimes sounds geared as much or more to the adult pop market as the pop/rock one. Their material emphasizes breezy, samba-influenced close-harmony romantic tunes, acoustic guitars, and light percussion embroidered by vibes and some orchestration. The music is pleasant but fluffy . . . .
Pleasant but fluffy?! It’s not toilet paper! (If you are from the UK, you wouldn’t understand that.)
Joe Marchese tells us of the New Wave and the LP:
King found inspiration in the tricky chords of the bossa nova. He mastered them and went on to write his own songs, often in collaboration with one-time child actor Thom Andriola, who performed under the stage name of Tommy AndrĂŠ. By 1966, King and Andriola were recording demos, and one year later, they were signed to Canterbury Records. . . . [T]hey found themselves collaborating with rock royalty as The New Wave. Van Dyke Parks, Gene Page, Mike Post, Hal Blaine and Carol Kaye all added their magic to the duoâs debut. . . . The New Wave brought together the sounds of Kingâs beloved bossa nova with jazz, pop and classical strains, while the harmonies recalled late-period Chad and Jeremy [see #1,060] or even Peter and Gordon. . . . [They] wrote all but one of the songs on the[ LP] . . . and the one cover version was a rearranged version of Michel Legrandâs âAutrefoisâ from Jacques Demyâs 1964 musical film Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, or The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. This was hardly Top 40 fare in 1967, adventurous though those times were. . . . . [T]he evocative, sometimes eerie sound of the vibraphone played a major role in the sound of The New Wave. Renowned [jazz] bassist Ron Carter . . . contributed bass to the record. . . . Itâs no surprise that members of the famed Los Angeles âWrecking Crewâ participated in sessions . . . . Gene Page . . . was in the arrangerâs chair and co-produced . . . . Van Dyke Parks was enlisted into service on piano while in the midst of work on SMiLE [see #1,825]. . . . The New Waveâs rich sound included harpsichords, strings and oboes, adding color to the most introspective songs on the LP as well as the sunnier cuts. The album performed well in the Los Angeles area, but Canterbury wasnât behind it. King and Andriola continued to explore the boundaries of popular music, taking their sound in a less commercial direction (inspired by modern classical composition) and recording a second album in the U.K. that never saw release. But the New Waveâs self-titled LP has remained a favorite among sunshine pop collectors for its intelligent lyrics and quirky, moody, individual melodies.
Two young sons of L.A. success originally formed Canterbury: Ken Handler and then-partner Norm Ratner. Ratner’s family owned a large carpet company in L.A. and Ken’s parents . . . founded Mattel toy company, and yes, Ken is that Ken, and his sister is that Barbie. The Handlers set Ken up with something to do and paid him well for running what was essentially a tax shelter for their toy business. The label did a lot of recording in about a two-year span but had little success to show for it — which seemed to be the point, since that way they could declare a loss. Despite their best efforts to fail, they found themselves releasing a reasonably successful bubblegum single in 1967 called “Yellow Balloon”. . . . During the summer of 1967 sales of the album were going well around Los Angeles and elsewhere. But just when the record needed even more of a promotional boost, Canterbury pulled these efforts away from the LP, and interest began to wane. We also had not received any payment, so we sent with our manager to BMI and asked if they had accrued any royalties from airplay and sales. We discovered that BMI had never been contacted by Canterbury to handle payments. When we went back to Ken . . . he got so mad that her tore up our contract and gave us our full freedom right then and there. At that point it became very clear to us that Canterbury was actually in business to lose money.
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[The Knaves’] follow-up Dunwich [Records]-produced single, “Inside Outside”/”Your Stuff”, failed to get past acetate form. One theory is that the thinly disguised sexual suggestiveness of both sides was deemed unacceptable by [the Chicago radio station] WCFL [which had put “Leave Me Alone” on its playlist] and, more importantly [the Chicago powerhouse] WLS.
liner notes to the CD comp Oh Yeah!: The Best of Dunwich Records
Ken Voss tells the story of the Knaves:
In 1966 . . . [they] put out . . . âLeave Me Aloneâ b/w âThe Girl I Threw Away[“, which] became a top five hit in Chicago. . . . [T]he All Music Guide[ states that] âThe Knaves stood out a little from the garage crowed in their relatively heavy use of brooding folk-rock elements within their aggressive raunchy sound.â Classic Garage Rock concurs, âIn the pantheon of â60s garage rock, arguably the most anti-authority anthem of them all is the Knavesâ âLeave Me Aloneâ.[“] Hailing from the northern suburbs of Chicago . . . [t]he Knaves formed in 1964. Howard Berkman (lead guitar, vocals), Mark Feldman (guitar), John Hulbert (guitar, harmonica), Neal Pollack (bass) and Gene Lubin (drums). Berkman, said to have been a child prodigy, played guitar in his early teens with a surf-rock band called The Jesters that included future folk legend Steve Goodman. Recalls Lubin, ” . . . . I . . . hooked up with an organ and bass player from Sunday school. We played beatnik coffee houses . . . . Then around the fall of 1962, I started college and met Howard Berkman. He was like 14 or 15 years old[.”] . . . The other [Knaves] were high school friends. Even though they had very little musical experience, there was a chemistry between them with Berkman becoming their mentor and instructor. Initially, they took on a âbad boyâ image playing mostly covers embracing the British ârockerâ subculture . . . . They built a following predominately in the Chicago underground music scene . . . . In 1966 the Knaves were introduced to Terry Sachan, who at the time was road manager for the Beach Boys [see #667, 1,825] . . . . Heading into the studio, under the production direction of renowned promo man and label owner Paul Gallis, the band recorded seven songs. Their debut . . . . [B-side] âThe Girl I Threw Awayâ âdeserves its reputation as one of the most outstanding fusions of Byrds-y folk-rock with morose â60s garage punk,â notes critic Richie Unterbuger. It was initially released on the small independent Glen label. Once it garnered enough popularity, it was licensed over to Dunwich for broader distribution. Then Neal Pollack got drafted, Stu Einstein stepped in to replace him. Despite the popularity their first record generated, when it came to release a follow-up âInside-Outsideâ b/w âYour Stuff,â it appears Dunwich pressed so few copies that it was considered unreleased . . . . The Knaves never made very much money. With the labelâs disinterest, and when their equipment was stolen out of their van, it spelled the end of the Knaves.
The difference between the Knaves and everybody else is we were terribly dysfunctional juvenile delinquent kids. The other kids, like the Shadows of Knight [see #184, 1,075], the Little Boy Blues, the Dirty Wurds and those guys, they had families to come home to, people patting them on the head, buying them a guitar, buying them an amp. I was always getting tremendous, tremendous resistance. None of us were getting anything but stormy seas from our people. We were really angry. . . . We all felt really stigmatized by this dysfunction that was in lives. We had this tremendous following among all the kids because they could really relate to that. We werenât trying to be anyone else.
[I]t was about provocation, because everything was in those days . . . the civil rights movement, the war protest. I think we felt it was our civic duty to send a wake-up call though we didnât exactly have any idea as to what that might be. . . . You had this combination of a virtuoso guitarist like Berkman and then a bass player who was virtually practicing on stage. You had these layers of virtuosity and primitivism, which I think, gave it a unique sound. People just didnât know what to make of it. . . . [O]ur first gigs were not suburban teenage clubs. Somehow or other, we got connected with some people that got us booked in these really hard-*ss places. They were practically burlesque halls. Our first gigs were playing . . . at . . . a nightclub mostly for conventioneers and tourists. We played on a tiny stage with a glass cage to either side of us with a gal in each one in a bikini go go dancing. I mean it was a hard place. There were prostitutes hanging around outside. . . . By the time we started playing for the teen clubs, we were a little hardened. There was nothing sweet about us.
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Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term Like Thisfamiliar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (ârelating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainmentâ â dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify — now over 1,300 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
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Ice on Ice didn’t yield as many hits as its predecessor (The Ice Man Cometh), but for fans of mature uptown soul and smooth string-laden productions, it’s yet another success. The Butler-Gamble-Huff triumvirate began right where they’d left off less than a year earlier, and occasionally upped the energy level, as on the highlight “Been a Long Time.” True, there’s nothing on Ice on Ice up to the level of “Only the Strong Survive” or “Hey, Western Union Man,” but it’s a great place to go for more of Jerry Butler’s smooth, confident approach to late-’60s soul. https://www.allmusic.com/album/ice-on-ice-mw0000836296
Ben Beaumont-Thomas:
Born to a poor family in Mississippi and then raised in Chicago, Butler originally trained to be a chef â âJerry could cook like somebodyâs mama,â Smokey Robinson [see #182] later said â but became an influential and versatile musician who came of age as soul music evolved out of doo-wop and mid-century pop. He brought his gospel music background to bear on one of his earliest songs, “For Your Precious Love” . . . which he wrote and then performed with his group Jerry Butler and the Impressions, taking it to No 11 in the US charts in 1958.The group also featured Butlerâs childhood friend Curtis Mayfield, who fronted them after Butler left for a solo career â they found further success with songs such as People Get Ready [see #118, 285, 1,347, 1,544, 1,848]. But the Butler-Mayfield collaboration continued, with Mayfield writing or co-writing a number of solo Butler songs, including “He Will Break Your Heart”, a No 7 hit in 1960. Butler also co-wrote other hits, such as Otis Reddingâs [see #1,333, 1,385] “Iâve Been Loving You Too Long”. Butler also found success with his takes on a series of pop standards, including “Moon River” and “Make It Easy on Yourself”, but his biggest hit of all was self-penned: ‘Only the Strong Survive’, which reached No 4 in 1969. It was co-written with powerhouse Philadelphia duo Gamble and Huff, and together they scored a number of other hits. He earned the nickname âIcemanâ for his cool, collected demeanour on stage: âI came through a period when the Isley Brothers were jumping off the stage, and James Brown was sliding across the floor. But I am just a standup singer,â he said. A cover of “He Will Break Your Heart” became a US No 1 hit for Tony Orlando and Dawn in 1975, under the title “He Donât Love You (Like I Love You)”. But his own musical success waned in that decade, and he ended up focusing on a beer distribution company heâd founded in 1973. Come the 1980s, he decided to move into politics, and in 1986 was elected to the Board of Commissioners in Cook County, Illinois â it acts as the legislature for the area, and oversees courts, prisons, healthcare and more. He held a position on the 17-strong board until his retirement in 2018. He was made a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the Impressions . . . .
Jerry Butler’s recording career spanned seven decades and saw him release more than 50 albums, and his voice is one of the most distinguished in all of music. Soulful yet smooth as ice, his nickname, “The Ice Man,” epitomized his demeanor — and his sound. Butler moved from Sunflower, Mississippi, to Chicago at the age of three and grew up in the Cabrini-Green Housing Projects. He had initial music lessons as a young boy while a member of a church choir in Chicago. Curtis Mayfield, who was three years younger, was a member of the same choir. The two befriended each other and began a collaboration that would have an everlasting impact on music. The duo joined brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks and Sam Gooden to form the R&B group the Roosters. . . . In 1957, the quintet’s name was changed to Jerry Butler & the Impressions. Butler scored his first hit with the Impressions in 1958 with the timeless ballad “For Your Precious Love.” (He’d written the lyrics to the song when he was 16.) That same year, Butler and the Impressions cordially split, and Butler began his solo career. He released his first single, “Lost,” on the Abner label. It peaked at number 17 on the Billboard R&B charts. Jumping over to Vee-Jay in late 1960, where his career blossomed, Butler had his first hit as a solo artist with “He Will Break Your Heart.” The single went to number one and stayed there for seven consecutive weeks. In 1961, he bounced back with two Top Ten singles: “Find Another Girl” and “I’m a Telling You.” In 1967, Butler signed with Mercury and teamed up with the production duo of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. His work with these two master producers and songwriters resulted in some classic recordings, including the outstanding album The Iceman Cometh. The record featured two number one singles (“Hey, Western Union Man” and “Only the Strong Survive”) and two Top Ten singles (“Never Give You Up” and “Are You Happy”). While Butler was always known for being a crooner, “Hey, Western Union Man” revealed that he was more than capable of singing uptempo songs. In 1971, Gamble and Huff formed their own label. Subsequently, Butler formed a creative workshop to help provide material for his forthcoming albums. He marketed songs that he didn’t use on his own albums to other artists. In the spring of 1971, he hit the Top Ten with the number eight single “If It’s Real What I Feel,” which was written by Chuck Jackson (the younger brother of Rev. Jesse Jackson). Butler continued his hitmaking tradition with “Ain’t Understanding Mellow,” a classic soul-ballad duet with Brenda Lee Eager that peaked at number three on the Billboard R&B charts. He scored a number six single with Eager with a remake of the Carpenters’ “(They Long to Be) Close to You” and a solo hit with a remake of the O’Jay’s “One Night Affair,” which was also his last song to crack the Top Ten. Never one to categorize singers because he believed that a singer is a singer — not based on genre, but merely on a person’s ability to sing — Butler himself covered several styles of music during his lengthy music career. He had many highs, ranging from sharing the spotlight with such greats as Aretha Franklin to being the chairman of the board for the nonprofit Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Butler also became a force in another field: politics. In the mid-’80s, he was a significant campaign supporter of Chicago’s first Black mayor, Harold Washington. A short time later, he himself became the Cook County (Illinois) Commissioner, and by the late ’90s, he was a Chicago City Alderman. In the meantime, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Impressions in 1991.
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Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term Like Thisfamiliar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (ârelating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainmentâ â dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify — now over 1,300 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,920) Vamp — âFloatinââ
This ârarely comped classic of UK psych[] featur[es] shimmering distorted guitar and detached drumming. . . . almost like a more lethargic version of Tintern Abbey’s equally lauded âVacuum Cleaner'” [see #35]. (Mag1c_hand, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/vamp/floatin-thinkin-too-much/) A â[c]lassic cult favorite from [a] supergroup comprised of [former Pretty Things (see #82, 94, 153, 251, 572, 731, 892, 1,001, 1,327) wildman] Viv Prince, Andy Clark, Mick Hutchinson, and Pete Sears” (Leapday, https://www.45cat.com/record/584213), it is a âreflective balladâ with a âlaidback, hypnotic atmosphere” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) that âreally sounds like everyone involved in the recording was seriously stoned.” (JoĂŤl van Roode, https://www.pooterland.com/bands_compilations.html)
Pete Sears Vamps:
âVAMPâ . . . stood for Viv, Andy, Mick, and Pete. Viv Prince from the âPretty Thingsâ on drums, Andy Clark on keyboards and vocal, Mick Hutchinson on guitar, and me on bass. We released a single in 1968 called âFloatinâ . . . . I remember us sitting in this big-wigâs office at Screen GemsâŚand him bragging about how theyâd made the âMonkeysâ band out of nothing. We didnât really hit it off with their approach to promoting music and our one single didnât do so well. We had recorded another tune which included Sam Gopal on Tablas playing along with Viv on drumsâŚmore like the jam approach of the original âSam Gopal DreamââŚunfortunately it never saw the light of day and nobody knows where the acetate is. We broke up soon after thatâŚMick and Andy started âClark Hutchinsonâ and made some cool albums. I started my own band called âGiantâ with Viv Prince on drumsâŚI played lead guitar.
Viv Prince[ was] a drummer for the snarling 1960s British rock band the Pretty Things, whose taste for chaos, onstage and off, provided inspiration for fellow stick-wielding loons like Keith Moon of the Who [see #548, 833, 976] . . . . During his 18-month run . . . . [h]e got as much attention for his unhinged persona as for his scalding performances. It was no mean feat to be the maniac among maniacs in the Pretty Things, a ferocious outfit that partied incessantly and was generally considered a ruder, cruder version of the Rolling Stones [see #382, 298, 537, 579, 1,098, 1,403]. . . . The Pretty Things formed . . . in 1963, and Mr. Prince joined the next year. He had previously worked as a session drummer and played with various bands, including the Jazz Cardinals and Carter-Lewis & the Southerners . . . . Prince was recruited to bring an air of professionalism to the unruly Pretties. That is not the way it unfolded. âWe were sort of novice lunatics, but they suddenly hand us, like, the high priest of lunacy,â Phil May, the groupâs lead singer, said in an interview for Richie Unterbergerâs book Urban Spacemen and Wayfaring Strangers: Overlooked Innovators and Eccentric Visionaries of â60s Rock . . . . May recalled a young Mr. Moon . . . taking in Pretty Things gigs and looking mesmerized by Mr. Princeâs explosive fills. âBefore that, playing drums was quite sedentary,â Mr. May said. âBoring. And through Viv, youâd suddenly realized that you could be a drummer, but also an extrovert. You could be a star.â . . . Eventually, Mr. Princeâs untethered personality became too much, even for the Pretty Things. He âwas one of the great debauched people of our time, even worse than Keith Moon,â Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones once said. . . . âWe had to sack him because he was so bad in the end,â Mr. May told Mr. Unterberger. âWe couldnât finish a concert.â
Pete Sears . . . has played keyboards or bass guitar with a large variety of artists . . . . His credits include the classic early Rod Stewart albums, Gasoline Alley, Every Picture Tells a Story,Never a Dull Moment, and Smiler . . . . Pete was bassist and keyboardist with Jefferson Starship from 1974 to 1978 . . . and from 1979 to 1987, he was with Starship, playing on over ten albums with the two bands. He contributed several songs to each album . . . . [and] collaborated on many songs with Grace Slick as lyricist . . . . In 1978, after Grace left the band for one album, Freedom at Point Zero, he began working with wife and lyricist, Jeannette Sears, and over the years they wrote many of Jefferson Starshipâs songs . . . . [s]everal . . . ma[king] into music videos and . . . put into heavy rotation on MTV. . . . From 1992 to 2001, Pete played keyboards . . . in the Jefferson Airplane off-shoot, Hot Tuna. He also played in the Jorma Kaukonen Trio . . . . John Lee [Hooker] was . . . a guest on Peteâs album, The Long Haul. Peteâs other release, Watchfire, in 1988, included Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, David Grisman, and Mimi Farina [see #1,760]. . . . Over the years, Pete has worked on many benefits with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead including an early version of Ratdog, and in 2001 he formed his own band Dawn Patrol. He is currently a full-time member of Moonalice . . . . In 1964 and 1965, Pete toured Britain with the Sons of Fred, recording five singles . . . . [A]fter a brief stint on keyboards playing Motown songs with Fleur De Lys [see #32, 122] he formed the underground psychedelic band Sam Gopal Dream along with renowned guitarist, Mick Hutchinson and Tabla player Sam Gopal. . . . Pete . . . recorded keyboards with bluesman Freddy Kingâs European backing band, Steamhammer. In 1969, Pete worked as a session musician in London . . . . He . . . form[ed] Silver Meter with Leigh Stevens and Micky Waller, and later the original Stoneground . . . . Pete recorded piano and bass on Rod Stewartâs Gasoline Alley in 1970. In 1971, he played bass on the first Papa John Creach solo album . . . . [H]e joined The Long John Baldry Blues Band for their first tour of the United States. He was later a founding member of the San Francisco based band, Copperhead . . . . Pete played piano with bluesman Nick Gravenitas on the notorious Mill Valley Bunch album during this period . . . . He also formed a band, Sears, Schon, Errico with Greg Errico, and Neil Schon. . . .
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term Like Thisfamiliar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (ârelating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainmentâ â dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify — now over 1,300 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
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Sweet Grooves Records explains (courtesy of Google Translate):
In 1970, the famous Spanish duo Manolo and RamĂłn, known as El DĂşo DinĂĄmico [the Dynamic Duo] since the early 1960s, changed their musical direction and name, recording a full album in London in a cool pop-psych style. With a dream team of session musicians (Jimmy Page, Ian Anderson, Billy Preston, and others) and arrangers associated with George Martin, the duo recorded 13 tracks, from which “LĂĄgrimas Sonrisas” and “AdiĂłs, AdiĂłs, Goodbye” were selected for a 45 rpm release.
Alas, the LP became “[a] truly ghostly record, with zero popular success at the time . . . barely heard by anyone . . . their most obscure work.” (Vincente Fabuel (courtesy of Google Translate), https://www.efeeme.com/objeto-de-deseo-manolo-y-ramon/) Xesco 3penics explains (courtesy of Google Translate):
After the numerous success of DinĂĄmico during the prodigious decade at the end of the 60s they entered a stage where they began to lose popularity. In 1969 Manolo and RamĂłn traveled to London to record . . . with the intention of finding a new sound and recorded under the baton of close collaborators of George Martin and most likely (because it seems that RamĂłn Arcusa has confirmed it in an interview [seehttps://www.efeeme.com/duo-dinamico-historia-en-movimiento/]) with great British musicians such as Jimmy Page . . . or Ian Anderson . . . . When they arrived in Spain with the recording under their arm, they saw how the small company CPI, with which they had signed as Manolo Y RamĂłn, closed its doors and was absorbed by Movieplay, which finally released a few copies of the album in 1970 and hardly promoted it. The British misadventures of Duo DinĂĄmico, forgotten at the time . . . are 13 songs of pop melodies with baroque orchestrations, winds with a clear soul influence and fuzz guitars that bring the right dose of psychedelia. Most are melodic ballads but the album also has some super danceable songs full of groove!
[They] met while working in an aviation company. After singing together at a Christmas party, these young music lovers decided to pursue a career naming their act DĂşo DinĂĄmico. They started with a live performance at a local radio station and recording an EP for the first time in 1959 . . . . Soon, Duo Dinamico was performing along with Luis Mariano, Lucho Gatica, even the Platters, and getting main roles in movies such as Boton De Ancla [Anchor Button] and Buscame A Esa Chica [Find that Girl for Me]. The pair wrote “La, la, la”, the song that won the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest, performed by Massiel, while in 1972, after recording in London with producer George Martin, [they] decided to concentrate themselves in producing new acts, in addition, composing for prominent Latin artists. In 1986 Sony Music signed them up, releasing a self-titled album, followed by En Forma, featuring “ResistirĂŠ” [“I Will Endure”], which was chosen by Pedro AlmodĂłvar as a main title for the movie soundtrack of Atame. DĂşo DinĂĄmico continued to perform in the years to come and in 2007 Quisiera Ser — a musical featuring 24 of their hits — began a run at the Teatro Nuevo Apolo in Madrid.
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The Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame elaborates:
The group was optimistic that their fourth single, âGirl (You Captivate Me)â . . . would put them back on top. The sound . . . featured Bobby[ Martinez]âs guitar played through a fuzz box to great effect and a snarling vocal by Question Mark. In an attempt to give the song more edge, Question Mark substituted the lyric “Girl you masturbate me” for the original line “Girl you fascinate me”; but Cameo-Parkway once again failed to give much promotion to the single. Somewhat surprisingly, the song was performed on American Bandstand on June, 10, 1967. The video . . . shows Question Mark lip-synching the song without any of the other Mysterians in sight. Perhaps because the lyric “masturbate” was altered when it was broadcast, it became a classic âmondegreenâ (a term given to misunderstood song lyrics) for a large number of listeners. Many thought they heard âGirl you masticate meâ, thinking that no song featured on AM radio or introduced by Dick Clark on American Bandstand would contain the word “masturbate”. But “Girl (You Captivate Me)” featured the unmentionable and, once the word got out, the song was taken off most radio playlists. As a result, the single barely scraped into Billboard at # 98. It would also prove to be the band’s final entry on the Hot 100.
The groupâs sound was an amalgam of cheesy organ (Farfisa or Vox, depending on whom and when you ask), garage-rock arrangement and the sneering, menacing vocals of Question Mark. . . . While everyone in the band is of Latino heritage, Question Mark bristled at the idea of putting them in an âethnicâ category with Los Lobos and Thee Midniters [see #603]. âI just think of us as a rock nâ roll band. When you put on the radio all you hear is music. And you donât even know if thereâs females playinâ music. And you donât even know if thereâs a crow playinâ the music. You donât know whatâs playinâ the music. All you know is that you hear music, right? And thatâs the way it should be.[“]
It only took one song, the organ-driven number one smash “96 Tears,” to make ? & the Mysterians into garage rock legends. Eccentric frontman Question Mark (actually spelled “?,” once he had his name legally changed) cultivated an aura of mystery by never appearing in public without a pair of wraparound sunglasses; he frequently claimed he had been born on Mars and lived among the dinosaurs in a past life, and that voices from the future had revealed he would be performing “96 Tears” in the year 10,000. On a more earthly level, the Mysterians’ sound helped lay down an important part of the garage rock blueprint, namely the low-budget sci-fi feel of the Farfisa and Vox organs . . . . What was more, they were one of the first Latino rock groups to have a major hit, and ?’s sneering attitude made him one of the prime suspects in the evolution of garage rock into early punk. The Mysterians were formed in 1962 by bassist Larry Borjas, his cousin, guitarist Bobby Balderrama, and drummer Robert Martinez; they soon added vocalist ? (the general consensus is that he was actually Rudy Martinez, Robert’s brother, though a few sources identified him as Reeto Rodriguez) and organist Frank Rodriguez. By most accounts, all the musicians were born in Texas, of Mexican descent, and grew up in Michigan in the Saginaw/Bay City area. Taking their name from a Japanese science fiction film, the band played its first gigs in the small Michigan town of Adrian in 1964, and soon moved its home base from Saginaw to Flint. Larry Borjas and Robert Martinez were both forced to leave the band for military duty, and were replaced by bassist Frank Lugo and the Martinez brothers’ brother-in-law, drummer Eddie Serrato. Shortly afterward, ? wrote the lyrics a song he called “Too Many Teardrops” and showed them to the rest of the band; the title was changed first to “69 Tears,” and then the less suggestive “96 Tears.” The song became a hit at the Mt. Holly ski lodge/dancehall, where the band played regularly, and in early 1966 they recorded it for the small local label Pa-Go-Go, owned by the band’s manager. It became a regional hit in Flint and Detroit, attracting interest from several major record companies; ? decided to sign with the Philadelphia-based Cameo-Parkway . . . . Now blessed with national distribution, “96 Tears” raced up the pop charts and went all the way to number one in the fall of 1966, becoming one of garage rock’s all-time classics. The band’s first album . . . was released by the end of the year, as was its follow-up single, “I Need Somebody,” which just missed the Top 20. Released in early 1967, “Can’t Get Enough of You Baby” was a minor hit, but the group’s second album, Action, sold disappointingly; moreover, Cameo-Parkway was experiencing financial difficulties, and was later taken over by ABKCO chief Allen Klein. The Mysterians departed, recording singles for Capitol in 1968 and Tangerine and Super K in 1969, to no commercial avail . . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,917)Rejoice! — âSpring Flew In Todayâ
Rejoice! — spring is here, and here is some beautiful and “lilting” (Ted, https://wendy-city.blogspot.com/2019/) Marin Country folk rock backed by Hal Blaine and Larry Knechtel of the Wrecking Crew. It’ll put a spring in your step!
Ted writes of Rejoice’s LP, Rejoice:
[T]he album is an intriguing late entry in the ampersand co-ed folk duo movement that spanned across the entire decade of the â60s. The proficient musical bed tilled by the Wrecking Crew musicians on lilting, albeit fleeting songs [like] “Spring Flew in Today” . . . makes it sounds like that Tom & Nancy Brown are layering their flowering vocals over a sweeping ’60s motion picture soundtrack. In other spots, you can hear the underlying tension of a ramshackle Bay Area couple bereft of their familiar Marin County-based accompanying band and not quite coalescing with the professional approach of the top flight L.A. studio musicians (Joe Osborn on bass and Larry Knechtel on piano & organ, besides the aforementioned Blaine). . . . While Rejoice! lacked the crystalline harmonic interplay of Blackburn & Snow or the turn up the AM radio factor of Friend & Lover, their opportunity to combine forces and record with members of the Wrecking Crew is beyond compare.
Rejoice was a band made up of guitarist Tom Brown, bass player Nancy Brown, pianist Dick Conte and drummer Michael Patrick Moore. They were from Marin County, north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The Brownsâ were a husband and wife duo and their harmonies bear strong echoes of the coffee house folk circuit blended with the gentle, hazily psychedelic Bay Area sounds of the day. Rejoice was signed by Jay Lasker, then president of the Dunhill label. Rejoice originally went into the studio with Terry Melcher as producer in April 1968. Melcher was the only son of singer Doris Day and he had previously produced the Byrds’ [see #1,430, 1,605] albums Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn, Turn Turn[ and] all the albums for Paul Revere & The Raiders [see #109] from 1965 to 1968, including their string of hit singles . . . . Melcher had also been the producer of the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967. . . . While in the middle of recording . . . album, Melcherâs father passed away and [he] was gone for about a week. . . . Months later, Tom and Nancy Brown, the singers and main songwriters, went back to Los Angeles with Steve Barri as producer and completed the Rejoice album. Bari was a successful producer for The Grassroots, most of Mama Cassâs solo career hits, Tommy Roe . . . and Alan OâDay . . . . Rejoice used the following studio musicians to complete the album: drummer Hal Blaine, bass player Joe Osborne and pianist Larry Knechtel. Hal Blaine and Larry Knetchel were both . . . with the legendary Wrecking Crew from Los Angeles. The Rejoice album was released in January 1969 and a single co-written by Nancy and Tom Brown, âGolden Gate Parkâ, spent one week on the Billboard Hot 100 at #96. This was mostly on the strength of the tune climbing to #10 in San Francisco and #20 in Seattle. It was a fine example of the sunshine pop tunes populating the charts in the late 60âs. . . . With no commercial success, later in 1969 Rejoice broke up . . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,916)Jacqueline Taieb — âLe Printemps Ă Parisâ/âSpring in Parisâ
Tunisian-born yĂŠ-yĂŠ great Jacqueline TaĂŻeb (see #39, 1,305, 1,891) took Paris by storm with â7h du matinâ/â7 in the morningâ (see #39), about a schoolgirl waking up and wishing that Paul McCartney could help her with her English homework. Here, she tells us to “taste the dream of spring in Paris” through “lush orchestrated pop-rock with the kind of buoyancy that makes you want to go right out and take a stroll around Paris’ Jardin du Luxembourg”. (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/femmes-de-paris-vol-1-mw0000409204) Jean BouchĂŠty’s arrangement is enchanting.
Jacqueline recalls (courtesy of Google Translate):
The record company assigned me a genius arranger, Jean BouchĂŠty, a man who worked for Michel Polnareff, for example. He always recorded his arrangements in London, and I found myself at 17 in a London studio with big names, chosen by BouchĂŠty, who were on all the records I recorded at that period.
My father, a dental surgeon, gave me a guitar for my 12th birthday . . . . [and] a slightly older friend taught me chords and my goal became to compose songs. I could no longer leave my guitar, I took it everywhere and sang the hits of the moment and my first compositions. The one that made friends laugh was â7 a.m.â. During the summer holidays in Tunisia, I am surrounded by friends and I put on my show. Thatâs when Rolande Bismuth, the editor of the already famous Michel Fugain, passed by and said to me âthatâs what youâre doing, hereâs my card, come see me in Paris in Septemberâ. I went there and it all started: contract then recordings in sight! All these titles were recorded in a great studio in âswinging Londonâ at the end of the 60s, with crazy English musicians, led by Jean Bouchety, an exceptional arranger, who let me express my ideas despite being 18 years old. . . . Magical memories that often come back to meâŚ
Jacqueline TaĂŻeb arrived in France at the age of 8 with her parents. She released her first album in January 1967, a maxi 45 rpm with which she achieved good success thanks to the title 7 hours in the morning. H[er] second album was released in April 1967 . . . . Several records followed without achieving the same success, and Jacqueline TaĂŻeb temporarily disappeared from the French recording landscape. She reappeared in 1978, writing for others and producing several records under her own name, without however attracting the general public. At this time, she composed the title Ready to Follow you for Dana Dawson, a young singer from New York.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,915)Little Milton — âSpringâ
“We’ll be together the first of spring, baby” Yeah, baby, it’s spring! The legendary bluesman Little Milton (see #1,470, 1,645) turns soulward with “the hardest and jammiest of tunes [on his ’69 Grits Ainât Groceries LP], the infectious ‘Spring’, with its ominous bass lines and Milton’s booming vocal attack”. (soulmakossa, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/little-milton/grits-aint-groceries/) He âwould develop a rawer, funkier sound as the â60s progressed. This fusion of blues and funky soul exploded on [the LP]â. (soulmakossa again)
Little Milton was little in no way other than that his dad was Big Milton. Steve Huey gives us some early history:
[D]ie-hard blues fans know Little Milton as a superb all-around electric bluesman â a soulful singer, an evocative guitarist, an accomplished songwriter, and a skillful bandleader. . . . [with a ] signature style [that] combines soul, blues, and R&B, a mixture that helped make him one of the biggest-selling bluesmen of the â60s . . . . As time progressed, his music grew more and more orchestrated, with strings and horns galore. He maintained a steadily active recording career all the way from his 1953 debut . . . including notable stints at Chess (where he found his greatest commercial success), Stax, and Malaco. James Milton Campbell was born . . . in the small Delta town of Inverness, MS, and grew up in Greenville. . . . His father Big Milton, a farmer, was a local blues musician, and Milton also grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry radio program. At age 12, he began playing the guitar and saved up money from odd jobs to buy his own instrument from a mail-order catalog. By 15, he was performing for pay in local clubs and bars . . . . He made a substantial impression on other area musicians . . . and caught the attention of R&B great Ike Turner, who was doubling as a talent scout for . . . . [and] introduced the still-teenaged Little Milton to [Sam] Phillips, who signed him to a contract in 1953. With Turnerâs band backing him, Miltonâs Sun sides tried a little bit of everything . . . [but none] of them were hits, and [his] association with Sun was over by the end of 1954. He set about forming his own band . . . [and] pick[ed] up and mov[ed] to St. Louis in 1958. . . . [where he] befriended DJ Bob Lyons, who helped him record a demo in a bid to land a deal on Mercury. The label passed, and the two set up their own label, christened Bobbin. Little Miltonâs Bobbin singles finally started to attract some more widespread attention, particularly âIâm a Lonely Man,â which sold 60,000 copies despite being the very first release on a small label. As head of A&R, Milton brought artists like Albert King and Fontella Bass into the Bobbin fold, and . . . the label soon struck a distribution arrangement with the legendary Chess Records. Milton himself switched over to the Chess subsidiary Checker in 1961, and it was there that he would settle on his trademark soul-inflected, B.B. King-influenced style. . . . Milton had his big breakthrough with 1965âs âWeâre Gonna Make It,â which hit number one on the R&B charts thanks to its resonance with the civil rights movement. . . . [followed by] a successful string of R&B chart singles that occasionally reached the Top Ten . . . . Milton eventually left Checker in 1971 and signed with the Memphis-based soul label Stax . . . . [where he] began expanding his studio sound, adding bigger horn and string sections and spotlighting his soulful vocals more than traditional blues. Further hits followed . . . but generally not with the same magnitude of old.
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[Blunestone is] the undoubted jewel in Tales of Justine’s crown . . . a swirling, hallucinatory creation that found [David] Daltrey peering through the looking-glass into a parallel world of idyllic pastoralism, where wandering minstrels serenaded innocent young maidens as they glided serenely through some enchanted perfumed garden. . . . With its wistful vocal, hobbit-of-the-universe lyrics and Eastern-tinged melodicism . . . [It] visits all the right psonic psunspots, and (to these ears, at least) sits comfortably alongside acknowledged English lysergic pop masterpieces like [Pink Floyd’s (see #13, 38, 360)] “See Emily Play” and [Traffic’s] “Paper Sun”. Nevertheless, in view of the relatively sparse nature of the only surviving recording, it’s tantalizing to consider how an Abbey Road craftsman like George Martin or Norman Smith might have shaped the song. Sensing that this could be the big one, the group arranged for acetates . . . to be distributed to a handful of influential figures — including John Peel, who played it on his Top Gear show. Somehow, though, EMI were less than impressed, and they refused to release the track.
liner notes to the CD comp Petals from a Sunflower: Complete Recordings 1967-69
Richie Unterberger writes:
Tales of Justine’s main claim to fame might be as a late-’60s British rock group produced by Tim Rice (then an A&R man for EMI) prior to his career as an immensely successful co-writer of musicals with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Their one single, 1967’s “Albert”/”Monday Morning,” was toward the twee end of British psychedelic pop. Somewhat more representative of Tales of Justine, though still on the precious side of the genre, were numerous unreleased tracks they recorded between August 1967 and January 1969. In some respects these recalled the more ambitious (and overblown) productions of the Hollies [see #461] in their psychedelic phase, though Tales of Justine were yet more precious in their approach. Bandmember and singer/songwriter David Daltrey was featured in the early Rice-Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and later formed the group Carillion, a support act in a tour during David Bowie’s [see #9, 75, 464] Ziggy Stardust phase.
Tales Of Justine were one of those bands that came along at the outset of UK Psychedelia in the mid to late 60s but their pop dabbling soon lost them the âheadâ audience as the fashion went more towards heavy, experimental jamming rather than their snappy but trippy songs. . . . With a past that dated back to Potters Bar beat band the Sound Of Silence, Tales Of Justine were spearheaded by the talented David Daltrey, singer, guitarist and yes, relative of . . . Roger. After a brief time as the Court Jesters, they assumed the Tales Of Justine name and hit the . . . Psychedelic scene that was taking off in clubs such as Middle Earth and the Electric Garden . . . . They were in truth far more traditional in their approach, very pop-orientated indeed and as the evidence here displays, far the better for it. During the summer of 67 they were espied in concert by Tim Rice, who quickly came to realise their potential. Rice . . . was at this time keeping a keen eye on the pop scene for any rising talent in his role at EMI A&R. Daltrey and Co clearly fitted the bill. He quickly signed them up to a management contract and also got their monikers on the dotted line with his record company overlords too. Success only looked a short step away for Tales Of Justine, but it didnât quite turn out that wayâŚ. TOJ specialised in a whimsical and stately version of Psychedelia, but they were not adverse to throwing in the odd mind-melting Freakbeat-esque effort when it pleased them . . . . Though the Rice/Lloyd Weber patronage got them into Abbey Road to record . . . it couldnât even get them more than one record released. In truth the A side âArthurâ was far from being their best material . . . . [T]he single flopped and that was the end of Tales Of Justine, as far as officially released material was concerned anyway. Despite that they recorded repeatedly over the next year or so . . . . The sad thing though is that the potential of the band is clear to see. . . . In an alternate world, they would have been a hit machine. . . . [There is] jaw-dropping beauty on show here amongst the songs. . . . [T]he 60s flower children missed out on some great tunes. . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,913)The Action — âIâll Keep on Holding Onâ
Here is the incomparable and iconic Action (see #393, 429, 966, 1,773) — inexplicably missing in action in the UK charts — with a mod classic, “a very rare example of the UK cover being better than the US original.” (On the Flip-Side, https://www.45cat.com/record/r5410) The Action’s version of the Marvelettes’ #24 (#11 R&B) hit managed to reach #42 on the Melody Maker charts” (My Friend Jack, https://www.45cat.com/record/r5410) — sadly, its best performing A-side.
But what an A-side. Mike Stax writes:
Along with the Small Faces [see #969, 1,024], the Action were the ultimate mod band. They had the look, the moves, and, above all, the sound. Their interpretations of Tamla-Motown material had a flair and conviction that were unmatched on the British scene, and it won them a fanatical club-circuit following. Their collective strengths are demonstrated to maximum effect on their version of the Marvelettes’ “I’ll Keep Holding On,” released as their second single, in February 1966. Reg King’s superb lead vocal and the group’s exuberant harmonies capture all of the joyful energy of the original, while the ringing Rickenbackers and . . . kinetic drumming infuse the track with an extra dynamism that is transcendent.
liner notes to the CD comp Nuggets II (Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969)
Andrew Darlington adds:
[T]he single was critically well-received and became the closest they ever got to a chart hit. Itâs fair to say most radio listeners were unfamiliar with the Marvelettes American hit, and the Action have a Power-Pop drive that shifts it into alternate gears anyway, the lyric urging the purposeful pursuit of the elusive object of his desire â “waiting, watching, waiting, watching, looking for a chance”. The record was well-familiar and highly-rated around the clubs. It came tantalisingly close. Their window of opportunity was definitely ajar, yet it failed to actually chart. Perhaps it was the high-point, the main chance, the moment at which â if they were going to break through big, this was their time.
In the mid-â60s, the Action had a strong grassroots following among British mods. But despite the support of George Martin, they never managed anything close to a hit record. The Action were the most soul-oriented of the mod groups, favoring guitar-oriented covers of Motown tunes and R&B dance numbers of the day . . . . Martinâs production put the emphasis on Reg Kingâs impressive vocals and the groupâs high vocal harmonies, in the process getting a unique sound. . . . The Action changed members and their sound as the decade progressed, and were reborn as Mighty Baby [see #1,646]. The band started out in North London during 1963 as quartet called the Boys . . . . [who] went out of existence in 1964, but didnât split up, instead reconfiguring themselves as a five-piece. . . . the Action. [T]hey developed a tougher, harder sound that quickly made them favorites among mod audiences. The Action had a sound similar to the Small Faces . . . . They were discovered by George Martin, who signed them to his newly founded AIR Productions in 1965 and got them a recording deal at Parlophone Records . . . . The Action debuted with an excellent single of âLand of a 1000 Dancesâ b/w âIn My Lonely Room,â which failed to make the charts despite being an irresistible dance number and lovely ballad respectively, performed with genuine flair and inspiration, not to mention an authentic white soul sound from Reg King that was as credible as anything emanating from England at the time. The Actionâs second single, âIâll Keep on Holding Onâ . . . released in early 1966, was just as good . . . as their first, but saw no greater chart success. The Action maintained a serious following among the mods . . . but they couldnât get a break with their records and were unable to get the exposure that would have bumped them to the next level. . . . [B]y late 1966 and early 1967, they were doing smooth soul-styled material . . . . [and] by mid-1967 the[y] had evolved . . . into a progressive folk-rock-based sound . . . . Though Martin still supported the music the Action were making, their lack of success meant that AIR could no longer keep them on the label and they were let go in 1967. They . . . soon were back in the studio cutting a new batch of songs that were all composed by the band and featured a heavier, more psychedelic sound. They sent the tape around to various labels, but were unable to drum up enough interest to sign a deal. . . . Reg King subsequently left the band to pursue a solo career, and . . . the outfit that remained, rechristened Azoth. . . . They eventually transformed themselves into a pure psychedelic outfit, Mighty Baby . . . .
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Oh, and in one of the greatest YouTube comments ever, Davo2003hd reminisces:
In 1979, I bought Odds and Sods from a cut-out bin for .99 cents. Best buck I ever spent. . . . I had an English class the next hour, and a Sonnet poetry assignment was due that next hour. Of course, I had not done it. Playing “Naked Eye” and reading the lyrics, I realized this would make a great poem. I rearranged it to fit the needed structure and turned it in. The next day, the teacher announced she was disappointed with our sonnets. Only one student understood the assignment and turned in a great poem. She read it out loud. I thought I was busted!!! Nobody ever knew!! I got an A+. I still have the poem and the .99c vinyl. I’ve loved this song for 45 years.
Produced by Pete Townshend at Eel Pie Studios, London late May 1970 (some sources claim this version was produced by Glyn Johns at Olympic Studios, Barnes May 1971). Pete Townshend: “Another track from the EP [What EP?]. This number was written around a riff that we often played on stage at the end of our act around the time we were touring early TOMMY.[“] . . . The melody . . . first appeared during end-of-show improvisations during the May/June 1969 North American tour (it can be heard in the final moments of “My Generation” at Woodstock). The version with lyrics was not incorporated into the live set until after it was recorded . . . .
If you give a close listen to the versions of “Magic Bus” and “My Generation” on Live At Leeds and Live at the Isle Of Wight Festival 1970, youâll find an absolute cornucopia of riffs, hooks and tossed-away little phrases that most bands would kill for. Youâll also find living proof that at his prime, Townshend was every bit the shredder that Page, Clapton and Gilmour were; he just preferred riffing away instead. One of these riffs, a chiming, descending pattern in F that sees singer Roger Daltrey give it his best Robert Plant howl over the top, might sound a little familiar to true The Who die-hards. This is because the chord sequence never left Pete Townshendâs consciousness, and he spent the next couple of years turning it into “Naked Eye”, a song earmarked for a potential single release. . . . He said the song âcame to be one of our best stage numbers, this was never released because we always hoped we would get a good live version one day. But then weâre such a lousy live groupâŚâ Hell of a way to discover that Pete Townshend actually does have a sense of humour, right?
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,911)The Rolling Stones — âCops and Robbersâ
Here is the Stones’ (see #382, 298, 537, 579, 1,098, 1,403) inspired live March 19, 1964, performance at Londonâs Camden Theatre (broadcast on the BBC program on May 9) of a ’56 R&B comic classic by Kent Harris (Boogaloo and His Galant Crew) (that was covered within a month by Bo Diddley (see #1,326)). It got released on a famous ’73 bootleg (https://www.45cat.com/record/tmqmaxi9001#google_vignette), but wasn’t officially released until the 21st Century.
Marcelo Sonaglioni writes that:
[It] captured a band still raw, still hungry . . . . Brian Jonesâs harmonica cut through the arrangement with sharp, expressive lines, while Mick Jagger delivered the lyrics with a mixture of swagger and unease . . . . Jagger . . . sounded less like an imitator and more like a translator of mood.
Jagger said in ’17 that “American music is what we loved. ‘Cops and Robbers’, ‘Down the Road Apiece’, they were staples of our Richmond club days, blues but sped up.” (https://www.timeisonourside.com/SOCops.html)
Bayard says:
âCops and Robbersâ . . . written by . . . Harris[] is an excellent novelty song with piano and brushed drums, slow to midtempo on the spoken verses and mid to uptempo with fine rolling piano on the sung choruses, as Boogaloo tells his humorous tale of his carjacking encounter with an inept robber. . . . [It] appeared on The Billboardâs Most Played R&B in Juke Boxes rhythm & blues chart at #9 for the solitary week of 10 November 1956.
Cashbox wrote: “Boogaloo delivers the novelty lyrics, telling the story of a comedy hold-up with good timing, milking every line for the most it contains. This deck could be the next novelty craze.” (https://www.45cat.com/record/nc443739us)
Bill Dahl writes:
[It is] a hip, hilarious musical playlet . . . . [F]riendly Kentâs the victim of a carjacking by a would-be bank robber. Despite the edgy subject matter, itâs hilarious. âThatâs just another one of those, just playinâ around as a kid, writing funny stuff with my friends and cracking up laughing at it,â he says. Immediate competition came from a cover by one of Chicagoâs finest young bluesmen. âNext thing I know, Bo Diddley had got hold to it,â says Harris.
As to Kent Harris and his alterego Boogaloo*, Dahl writes:
The Coasters latched onto his slice-of-inner city-life vignette âClothes Line (Wrap It Up),â which they retitled âShoppinâ For Clothes.â Bo Diddley dug the boisterous âCops And Robbers.â Veteran orchestra leader Les Brown and budding country star Roy Clark both romped through his rollicking âTalk About A Party.â In actuality, Kent wrote and waxed the original versions of all three . . . [as] Boogaloo and His Gallant Crew. . . . Though his handful of vocal efforts were truly inspired, Harris eventually gravitated to a behind-the-scenes role as a songwriter, producer, and label owner. . . . [His sister] Dimples made her first platter for Savoyâs Regent subsidiary in 1951, and her brother took the plunge . . . after he returned stateside [from the Air Force]. âShe got a deal recording for a company called Trend Records . . . . [S]he wanted me to sign with âem too.â . . . Out during the spring of â54, the first [single] split the vocals evenly between Dimples (âHey, Mr. Jellyâ) and Ducky Drake, the first of Kentâs whimsical performing sobriquets, singing â1992.â . . . Dimples helped her big brother get started in the songwriting field as well. âShe got me a contract with a publishing company.[“] . . . Harris really found his niche at Sylvester Crossâ American Music. . . . Cross [also] operated Crest Records . . . . Someone at Crest thought as much of Kentâs singing as they did his songwriting. . . . [“]They said, âWell, weâd rather for you to sing âem,â than the people who I was writing for. So I wound up singing âem.â . . . [“]After I was a writer. I said, âMatter of fact, as producer I can make more money,ââ he reasons. âSo when I got to the producing, I said, âMaybe I could make more money if I had a record company too.â So I said, âWell, Iâll start a little record company.â . . . It was just a way to get things started with my singers, because by then I was signing other singers.â . . . Harris played a part in the discovery of future Motown diva Brenda Holloway [see #1,313], in her mid-teens when he came across her in â62. . . . [“]I got her a recording contract with a company called Del-Fi Records, and we cut about three or four records with them.â . . . Kent founded his Romark label in 1960, named after his son.
* “As kids, we used to call each other different funny names, you know. And they were calling me that. So that one stuck to me. . . . That was another name that I used to put on those songs because I didnât really like or want to use my name, Kent Harris.” (https://blog.ponderosastomp.com/2013/10/kent-harris-rhythm-blues-boogaloo-gallant-crew/)
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,910)The Beatles — âYou Know What to Doâ
I find the second song George Harrison [see #423, 545, 872, 942, 1,437] wrote (about Pattie Boyd?) utterly charming, and while only a demo, full of possibilities. “Could this maybe be the most adorable example of George’s Scouse coming out in his singing?” (1982pencil, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmxDt8CPcas) But John, Paul, and George (Martin) were not fans, and that was that. “Pretty decent song. Better than some of the crap that made it onto Beatles For Sale.” (Scotttyist, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWAAwWdFIj8) Ha, ha, ha! It has the distinction of being named the Beatles’ [see #422, 1087, 1,256] worst song by Ultimate Classic Rock. (https://ultimateclassicrock.com/every-beatles-song/) WTF!?
The Beatles Anthology tells us:
Two demo recordings [were] taped by the Beatles . . . the day before they flew to Denmark to begin an inter-continental tour. The drummer on the first few dates of that tour was a substitute, Jimmy Nicol, drafted in at the eleventh hour after Ringo had been taken ill the morning of 3 June [1964]. The EMI recording session booked for the remainder of the day was thrown into disarray by Ringo’s disposition; instead of taping the fourteenth and final song for the album A Hard Day’s Night, John, Paul and George spent an hour listening to playbacks and running Nicol through some of the songs in their stage repetoire. Then, after the drummer had gone home to pack his suitcase, they remained at Abby Road, and, during a four-hour evening session . . . loosely recorded three songs . . . . lncorporating vocal, guitar, bass and tambourine tracks, this is believed to be the only existing recording of George Harrison’s second song composition . . . . (The first was “Don’t Bother Me”, issued on With the Beatles in 1963.)
liner notes to the CD comp The Beatles Anthology 1
The Beatles Bible adds:
The precise line-up on the recording is uncertain; there has been speculation that Harrison recorded it alone, although it is more likely that John Lennon and Paul McCartney were also involved. A somewhat slight composition, its reception by the others in the group, and George Martin, may have discouraged Harrison from offering further songs until Help! in 1965. . . .
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The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify — now over 1,300 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,909)The Candymen — âLonely Eyesâ
Here is some real ear candy: Roy Orbison’s backing band (which later transmogrified into the Atlanta Rhythm Section) turns in “a real beauty, [its] influence coming from The Zombies [see #1,138] but with a taste of The Doors’ ‘Light My Fire’ [see #1,312] – who’s gonna complain?!” (Paul Vidal, https://www.bigvjamboree.com/THOSE-SWEET-SWEET-CANDYMEN.html) Not me!
Paul Vidal writes that:
Their vocal harmonies were superb and Rodney Justo’s singing was simply amazing. . . . The Candymen were top class musicians; they could duplicate other people’s wizardries with such ease that, ultimately, it was reflected too much in their own material and somewhat proved to be a creative dead end.
The Candymen were an Alabama-spawned band probably best remembered today as the backing group for Roy Orbison. The group started life as the Webs, co-founded by guitarist John Rainey and a young lead singer/guitarist named Bobby Goldsboro, in Dothan, Alabama, in the mid-1960s. . . . They were good enough to attract the attention of local producer and studio owner Ed Boutwells in Birmingham, who made a few recordings of them. The band was making something of a living locally and even managed to survive the departure of Goldsboro for what became an immensely successful solo career; Rodney Justo, a drummer turned singer who had previously led a band called Rodney & the Mystics, replaced him on vocals. And they had a songwriter-in-residence of sorts in the person of Buddy Buie, a friend of Goldsboro. Their breakthrough came when they discovered that Roy Orbison was going to be appearing locally and would be in need of a backing band. As they were already conversant with his work, it wasn’t a stretch to pick up all the finer nuances of his repertory, and the result was that the legendary Texas-born singer asked them to become his regular touring band. In the process, picking up the name from one of his biggest hits, the Webs became the Candymen. Additionally, Buie was taken on as Orbison’s tour manager, and moved to Atlanta, where he became a top producer as well. Meanwhile, the Candymen worked regularly behind Orbison onstage, a gig that, in other times, would have gotten them huge exposure. However, the second half of the 1960s were not good times for Orbison at least commercially in the United States; signed to MGM since 1965, he released some very good records and sold a lot of them in Europe, but in the United States his career and his concerts passed with little notice, despite the quality of his music and the Candymen’s playing. . . . [They also] developed a serious reputation as a great live band in their own right. They became known for doing . . . Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band live, amidst other repertory that was usually considered beyond the reach of a lot of bands. They also cut a series of LPs as the Candymen for ABC Records. Ultimately, their gig with Orbison ended . . . . Buie’s career as a songwriter and producer brought the members of the band, in conjunction with members of the Classics IV, into what became the Atlanta Rhythm Section and a decade or more of hit records and healthy album sales.Â
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,908)The Electric Banana/The Pretty Things — âItâll Never Be Meâ
This “has . . . tasty guitar from [Dick] Taylor and wouldâve fit nicely on The Pretty Thingsâ classic album S.F. Sorrow.” (https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2019/11/the-electric-banana-the-complete-de-wolfe-sessions-2019.html) And it’s a hoot seeing the Electric Banana (see #94, 251, 731, 892, 1,001) perform it during a groovy party scene in the classic Swinging London comedy Whatâs Good for the Goose, in which a âmiddle aged banker picks up two young free minded women on his way to a bankerâs convention and falls head over heels for one of them.â (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065205/plotsummary/?ref_=tt_stry_pl) The EB recorded “It’ll Never Be Me” and five other songs for the movie. David Wells writes that:
Blasting Hammond keyboards, swathes of blistering guitar leads and powerful lead vocals augmented by those soaring, surging harmonies and cryptic, highly literate lyrics — the Banana were clearly working at the peak of their creative powers. . . . “It’ll Never Be Me”, “Blow Your Mind”, “Alexander” (see #94) and the awesome “Eagle’s Son” (see #731) . . . were simply irresistible . . . as important a document of English acid rock as Sgt. Pepper, Piper at the Gates of Dawn or S.F. Sorrow . . . . In the parallel universe that they inhabited, The Electric Banana were superstars.
liner notes to the CD comp The Complete De Wolfe Sessions
The EB, of course, was the Pretty Things (see #82, 153, 572, 1,327) in disguise, making some much needed money by providing songs for films trying to be hip. Wells explains:
[The] Swinging London phenomenon had led to a profusion of groovy movies chronicling life [there] that, naturally enough, required an appropriately switched-on soundtrack for added verisimilitude. However, film companies soon discovered that the cost of licensing bona fide hit singles was prohibitively high [so, the music library de Wolfe] started searching for a young, vibrant pop group who were capable of providing an authentic but relatively inexpensive sound.
liner notes to CD comp The Complete De Wolfe Sessions
Richie Unterberger elaborates:
Asked point blank âdid you record them only for the money?â in a 1985 issue of the Gorilla Beat fanzine, singer Phil May replied, âYeah, because we needed money at that time to continue what we were doing. I mean, nobody gave us any money for S.F. Sorrow, we had it about pencil written, then [guitarist] Dick [Taylor] and I were quite broken at that time and we didnât get large wages from the records.â Asked Gorilla Beat, âDid they come and say: âWrite the music for this or that sequence?â May responded, âEvery time we made a record and felt we had some songs left over, the guys came into the studio and bought the recordings we didnât need. These songs were used in films, television series and so on. We were earning good money. This helped us to stay alive, really. What happened was, somebody would ring up de Wolfe saying: âHave you got some music backing for us. We got a sequence in a bar where a gangster shoots down another gangster and there is a jukebox playing in the background. So, what can I have?â[“]
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,907)The Kinks — âGodâs Childrenâ
This song from the Kinks’ Percy soundtrack (see #100, 381, 417, 450, 508, 529, 606, 623, 753, 865, 978, 1,043, 1,108, 1,330, 1,451, 1,591, 1,697, 1,784) is ineffably beautiful — “Superb. Sublime. Perfect. Kinks.” (carspiv, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSciUplVZrA)
And for a quasi-comedy about the world’s first penis transplant, Ray Davies’ lyrics are, if not subversive, at least off-message.
“Oh, the good lord made us all And we are all his children And they got no right to change us Oh, we gotta go back the way the good lord made us all”
Cwitt1980 writes:
I admire this album. What can Ray Davies do to sabotage the success of the Kinks reinstated fame [following “Lola”]? Make a soundtrack. But it’s great. What’s even greater is that the movie is about obtaining a fake *. And what does Ray do? He writes “God’s Children.” Hilarious. Who put him up to this?
Andy Gill asked Ray whether he wrote the soundtrack’s songs for the movie. Ray replied:
[I]t was a masterpiece of mismanagement! âLolaâ had been a worldwide hit, and America was crying out for us to go back there, but our managers decided it would be nice if we did the soundtrack to a film! . . . [M]ost of it was done to fit . . . the film.
This film begins with an antique dealer by the name of “Edwin Anthony” (Hywel Bennett) on his way to deliver a chandelier on a busy city street. All at once, a man falls to his death from a skyrise building resulting in a piece of glass from the chandelier severing Hywel’s male organ. In yet another strange twist of fate, there just happens to be a noted physician by the name of “Dr. Emmanuel Whitbread” (Denholm Elliott) waiting for the opportunity to be the first surgeon to ever successfully transplant a male organ onto another person. To his credit, the operation turns out to be a huge success–in more ways than one. Things change, however, when news of this event is released to the public and Edwin becomes obsessed with finding out the identities of everyone his unlucky donor ever slept with.Â
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,906)Patricia Carli — âLe lionâ
All I can say is yĂŠ-yĂŠ! Italian/Belgian/French singer and songwriter Patricia Carli sings of her lionly man, who apparently is quite the beast. It was written by her husband LĂŠo Missir along with J.-M. Rivat. I think Jay-Z would blush writing this for Beyonce!
“You are the master and I I am before you Nothing more than a kitten But when you want sometimes Oh mamamamama you love me like a lion Mama, it’s so good” (courtesy of Google Translate)
Passion Chanson (courtesy of Google Translate):
The Italian-Belgian singer-songwriter Patricia Carli was born . . . in the Italian city of Taranto, under the name Rosetta Ardito. At the age of four, she sang in the church of her village . . . and singing became a passion. At the end of World War II, she moved with her parents to Belgium, where her father found work in a coal mine. At 20, she seriously considered becoming a singer and entered various local and regional competitions. She was told that everything was decided in Paris, and, driven by her courage, she moved to the French capital, taking on various odd jobs, such as washing dishes in a restaurant . . . . She then approached the artistic world she so desired, went to auditions, and, by chance, met Nicole, Eddie Barclay’s wife, as well as the producer LĂŠo Missir in the early 1960s. The latter fell under the singer’s spell and married her before producing her records. After a few unsuccessful attempts, the artist achieved success in 1963 with “Demain tu te maries (ArrĂŞte arrĂŞte)”[/”You’re getting married tomorrow (Stop, stop)”]. And she continued her career with the French adaptation of the Italian song that won the Eurovision contest in 1964 in the mouth of Gigliola Cinquetti: “Non ho l’eta”[/”I’m Not Old Enough”] which became “Je suis Ă toi”[/”I Am Yours”] performed by Patricia Carli at the San Remo Festival in Italy. Her popularity then allowed Patricia to perform at the Olympia in Paris as the opening act for Nancy Holloway and Gilbert BĂŠcaud. But, as she [later] confided to Thierry Ardisson . . . [her] husband, who had done everything to make her famous, was nevertheless jealous of her fame and asked her to stop singing. She then devoted herself more and more to composing songs for other artists such as David-Alexander Winter (âOh lady Maryâ), Mireille Mathieu (âPardonne-moi ce caprice dâenfantâ[/”Forgive Me This Childish Whim”], âDonne ton cĹur donne ta vieâ[/”Give Your Heart, Give Your Life”]), Christian Delagrange (âRosettaâ, âSans toi je suis seulâ[/”Without You I Am Alone”], âPetite filleâ[/”Little Girl”], âReviens mon amour reviensâ[/”Come Back My Love, Come Back”], âTendre Cathyâ), Daniel Guichard (âLa tendresseâ[/”Tenderness”], âTâen souviens-tu Marie-HĂŠlèneâ[/”Do You Remember, Marie-HĂŠlène?”]) or Dalida (âComme tu dois avoir froidâ[/”You Must Be So Cold”]). But she continued to record albums nonetheless. In the second half of the 1970s, Patricia Carli divorced, lost her mother, and learned that she would have to fight cancer alone, forcing her to curtail her activities. In 1978, she took advantage of a remission from the disease to release a single, “L’homme sur la plage” (The Man on the Beach), which was a great success.
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term Like Thisfamiliar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (ârelating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainmentâ â dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify — now over 1,200 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
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When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,905)October Country — âCowboys and Indiansâ
(see #624, 1,702)
Renowned producer, arranger, songwriter and musician Michael Lloyd wrote this ’68 A-side and produced October Countryâs (see #624, 1,702) sole LP (“one of the better examples of . . . Lloydâs overall influence and impact on the West Coast-based [sunshine pop/soft rock] genre” (Bryan Thomas, https://www.allmusic.com/album/october-country-mw0000460858)) Lloyd recalled the infectious and energizing song as “[m]ore of a conceptual type of thing” and “[p]erhaps influenced by the Beach Boys’ [see #667, 1,825] “Heroes and Villains”. (liner notes to the CD reissue of October Country) If you hone in on the lyrics, you realize that they are actually quite depressing (as sunshine pop does all the time), brilliantly and tersely describing a native American warrior’s thoughts as he ponders the tragic and inexorable fate of his people.
RDTEN1 takes us to October Country:
I’ve always wondered why so many harmony-rich mid-1960s pop groups seemed to come out of Los Angeles. Even more of a curiosity is why most of them vanished with little exposure or popular success. Well, here’s another one to add to the list . . . . Born into a religious home (both parents were practicing ministers), the early-1960s’ found brother and sister Caryle (aka Carol) and Joe De Franca following their parents across the country, singing in a succession of church choirs. By 1966 the family was living in Southern California, where the siblings decided to try to break onto the L.A. club scene as a folk act. Within a couple of months they’d recruited a full-fledged band with a line up consisting of drummer Jerry Pasternak who was then replaced by Chet McCracken, guitarist Marty Earle, bassist Bruce Wayne and keyboardist Bob Wian. Playing under a number of names, the band started out as a covers band, slowly working in some original material into their act. A succession of dances and private parties saw them graduate to performances on LA’s club scene including dates at Gazzarri’s, The Whiskey, The Sea Witch. That led to dates [as an opening [act] . . . at larger forums like The Palladium, The Aquarius Theater and The Swing Auditorium. They then graduated to playing local colleges and scored attention as an opening act for national touring outfits . . . . Their real break didn’t come until 1967 when director Denis Hoffman saw the band playing at a local college. Hoffman knew guitarist Marty Earle and convinced them to let him develop a project that followed their daily and professional lives as they tried to break into the LA music scene. Even though October Country came off as surprisingly “normal” (Joe’s hobby is amateur radio, his girlfriend’s name is Cricket – apparently a go-go dancer. Carol works at an L.A. nursery school) and conservative (look at the background), the resulting “film” convinced Epic Records president Len Leny to fly out to Los Angeles to see the band play at a club. He subsequently signed them to a contract. where they were teamed with red-hot writer/producer Michael Lloyd. The subsequently made their recording debut with the Lloyd-penned and produced single — 1968’s “October Country” b/w “Baby What I Mean” . . . . At Lloyd’s suggestion the adopted the song title as their name . . . releasing a sophomore single: 1968’s “My Girlfriend Is a Witch” [see #624] b/w “I Just Don’t Know” . . . With the two singles generating modest airplay the band underwent a personnel change with Eddie Beram replacing McCracken on drums. Epic then decided to finance an LP.  Anyone who enjoys orchestrated, harmony rich material . . . will certainly find 1968’s October Country a pleasure. That said, in many respects this album was almost a Michael Lloyd solo effort. He produced, handled the arrangements, wrote nine of the eleven tracks and reportedly provided much of the instrumentation. Much to the group’s unending dismay, unhappy with what he considered to be sub-par band performances, Lloyd simply redid the backing tracks. Lloyd’s distinctive creative fingerprints were found all over the album. While neither of the De Francas was a singer, in the confines of this album their individual vocal shortcomings didn’t really matter that much. Surrounded by breezy melodies, complete with imaginative (and occasionally quirky) arrangements . . . [it] exuded a sense of joy and innocence that rock’s seldom come close to recapturing.
By the age of 13, he had formed his own band . . . at the same time continuing to take lessons in music theory and composition. He also started writing songs and pitching them to record labels in Los Angeles, including Tower Records, a subsidiary of Capitol. By Lloydâs own account, Eddie Ray, the head of A&R at Tower, suggested that the teenage Lloyd work with Mike Curb, and the pair began collaborating on songs and record production. Other sources suggest that Lloyd and Curb were introduced to each other by Kim Fowley [see #89, 449], who had signed Lloyd to a song-publishing deal. Lloyd also recorded surf music as a member of the New Dimensions, a group that included Jimmy Greenspoon, later of Three Dog Night. Around 1964, Lloyd began performing with brothers Shaun and Danny Harris . . . . Together they formed a group initially called the Rogues, later renamed the Laughing Wind. They recorded demos with Fowley, who then introduced the band to Bob Markley, a law graduate and aspiring performer who had already had his own TV show in Oklahoma. With Fowleyâs support and Markleyâs financial backing, Lloyd became a member of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band with the Harris brothers, Markley and drummer John Ware, releasing an album, Part One [see #197, 488], in 1967. Fowley also released some of the Laughing Windâs demos, with other tracks featuring Markley, as Volume One, credited to the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. Lloyd left the band shortly afterward, but returned to contribute to their 1969 album Whereâs My Daddy?. In 1967, Lloyd wrote songs and produced [a] Fowley[] solo album . . . . Curb allowed Lloyd to use his Hollywood Boulevard studios, and together with . . . Stan Ayeroff and Steve Baim . . . Lloyd wrote and produced an album, The Smoke . . . . Lloyd also provided the music for Steven Spielbergâs first short film, Amblinâ, and worked with Curb on other movie soundtracks, including The Devilâs 8 . . . .
Lloyd recalled the making of the October Country LP:
The drummer was so nervous doing the songs that he got physically sick and left. . . . [H]ere we are . . . wondering where the drummer is, and he’s gone. . . . So I just played the drums, and the other guys in the band left, and I did all the instruments. Joe and Caryle and I sang all the parts. It wasn’t like we could come back tomorrow when the drummer feels better. We had no second chance on this. We had to do it. . . . In some ways, [October Country] was a group and in other ways, it was a bit manufactured because I was probably more into it than the other band members. I don’t believe that any of them continued on with music.
liner notes to the CD reissue of October Country
Lloyd talks about himself:
Referred to as a boy genius at the start of his career Michael Lloyd has certainly proven that right. . . . [T]he prolific and talented record producer has accumulated in excess of 100 gold and platinum records well over 72 albums and 34 singles collecting numerous #1 singles and albums. Lloydâs records . . . rang[e] from Pop & Rock to Country & Jazz, R&B & Gospel . . . . His various chart records span five decades, from the 60âs to the present. Additionally, Lloyd has provided scoring, music supervision, song writing, song placement and or music producing for well over 100 motion pictures, 16 TV movies, 13 television specials & 35 television series. . . . As well as being the music supervisor for the motion picture, and the Dirty Dancing album . . Michael produced the blockbuster hits âIâve Had The Time Of My Lifeâ for Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, âYesâ by Merry Clayton [see #53] and âSheâs Like The Windâ by Patrick Swayze. . . [H]e met Mike Curb, which began a long and fruitful friendship and business association . . . . Curb put Lloyd to work scoring motion pictures, and a few years later, when Curb became president of MGM Records, he brought Lloyd, then 20 years old, in as vice president of A & R. At MGM Records, Lloyd signed Lou Rawls, which generated Lloydâs first major hit, âA Natural Manâ. Some of the artists Lloyd has worked with over the years include Barry Manilow, Belinda Carlisle, Kimberley Locke, Dionne Warwick, Steve Holy, Natalie Grant, Bill Medley, Benny Mardones, Stryper, Jennifer Warnes, The Righteous Brothers, The Monkees, Shaun Cassidy, Eric Carman, The Bellamy Brothers, The Burrito Brothers, The New Seekers, Sammy Davis Jr., Air Supply, Carmen, Jeffrey Osborne, The Osmonds, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Bill Medley, Tamara Walker, The Pointer Sisters, Leif Garrett, Susie Alllanson, Brush Arbor, Donny & Marie, Maureen McGovern, Roger Williams, Merry Clayton, Debby Boone, and Frank Sinatra [see #1,455] . . . .
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term Like Thisfamiliar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (ârelating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainmentâ â dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify — now over 1,200 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! / Off the Charts: 60s Rock Revelationsđ 