THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,339) Peter Sully — âEvil Womanâ
A power ballad Swinging London style, this “fuzz-driven” (liner notes to the CD comp Piccadilly Sunshine Volumes 11-20: A Compendium of Rare Pop Curios from the British Psychedelic Era) ’68 B-side is “[g]reat slow-burning psych introspection with some fiery guitar”. (Happening45, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iY-21Zc4B24&pp=ygUVUGV0ZSBzdWxseSBldmlsIHdvbWFu)
When the self-written single “settl[ed] into obscurity, Pete Sully would return afresh in 1970 to boost numbers and morale in the recently divided ranks of The Fire.” (liner notes to the CD comp Piccadilly Sunshine Volumes 1-10: A Compendium of Rare Pop Curios from the British Psychedelic Era) He had subsequent singles in ’70, ’74 and ’76.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,338)John Bromley — âWhat a Woman Doesâ
This ’68 A-side, a truly “[b]eautiful tune” (Eddie the Amateur, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnAozY6AcJs) by English singer/songwriter John Bromley (see #337, 350, 703, 1,026) is where his solo career began. He ânever thought of himself as a singer. . . . âI was really only interested in performing on my own original recorded demosââ. (Mark Johnston, liner notes to the CD reissue of Sing (expanded and renamed Songs, as was Bromley’s original preference)). The way Bromley was discovered comes right out of a movie:
[He was working in a record shop in London when Graham Dee] overheard a bored Bromley busking behind the shopâs counter with a cheap plastic guitar. Graham was . . . trying to place the tune that was being sung. . . . [and] was suitably impressed to learn that the song that he thought he recognized, âWhat a Woman Doesâ, was actually a John Bromley original. . . . âHe asked me to hold on and he ran around the corner and came back five minutes later asking if I could slip away for twenty -minutes to record a demo of the song.â . . . Dee ran off with the demo to Atlantic Recordsâs European managing director Frank Fenter[, who] was impressed enough by what he heard to rush John into his office the very next day. John was shocked, âFrank loved the song . . . . he offered me a recording contract for three singles and one album on the spot! I was hoping to get one of my songs placed with a major act by Frank, not a recording contract for myself.â
Mark Johnston, liner notes to Songs
Bromley says that:
I so wish I had the original demo that Graham Dee and I put together some weeks prior to the Sing Sessions. It was just acoustic guitar and vocal, but it had so much more ‘feel’ than the version that eventually got recorded. I just didn’t capture the same mood. I was nervous in the studio and the voice just didn’t have the same emotion.
liner notes to the CD reissue of Sing
I’d love to hear the demo if it were ever located, but I am enthralled by the “feel” of the single!
John Bromley has written âover 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 Farnhamâ, Jackie De Shannon and the Ace Kefford Stand. (Facebook). He also recorded some of his songs in the 60âs, releasing them as singles (backed by The Fleur De Lys (see #32, 122) which were eventually collected on his sole album, â69âs Sing. Reviewers often comment on how Bromleyâs songs are imbued with the spirit of Paul McCartney: Rob Jones calls his songs âMacca-esque psychedeliaâ (https://thedeletebin.com/2014/09/01/john-bromley-sings-so-many-things/), and John Reed calls Bromley âa singer-songwriter firmly rooted in the Macca tradition â and itâs possible to hear echoes of Beatles ballads such as ‘Yesterday’ or ‘Eleanor Rigby’ in many of his compositions.â (https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/john-bromley-songs).
If Bromleyâs singles had been released a year or two earlier, they would likely have received the rapturous reception they deserved. Rob Jones perceptively notes that:
[B]y 1969, there had been a bit of a shift where this approach was concerned since the height of the psych period in 1966-67. The world had become less optimistic and open to whimsy by then, two years after the summer of love, and after some of the figureheads of the civil rights movement were no more. British psychedelia had begun to mutate into a more âprogressiveâ and serious direction to contrast the nostalgic and twee nature of what psych bands had created. King Crimsonâs In the Court of the Crimson King is a good example of a darker, and less romanticized musical and thematic landscape from bands in Britain by the end of the 1960s when Bromleyâs record came out. Perhaps this is why [Sing] didnât take off. Bromley eventually left the music business for a time, escaping the ins and outs of an often callous industry. This record has been a sought-after treasure for vinyl collectors over the years since, an artifact perhaps of a lost era that is attached, ironically, to a new kind of hazy nostalgia for many. Listening to this song now, itâs easy to appreciate its charms . . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,337)The Motives — âIce Womanâ
This ’67 EP B-side about an ice woman whose spurned lover urges her to “come and look at the sun before it’s too late” is by a band composed of “British servicemen stationed in Germany . . . . [who ] recorded and financed an EP entitled The World Is a Trapezium: now regarded as one of the rarest UK psych artefacts, only 120 copies were pressed and then sold/given away to family and friends.” (David Wells, liner notes to the CD comp Let’s Go Down and Blow Our Minds: The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1967)
The band consisted of Clint Talbot (vocals/guitar), Tom Winter (lead guitar), Dave Field (organ), Barry Beaumont-Jones (bass), and John Redpath (drums). The liner notes to the CD comp Electric Sound Show: An Assortment of Antiquities for the Psychedelic Connoisseur tell us that:
They originally came together as a function band in late 1965 performing popular standards to other service personnel, but transformed into a creative songwriting unit with the addition of Tom Winter and drummer, John Redpath. Plenty of gigs ensued in military bases in Germany and Holland where the band funded their own recording session. A local entrepreneur from the Weert area of Holland, Johnny Hoes, released the band’s recordings on an E.P. on his Killroy label. The E.P. quickly sold out and was followed by a slimmed down version featuring two of the four tracks and again released on the Killroy label . . . . The group split in 1968 with three members joining other local guitarist, Bartie Newby to form Mr. Fantasy before gigging as Emergency with Tom Winter moving on again to form Opus 23 (Opus) in ’69. Tom Winter would go on to team up with Abi Reichstadt (aka Abi Ofarim [see #825] of Cinderella Rockefella fame from 1968) for a handful of releases in 1973 as Ofarim and Winter.
For a history of the band by Dave Field and a comment by comment “live-stream” of the band members reconnecting with each other, check out: https://garagehangover.com/motives/.
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[D]uring the 1969 split between . . . Robin Gibb and his two brothers . . . . Maurice Gibb did begin work on a solo LP, and released a single, âRailroad,â co-authored by Billy Lawrie, a songwriter and singer, and also the brother of the British pop/rock legend Lulu [who also co-write âIâve Come Backâ] who became Mauriceâs wife in 1969. . . . [He also began] work on a solo LP to have been called The Loner.
[When told by Roxborogh that ââRailroadâ is one of my all time favourite songsâ, Maurice responded] âIâm glad somebody liked it!â Maurice cracked up as he said this, laughing at the fact his debut solo single from April 1970 had flopped all over the world. Well, not entirely, because unknown probably to even the man himself, [it] had done well in Southeast Asia, charting as high as #6 in Malaysia and #9 in Singapore. Still, it was hardly enough to ignite significant transatlantic interest in him as an entity separate to the Bee Gees. Confusing matters further was that Railroadâs release inexplicably coincided with I.O.I.O â the latest single [see #594] from the two-man, Barry and Maurice incarnation of the Bee Gees. With Robin having quit the band in 1969, and Barry and Maurice working on solo projects in conjunction with the spluttering continuation of âthe Bee Geesâ, most people thought it was over for one of the biggest, most creative bands to emerge in the late 60s. And yet I.O.I.Oâs success across Europe, Asia and Australasia showed there was still a commercial appreciation out there for the Gibbs, and by the end of 1970 all three of the brothers would reunite . . . .
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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 900 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
1,335)The Guess Who — âBaby Feelinââ
The Guess Who(see #758, 1,140) took Johnny Kidd & the Piratesâs â1959 rocker âFeelinââ . . . altering the title slightly to âBaby Feelinââ before stamping their own brand on it [on this â66 LP track and B-side], transforming it into a raucous [and incendiary] slab of âGarageââ. (John Manship Rare Soul, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFKPAQPoXiE&pp=ygUZVGhlIGd1ZXNzIHdobyBiYWJ5IGZlZWxpbg%3D%3D)
Joe Viglione explains that:
[âFeelinââ was] written by Johnny Kidd, who penned the first Guess Who hit, “Shakin’ All Over,” which put them on the map . . . . [It] opens with that Johnny Kidd & the Pirates riff “Shakin’ All Over” made famous, but this version would make Roky Ericsson smile. Vintage ’60s stuff.
Surprisingly, the track from the It’s Time LP (above) is the truly wild and raucous version — the one for the ages — while the B-side (below) is much more subdued. Go figure.
Richie Unterberger writes about It’s Time:
Though this Canadian LP was issued under the Guess Who name, the group still hadn’t quite completed its evolution from its prior incarnation as Chad Allan & the Expressions. Indeed Allan himself was still in the band during sessions for the recording . . . . But a couple British Invasion covers and . . . âDon’t Act So Bad” excepted, every song was written by Randy Bachman. Even more crucially, much of the material went in a decidedly harder-rocking direction than much of what the group had previously cut, with newcomer Burton Cummings injecting a new raunchiness into the material on which he sang lead vocals. . . . Overall it’s the effort of a band still finding their style . . . . But of the many such bands making derivative records such as this, the Guess Who were by this point one of the best such acts, both as musicians and writers. . . . Even if this isn’t as original as the best British and American groups of the time, or indeed as Guess Who themselves would later become, it’s still respectable and at times quite exciting . . . .
When the first wave of rock & roll hit Great Britain in the mid-’50s, kids went wild for it just as they did in the United States, but it was a while before the U.K. began producing top-shelf rock acts that could hold their own against the American originators. Early British rock was dominated by gimmicky acts . . . but while Johnny Kidd & the Pirates inarguably had a gimmick — Kidd wore an eye patch on-stage and he and his band all wore pirate getups — they also sounded tougher and grittier than their peers, and with 1960’s “Shakin’ All Over,” they wrote and recorded one of the first undeniably great U.K. rock tunes. Kidd had a good voice, but what was more important was his willingness to push the attitude factor a bit on numbers like “Shakin’ All Over,” “Please Don’t Touch,” “Growl,” and “Feelin’,” where he sounded less like a teen-oriented crooner and more like a genuine rock & roll shouter. . . . [H]e died in an auto accident in 1966 . . . . Kidd was, along with Billy Fury, one of the U.K.’s first authoritative rock & roll vocalists, and his band was tight and fiery, delivering the goods with style and swagger . . . .
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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 900 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
1,334)?* — âFlies on the Ceilingâ
“Pure magical, whimsical, non sensical, UK psych”, “a classic” with “a wonderful fly on the wall lyric (literally)”. (liner notes to the CD comp Incredible Sound Show Stories Vol. 1: The Technicolour Milkshake) Upon first hearing the song, I coulda sworn that it was a heretofore unknown Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd or Barrett solo outtake (see #13, 87, 315, 922) — and a killer one at that. But, NO, not only was Syd not involved, no one even knows the name of the damn band!!! All we are left with is “a double sided acetate with no indication as to who recorded what, where or even when but these psychedelic apprentices dabbled in dodgy lyrics and like wise substances too.” (liner notes to Incredible Sound Show Stories Vol. 1: The Technicolour Milkshake) Forget UFOs, I want to know what the FBI and the Pentagon know about “Flies”!
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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 900 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
1,333) Otis Redding— âMaryâs Little Lambâ
With apologies to Paul McCartney, only Otis Redding can take âMary Had a Little Lambâ and turn it into a demonstration of the proposition that “I can sing about anything and I can make you feel it in the depths of your soul.” (Wade Schuman (from Hazmat Modine), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA9I62ZNVwQ&t=315s) With this ’63 B-side, Redding âdecided to try something a little different, adding both brass instruments and some background singers.” (Factinate, https://www.factinate.com/people/facts-otis-redding) “Mary” is âloosely based on the childrenâs nursery rhyme. It seems banal to start with but the last half minute or so is absolutely fantastic.â (Cal Taylor, https://www.toppermost.co.uk/otis-redding/) In Schuman’s view, Redding is drawing deep from the gospel tradition, citing the Swan Silvertones’s sand the Caravans’s versions of “Mary Don’t You Weep”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA9I62ZNVwQ&t=315s)
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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 900 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
(song first featured as#113) John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band â âLoveâ
On this 23nd anniversary of 9/11, the only thing I could think of to play that was remotely appropriate was John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Bandâs âLoveâ from 1970, one of the most beautiful, delicate and consoling songs ever written. I present it along with five wonderful cover versions, by Barbra Streisand, the Lettermen (yes, the Lettermen), Shirley Bassey, Jimmy Nail, and Beck.
The Beatles Bible says:
âLoveâ, the tenderest moment on John Lennonâs debut solo album, was a simple love song inspired by his feelings for Yoko Ono. ââLoveâ I wrote in a spirit of love. In all that shit, I wrote it in a spirit of love. Itâs for Yoko, it has all that connotation for me. Itâs a beautiful melody and Iâm not even known for writing melody.â Lennon had recorded a guitar demo of âLoveâ in Bel Air, Los Angeles, where he stayed in the summer of 1970 while undergoing Primal Therapy with Dr Arthur Janov. The recording is the only one of the time that lacked the anger or bitterness that coloured much of [the album]. Back in England, âLoveâ was recorded at EMI Studios, Abbey Road. Lennon again played a simple acoustic guitar part, over which he sang his plaintive lyrics. . . . After recording a satisfactory take, Lennon asked Phil Spector to add a piano part. . . . âLoveâ was not released as a single in John Lennonâs lifetime, although he considered issuing it as one. It received considerable radio airplay from stations who baulked at the prospect of playing âMotherâ, Lennonâs eventual choice of single in the US.
Clocking in at around three-and-a-half minutes, it is actually quite astonishing that Lennon manages to convey so much of the emotion he felt for Yoko Ono in the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. . . . âLoveâ is one of the most minimalist songs Lennon ever released, featuring just two musicians, Lennon himself on guitar and vocals, and Phil Spect[or] on the piano. . . . [It] is a remarkably stark track, as if he wanted to avoid anything that might detract from his adoration. The stripped-back, elemental sound that Lennon pursued on âLoveâ feels almost like an extension of the primal therapy that he and Yoko Ono took part in following the break up of The Beatles in 1970. Itâs as if all that screaming into the wind allowed Lennon a period of calm in which he was able to sit down and write something honest, sensitive, and undeniably vulnerable. . . . [I]tâs possible that, at least in some ways, it was intended as a gift to Ono. âWith Yoko, I really knew love for the first time,â he once said: âIâd never met anyone who was my equal in every imaginable way. My better, actually. The dream came trueâ
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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 900 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
1,332)Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends — âLetâs Rideâ
Theyâd only just begun! This non-LP â68 A-side, written by Roger Nichols (see #631, 828, 1,054, 1,300) and Paul Williams (see #24, 1,300), is stellar sunshine pop, âa perfect sample of infectious pop”, and “[t]he first Nichols/Williams song to grace a Small Circle 45”. (Steve Stanley, liner notes to the CD reissue of Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends)
RNSCFâs sole album one of the great lost albums of the 60âs, except that people could have bought it, they just didnât!âYeah, you know who you are.âMatthew Greenwald tells us:
[Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends is a] true sleeper in the context of California pop. . . .âThe album is a lot of things at once.âSoft pop, a smattering of rock, and a heavy dose of easy listening.âThe group itself has a great vocal blend.âNichols is joined by Murray MacLeod and his sister, Melinda.âThe three voices combined create a wonderful, soft sheen, equally effective on the ballads . . . and uptempo numbers . . . .âThe credits on the album are a virtual whoâs who of California pop at the time. . . . [including] Lenny Waronker, Van Dyke Parks, Bruce Botnick, and Randy Newman.âSuperbly produced by Tommy LaPuma, the album unfortunately didnât do very well at the time of its release, which is an incredible injustice.âThe music, though, holds up extremely well today, and is an authentic slice of California pop.âDelicious.
Mr Nichols and friends present a groovy smorgasbord of late 60âs pop music . . . .âThe album is full of candy-coated treats such as soft rock, psych pop and commercial pop. . . . Their sound is soft rock-based with a strong emphasis on imaginative male & female vocal arrangements that may include spicy touches of ethnic beats, lush strings and perky horn mixes. . . .âThere are many other bands from this period with a similar pop sound, but Nichols and friends had more talent and a healthy budget allowing to record with a top-notched production crew at a state of the art studio.
The Acid Archives, 2nd Ed.
And Steve Stanley adds:
[T]he album overall had the hallmark late-sixties soft pop sound that was selling busloads of records for acts like the 5th Dimension and the Association at the time. . . . [But] when it came to the record-buying public, the . . . LP fell on deaf ears.â[Producer] Tommy LiPuma adds his perspective: âI think at the time, radio stations didnât know what the dell to do with it, it didnât necessarily fit into a format, and there wasnât anything that broke out as a hit.â
liner notes to the CD reissue of Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends
Ed Hogan tells us of Nichols:
[Roger Nicholsâs] household brimmed with music when he was growing up.âHis dad was . . . a professional photographer who played sax in local jazz bands. His mother was a music major and a classical pianist.âWhen Nichols started grade school, he picked up the violin, continuing his violin and classical studies throughout grammar and high school.âHis attention turned to basketball and Nichols forsook violin for the hoops but played guitar on the side.âRecruited to U.C.L.A. on a basketball scholarship . . . .â[he was] confronted to make a choice between music or basketball by his coach . . . . Nichols chose music. . . .âAfter he left college . . . . [o]n weekends, he worked in clubs with his group . . . .âAround 1965, the group was signed to a recording contract by Liberty Records. . . .âWith the label for eight months without having a record released, Nichols called A&M Records expressing interest in playing some demos for label co-owner Herb Alpert. . . .â[N]ichols wrote an instrumental for Alpert that he promptly recorded a week after hearing it.
Though Roger Nichols and a Small Circle of Friends wasnât a big seller, Albert urged A&M publishing company head . . . to sign Nichols as a songwriter to their company.â[The label] introduced [him] to lyricist Paul Williams. . . .âThe duo wrote together for four years, resulting in lots of album cuts, B-sides, even A-sides, but no hits.âAn advertising executive approached a friend of Nichols asking for help with an under-budget commercial project for Crocker Bank. . . .âHoping to capture the youth market . . . Nichols and Williams were given the slogan, âYouâve got a long way to and go and weâd like to help you get there.â They had just ten days to create a song, essentially a jingle.âWaiting until the last day . . . Nichols . . . wrote the basic verse melody in a half hour. . . . Richard Carpenter . . . heard the jingle on a TV commercial . . . . [T]he Carpenters recorded the song [as] âWeâve Only Just Begunâ . . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,331)Marc Bolan — âThe Lilac Hand of Menthol Danâ
Hey, T. Rex, don’t bite the lilac hand that feeds you! “Such an ace track..Mr Marc B [see #935] you were a genius”. (ScenesFrom Palacio, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MauPc83jaKw) Yes, he was. It was on “Lilac Hand” that Bolan “finally unleashes his new voice with gusto, a howl that peaks spectacularly on the ‘Dan, Dan, Dan’ choruses.” (liner notes to the CD comp 20th Century Superstar) John’s Children’s official website says that “[It] was a song Marc had written before joining the band. After he did, it became known as ‘Dan The Sniff’ and was intended for inclusion on the ‘second’ JC album that never got recorded.” (http://johnschildren.info/music.html).
How did Bolan connect with John’s Children? Phil Hebblethwaite writes:
Mar[c] met manager Simon Napier-Bell in 1966, and they initially set about making Marc a star by promoting him a singer-songwriter in the mould of Bob Dylan. When his early singles flopped, Napier-Bell suggested he join a beat group he was also managing, John’s Children . . . . He learned much about performance from their outrageous live show, but their life as a band was short-lived. In 1967, they released the Bolan-penned single “Desdemona”, which contained the lyric, “Lift up your skirt and fly” – about a witch, Marc claimed, but the line aroused suspicions. The BBC banned the song, and the name of their only album, Orgasm, caused issues in the US, too. In 1968, the band called it quits . . . .
Groomed by Yardbirds’ manager Simon Napier-Bell, endearingly inept pop-art hopefuls John’s Children had been dropped by EMI when Kit Lambert at Track offered them a deal on the alleged proviso that guitarist Geoff McClelland was replaced by another of Napier-Bell’s teen proteges, Marc Bolan. The dirty deed was done, but it proved a short-lived union. Hot on the heels of their 14 Hour Technicolor Dream appearance, the reconstituted band issued the Bolan song “Desdemona”, which incurred the wrath of the BBC . . . . Following the withdrawn “Midsummer Night’s Dream” single a couple of months later, Bolan left John’s Children: by the end of July, he had turned his back on electricity and was hatching plans with fellow flower child Steve Peregrine Took to work as acoustic duo Tyrannosaurus Rex. As a result, Bolan/John’s Children collaborations like [“Lilac Hand”] . . . would be left on the shelf.
liner notes to the CD comp Real Life Permanent Dreams: A Cornucopia of British Psychedelia 1965-1970
And Uncle Dan:
John’s Children were active for only two years. During that short time they had several line up changes, released or nearly released three albums and numerous singles. In The Perfumed Garden could have been their third and final album and the only album to feature future glam pioneer Marc Bolan. Marc was only in the band for a fiery brief four months but during that time the band managed to record several singles and one album’s worth of songs and was thrown off a tour for upstaging the headliners The Who who complained they were too loud and violent. Known as much for their outrageous stage performances as they were for their loud and raw musical style they foreshadowed both glam and punk long before either one was realized. Marc Bolan was installed in the band by manager Simon Napier-Bell as a Pete Townsend type in-house writer and brooding intellectual figure. At the time Marc was a struggling unknown who modeled himself as a Dylan type folkie artist who had released several unsuccessful singles, the first under the name Toby Tyler before settling on the name Marc Bolan but he would not develop his distinctive vocal style until just before joining John’s Children. . . . [“Lilac Dan” was o]ne of many songs Marc brought with him into the band. . . . rechristened “Dan The Sniff” by the band. They played it live but never had the chance to record it. After Marc left the group he recorded this version using John’s Children as his backing band . . . . The song was not released until the 80s and he never returned to the song after forming Tyrannosaurus Rex.
[John’s Children] were perhaps more notable for their flamboyant image and antics than their music. Yardbirds manager Simon Napier-Bell recalled that they were “positively the worst group I’d ever seen” when he chanced upon them in France in 1966, yet he was conned into taking them on as clients. Not proficient enough to be trusted to play on their own records, their first single, “Smashed Blocked”/”Strange Affair,” was recorded with sessionmen in late 1966. This disorienting piece of musical mayhem, opening with a crescendo of swirling organs and an otherworldly over-reverbed vocal, was one of the first overtly psychedelic singles. Their improbable saga was launched when the single actually reached the bottom depths of the U.S. Top 100, cracking the Top Ten in some Florida and California markets. The group’s U.S. company, White Whale, requested an album, which they shelved when it was received — an LP with the then-unthinkable title of Orgasm. The actual album consisted of mediocre studio material smothered in audience screams lifted from the A Hard Day’s Night soundtrack . . . . Their second single, “Just What You Want — Just What You’ll Get”/”But You’re Mine,” reached the British Top 40 and featured a guitar solo by recently departed Yardbird Jeff Beck on the B-side. . . . Marc Bolan joined the group for a time as their principal singer and songwriter . . . . [before] depart[ing] in a squabble with Napier-Bell, and the group released a couple more flop singles before disbanding in 1968. . . . [T]he group — who managed some decent modish power pop once they learned their way around their instruments a bit — were acclaimed as pre-glam rockers of sorts by historians. Andy Ellison (the group’s lead singer except during Bolan’s brief tenure) recorded some decent pop singles at the end of the ’60s, and members of John’s Children were involved with the obscure British groups Jook, Jet, and Radio Stars in the ’70s.
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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 familiar 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 900 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
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It was written as the closing theme for the 1968 film adaptation of the UK sitcom Til Death Us Do Part which ran in the UK in various iterations from the mid 60s to the early 90s. It starred Warren Mitchell as Alf Garnett, a right wing little Englander bigot at odds with both his own family and the modern world. He was kind of an antihero as though he was the butt of most of the jokes on the show, he was also its lead character and was taken by many whose politics aligned with his as an identificatory figure. The show was later famously adapted for US audiences as All In The Family and the character Archie Bunker. . . . On the soundtrack version, session singer Chas Mills sings over the Kinks backing track . . . .
The Kinksâ version didn’t see release until ’73’s The Great Lost Kinks Album, and when that was pulled people had to wait a long time to see it again officially available. “I read recently . . . that Pye wanted to release it as a single, perhaps as a Ray Davies solo song. Ray nixed it, and not only that, he didn’t allow its rerelease in the digital age until the last 6-8 years or so.” (Steve E., https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-kinks-album-by-album-song-by-song.1075714/page-280)
Wayne Cresser writes that:
[T]he small wonder . . . . is a most literary work from beginning to end, highlighted by one of Daviesâ best similes, âlife is like a school/but Iâm not prepared to keep on learningâ, served up with the weary innocence . . . . Much of Rayâs lyric writing during this period touches on the day to day. His is a realism, sometimes sardonic, sometimes richly observational, that is often underscored by doomed romanticism. âIn my little life,â says the lovelorn singer, âI know the world must keep on turning, even though it leaves me far behind.â He aspires to be better. For her, he knows he needs to be because she might be leaving him. The tempo changes a little past halfway through, the song almost stopping, before the horns come back and the singer declares that despite his shortcomings, âthis is our life, to live together, âŠNot just a day/but âtil foreverâŠUntil death us do part.â The lines are delivered more as hopeful assertion than invocation.
I love everything about this tune, the lyrics are not only adorable but strangely profound . . . the major to minor chord sequence is continuingly graceful, surprising and comforting at the same time . . . . Rayâs delivery is beyond sweet and [his wife] Rasaâs lalalas are among the best she ever did. The jug band/New Orleans/parade backing is fabulous and groundbreaking for the Kinks. Ray is charting a whole new territory for his music-hall typed songs, with trombones, mandolins (I think?) and fanfare drums, a style heâll often come back to for some of his best songs in the early seventies. The . . . bridge is . . . enchanting . . . . And I just love how the chord sequence is slightly altered in the last two verses, making them more assertive and âsteadyâ than the first three, because after expressing his self doubts, the singer is now declaring that despite all his shortcomings, heâll be there, with her, until the end. That’s remarkable.
The vaudevilleian style here may well be the best such match for the song… and vocal delivery… in the entire Kinks katalog. That mellow trombone totally sets the stage! Match that with the sweetness of the lyric and the innocence in Ray’s delivery, and you’ve got a totally unique winner. I can see why it was never an album cut, but it also should never have been allowed to languish in obscurity. It belongs nowhere in particular, but has applicability everywhere.
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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 familiar 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 900 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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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,329)The Long Island Sound — âSkid Rowâ
This ’67 B-side is an utterly hilarious garage rant by some very demanding flop house residents — “No hot water!” “Make my bed!” “I said I want some sheets!” “Roaches!” “I want a room!” It’s the Fugs meet Frank Zappa: “This song feels very reminiscent of Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention [see #793] (i.e. the spoken word bits, funny voices, etc.) . . . . definitely a hidden gem!” (orion2156, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9oH56SahXQ)
The band? Who knows? Rate Your Music says they are from New Haven, Connecticut — Tony Pragano (vocals), Angelo Frisketti (guitar), Tom Hanlon (guitar), Fred O’Brien (bass), Bob Pasternack (keyboards), Jack Russell (drums), Barry Flast (https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/long_island_sound) Can someone help me out?
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 familiar 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 750 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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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
If you think Bo Diddley’s song is a fantasy about dissing one’s girlfriend, you don’t know Bo! It is actually a plea to her mother to stop trying to interfere and tear apart the happy couple — her daughter can make up her own mind! Here is Bo’s immortal original, along with a sizzling R&B version by the Pretty Things and a hypnotic garage raver by Australia’s Missing Links.
1,326) Bo Diddley * â âMama Keep Your Big Mouth Shutâ
Richie Unterberger extolls Bo Diddley:
He only had a few hits in the 1950s and early ’60s, but . . . . Diddley produced greater and more influential music than all but a handful of the best early rockers. The Bo Diddley beat — bomp, ba-bomp-bomp, bomp-bomp — is one of rock & roll’s bedrock rhythms . . . . His trademark otherworldly vibrating, fuzzy guitar style did much to expand the instrument’s power and range. But even more important, Bo’s bounce was fun and irresistibly rocking, with a wisecracking, jiving tone that epitomized rock & roll at its most humorously outlandish and freewheeling. . . . . In the early ’50s, he began playing with his longtime partner, maraca player Jerome Green, to get what Bo’s called “that freight train sound.” . . . [He] got a deal with Chess in the mid-’50s . . . . His very first single, “Bo Diddley”/”I’m a Man” (1955), was a double-sided monster. The A-side was soaked with futuristic waves of tremolo guitar, set to an ageless nursery rhyme; the flip was a bump-and-grind, harmonica-driven shuffle, based around a devastating blues riff. But the result was not exactly blues, or even straight R&B, but a new kind of guitar-based rock & roll, soaked in the blues and R&B, but owing allegiance to neither. Diddley was never a top seller on the order of his Chess rival Chuck Berry but over the next half-dozen or so years, he produced a catalog of classics that rival Berryâs in quality. . . . stone-cold standards of early, riff-driven rock & roll at its funkiest. . . . As a live performer, Diddley was galvanizing, using his trademark square guitars and distorted amplification to produce new sounds that anticipated the innovations of ’60s guitarists like Jimi Hendrix. In Great Britain, he was revered as a giant . . . . [t]he Rolling Stones in particular borrow[ing] a lot from Bo’s rhythms and attitude in their early days . . . .
[Otha Ellas] Bates probably started to use the name Bo Diddley around 1940, though its origins are uncertain: it might have been a nickname acquired during his brief boxing career, or it might refer to a harmonica player he saw in Mississippi or to a southern folk instrument known as the diddley bow. Not even Diddley knew the origins of his stage name, recalling only that âthe kids gave me that name when I was in grammar school in Chicago.â
1,327) The Pretty Things — Mama, Keep Your Big Mouth Shutâ
The Pretty Things (see #82, 94, 153, 251, 572, 731, 892, 1,001) do Diddley proud. Their version comes from their debut LP, which, as Bruce Eder says:
[It] made the early work of the Rolling Stones . . . sound more like the work of the Beatles . . . . The Pretty Things is recorded with practically every song and instrument pushing the needle into the red (i.e., overload). Normally, that would be a problem, except for the fact that a third of the repertory was written by Bo Diddley and most of the other two-thirds was inspired by him . . . . The Pretty Things did reach number ten on the U.K. charts, bewildering all of the more “professional” hands at Fontana Records by grabbing the ears of that harder, more intense part of the Stones’ larger audience and throwing them the sonic equivalent of raw meat to chew on.
Musically, the Pretty Things were one of the toughest and most celebrated artists to rise from the Beat/British Invasion era, and among the very best British R&B bands of the â60s. Commercially, they were often seen as also-rans, more talked about than listened to, especially outside Great Britain, since many of their most important albums were never released elsewhere until decades after the fact. Their cult was drawn to either their vicious early records, where they sometimes seemed like a meaner version of the Rolling Stones or or to their 1968 psychedelic touchstone S.F. Sorrow. . . . Taking their name from a Bo Diddley song, the Pretty Things were intentionally ugly: their sound was brutish, their hair longer than any of their contemporaries, their look unkempt. Their first two singles, âRosalynâ and âDonât Bring Me Down,â charted in 1964, and their eponymous debut LP made the U.K. Top Ten a year later, but that turned out to be the peak of their commercial success. The Pretty Things may not have shown up on the charts, but their cult proved to be influential: itâs been said S.F. Sorrow inspired Pete Townshend to write Tommy . . . .
In 1965 when they were billed as âAustralia’s wildest groupâ it wasn’t just the usual âindustryâ hyperbole or rhetoric – it was a statement of fact. . . . In early 1964 nothing unbelievably wild, frenzied or manic had happened in the Australian music scene. It was just about to.”
One of the best Australian bands of the ’60s, though they weren’t even stars in their home country, the[y] started as a very raw, Kinks-like combo, gaining a number two hit in New Zealand with “We 2 Should Live”/”Untrue.” The first lineup folded in 1965, and a second, with entirely different personnel, took the name. This aggregation cut the rawest Australian garage/punk of the era, and indeed some of the best from anywhere, sounding at their best like a fusion of the Troggs and the early Who, letting loose at times with wild feedback that was quite ahead of its time. They didn’t find commercial success, and split after several singles, an EP, and an album. Various members turned up in other Australian groups like Running Jumping Standing Still and Python Lee Jackson; the most notable of these was guitarist Doug Ford, who joined Running Jumping Standing Still and then graduated to the Master’s Apprentices . . . .
The definitive Milesago: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964-1975:
Although their fame never spread far beyond Sydney . . . and their career lasted barely more than two years, they’ve achieved a mythical status in the history of Australian rock. . . . Glenn A Baker . . . : [“They were] the first to play guitars like The Rolling Stones used . . . the first guys to sport very long unruly hair . . . the first group to implement destruction into a stage act . . . the first with a lot of things, bless their pioneering souls.” The Missing Links’ are widely acknowledged as the first Aussie band to deliberately use feedback as part of their music, and they were almost certainly the first local band to use reverse tape effects on record. They were one of the first Australian bands to tap into the tough new blues/R&B style being pioneered by the Stones, The Pretty Things and The Yardbirds. They were writing and playing their own extraordinary original material, plus a selection of highly idiosyncratic covers of acts as diverse as Bo Diddley, James Brown and Bob Dylan . . . .
[There were] two distinct line-ups . . . . The first lasted from early 1964 until March 1965 and after a flurry of lineup changes and a brief dissolution, the second line-up settled into place around July 1965, lasting until April 1966. Links Mk I was founded by guitarist Peter Anson. . . . [F]inding a venue was facilitated by . . . Anson’s older brother Cliff [being] road manager for Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, fast becoming the most popular ‘beat’ group in Australia. Cliff’s connections gave the Links an entree to the Harrigan Agency . . . and they were soon gigging regularly . . . . [I]n Sydney, the Links’ reputation was growing fast . . . . Their debut Parlophone single, “We 2 Should Live”/”Untrue” was released in March 1965. . . . [I]t enjoyed considerable “street popularity” in Sydney and it actually got to number 2 in New Zealand . . . . âWe 2 Should Live” is a jumping acoustic blues, and “Untrue” is pure prowling proto-punk . . . . [I]t was at this point that the original line-up began to fall apart. . . . The Links’ line-up . . . changed repeatedly . . . . [resulting in] an even wilder outfit than the original. . . . [T]he new Links were signed to the Philips label, and . . . [then] began recording tracks for an album. . . . produc[ing] some of the seminal artefacts of 60s Australian rock. . . . [T]he first single . . . .”You’re Driving Me Insane” [is] a wild, pile-driving original . . . totally unique in Aussie rock in 1965, and still grabs you by the ears today. . . . The songs are firmly rooted in blues and R&B, yet the album also predates whole slabs of Sixties rock which were yet to come. The buzzing guitar feedback and echo-laden Farfisa organ anticipates Pink Floyd by a good two years; Doug Ford’s slashing guitar work is pure heavy metal, and there’s a strong psychedelic feel to the whole affair. . . . The new Links built up a small but rabid following with their over-the-top shows . . . . [c]ommon stage exploits includ[ing] . . . swinging from the rafters . . . . They . . . frequently appeared in fancy dress outfits, dressed as gorillas, pirates, gangsters or mummies. . . . “Wild About You” . . . [the second A-side is] as Peter Markmann succinctly puts it, an “unadulterated slice of 60s punk mayhem … almost too crazed for words.” . . . The third single . . . was perhaps the most outrageous of all. “H’Tuom Tuhs” . . . is in fact the band’s 5’40” version of Bo Diddley’s “Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut” — except that the entire track is played backwards! The idea originated . . . when the boys heard the tape of “Big Mouth” being rewound by the engineer and liked the sound of it! It is surely one of the earliest uses of reverse tape in rock history . . . . [I]t naturally enough sank like a lead balloon . . . . In mid-December [came] the classic The Missing Links LP . . . . one of the primal Australian Albums of the 60s . . . . [T]he Links splintered due to the increasing personality conflicts.
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 familiar 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 750 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.
The Japanese media and . . . monopolistic talent agencies . . . were relentless in their pursuit of wholesome, easily digestible talent, but their plans were derailed by the Beatles’ incursion. Japanese teens . . . had been seduced by the Liverpudlians’ DIY spirit and authenticity that was missing from Japan’s mostly manufactured pop. America’s instrumental combo the Ventures were equally worshipped by Japan’s youth. . . . [A] new wave of rock bands swiped from the British Invasion and blurred their influences with dissonant chords and Oriental melodies, thus creating a unique brand of Japanese rock’n’roll called Group Sounds. . . . [T]he [Group Sounds] boom liberated many of Japan’s finest pop writers . . . . Once [it] hit . . . [Kunihiko] Suzuki emerged from anonymity and penned âKoi No Hallejujahâ, a monster hit for a little-known singer named Jun Mayuzumi. Released in February 1967, [it] was the girl-pop manifesto. . . . replac[ing] orchestras with organs and shrill electric guitars, upped the volume and vibrato, and showcased a yearning, mournful vocal that came to epitomise the girl-pop sound. Before Jun Mayuzumi became synonymous with Japanese beat girl, she cut her teeth as a pre-teen singing in Toykoâs jazz cafes, at army bases and as the house singer in a band . . . . At age 14, she signed to Victor Records under her birth name of Junko Watanabe and released half-baked Euro-pop covers. When the three singles failed to chart, she changed her name, cut all her hair off Twiggy-style, signed up with talent agency Ishihara Promotions and landed a deal with the Capitol imprint of Toshiba Records. The success of âKoi No Hallelujahâ, her first Capitol release, established Mayuzumi as the âqueen of Japanese beatâ . . . . Though “[Koi]” was her biggest hit and fouth single “Koi No Yuuwaku” (“Angel Love”) took home Japan’s most prestigious record of the year award in 1968, her two best records are undoubtedly âBlack Roomâ [see #480] and “[Doyou]”, released in Christmas of 1969 . . . . Both share booming bass lines, a tough vocal and a dancefloor readiness . . . .
liner notes to the CD comp Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova1966-70
Wikipedia adds (courtesy of Google Translate):
Mayuzumi Jun is a Japanese singer and actress . . . . [who] had many hits in the late 1960s with h[er] unique, punchy and attractive singing voice. H[er] older brother is the composer Takashi Miki. She began her singing career at the age of eight in 1956. . . . [S]he toured US military camps around the country as a jazz singer . . . . In 1964, she debuted . . . but did not have a hit, and in 1967 she moved to Ishihara Promotions. As she was a fan of composer Mayuzumi Toshiro and had a powerful singing voice, she changed her name to “Mayuzumi Jun” and re-debuted with “Koi no Hallelujah” . . . . Her punchy singing voice and miniskirt quickly drew attention. She was active during the same period as the group sounds boom and was called “One-Man GS” along with Akiko Nakamura and others due to her sound. . . . Kunihiko Suzuki was often in charge of composing the songs. Some of her hit songs were composed by her brother Takashi Miki. . . . In the two years from 1967 to 1968, her record sales reached 5 million copies. She also appeared in movies with ther own hit songs as theme songs . . . . and became a popular actress.
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From “one of the most famous records of Czech big beatâ (https://www.blackpoint.cz/rebels-sipkova-ruzenka-lp-cd/ (courtesy of Google Translate)), comes a grand and magical baroque pop retelling (with orchestra) of a Czech fairytale about a mug that can make endless cups of porridge. This is not your Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice!
Of the LP â Ć ĂpkovĂĄ RĆŻĆŸenkax/Sleeping Beautyâ blackpoint says (courtesy of Google Translate):
It was recorded by the original cast of the [Rebels] consisting of JiĆĂ PlĂva, JiĆĂ Korn, Svatopluk Äech and Anatoli Kohout plus the VĂĄclav ZahradnĂk Orchestra. Lyricist Michael PostÄjovskĂœ provided fairy tales set to music, the other side of the record consisted of . . . pieces [taken] from the repertoire of The Mammas and Papas. At that time, the Rebels had already won the 1st Czechoslovak Championship beat festival (1967) and third place in the Beat Cup ’67 competition for vocal performance. . . . With the first single “Five Ravens” from the summer of 1967, the band secured its popularity . . . .
Josef Rauvolf adds (courtesy of Google Translate):
When the members of The Rebels went to record their only album [of the 60s] in the summer of 1968, it was a double risk. The band was accompanied by a full-blooded orchestra . . . . The collaboration between band and orchestra was unheard of in our country . . . . With the exception of two tracks on the album, the songs were not written by the musicians, but were created for them by the tandem of VĂĄclav ZahradnĂk and Michael ProstÄjovskĂœ . . . .
Michael ProstÄjovskĂœ himself sets the record straight (courtesy of Google Translate):
At the end of 1967, I filmed in the studio Äs. broadcast two songs with the Rebels and as a band, with the titles Mamas and Papas, and released VaĆĄek ZahradnĂk. We both agreed that they sing great and their voices go extremely well together . . . . But VaĆĄek had reservations about the quality of their playing. That’s why we agreed with them to record the single “Five Ravens” and “The Definitive End”, which we also wrote for them. And that accompanied by a studio orchestra. (After August 1968, both compositions were banned because they were said to evoke the entry of five armies.) The single was successful, and that led us to the idea of recording the Sleeping Beauty LP. . . . Originally, we expected that the LP would be sold on the Mamas nad Papas songs. And we wrote those fairy tales as if for fun and our own pleasure. We were both budding authors, and in addition, we also gave the guys from Rebels a role in them as authors. Right after filming, however, it was clear that fairy tales are what should be mainly presented. That’s why we adapted the packaging and “marketing” to it. And for information, only Korn, PlĂva and SvĂĄĆ„a Äech sing on the LP.
As to the Rebels, Mickey Vznik writes (courtesy of Google Translate):
Josef PlĂva played the first guitar. JiĆĂ Korn played second guitar and Svatopluk Äech played bass. The organ was operated by BoĆek Kadlec and JiĆĂ Ć ilder was on drums, who was later replaced by Karel “KĂĄĆĄa” Jahn. . . . . The group became absolutely famous for their performance in flower hippie outfits at the 1st Czechoslovak Beat Festival in January 1967. The performance and their entire repertoire was a mixture of Mamas & Papas, Turtles, Hollies, Byrds and Beatles. . . . In 1968, an important record was released in Czechoslovakia. It was called BEAT â LINE SUPRAPHON 1968. . . . The Rebels had two tracks on there on the . . . “English side”. They sang “Creque Alley” from the Mamas & Papas repertoire and then cut “Words” by the Gibb brothers . . . . [I]n 1968 they recorded . . . Sleeping Beauty. Michal ProstÄjovskĂœ . . . got the idea to cover Czech fairy tales, and in the end, the old pros found straight guys who sang it just for the fact that they recorded songs from . . . Mamas & Papas repertoire on the other side . . . . The music was arranged and recorded by VĂĄclav ZahradnĂk with his orchestra. . . . [T]he Rebels disbanded mainly because their lead singer Josef PlĂva emigrated to Canada. But the manager was the capable Franta JaneÄek . . . and he knew “… the crown is good, but the brand is better…” and so The Rebels added JiĆĂ JuraÄek from The Rogers Band, JiĆĂ Helcl from George & Beatovens, BoĆek Kadlec on bass and Anatoli Kohout on drums. The band . . . immediately started playing from one pub to another . . . . In Germany, however, they had to change to a harder repertoire. From gentle vocal outpourings, they went hard to bluesy and hard rock material. . . . But playing in dance halls and bars is no fun. . . . [Y]ears later, Juracek stated: “… seven hours on Friday, eight hours on Saturday and nine on Sunday!” Anatoli Kohout was the first one who couldn’t stand it. Once during a break in playing he told the band he was going to the toilet and then they didn’t see him for two years! . . .
Here is “HrneÄku, VaĆ!” (courtesy of Google Translate):
A widow and her daughter MaruĆĄka lived in the cottage. They were very poor, so their cottage was old and shabby. The widow went to help in the forest in the winter and worked in the fields the rest of the year. Maruska helped her mother as much as she could. In addition, she went to collect forest fruits, which she then sold in the market. But one day the widow fell ill and MaruĆĄka had to go to work in the forest instead of her. She took a slice of dry bread and went. Suddenly an old woman in ragged clothes appeared in front of her. She looked like a beggar. “Little girl,” the old woman said in a distressed voice, “I’m barely able to stand on my feet because I’m hungry, would you mind giving me a piece of bread?” Although Maruska only had a piece of bread, and it had to be enough for her for the whole day, she broke up with her grandmother anyway. “You are very kind, little girl,” the old woman thanked her. âI will repay you well for having such a good heart! I’ll give you my mug. When you command him: Cup, boil! he will cook you as much porridge as you want. When you’ve had enough of the porridge, you order him: Cup, enough!” Maruska respectfully thanked him. As suddenly as the old woman appeared, she disappeared. When MaruĆĄka came home from work in the evening, she hurried to show her mother the mug. At home, she put it on the table and commanded: “Mug, boil!” The porridge began to boil in the mug. She was getting more and more. When the mug boiled the porridge for exactly two plates, Maruska ordered: “Mug, enough!” The porridge was good, sweet. The next day, MaruĆĄka had to go to the forest again. But this time she had much more work to do. When she didn’t come back for a long time, her mother was already very hungry, so she wanted to cook the porridge herself. She put the mug on the table and, like Maruska before, ordered: “Mug, boil!” Porridge started to boil in the mug. Mom filled her plate, but the porridge continued to cook. She filled the second plate as well, but the mug was still boiling. Mom wanted him to stop, but she forgot what to tell him. The porridge was increasing rapidly. She had already filled all the pots and mugs, bowls and bowls, but the mug didn’t stop. In no time the mess was full of the living room, the barn and the backyard. It flowed from the backyard to the road and from the road to the trailer. MaruĆĄka was already approaching the house. “Mug, enough!” she shouted from afar. He stopped the mug, but the porridge did not disappear. Therefore, all the people of the village had to take spoons and eat until all the porridge was eaten. But because the porridge was really excellent, they remember it fondly to this day.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,323)The Moon — âMothers and Fathersâ
Here’s “a great slice of English influenced psychedelic-pop [gently reflecting on the generation gap] . . . . [s]howcasing an ear candy melody and wonderful interlocking harmonies, there was at least a little Bee Gees in their influences. . . . [and] a killer hook that’s almost impossible to shake.” (RDTEN1, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-moon/without-earth/)
RDTEN1 tells us:
The Moon is one of those mid-1960s Southern California bands that gets widespread praise, but for some strange reason seems to consistently get lost when it comes to people’s list of favorites. For what it is worth, their debut album effortlessly makes my favorites list. Formed in 1967, the band had quite a talented line up . . . . Drummer Larry Brown had been a member of The Bel-Aires and Davie Allan & the Arrows. He was also an in-demand sessions player having worked on scores of Hollywood exploitation soundtracks. 14 year old rhythm guitarist David Marks replaced The Beach Boys Al Jardin when he went off to dental school, recording several albums and touring with the band prior to Jardin’s 1964 return to the lineup. All of 16, he fronted Dave and the Marksmen, and recorded some material as a member of The Band without a Name. Singer/multi-instrumentalist Matthew Moore had fronted Matthew Moore Plus Four, recorded several 45s with The Plymouth Rockers and recorded some solo material. Moore was apparently the project’s front man. Working with his brother/producer Daniel Moore, efforts to score a recording contract saw them find an early supporter in Mike Curb [see #57] . Curb introduced Moore to drummer/keyboard player Brown, who brought in bassist Bennett. Separately Moore recruited Marks who he’d run into several times. Curb agreed to finance an album and the four band members literally locked themselves into Hollywood’s Continental Studios, save for food deliveries and a couple of days off in order to let cleaning crews clear the trash from the recording spaces. . . . Produced by Brown, 1968’s Without Earth fell a little short in terms of originality, but the band deserved credit for having good taste when it came to their influences – a dash of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, a touch of The Bee Gees and a big heaping of mid-1960s Beatles. Largely penned by Moore, it all came together in a wonderful mix of acid drenched pop-sike. Virtually every one of these twelve songs had a catchy melody, lovely harmony vocals and interesting studio effects (thanks to producer Brown). . . . Any creative shortcomings were made up by the band’s sense of enthusiasm, the set’s commercial orientation and the general sense of fun found on tracks like “Mothers and Fathers” . . . . Add to that Moore had a voice that was perfectly suited for the genre (his performances frequently reminded me of Emmit Rhodes). . . . [Without Earth] remains one of my favorite mid-1960s American pop-sike albums. Yes, the band members have admitted they were ingesting various illicit substances while recording the album.
Even with their Peter Max influenced album jacket and Magical Mystery Tour influences, The Moon traveled virtually unnoticed, delivering spacey soft-pop psychedelic arrangements [more worthy than those delivered by Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd], where fuzzed out distorted acid-laced guitars, shimmering backward cymbals, and outstanding harmonies melted into melodic melodies dripping with intoxication, over which vocal echoing visions sought to convey an actual LSD experience. And as good as all this sounds, the band, with their fragile beauty, never managed to make much of an impression … lacking both a supportive single and the nurturing of their record label. Yes, the song âSomeday Girlâ was heavenly, and could often be heard on very late night radio, or serving as background music to a liquid light show as the audience drifted into a venue . . . . The Moon had genuine talent, treading lightly on the progressive baroque elements [championed by groups like Smoke, The Left Banke, and The Zombies] that were just around the corner, moving with a consistency that should have had them sitting in the first few rows, and not the balcony.
Steve Stanley gives us recollections from Marks and Moore:
David Marks recollects on the sessions and the studio. “We were stoned all the time. We just kind of lived in that studio. There was pizza boxes and trash all around. The recording sessions were just boring . . . .” Matthew recalls: “I believe in the course of that first album, it went somewhere around 540 hours for twelve songs! Thirty minutes at the most. . . . Well, initially [Imperial Records was] very excited about it . . . . From what I heard later, some big cutbacks in the promotion department took place. . . . The Moon never played a live date. That was one of the plans that fell through. That’s kinda how we noticed that a lot of the promotional funds had been cut . . . . We were all so disappointed and we all kinda hid out for a while.”
liner notes to the CD reissue of Without Earth and The Moon
Bryan Thomas adds:
[David] Marks had already enjoyed quite a career. At 14, circa 1962, he joined the Beach Boys as a rhythm guitarist when Al Jardine left their lineup to attend dental school. Marks appeared on the first four Beach Boys albums and several hit singles, including “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “Surfer Girl.” When Jardine returned, Marks, just 16, became the leader of Dave & the Marksmen, who had localized hits with “Cruisin’,” “I Wanna Cry,” and “I Could Make You Mine.” [He] then formed the Band Without a Name, who recorded two singles for Tower and Sidewalk and were the house band at two Sunset Strip clubs, circa 1965-1966. After leaving this group, Marks formed Moon with organ/pianist/vocalist Matthew Moore, who penned most of the band’s songs. Mooreâs previous group, Matthew Moore Plus Four, had recorded for GNP Crescendo, and he had also recorded solo material for White Whale and Capitol. The other Moon members were bassist David P. Jackson (ex-Hearts & Flowers, who had two LPs on Capitol in the late ’60s) and drummer Larry Brown (ex-Davie Allan & the Arrows and a veteran of countless film soundtracks and those Sidewalk/Tower releases that were produced by Mike Curb). . . . After Moon dissolved, Marks began working as a studio musician with Denny Brooks, Delaney & Bonnie, and others. . . . Moore meanwhile, joined Joe Cockerâs 1970 Mad Dogs and Englishmen Tour . . . . Moore then went on to have a successful career as a session vocalist and keyboardist, recorded solo albums, and even had his own label, New Decade. David P. Jackson went on to become the bassist with Dillard & Clark. Larry Brown played with Gunhill Road, Tony Allwine and was the official voice for Mickey Mouse.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,322) The Hi-Numbers — âHeart of Stoneâ
No, not the Who (aka the High Numbers) nor the Stonesâ classic, but â65 beat gold from Hertfordshire about a girl whoâs âgot a heart of stone when it comes to loving meâ.
Bayard tells us:
The Favourite Sons originated in 1965 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, to the north of London in England, and consisted of Brian Redmond (vocals), Alan Shacklock (guitar), Gerry Feley (guitar), John Glascock [John Glass] (bass) and Brian Glascock [Brian Glass] (drums). Before becoming The Favourite Sons the band issued one 45 as The Hi-Numbers, the excellent “Heart of Stone”, released in September 1965. The Hi-Numbers were spotted by producer Mike Hurst (who had previously been a member of The Springfields), who was impressed by their energy, and took them into Pye Studios in London in 1966, the group, now The Favourite Sons, cutting eleven tracks in an afternoon. Two of the tracks appeared on what proved to be their only issued output, Willie Mitchell’s “That Driving Beat” backed with the Mike Hurst original “Walkin’ Walkin’ Walkin”‘, but both are superior tracks and generated favourable reviews, which sadly failed to translate into chart action. . . . With the singles’s commercial failure Mike Hurst then lost interest in the group, moving onto his next project in Cat Stevens, and although The Favourite Sons carried on playing gigs for a while they disbanded not long after. John and Brian Glascock became founder members of The Gods, who after a couple of albums evolved into prog rock band Toe Fat. John Glascock subsequently joined Jethro Tull in the mid-1970s but sadly died of heart failure in 1979, aged only 28 (he had been aged 15 when The Favourite Sons 45 was issued). Alan Shacklock joined Chris Farlowe and The Thunderbirds and later formed the band which became Babe Ruth.
The story starts at Burleigh School in Hatfield in 1964, where a bunch of 14/15 year olds formed a group called The Juniors. Among their number were two guitarists, Alan Shacklock and Mick Taylor, a sibling rhythm section of John (bass) and Brian (drums) Glascock (who both took the surname Glass for their showbiz endeavours), and a vocalist by the name of Malcolm Collins. . . . Shacklock and the Glascock brothers stuck together and recruited another school pal, Brian Redmond, as vocalist and re-named themselves The Hi-Numbers . . . . [They] spent the first half of 1965 spreading their live reputation . . . sharing bills with the likes of The Birds, The Artwoods, Steampacket and The Who. . . . The Hi Numbers played at The Two I’s Club in Carnaby Street where they were approached by a chap named Ted White who had a song called “Heart Of Stone”. An audition for Decca was lined-up, and the group went to London where they cut “Heart Of Stone” and a cover of “Dancing In The Street”. These takes were released by Decca as The Hi Numbers’ first (and only) single . . . on 10th September 1965. They supported the record with a promotional show at the Marquee Club . . . where they were heard by Mike Hurst . . . .
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[âTowersâ] featur[es] Colin [Petersen] on bongos and Maurice on Mellotron[]. “I know it was written in my flat,” says Barry of the song’s inception. “I would just sit and strum on my own. I think it was just something that I sort of came up with and that was it.â
The Bee Gees’ third album is something of a departure, with more of a rocking sound and with the orchestra . . . somewhat less prominent in the sound mix than on their first two LPs. The two hits, “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You” and “I Started a Joke,” are very much of a piece with their earlier work, but on . . . other cuts, they sound much more like a working band with a cohesive group sound, rather than a harmony vocal group with accompaniment. Their writing still has a tendency toward the dramatic and the melodramatic . . . but here the group seemed to be trying for a somewhat less moody, dark-toned overall sound, and some less surreal lyrical conceits, though “Kilburn Towers” (despite some pop-jazz inflections) and “Swan Song,” as well as “I Started a Joke,” retain elements of fantasy and profundity.
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A-side by Iain Matthews (see #173, 1,102) is a wonderful folk-rock/country number from the former Fairport Convention singer/guitarist.
Of the LP, Stranger writes:
Surprisingly the album does not suffer much from [Iain] Matthewsâ minimal writing contributions . . . . What makes this album so timeless and enjoyable is the way it explores country music without deliberately trying to be country a highly commendable feat that many American bands were not able to achieve.âFree from any phony southern twang, [Iainâs] fragile, emotionally-charged vocals enrich every song with a genuineness that is perfectly complemented by the warm, rural landscape thatâs successfully captured by the band.âNot only is this one of the first British country-rock records, but it is also an unrecognized benchmark for the entire then-burgeoning genre.
Comprising Matthews, Mark Griffiths (guitar), Carl Barnwell (guitar), Gordon Huntley (pedal steel guitar), Andy Leigh (bass) and Ray Duffy (drums), the newly formed band signed to EMI Records. The unitâs country-tinged sound proved to be an excellent forum for Matthewsâ songwriting talents.âIn the summer of 1970, their second album, Second Spring reached the UK Top 40 and was followed by a winter chart-topper, âWoodstockâ.âJoni Mitchell wrote the single as a tribute to the famous festival that she had been unable to attend. Already issued as a single in a hard rocking vein by Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young, it was a surprise UK number 1 for Matthews Southern Comfort.âUnfortunately, success was followed by friction within the band and, two months later, Matthews announced his intention to pursue a solo career. One more album followed after which the band truncated their name to Southern Comfort.âAfter two further albums, they disbanded in the summer of 1972.
[Iain Matthews] joined Fairport Convention . . . but in early 1969, he left by mutual consent. . . .âA successful management team of the period was Ken Howard & Alan Blaikely, who had worked with both Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, etc., and The Herd, and saw Ian as their next hit-making client. . . .âHis debut LP, while released as Matthewsâ Southern Comfort was actually a solo album by Matthews, and was titled after âSouthern Comfort’â a song by Sylvia Tyson (nee Sylvia Fricker) which would appear on his next LP . . . . âIt wasnât necessarily my intention to have a band called Matthewsâ Southern Comfort.âThe album was going to be solo, and we were going to see what happenedâ he recalled in the mid-1970s. . . .âThe production of the LP is credited to Steve Barlby & Ian Matthews, and several of the songs [including âColorado Springsâ] are also written by Barlby, in fact a pseudonym for Howard & Blaikley.âMatthews explained: âThere wasnât much of any direction to the album â Howard and Blaikley were new managers to me, and I was kind of feeling my way.âThey took me on the understanding that I was goingâto do some of their songs, and we kind of sold ourselves to the record company on that basis, but then I started to change my mind, because I didnât particularly like their songsâ.
liner notes to the CD reissue of Matthewsâ Southern Comfort
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The band’s debut album . . . is far and away their best — a wildly inventive trip that assimilates orchestral pop, whimsical psychedelia, musique concrĂšte, found-sound environments — and that’s just the first song! Elsewhere there are nods to Carnaval, albeit with distinct hippie sensibilities, incorporating fuzztone guitars and go-go basslines. . . . Though not all of the experimentation succeeds . . . [it] is an astonishing listen. . . . [and] far more experimental than any of the albums produced by the era’s first-rate psychedelic bands of Britain or America.
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 familiar 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. 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 