Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! / Off the Charts: 60s Rock Revelations😊

Manfred Mann Chapter Three — “Devil Woman”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 23, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,344) Manfred Mann Chapter Three — “Devil Woman”

This is not your teenyboppers’s Manfred Mann! This is Manfred Mann Chapter III, and Mann, oh Mann, do I love my Manfred Mann Chapter III (see #79, 146, 698). “[T]he brilliant Devil Woman fall[s] in between the exotic and avant-garde with strange percussion, a demented Mike Hugg [singing], sound effects, and soaring female backup vocals.” (Jason, http://therisingstorm.net/manfred-mann-chapter-three-volume-1/) Chapter III was “excellent and imaginative but came as a considerable shock to any fans who expected anything akin to Manfred Mann.” (Rovi Staff, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/manfred-mann-chapter-three-mn0001278308) The first album — Manfred Mann Chapter Three — was “groundbreaking . . . in the development of jazz rock. . . . [with m]uch free jazz and big band sound . . . but mixed up with darkest and most disturbing blues phrasings[ — s]low, lurking, gritty and tough stuff to sit through”. (Einsetumadur, http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2425) Tough to sit through? It put me in a trance — I couldn’t have gotten up even if I had wanted to! “This is as much jazz as rock. There’s hardly any guitar, but a swaggering horn section compensates. Imagine a darker, moodier Traffic with Mann manning the organ instead of Steve Winwood.” (Mark Allan, https://www.allmusic.com/album/manfred-mann-chapter-three-mw0000467440) This “was something that Mike Hugg and Mann had wanted to do for sometime but feared the possibility of a commercial failure. Hugg handles most of the lead vocals on a record . . . . The sound is very progressive, peppered with jazzy horns, keyboards/organ, a slow stoned ambience, creative arrangements and Hugg’s quite original although bizarre vocals.” (Jason, http://therisingstorm.net/manfred-mann-chapter-three-volume-1/)

I thought there were no Chapter Threes in ’60’s rock? Well, Progman says:

Chapter III was formed after the break up of the (Chapter II) line up of Manfred Mann in 1969 which featured singer Mike D’Abo, not forgetting the legendary (Chapter I) line up in the early 60s which featured singer Paul Jones. . . . Chapter III turned their backs on three minute Pop singles and light hearted songs to develop a more Jazz and Progressive sound often had lengthy tracks with solos. . . .

http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2425

Active Listener explains further:

Ready for a change, Mann and electric pianist/vocalist Mike Hugg dropped the rest of the band and enlisted former East of Eden bass player Steve York, drummer Craig Collinge and most importantly a five piece brass section comprised of some of the hottest young talent in the U.K at the time, and set out to explore their love of jazz. For a band who’s previous release only a year before had been a singalong cover of Bob Dylan’s “The Mighty Quinn”, a dark, voodoo jazz-rock LP replete with Albert Ayler inspired free-jazz solos must have come as a shock to long term fans. Clearly this is not your Dad’s Manfred Mann. Along with contemporarys like Ian Carr’s Nucleus and Colosseum, Mann and co. were instrumental in these formative years of the merging of jazz and progressive rock. American bands like Chicago were already working the brass rock formula, but the U.K scene was pushing the envelope a considerable distance further. . . . What raises Chapter Three above other U.K acts of the time is the quality of the songwriting. There’s no doubt that there were plenty of fine players on this fledgeling scene, but few had compositions this strong to launch from. . . . Mike Hugg’s voice may be an acquired taste for some, but fans of the creepy juju stylings of early Dr John [see #177] are in for a treat.

http://active-listener.blogspot.com/2011/11/manfred-mann-chapter-three-volume-one.html

As does Rovi Staff:

Following the demise of Manfred Mann, Mike Hugg and Manfred Mann continued their jazz/rock path by forming Chapter Three, as a sideline to their lucrative career writing successful television jingles. This brave project was originally called Emanon and . . . featured session work from some of the finest contemporary jazz musicians . . . . The group immediately established themselves on the progressive rock circuit, but could not break out of the small club environment. . . . The band was blighted with problems due to Mann and Hugg having to support the venture financially, and because of trying to establish themselves as something other than a pop group. . . . Manfred soon returned to a more commercial path with Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/manfred-mann-chapter-three-mn0001278308

Finally, Jazz Music Archives:

The band’s approach centred around the “time, no changes” approach of Miles Davis and John Coltrane applied to slow, funky grooves with voodoo lyrics inspired by Dr John alternating with blaring big-band horn riffs and improvised free-jazz solos reminiscent of Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler. Although intelligible at a time when artists like Davis himself were crossing over into the rock/funk field and American “jazz-rock” ensembles such as Blood, Sweat and Tears and The Mothers of Invention espoused brass sections and atonality, the formula was limited and the band expensive to maintain, so it was short-lived and disbanded after two albums. Mann went on to form Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in 1971.

https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/artist/manfred-mann-chapter-three

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

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! (“relating 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 entertainment” — dictionary.com).

The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” 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.

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

The Bee Gees — “One Minute Woman”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 21, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,343) The Bee Gees — “One Minute Woman”

From the Bee Gees’s “1st” album (outside of Australia) — Bee Gees 1st — comes “Barry’s bleeding-heart romantic ode to the object of his affection”. (Grant Walters, https://albumism.com/features/tribute-celebrating-50-years-of-bee-gees-bee-gees-1st)

Grant Walters goes on:

[“Woman” is] the work of a band who knew instinctively how to mesh their crystalline brotherly harmony and melodic savvy for maximum impact. The Bee Gees’ unpretentious commitment to their craft—and sometimes a penchant for technical perfectionism—helped them transcend the confines of the British Invasion.

https://albumism.com/features/tribute-celebrating-50-years-of-bee-gees-bee-gees-1st

Yup. Oldies but Goodies tells us:

[T]he song reportedly came together rather quickly. The Bee Gees, known for their songwriting talent, showed up to a recording session with very little prepared material. “One Minute Woman” was one of the songs they crafted on the spot, highlighting their ability to create compelling music under pressure.

https://oldiesbutgoodies.charmingflowers.com.vn/bee-gees-one-minute-woman/#google_vignette

K. Kanitz can’t get over the LP:

[T]he Bee Gees were master craftsmen of some of the greatest pop-rock the late ‘60s and early ‘70s had to offer. . . . [T]hey exploded in the North American market in the late summer of 1967 with this album (their first US Top 10 album), and three Top 20 singles: “New York Mining Disaster 1941,” “To Love Somebody” (originally meant to be recorded for the late great Otis Redding), and “Holiday.” . . . On first listen, Bee Gees 1st plays like a wonderful, lost baroque-pop album, which isn’t far from the truth. . . . [T]he record embodies the sweet sounds of the summer of ’67. . . . full of tunes that will make you smile, whether out of pure joy or bittersweet introspection. . . . If you want to hear classic, endearing, and beautiful 1960s pop, pick up this album.

https://therisingstorm.net/the-bee-gees-bee-gees-1st/embed/#?secret=gCZmRVNu8Y#?secret=g4ohz1eaNo

Here is Bruce Eder’s perspective:

Up until 1966, they’d shown a penchant for melodic songs and rich, high harmonies, in the process becoming Australia’s answer to the Everly Brothers. When the Bee Gees arrived in London late in 1966, however, they proved quick studies in absorbing and assimilating the progressive pop and rock sounds around them. In one fell swoop, they became competitors with the likes of veteran rock bands such as the Hollies and the Tremeloes, and this long-player, Bee Gees’ 1st, is more of a rock album than the group usually got credit for generating. Parts of it do sound very much like the Beatles circa Revolver, but there was far more to their sound than that. The three hits . . . were gorgeous but relatively somber, thus giving Bee Gees’ 1st a melancholy cast, but much of the rest is relatively upbeat psychedelic pop. . . . Robin Gibb’s lead vocals veered toward the melodramatic and poignant, and the orchestra did dress up some of the songs a little sweetly, yet overall the group presented themselves as a proficient rock ensemble who’d filled their debut album with a full set of solid, refreshingly original songs.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/bee-gees-1st-mw0000198604

While I love the song, I can’t resist sharing Altrockchick’s blog hilariously slagging it off:

“One Minute Woman” is guilty of deceptive advertising due to the unforgivable omission of the comma. A “one-minute woman” seems to connote a woman who poops out sometime during foreplay or a broad who could be ready for a roll in the hay in sixty seconds. It’s hard to imagine a man with Barry Gibb’s looks going down on his knees for a party pooper . . . . The confusion vanishes when you hear Barry’s phrasing, clearly indicating an effort to engage the woman in conversation, as in “One minute, woman.” The comma clears up that aspect of the song, but then you have to ask, “If Barry’s so enamored with this chick, why doesn’t he use her name?” Only self-centered assholes would depersonalize someone of the superior gender, as in “That’s enough, woman!” or “Gimme a beer, woman!” . . . . Now the song makes perfect sense . . . and it still sucks. No matter, Barry will get another chance to express the anguish of lost love and fully redeem himself for poor punctuation and his rather maudlin performance here.

https://altrockchick.com/2018/08/16/the-bee-gees-bee-gees-1st-classic-music-review/?amp=1

Here they are live:

Here is an alternate version:

Here is a lovely version by Billy Fury:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Jack Grunsky — “Sweeper Woman”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 21, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,342) Jack Grunsky — “Sweeper Woman”

I’ve played the A-side (see #728), here’s the wonderful folk rock B-side by future children’s music superstar Jack Grunsky (see also #566).

Jack Grunsky was famous at the time — well, he was famous in Austria. Austria’s City Magazin says (courtesy of Google Translate):

Born in Austria, [Jack Grunsky] crossed the Atlantic as a small child on the Queen Elizabeth II with his parents, both musicians. The family emigrated to Canada [and] little Jack spent his childhood in Toronto. . . . Somehow he was drawn back to Europe. After graduating from high school, Jack . . . went to Vienna in 1964 and studied painting at the art academy. . . . For ten years he was in the top of the European charts as a singer and songwriter, some of them with Jack’s Angels. He had his own weekly radio show “Folk with Jack” on ORF [Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, Austria’s PBS]. In 1974, Jack Grunsky crossed the Atlantic again towards Canada. . . . and discovered his love for music for children. . . .

https://web.archive.org/web/20070928121943/http://www.city-magazin.at/storysundevents/szeneundleute/grunsky.html

Grunsky recounts his career:

After finishing high school in Toronto in 1964, I moved to Austria to study at the Academy of Arts in Vienna. At the same time I formed a folk singing group called ‘Jack’s Angels’ and we were signed to Amadeo Records, touring and recording 4 albums. Within the span of two years we gained considerable popularity before disbanding in 1968. The record label kept me on for two more albums after which I was brought on board the progressive German ‘Kuckuck’ label in Munich. I pursued a solo singer-songwriter career for the next 8 years, touring extensively throughout Europe and recording 5 more albums of original material. My ‘Toronto’ LP [including “Sweeper Woman” was recorded in London and was produced by Alexis Korner with various tracks featuring Mick Taylor (of the Stones) on slide guitar. In Vienna I composed music for 3 television children’s musicals . . . . With a few hits on the charts . . . and also hosting my own radio show ‘Folk mit Jack’ for ORF Austria, my following continued to grow in the Euro Pop Music scene of that time. . . . In 1974, together with my family, I returned to Canada. In spite of European success highlights, a shift in the Euro music industry took place and I found myself in fringe territory. I was seeking closer connection with the folk/rock music scene happening in North America. . . . [I released] my album ‘The Patience Of A Sailor’ and . . . reboot[ed] my singing career . . . . We performed as a band in clubs and festivals and returned to tour in Europe several times allowing me to stay in touch with my fans. In the early 80’s however, pointers and signs were guiding me in a new direction. Our daughter’s teacher invited me into the classroom to sing with the students. This led to offers to be a freelance music teacher at various Montessori schools around greater Toronto. . . . I became passionate about quality children’s music and discovered a market in need of it. Building a repertoire of original children’s songs and drawing on my concert performance experiences, I soon found a manager, a concert agent and eventually was signed up to the BMG Kidz Music label. . . . I have presented my children’s performances and workshops for over 30 years. This led to countless . . . teacher workshop opportunities across Canada and the US . . . . TV and radio appearances; major concert tours and international children’s festivals followed plus a number of symphony shows for family audiences. To date I’ve released 16 CD’s for children garnering a number of awards including 3 JUNO’s [Canada’s Grammys].

https://www.jackgrunsky.net/bio

While that was a bit self-promotional (I guess to get bookings), here is a part of a quite enlightening and appealing interview that Jack Grunksy had with TV Ontario in 1997:

Richard Ouzounian: I KNOW YOU FORMED A GROUP AT ONE POINT, JACK’S ANGELS, RIGHT?

Jack Grunsky: YES.

Richard: I HAVE VISIONS OF CHARLIE’S ANGELS. IT WASN’T THE SAME THING. IT WASN’T YOU AND THREE —

Jack: IT WAS A TERRIBLE NAME.

Richard: NO. IT WASN’T THREE BODACIOUS LADIES BEHIND YOU WHILE YOU SANG UP FRONT, NO.

Jack: THE NAME JACK’S ANGELS WAS NOT MY DOING.

Richard: OKAY.

Jack: WHEN I LIVED IN VIENNA, WHEN I WAS TAKING THE COURSE AT THE ACADEMY OF ARTS, I FORMED THIS GROUP. AND WE PERFORMED OUR REPERTOIRE OF FOLK SONGS, NORTH AMERICAN, BRITISH FOLK SONGS. AND I HAD ALREADY STARTED TO WRITE SONGS WITH THE GUITAR. AND MY FASCINATION WITH THE NORTH AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC SCENE, AT THAT TIME, THE KIND OF MUSIC I WAS LISTENING TO DURING HIGH SCHOOL, SUCH AS PETER, PAUL AND MARY, THE KINGSTON TRIO, BOB DYLAN,THOSE KIND OF PEOPLE,THEY WERE MY ROLE MODELS. SO WITH THIS ENTHUSIASM OF WANTING TO EMULATE BEING A SONGWRITER AND SINGER AND GUITARIST, I SHARED THIS WITH SOME STUDENT FRIENDS OF MINE IN VIENNA. AND WE FORMED THE GROUP AND PERFORMED IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS IN THE AREA. AND A FRIEND OF OURS CONTACTED A RECORD LABEL, AND THEY WERE QUITE INTERESTED IN WHAT WE WERE DOING. SO THEY CAME TO ONE OF OUR CONCERTS, AND WITHIN TWO WEEKS, SIGNED US UP FOR A TWO YEAR CONTRACT, DURING THE TIME OF WHICH WE RECORDED FOUR ALBUMS, AND A NUMBER OF SINGLES, AND STARTED TO TOUR QUITE EXTENSIVELY. I HAVE TO TELL YOU, AT THAT TIME, IN AUSTRIA AND CENTRAL EUROPE, THE NORTH AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC DID NOT YET CATCH ON. SO WHAT I WAS DOING, IN A WAY, WAS NEW TO EUROPEANS. AND THERE WAS A CERTAIN ENTHUSIASM THAT WE COMMUNICATED SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THE JOY THAT WE HAD IN SINGING TOGETHER IN HARMONY AND PLAYING TOGETHER. AND I THINK THIS SPARKED THE INTEREST AND CAUGHT THE PEOPLE’S IMAGINATION.

Richard: NOW, WHAT YEARS ARE WE TALKING HERE, ROUGHLY?

Jack: THIS WAS ’66, ’67.AND WE CONNECTED WITH JOAN BAEZ WHEN SHE CAME. AND SHE BROUGHT US UP ON STAGE AFTER HER PERFORMANCE. SO THERE WAS CONNECTION TO THE FOLK MUSIC SCENE, WHICH, IN AUSTRIA, THEY LABELLED THE GREEN WAVE. . . . AFTER THE GROUP JACK’S ANGELS DISBANDED BECAUSE SOME OF THE MEMBERS DID NOT WANT TO PURSUE MUSIC AS A CAREER, AND WE WERE GETTING SO BUSY TOURING AND RECORDING THAT IT WAS JUST TOO MUCH FOR THEM. SO WE HAD INTERNAL PROBLEMS. AND THE RECORD LABEL AGREED TO THE SPLIT OF THE GROUP, AS LONG AS I WOULD REMAIN WITH THEM, BEING THE LEADER AND THE SONGWRITER. SO AFTERWARDS, I CONTINUED ON MY OWN AS A SOLO PERFORMER . . . .

Richard: I REMEMBER YOU SAID SOMETHING ONCE ABOUT, YOU SAID THAT A SONG WAS LIKE A LITTLE WINDOW A CHILD COULD LOOK THROUGH. AND YOU SHOW THEM THE WHOLE WORLD.

Jack: WELL, IT’S THE WINDOW OF YOUR IMAGINATION. SO SOUNDS AND SONGS CAN TRIGGER A LOT OF THINGS IN A VERY CONSTRUCTIVE AND POSITIVE WAY.

https://www.tvo.org/transcript/632935

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

The 49th Parallel — “Twilight Woman”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 20, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,341) The 49th Parallel — “Twilight Woman”

Calgary’s 49th Parallel (see #367, 481, 697) give us “[a] Canadian gem. . . . two and a half minutes of blissful late-sixties psych pop” (SimonTheSignGuy, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/49th-parallel/twilight-woman-close-the-barn-door.p/), “[a] perfect 2 1/2 minutes of garage pop bliss”. (CharlyW34, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=72VimDmrqgU&pp=ygUqVGhlIDQ5dGggUGFyYWxsZWwg4oCUIOKAnFR3aWxpZ2h0IFdvbWFu4oCd)

Michael Panontin writes, “Calgary’s torch bearers in the great sixties rock sweepstakes were 49th Parallel, whose 1969 [Canadian] chart success, ‘Twilight Woman’, garnered them a few deserved rays of limelight”. (http://www.canuckistanmusic.com/index.php?maid=69)

As to the 49th Parallel, the Museum of Canadian Music tells us:

[They] were originally known in the mid-60’s as a popular bar band by the name of The Shades Of Blond. With a stifling and musically limiting Calgary club scene they were never able to get farther than having one single — 1966’s “All Your Love”. . . . Throughout 1968 and parts of 1969 they toured throughout North America with an ever fluctuating roster. . . . [T]hey did hit and run recording sessions which bore several singles for Venture Records including “Twilight Woman” that managed seven weeks on the CHUM charts with a peak position of #16 in April 1969, and its follow-up, “Now That I’m A Man”, in September 1969 which managed a modest 3 week ride on the CHUM charts and a peak position of #22. . . . A full-length album was hastily assembled from singles and studio outtakes because the line-up was continually fluctuating and new recordings were impossible to conduct. . . . Eventually the band changed its name to Painter and released one album before mutating into the hard rock act Hammersmith who would finally succumb in the late ’70’s after two albums on Mercury Records.

http://citizenfreak.com/titles/264434-49th-parallel-st (crediting the Canada Pop Encyclopedia)

The band had paid its dues: “By ’67 they’d changed their name to 49th Parallel, and had all but outgrown the local circuit. They played the prairies relentlessly for the next year or so, making over a dozen stops in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan at The Temple Gardens alone.” (https://canadianbands.com/artists/49th-parallel/)

Canbands adds:

[Their album] was barely on the shelves for a month when [singer Dennis] Abbott left, who was replaced by new frontman Dorn Beattie. . . . They continued to tour sporadically over the next six months while writing material for a follow-up album. But after the single “I Need You” went without a whimper on two separate occasions, the band packed it in by the spring of 1970.

https://canadianbands.com/artists/49th-parallel/

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Chuck Berry — “Ain’t That Just Like a Woman”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 19, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,340) Chuck Berry — “Ain’t That Just Like a Woman”

Here is Chuck Berry’s (see #361, 886) fantastic take (off his ’65 Chess LP Fresh Berry’s) on Louis Jordan’s ’46 #1 R&B (#17 pop) jump blues hit. It is so good that by the time it’s over, I feel like Keith Richards after being punched in the face (by Chuck). 🙂

Of note, he leaves out guitarist Carl Hogan’s intro to Jordan’s song — maybe because Berry had already used that very intro for his iconic “Johnny B Goode” riff! “He covered the song he copied from. That takes balls”. (clowntrooper61, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e9G9tVDeiEk&pp=ygUoQ2h1Y2sgYmVycnkgYWluJ3QgdGhhdCBqdWF0IGxpa2UgYSB3b21hbg%3D%3D) Well, yes, Chuck Berry had balls! “[L]ove it! covers the song he copied his intro from a decade after it was released and then uses a completely different intro for his cover!! AMAZING HAHAHAH”. (oltedlozengek4708, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e9G9tVDeiEk&pp=ygUoQ2h1Y2sgYmVycnkgYWluJ3QgdGhhdCBqdWF0IGxpa2UgYSB3b21hbg%3D%3D)

Ah, Chuck Berry. “As legend, or some old music magazine, has it, an interviewer once asked George Thorogood why he didn’t write more of his own songs, to which he replied ‘Because Chuck Berry already wrote all the f*cking songs that ever needed to be written.’” (https://somuchgreatmusic.com/2018/09/09/george-thorogood-it-wasnt-me-1978/).

Bruce Eder:

Chuck Berry’s last album for Chess, for the next four years, has him back in the U.S., and running smack into the mid-’60s blues revival, playing with the likes of Paul Butterfield and Mike Bloomfield . . . . The material varies from first-rate songs ([including] “Ain’t that Just Like a Woman” . . .) that sound utterly contemporary, to fascinating experiments . . . and filler . . . . He still rocks out, and sounds like he’s having a great time playing blues with Bloomfield and Butterfield . . , sounding like an old Chicago bluesman, which, ironically, was the direction he chose to go in during his subsequent four-year stint with Mercury Records. He still does some straight rock & roll . . . and occasionally indulges his taste for music from the islands . . , in what was essentially an era-closing album, and his last attempt at making a contemporary album with his established sound.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/fresh-berrys-mw0000841212

Here is Louis Jordan:

Here is Louis Jordan on the silver screen:

Here is “Johnny B Goode:

Here is Mark Zabel’s analysis:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Peter Sully — “Evil Woman”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 18, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,339) Peter Sully — “Evil Woman”

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.

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

John Bromley — “What a Woman Does”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 17, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,338) John Bromley — “What a Woman Does”

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 “never thought of himself as a singer. . . . ‘I was really only interested in performing on my own original recorded demos’”. (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 shop’s 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, “What a Woman Does”, was actually a John Bromley original. . . . “He 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.” . . . Dee ran off with the demo to Atlantic Records’s 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, “Frank 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.”

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 “over 200 works with over 60 recorded and performed worldwide by major artists such as Shirley Bassey, Sacha Distel, Petula Clark, Richard Harris, Paul Anka . . . John Farnham”, Jackie De Shannon and the Ace Kefford Stand. (Facebook). He also recorded some of his songs in the 60’s, releasing them as singles (backed by The Fleur De Lys (see #32, 122) which were eventually collected on his sole album, ’69’s Sing. Reviewers often comment on how Bromley’s songs are imbued with the spirit of Paul McCartney: Rob Jones calls his songs “Macca-esque psychedelia” (https://thedeletebin.com/2014/09/01/john-bromley-sings-so-many-things/), and John Reed calls Bromley “a singer-songwriter firmly rooted in the Macca tradition – and it’s possible to hear echoes of Beatles ballads such as ‘Yesterday’ or ‘Eleanor Rigby’ in many of his compositions.” (https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/john-bromley-songs).

If Bromley’s 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 “progressive” and serious direction to contrast the nostalgic and twee nature of what psych bands had created. King Crimson’s 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 Bromley’s record came out. Perhaps this is why [Sing] didn’t 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, it’s easy to appreciate its charms . . . .

https://thedeletebin.com/2014/09/01/john-bromley-sings-so-many-things/

Psychedelic Baby is out with a new interview with Bromley: https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2024/07/john-bromley-interview.html.

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

The Motives — “Ice Woman”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 16, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,337) The Motives — “Ice Woman”

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/.

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Maurice Gibb — “I’ve Come Back”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 15, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,336) Maurice Gibb — “I’ve Come Back”

I’ve featured the A-side (see #861), here is the B-side, “in many ways . . . equally as good and even more rare”. (Tim Roxborogh, https://www.roxboroghreport.com/2020/04/samantha-gibb-covers-her-dads-greatest-song-my-flashbacks-to-being-backstage-with-the-bee-gees-in-1999.html)) From the first of Maurice Gibb’s (see #353, 354, 466, 861) two singles (the other not til ’84), he gives us a song that “is almost too good to be true.” (stevereid5495, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8dSQXGd-LZk&pp=ygUbTWF1cmljZSBnaWJiIGkndmUgY29tZSBiYWNr) Indeed. Richie Unterberger wrote that it is “more palatable [than the A-side,] fit[ting] in snugly with the Bee Gees’ early tuneful melancholy pop”. (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-loner-mw0001053220) Richie!

I thought I quite perceptively noticed a definite John Lennon vibe, until I noted that stevereid5495 wrote that it is “[o]ne of the best ‘John Lennon’ vocal/songs I’ve ever heard” (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8dSQXGd-LZk&pp=ygUbTWF1cmljZSBnaWJiIGkndmUgY29tZSBiYWNr) and BartMazzetti wrote that it is “[v]ery Lennon-esque”. (BartMazzetti, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MtuPRQ7teOs&pp=ygUbTWF1cmljZSBnaWJiIGkndmUgY29tZSBiYWNr) Oh well!

Bruce Eder tells us:

[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, “Railroad,” co-authored by Billy Lawrie, a songwriter and singer, and also the brother of the British pop/rock legend Lulu [who also co-write “I’ve Come Back”] who became Maurice’s wife in 1969. . . . [He also began] work on a solo LP to have been called The Loner.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/maurice-gibb-mn0000865286

Tim Roxborogh rhapsodizes:

[When told by Roxborogh that “‘Railroad’ is one of my all time favourite songs”, Maurice responded] “I’m glad somebody liked it!” 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 Railroad’s release inexplicably coincided with I.O.I.O – 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 “the Bee Gees”, 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.O’s 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 . . . .

https://www.roxboroghreport.com/2020/04/samantha-gibb-covers-her-dads-greatest-song-my-flashbacks-to-being-backstage-with-the-bee-gees-in-1999.html

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

The Guess Who — “Baby Feelin’”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 14, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,335) The Guess Who — “Baby Feelin’”

The Guess Who (see #758, 1,140) took Johnny Kidd & the Pirates’s “1959 rocker ‘Feelin’’ . . . altering the title slightly to ‘Baby Feelin’’ before stamping their own brand on it [on this ‘66 LP track and B-side], transforming it into a raucous [and incendiary] slab of ‘Garage’”. (John Manship Rare Soul, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFKPAQPoXiE&pp=ygUZVGhlIGd1ZXNzIHdobyBiYWJ5IGZlZWxpbg%3D%3D)

Joe Viglione explains that:

[“Feelin’” 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.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/wild-one-mw0000853928

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 . . . “Don’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 . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/album/its-time-mw0000100326

As to Johnny Kidd, Mark Deming tells us that:

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 . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/album/please-dont-touch%21-the-1959-1962-recordings-mw0000855172

Here is the 45 version:

Here are Johnny Kidd & the Pirates:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

? — “Flies on the Ceiling”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 13, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,334) ?* — “Flies on the Ceiling”

“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”!

* No, not ? and the Mysterians!

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Otis Redding — “Mary’s Little Lamb”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 12, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,333) Otis Redding — “Mary’s Little Lamb”

With apologies to Paul McCartney, only Otis Redding can take “Mary Had a Little Lamb” 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 “decided 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 “loosely based on the children’s nursery rhyme. It seems banal to start with but the last half minute or so is absolutely fantastic.” (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)

Here are the Swan Silvertones:

Here are the Caravans:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band — “Love”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 11, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

(song first featured as #113) John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band — “Love”

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 Band‘s “Love” 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:

“Love”, the tenderest moment on John Lennon’s debut solo album, was a simple love song inspired by his feelings for Yoko Ono. “‘Love’ I wrote in a spirit of love. In all that shit, I wrote it in a spirit of love. It’s for Yoko, it has all that connotation for me. It’s a beautiful melody and I’m not even known for writing melody.” Lennon had recorded a guitar demo of ‘Love’ 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, ‘Love’ 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. . . . ‘Love’ was not released as a single in John Lennon’s lifetime, although he considered issuing it as one. It received considerable radio airplay from stations who baulked at the prospect of playing ‘Mother’, Lennon’s eventual choice of single in the US.

https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/john-lennon/songs/love/

Sam Kemp adds:

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. . . . ‘Love’ 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 ‘Love’ 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. It’s 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]t’s possible that, at least in some ways, it was intended as a gift to Ono. “With Yoko, I really knew love for the first time,” he once said: “I’d never met anyone who was my equal in every imaginable way. My better, actually. The dream came true”

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/how-john-lennon-created-love-yoko-ono/

Barbra Streisand (from her ’71 album Barbra Joan Streisand):

The Lettermen (from their ’71 album Love Book, and a B-side):

Shirley Bassey (from her ’72 album I, Capricorn):

Jimmy Nail (from his ’95 album Big River, and an A-side):

Beck (from a ’14 Starbucks compilation):

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends — “Let’s Ride”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 10, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,332) Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends — “Let’s Ride”

They’d only just begun! This non-LP ‘68 A-side, written by Roger Nichols (see #631, 828, 1,054, 1,300) and Paul Williams (see #24, 1,300), is stellar sunshine pop, “a 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)

RNSCF’s sole album one of the great lost albums of the 60’s, except that people could have bought it, they just didn’t! Yeah, you know who you are. Matthew Greenwald tells us:

[Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends is a] true sleeper in the context of California pop. . . . The album is a lot of things at once. Soft pop, a smattering of rock, and a heavy dose of easy listening. The group itself has a great vocal blend. Nichols is joined by Murray MacLeod and his sister, Melinda. The three voices combined create a wonderful, soft sheen, equally effective on the ballads . . . and uptempo numbers . . . . The credits on the album are a virtual who’s who of California pop at the time. . . . [including] Lenny Waronker, Van Dyke Parks, Bruce Botnick, and Randy Newman. Superbly produced by Tommy LaPuma, the album unfortunately didn’t do very well at the time of its release, which is an incredible injustice. The music, though, holds up extremely well today, and is an authentic slice of California pop. Delicious.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/roger-nichols-the-small-circle-of-friends-mw0000758583

Patrick Lundborg adds:

Mr Nichols and friends present a groovy smorgasbord of late 60’s pop music . . . . The 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. . . . There 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. [Producer] Tommy LiPuma adds his perspective: “I think at the time, radio stations didn’t know what the dell to do with it, it didn’t necessarily fit into a format, and there wasn’t anything that broke out as a hit.”

liner notes to the CD reissue of Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends

Ed Hogan tells us of Nichols:

[Roger Nichols’s] household brimmed with music when he was growing up. His dad was . . . a professional photographer who played sax in local jazz bands. His mother was a music major and a classical pianist. When Nichols started grade school, he picked up the violin, continuing his violin and classical studies throughout grammar and high school. His attention turned to basketball and Nichols forsook violin for the hoops but played guitar on the side. Recruited to U.C.L.A. on a basketball scholarship . . . . [he was] confronted to make a choice between music or basketball by his coach . . . . Nichols chose music. . . . After he left college . . . . [o]n weekends, he worked in clubs with his group . . . . Around 1965, the group was signed to a recording contract by Liberty Records. . . . With 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. . . . [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 wasn’t a big seller, Albert urged A&M publishing company head . . . to sign Nichols as a songwriter to their company. [The label] introduced [him] to lyricist Paul Williams. . . . The duo wrote together for four years, resulting in lots of album cuts, B-sides, even A-sides, but no hits. An advertising executive approached a friend of Nichols asking for help with an under-budget commercial project for Crocker Bank. . . . Hoping to capture the youth market . . . Nichols and Williams were given the slogan, “You’ve got a long way to and go and we’d like to help you get there.” They had just ten days to create a song, essentially a jingle. Waiting 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] “We’ve Only Just Begun” . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/roger-nichols-mn0001353156/biography

Here is the Morgan-James Duo:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

I Shall Be Released: Marc Bolan — “The Lilac Hand of Menthol Dan”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 9, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,331) Marc Bolan — “The Lilac Hand of Menthol Dan”

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 . . . .

https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/e059d91d-1141-47e9-8c67-c779db4190b6

David Wells adds:

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.

https://whatif-misc.blogspot.com/2018/02/johns-children-in-perfumed-garden-1967.html

Richie Unterberger:

[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.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/johns-children-mn0000239381#biography

Live:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

I Shall Be Released: The Kinks — “Till Death Us Do Part”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 8, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,330) The Kinks — “Till Death Us Do Part”

“What a wonderful song!” (Fischman, https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-kinks-album-by-album-song-by-song.1075714/page-280#post-27461195) No relation, but yes indeed! Ray Davies’s [see #12, 100, 381, 417, 450, 508, 529, 606, 623, 753, 865, 978, 1,043, 1,108, 1,302] song is “sensational” (Fortuleo, https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-kinks-album-by-album-song-by-song.1075714/page-280), “a top 10 Kinks song . . . . [j]ust beautiful” (Steve E., https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-kinks-album-by-album-song-by-song.1075714/page-280), a “British dance hall meets New Orleans marching band numbers, featuring a martial drumbeat, banjo, and trombone”. (Wayne Cresser, https://wcresser.com/2023/03/17/the-kinks-turn-sixty-reflecting-on-1968s-till-death-us-do-part/). Oh, and Alf Garnett and Archie Bunker love it!

Ajsmith tells us that:

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 . . . .

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-kinks-album-by-album-song-by-song.1075714/page-280

The Kinks’ 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 Davies’ best similes, “life is like a school/but I’m not prepared to keep on learning”, served up with the weary innocence . . . . Much of Ray’s 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. “In my little life,” says the lovelorn singer, “I know the world must keep on turning, even though it leaves me far behind.” 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, “this is our life, to live together, …Not just a day/but ‘til forever…Until death us do part.” The lines are delivered more as hopeful assertion than invocation.

https://wcresser.com/2023/03/17/the-kinks-turn-sixty-reflecting-on-1968s-till-death-us-do-part/

Fortuleo rhapsodizes over “Death”:

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 . . . . Ray’s delivery is beyond sweet and [his wife] Rasa’s 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 he’ll 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 “steady” than the first three, because after expressing his self doubts, the singer is now declaring that despite all his shortcomings, he’ll be there, with her, until the end. That’s remarkable.

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-kinks-album-by-album-song-by-song.1075714/page-280

As does Fischman:

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.

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-kinks-album-by-album-song-by-song.1075714/page-280#post-27461195

Here is Chas Mills’s soundtrack version:

Here is Jeff Tweedy:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

The Long Island Sound — “Skid Row”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 7, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,329) The Long Island Sound — “Skid Row”

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?

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” that are available on Spotify — now over 750 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

“Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut” Special Edition: Bo Diddley/The Pretty Things/The Missing Links: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 6, 2024

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 * — “Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut”

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 Berry’s 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 . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bo-diddley-mn0000055128#biography

* Maarten Zwiers:

[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 “the kids gave me that name when I was in grammar school in Chicago.”

https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/bo-diddley/

1,327) The Pretty Things — Mama, Keep Your Big Mouth Shut”

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.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-pretty-things-uk–mw0000038754

Stephen Thomas Erlewine:

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 ’60s. 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, “Rosalyn” and “Don’t Bring Me Down,” 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: it’s been said S.F. Sorrow inspired Pete Townshend to write Tommy . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-pretty-things-mn0000489676/biography

Live at the BBC:

Live again:

1,328) The Missing Links — Mama, Keep Your Big Mouth Shut”

The Links’ version is “tremendous ’60s punk, with blistering, feedback-ridden guitar and cord-shredding vocals” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-missing-links-mw0000884876) — years ahead of its time.

Peter Markmann:

In 1965 when they were billed as “Australia’s wildest group” it wasn’t just the usual “industry” 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.”

http://www.milesago.com/artists/missinglinks.htm

Richie Unterberger:

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 . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-missing-links-mn0000498637#biography

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 . . . . “We 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.

http://www.milesago.com/artists/missinglinks.htm

Here’s “H’Tuom Tuhs”:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Jun Mayuzumi— “Doyou No Yoru Nanika Ga Okiru”/土曜の夜/ “Something Feelin’ And It’s Saturday Night”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 5, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,325) Jun Mayuzumi — “Doyou No Yoru Nanika Ga Okiru”/土曜の夜/”Something Feelin’ And It’s Saturday Night”

The French yé-yé girls had nothing on Japan’s Jun Mayuzumi (see #480). This horn-infused confection coulda been a Bond theme!

Sheila Burgel tells us that:

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 “Koi No Hallejujah”, 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 Toyko’s 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 “Koi No Hallelujah”, her first Capitol release, established Mayuzumi as the “queen of Japanese beat” . . . . 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 “Black Room” [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 Nova 1966-70

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.

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BB%9B%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A5%E3%83%B3

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” that are available on Spotify — now 900 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

The Rebels — “Hrnečku, Vař!”/”Mug, Boil!”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — September 4, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,324) The Rebels — “Hrnečku, Vař!”/”Mug, Boil!”

From “one of the most famous records of Czech big beat” (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 — Šípková Růženkax/Sleeping Beauty— blackpoint says (courtesy of Google Translate):

It was recorded by the original cast of the [Rebels] consisting of Jiří Plíva, Jiří Korn, Svatopluk Čech and Anatoli Kohout plus the Václav Zahradník Orchestra. Lyricist Michael Postějovský 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 . . . .

https://www.blackpoint.cz/rebels-sipkova-ruzenka-lp-cd/

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 Václav Zahradník and Michael Prostějovský . . . .

https://ct24.ceskatelevize.cz/clanek/kultura/recenze-remasterovana-sipkova-ruzenka-uz-trochu-zaspala-dobu-71690

Michael Prostějovský himself sets the record straight (courtesy of Google Translate):

At the end of 1967, I filmed in the studio Čs. broadcast two songs with the Rebels and as a band, with the titles Mamas and Papas, and released Vašek Zahradník. We both agreed that they sing great and their voices go extremely well together . . . . But Vašek 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, Plíva and Sváťa čech sing on the LP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIPJLYjoM2Y

As to the Rebels, Mickey Vznik writes (courtesy of Google Translate):

Josef Plíva played the first guitar. Jiří Korn played second guitar and Svatopluk Čech played bass. The organ was operated by Bořek Kadlec and Jiří Šilder was on drums, who was later replaced by Karel “Káša” 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 – 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 Prostějovský . . . 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 Václav Zahradník with his orchestra. . . . [T]he Rebels disbanded mainly because their lead singer Josef Plíva emigrated to Canada. But the manager was the capable Franta Janeček . . . and he knew “… the crown is good, but the brand is better…” and so The Rebels added Jiří Juraček from The Rogers Band, Jiří Helcl from George & Beatovens, Bořek 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! . . .

https://historieceskoslovenskehobigbeatu.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-rebels.html

Here is “Hrnečku, Vař!” (courtesy of Google Translate):

A widow and her daughter Maruška 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 Maruška 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. “I 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 Maruška 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, Maruška 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. Maruška 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.

https://www-vydavatelstvi-upol-cz.translate.goog/koumacek/hrnecku-var/?_x_tr_sl=cs&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

A video:

In English:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: