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

I Go to Sleep Special Edition: The Kinks/The Fingers: “I Go to Sleep”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 16, 2025

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

Sure, the Pretenders had a #7 UK ‘81 hit with their superb version of Ray Davies’ haunting demo (which the Kinks never recorded). While no cover approaches Ray’s original, the best of many 60’s interpretations was not by the Applejacks, Peggy Lee, Cher, the Truth, Marion, Samantha Jones, or Lesley Duncan, but by the Fingers.

1,784) The Kinks — “I Go to Sleep”

“[T]he greatest unreleased song in the Kinks [see #100, 381, 417, 450, 508, 529, 606, 623, 753, 865, 978, 1,043, 1,108, 1,330, 1,451, 1,591, 1,697] catalogue. This song is so plangent, so haunting, so unforgettable–it could have been a hit, should have been a massive hit.” (Holly A. Hughes, https://thesonginmyheadtoday.blogspot.com/2008/01/i-go-to-sleep-kinks-you-can-usually.html) AGREE!

“There are a millions covers of this song but none of them have the emotional impact [Davies’] stripped down version has.” (DTension, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-mt7AUP4QU) “An absolute gem. It shows the genius of Ray Davies, and the beautifully simple but haunting piano accompaniment complements his voice perfectly.” (fredericksemple6366, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8pkG9cyBsc) “This original version is beautiful. It’s pretty eerie tbh. The chorus is unsettling and that much more gorgeous.” (S_E_R_, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8pkG9cyBsc)

Wikipedia explains that:

Ray Davies composed “I Go to Sleep” on 23 May 1965. . . . while awaiting news about the birth of his and his wife’s first child. The following day, the song was one of seven for which he recorded demos at Regent Sound Studios in central London. The recording features a solo vocal from Davies while he plays piano. The Kinks never formally recorded the song. . . . In June 1965, during the Kinks first US tour, Davies’s song publisher Edward Kassner shopped his song catalogue to various artists. Kassner succeeded in convincing the American jazz singer Peggy Lee to cover [it], which she recorded backed by a studio orchestra . . . . During the same US tour, after a Kinks show in Philadelphia on 19 June, the singer Mary Wells [see #1,309] expressed to Davies a desire to record the song, but he rejected the offer since it had already been promised to Lee.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Go_to_Sleep

Holly A. Hughes absolutely nails the song:

[The] original demo is so beautiful, it’s pretty much impossible to top. I’ve read that Ray Davies wrote this the night his daughter Victoria was born. That’s a very cool image, the exhausted young father looking at his sleeping infant and being awed by the immensity of this new life. However, Ray (ever the professional songwriter) re-cast it as a romantic love song, and it works so well that way, I think I’ll stick with it. Because this isn’t a song about looking at a sleeping loved one–it’s a song about sleeping alone, yearning for your lover to be there. That’s the ultimate loneliness, isn’t it? The demo recording is, oddly enough, just about perfect, so underproduced, such a light touch. Ray’s wispy voice skips over the cascading staccato words of the verse . . . . He sounds groggy, unfocused, disorientated. The chorus switches to a more legato line, but still drifting and vague . . . . In that half-state between waking and dreaming, he’s groping for some sort of contentment — but the way that last line wavers and stutters, ending on an unresolved chord, it’s pretty clear that the sleep thing is just not happening. . . . [S]o that’s it — that’s why he can’t sleep, because they’ve split for some reason; she’s not just off on a business trip, but something bad happened. . . . This is the song of a soul in hell, and he’s way too numb to scream and yell about it –which makes it even more painful and sad. . . . [I]t’s anything but sweet dreams. Breaks my heart, everytime I hear it.

https://thesonginmyheadtoday.blogspot.com/2008/01/i-go-to-sleep-kinks-you-can-usually.html

Holly, well said.

1785) The Fingers — “I Go To Sleep”

The Fingers were one of the first acts to label themselves “psychedelic”. Formed in the early sixties, they even took the stage with a monkey, called Freak Out, who they claimed produced psychotic smells. (Discogs, https://www.discogs.com/artist/673214-The-Fingers) OK, bassist John Bobin says it was an imaginary monkey! (https://www.radiolondon.co.uk/rl/scrap60/fabforty/fingers/fingers.html)

Vernon Joynson writes:

A Southend-based pop outfit, whose “Circus With a Female Clown”, produced by Peter Eden has pop-psych leanings but is eminently forgettable. They also backed Bill Fay [see #774, 953] on his 45. Bob Clouter was later in Legend. Richard Mills was later in Crocheted Doughnut Ring.

The Tapestry of Delights Revisited

Bassist John Bobin recalls that the Fingers mimed “I Go to Sleep” at the Melody Maker National Beat Contest. Their recording of the song was often played on Radio Caroline and Radio London, but didn’t make the pirate radio charts. See Bobin’s history of the band — including turning down an offer from Mickey Most! — at https://www.radiolondon.co.uk/rl/scrap60/fabforty/fingers/fingers.html.

Here are the Pretenders:

Here is Peggy Lee:

Here are the Applejacks:

Here is Marion:

Here is the Truth:

Here is Samantha Jones:

Here is Cher:

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Aquila — “Change Your Ways”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 15, 2025

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

1,783) Aquila — “Change Your Ways”

Sterling British (or, British sterling) jazz-rock/prog “quickened by the driving beat of the rhythm section” and “reminiscent of the early work of Chicago” from “an unjustly lost album”. (Bob McBeath, https://persevalk.blogspot.com/2011/02/aquila-aquila-1970.html?m=1)

Nigel Camilleri writes:

“Change Your Ways” has the band opening with saxophones and Hammond blaring out the main theme while the band seems to plough along an almost rhythm and blues backing rhythm. [Ralph] Denyer’s vocals are pleasant and rich with a distinctive sixties sound to it. Electric guitars are almost non-existent on this track as the bass is brought to the front of the mix accentuating the soulful rhythm of this track. At times there are hints of early Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears [see #765], mainly caused by the generous use of saxophones coupled with the strong roaming bass sound.

https://www.dprp.net/features/2001/forgotten-sons-aquila

As to Aquila, Camilleri adds:

[I]t seems that Denyer wished to move away from the Psychedelic drenched rock that Blonde On Blonde [see #227, 267, 1,089, 1,620] were playing and move further towards a progressive style that combined influences of Rhythm & Blues and Jazz. . . . The line-up consisted of James Smith (drums, percussion), Martin Woodward (Hammond organ), George . . . Lee (flute, saxophones) and Phil Childs (bass, piano). . . . Musically the group played a straight forward progressive rock with tinges of jazz provided mainly by Lee’s playing.

https://www.dprp.net/features/2001/forgotten-sons-aquila

Sébastien Métens adds:

Aquila were a five-piece progressive rock band from Wales who, in their time together during that wonderfully creative and burgeoning prog scene of the day, sadly left us with only one 1970-issued, self-titled release on RCA. The band were the brainchild of Blonde On Blonde guitarist, Ralph Denyer, who wrote and composed all the music and songs on the album. Flute, sax, and the venerable Hammond augment the classic bass-drums-guitar bedrock, affording a jazz-inflected sound . . . .

https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2015/04/aquila-interview.html#google_vignette

And Bob McBeath writes:

Denyer left [Blonde on Blonde] in 1970 to work on his Aquila project. . . . Aquila’s music, while substantially based in art rock, draws in influences from a diverse range of influences, including jazz and heavy rock. . . . [Denyers] brought in four other musicians including George Lee, a dedicated wind instrumentalist and the five piece Aquila was formed. . . . [Denyer] . . . entrust[ed] production duties to Patrick Campbell-Lyons [see #287, 391, 475, 1,238, 1,525, 1,712] . . . . It is perhaps George Lee’s contribution which distinguishes Aquila from other releases of the time, his multi- instrumental talents giving each track a unique flavour. Ralph Denyer’s own contribution though should not be under-played. As sole songwriter and vocalist, as well as lead guitarist, he takes great credit for the way he exploits the talents of his fellow band members.

https://persevalk.blogspot.com/2011/02/aquila-aquila-1970.html?m=1

James Smith and Martin Woodward recall from a fabulous interview by Sébastien Métens in Psychedelic Baby Magazine which I urge you all to read:

[JS] “[T]he existence of Aquila is entirely due to Martin and myself. When we were with The Fantastics we formed a genuine friendship. Also, musically, we were very compatible—very much into jazz-rock. We generally roomed together on the road and often talked at length about music and original arrangements etc. . . . [W]hen The Fantastics went back to the US, we were out of work. Martin was crashing at my flat . . . and it was almost an unspoken understanding that we should try to create something ourselves, rather than just look for another gig. I mentioned that I knew a really good bass player of a similar musical leaning, and if he was free we could get together and see what happened. Luckily, Phil (Childs) was indeed free, so we arranged a rehearsal room; within half an hour it was as if we’d been playing together for years, so we all decided to give it a go. None of us could sing, so we advertised for a guitarist/vocalist and were lucky enough to get Ralph, who again fitted in seamlessly . . . .”

[MW] “[B]asically most of the songs were constructed by Ralph coming up with the original idea and getting us all to play along with different rhythms. This created more ideas between all of us, and the songs evolved that way. . . . Aquila didn’t so much disband as fell apart. No one actually said, “Right, that’s it. We’re done.” RCA didn’t do anything for us, and the main reason it fell apart was lack of funds, or rather lack of gigs (which amounts to the same thing).”

[JS] “We had all put a hell of a lot of effort and hard work into the material and the album itself; when it didn’t take off, it was very disappointing. The production was not as good as it could have been and RCA did virtually nothing regarding promotion. Though nothing was said directly at the time, we just seemed to lose the impetus. In hindsight—a mistake; we should have learned from the experience and stuck at it.”

https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2015/04/aquila-interview.html

* As to the name, Smith and Woodward recall:

[JS] “We were all smoking weed and generally talking rubbish, when the topic of the band’s name came up. One of the guys . . . who was into astrology suggested that rather than name the band after a ‘somewhat depressing’ book [Animal Farm], why not name it after a star or constellation. Out came a book, and we came across the name ‘Aquila’ a constellation which was also the Latin for ‘eagle’. It was prominent in Roman mythology as the sacred bird that carried Jupiter’s thunderbolt. It instantly appealed to us and at rehearsal the next day we all decided to adopt it.”

[MW] “I loved the album cover, which was in fact a drawing of Goldie, the golden eagle who, at that time, was in London Zoo and quite famous. Keith, who did the drawings on the album, was a friend of ours. We did originally want an eagle’s cry at the beginning of the album, and Ralph went to London Zoo and asked the keeper if he could take some recording gear there to record Goldie. The keeper said, ‘You can try if you like mate, but I’ve been here 30 years and haven’t heard him make a sound yet!’, so we gave up on that one!”

https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2015/04/aquila-interview.html

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The Marmalade — “Station on 3rd Avenue”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 14, 2025

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

1,782) The Marmalade — “Station on 3rd Avenue”

The Poets (see #47, 86, 223, 489, 1,311) and the Marmalade (see #101, 897) were Scotland’s greatest bands of the 1960’s. Here, from the Marmalade’s first LP, ’68’s There’s a Lot of It About, is a super-fun ebullient Easybeats (see #201, 1,310, 1,359, 1,415, 1,683, 1,777) song (about a bird that’s flown!), which the ‘Beats had recorded in ’67 for their aborted 2nd UK LP, and which wasn’t released until ’77. It even nicks the Batman theme. “Get me to the station on Third Avenue” — no the song’s not from My Fair Lady, but it would have been cool had it been!

The definitive Milesago: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964-1975, tells us about those ill-fated ’67 Easybeats sessions:

This should have been the breakthrough they needed and the sessions produced some of their best material to date. But although an entire album was recorded, sequenced, mastered and titled (Good Times) and a cover prepared, it was never released. The band had become involved in a complicated contractual wrangle, with five companies claiming rights over their work. The immediate result was that Albert Productions, who had been footing most of the bills, now closed their chequebook. With both Johns and Olympic still unpaid, the record stayed in the can, and only two cuts — the magnificent title track, “Good Times”, and the psychedelic gem “Land Of Make Believe” managed to emerge, many months later. The remaining tracks languished for another decade, until Raven Records released them on the 1977 LP The Shame Just Drained.

http://www.milesago.com/mainframe.htm

As to Marmalade, Bruce Eder writes:

[I]n early 1964, Dean Ford & the Gaylords were signed to EMI-Columbia. . . . By the end of the year . . . [they] had made themselves the top band in Scotland . . . . [T]here was . . . no easy way to get heard in England [and] the group finally took up residence . . . just outside of London . . . . [A] fourth single . . . failed to chart and marked the end of their EMI contract. The Gaylords . . . were at something of a loss as to how to continue. [T]he Tremeloes . . . came to their rescue. . . . admir[ing their] sound . . . they suggested the band sign with their manager Peter Walsh. He was impressed . . . . Walsh[ changed their] name . . . to Marmalade. . . . got them . . . bookings, most notably at London’s Marquee Club . . . . [and] got [them] signed to CBS Records . . . . “I See the Rain,” an original (see #101) . . . become their third CBS single, described by Jimi Hendrix as the best British single of 1967. Somehow it never charted in England but did well in Holland . . . . [I]n early 1968, Marmalade decided to go for the most commercial sound they could live with and cut a pop/rock number called “Lovin’ Things[]”. . . . [that reached] the U.K. Top Ten . . . . Having gone the commercial route, they now found the record company insisting that they stick with it. Songs that they didn’t care for were foisted on them for follow-up singles . . . . [T]heir late-1968 single version of “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.” . . . [was] offered [to] them . . . ahead of . . . The White Album[]. . . . [and] became a number one hit in England and sold millions of copies around the world . . . . [But] it wasn’t really what the group was about. Marmalade was much more influenced by American soul, folk-rock, and progressive rock, but they had become locked into an image as a soft, bubblegum-type pop/rock band. . . . Their contract was up and . . . . English Decca . . . outbid CBS both in monetary terms and an offer of artistic freedom. The group re-emerged . . . with “Reflections of My Life,” a daring original . . . [which] topped the English charts . . . and became a Top Ten American single as well. They followed this up with the equally appealing . . . “Rainbow[]”. These twin hits were followed by the LP Reflections of the Marmalade, which proved to be something less than a success . . . . The LP never found an audience in England, but did in America . . . . By 1970, the band was beginning to show the first real signs of serious internal stress since their founding. . . . [Their] sound [changed] from a progressive pop/rock outfit to a much harder, more straight-ahead rock & roll band. . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/marmalade-mn0000334054/biography

Here are the Easybeats:

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Locomotive — “Mr Armageddon”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 13, 2025

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

1,781) Locomotive — “Mr Armageddon“

“[O]ne of the coolest tunes ever made” (psychotron9, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGI06oi6X68), this “almost gothic” (Urban Aspirines, https://urbanaspirines.blogspot.com/2022/11/) nugget of Birmingham prog gold is “[f]ar and away the best track on [Locomotive’s sole LP We Are Everything You See] . . . a stunningly powerful slice of doomy psych/progressive crossover with brass (!)” that “had the potential . . . to be a hit, [but] instead it flopped.” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited)

Biffbampow writes:

This has to be one of the most audacious follow up singles ever made. People who loved “Rudi’s In Love” must had been baffled when they heard this since it sounds like a completely different band altogether. Great record!

https://www.45cat.com/record/r5758

Brumbeat explains that:

[“Mr Armageddon”] was a Norman Haines original and a brilliant piece of work (note the spelling “Armageddan” and “Armageddon” were both used on the group’s records and publicity material*). [It] featured the prominent use of Norman’s Hammond organ along with a heavy horn-driven chorus but it was in a strong psychedelic/ progressive vein – much unlike the band’s previous soul/ska-based singles. The group announced their new “progressive” direction and the record drew acclaim from most reviewers but it sold poorly. Fans of the new progressive rock music considered Locomotive to be a “pop” act while those who enjoyed “Rudi’s In Love” were not interested in the band’s new image.

http://www.brumbeat.net/locomoti.htm

Brumbeat tells us about Locomotive:

[I]t was keyboardist/vocalist Norman Haines who defined the most famous line-up of Locomotive. They were unusual in not having a guitarist but instead used horns and hammond organ for their distinctive sound. . . . The first Locomotive line-up was put together in 1965 by jazz musician Jim Simpson . . . . 1966 saw various personnel changes and by the end of the year, only Jim Simpson remained of the original line-up. . . . In early 1967, talented keyboardist Norman Haines became part of the “new” Locomotive line-up . . . . Having worked at a record shop in . . . a part of Birmingham with a large West Indian population . . . Haines developed an interest for the “Blue Beat” and “Ska” music popular in that area. His songwriting talent and Hammond organ was soon put to good use when the band recorded their first single A-side titled “Broken Heart” . . . Although a brilliant composition coupled with Norman’s soulful vocal and catchy horns, the record undeservedly didn’t chart . . . . Simpson had left the Locomotive line-up by 1968 to concentrate on management and promotion. He would also go on to manage local bands . . . and eventually Black Sabbath. . . . [“Rudy’s in Love”, the] second Norman Haines composed ska-flavoured single . . . . reached Number 25 . . . . [W]ith a hit single in the charts, Locomotive . . . record[ed] an album. . . . [B]y January of 1969 the first new Locomotive single from the sessions was issued. ‘Mr. Armageddan’ . . . . Another Locomotive single titled ‘I’m Never Gonna Let You Go’ was issued in 1969. It was a cover of a “Question Mark and The Mysterians” song, but while it was more pop oriented, the record missed the charts. Although Locomotive’s album had been completed for some time, Parlophone continually delayed its release . . . . Haines left Locomotive before the end of the year . . . . On February 1st 1970, the Locomotive album . . . at last reached the record shops. It was a great mix of psychedelic/jazz based compositions with the recording and musicianship all done to a very high standard. Unfortunately, this album did not sell well . . . . [Band member] Tony Hall said of the Locomotive album; “No marketing. No promotion. Nothing. It was just dumped!”. . . Norman Haines formed a band called “Sacrifice” with whom he recorded another . . . album in 1970. They later became known as “The Norman Haines Band”.

http://www.brumbeat.net/locomoti.htm

* ZebedyZak writes that it “is an awesome song, despite looking as if Locomotive learned to spell at the same school as Slade.” (ZebedyZak, https://www.45cat.com/record/r5758) Ha, ha, ha.

Live on the BBC:

Here’s the acetate:

Here is a new version by the Norman Haines band (’71):

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The Californians — Follow Me”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 12, 2025

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

1,780) The Californians — “Follow Me”

A great ’66 “catchy folk-rock-pop tune with an interesting counterpoint between the male and female vocals” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lyme-cybelle-mn0000163784#biography) written and recorded by Lyme & Cybelle — Warren Zevon and Violet Santangelo — and done even better in ’67 by the Californians, a group from Wolverhampton in the UK that loved the American West Coast harmony sound!

Mike Stax writes of Lyme & Cybelle’s original version:

[It] rolls along on a chiming raga-guitar line with female and male vocals droning in hypnotic counterpoint like some kind of psychedelic Sonny & Cher [see #281-83, 1,021]. Somehow the song succeeds in being both hauntingly exotic and commerically plausible — a succesful marriage of pop, folk-rock, and early psychedelia.

liner notes to the CD comp Nuggets (Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era)

John Woodhouse tells us about the Californians:

The Californians, like The Montanas [see #1,245, 1,724], were one of the best known Wolverhampton recording groups during the 1960s. They were very much influenced by American harmony groups such as The Beach Boys [see #667], The Four Seasons [see #1,454], and The Association [see #1,264]. . . . The origins of The Californians can be traced back to the “skiffle” era in Wolverhampton. A group called Black Diamonds had local success in the late 1950s and early 60s to become well known throughout the area. . . . There was little doubt that Sheila Deni was the focal point of The Black Diamonds so her departure to go solo in May of 1966 left the future of the group uncertain. . . . [T]he remaining members had good voices so it was decided to carry on as a four-piece harmony group. A new group name “The Californians” was chosen to reflect the American West Coast harmony sound of groups such as The Beach Boys which they hoped to imitate. . . . The Californians bec[ame] extremely popular locally and they soon gained a large following of fans. . . . The group also did a lot of touring but it was their manager Roger Allen who eventually brought [them] to the notice of CBS Records. Roger had just landed a recording contract for The Montanas and then went to CBS saying he had another talented band – “The Cali’s”. The Californians first single release in early 1967 was certainly adventurous. . . . “Golden Apples” sounded something like “Bonanza” meets “Alladin” with its curious mix of wild-west and middle eastern rhythms along with echoey vocal effects. . . . Chosen for The Californian’s second single was a cover of then-unknown American songwriter Warren Zevon’s “Follow Me” . . . . Unfortunately, even with airplay and promotion, neither of the first two Californians singles released in 1967 made it into the national U.K. record chart despite selling well locally. . . . For the third Californians single release, the record company took no chances so had the group record a cover of the Spanky and Our Gang big U.S. hit “Sunday Will Never Be The Same”. Decca spared no expense in providing a full orchestral backing on the record’s A and B sides and with strong promotion and airplay how could an already proven hit fail? [It] was indeed another big seller in the West Midlands where the group had their fans but unfortunately sold poorly elsewhere. . . . A real gem of a track recorded by The Californians during this time was the radical “Cooks Of Cakes And Kindness”, composed by the Ivy Leagues’ John Carter [see #1,201, 1,304, 1,632]. This record was given a full-blown psychedelic production reminiscent of The Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour” . . . .

http://www.brumbeat.net/californ.htm

Richie Unterberger tells us of Lyme & Cybelle:

The male-female duo Lyme & Cybelle made three singles in 1966 for the White Whale label, the first two of them featuring a young Warren Zevon and Violet Santangelo as the duo partners. For those singles, the pair sang in a good-time pop/rock vein with some folk-rock influence. . . . They’re most known for their first single, “Follow Me[.]” . . . In 1966, it reached number 65 . . . . After the first two Lyme & Cybelle singles, Zevon was replaced by Wayne Erwin, even though Zevon was Santangelo’s songwriting partner as well as her vocal one on the original tunes released on the first pair of 45s. In their new setup, Lyme & Cybelle put out just one single, “Song 7″/”Write If You Get Work[]” . . . and boasting a far poppier sound than the previous two releases.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lyme-cybelle-mn0000163784#biography

Here are Lyme & Cybelle:

Here are Nino Tempo and April Stevens:

Here is the Tony Jackson Group:

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The Foundations — “Baby, I Couldn’t See”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 11, 2025

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

1,779) The Foundations — “Baby, I Couldn’t See”

Believe me buttercup, this exuberant soul number is just as good as any of their hits. Derek Johnson wrote in the New Musical Express at the time that:

For their last release, the Foundations experimented with ballad material — it was a good and thoroughly competent disc, but It just didn’t catch on. So now the group has adopted the obvious course of reverting to its former happy-go-lucky effervescent style. And although the boys have now dissolved their partnership with the Tony Macaulay-John Macleod team, I must say this is very much in the mould of their previous smash hits. The spirited solo vocal is backed by enthusiastic chanting, a driving beat and a bustling orchestra scoring — the tune is quicker to register, too. It could well put them back In the Chart.

https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/1969/New-Musical-Express-1969-11-08-OCR.pdf

Well, it did reach #8 . . . in the Netherlands. (https://www.top40.nl/tipparade/1969/week-49)

Bruce Eder writes of the Foundations:

At the time of their debut in mid-1967, they were hailed as being among the most authentic makers of soul music ever to emerge from England — the best practitioners of the Motown sound to be found on the far side of the Atlantic — and were also accepted in jazz circles as well. “Baby Now That I’ve Found You,” “Build Me Up Buttercup,” and “In the Bad, Bad Old Days” were the biggest hits for this multi-racial octet, made up of Londoners and West Indians. The Foundations were formed in January 1967 . . . gathered together through advertisements in Melody Maker. Lead singer Clem Curtis was a former boxer from Trinidad, while lead guitarist Alan Warner had been making his living in the printing trade . . . . Flutist/ saxman Pat Burke hailed from Jamaica, tenor saxman Mike Elliott had played . . . in . . . the Cabin Boys, as well as in several jazz bands, and trombonist Eric Allan Dale was another jazz veteran. Tony Gomez (keyboards), Peter Macbeth (bass), and Tim Harris (drums) rounded out the lineup. . . . It was at their regular spot at a much smaller club called the Butterfly — where they played one legendary gig on the last night of the Stax/Volt European tour — that led to their breakthrough. They were spotted by record dealer Barry Class, who was impressed enough . . . to become their manager. He arranged a meeting with Pye Records producer/songwriter Tony Macaulay, who was working with Long John Baldry with some success, but also was desperately looking for a new act to break for the label. He’d written a song with his partner John Macleod called “Baby Now That I’ve Found You,” which seemed to suit the Foundations. The resulting single, issued in the summer of 1967, got no reaction from the public or on the airwaves until it got picked up by the BBC’s newly founded Radio 1 . . . . The station wanted to avoid any records being played by the pirate radio broadcasters, and looked back at recent releases that the pirates had missed. “Baby Now That I’ve Found You” was the immediate beneficiary . . . [B]y November, the single held the number one spot on the British charts. . . . The Foundations were hailed for being the first British band to come up with an authentic soul sound . . . . Their performances revealed a seasoned, well-rehearsed, exciting stage presence and a bold, hard soul sound that most British bands managed to imitate only in the palest manner, if at all. Meanwhile, their debut single got to number 11 on the American charts . . . and it was equally well received in the rest of the world, selling something more than three and a half million copies. . . . The debut album never made the British charts, but it remained in print for years, a perennial seller that held up well over time. Unfortunately, a follow-up single, “Back on My Feet Again,” didn’t crack the British Top Ten, despite very heavy airplay and promotion, and barely made the U.S. Top 50. . . . Its relative failure led to the beginnings of a split between the group and Macaulay, as both songwriter and producer, exacerbated by the latter’s decision — as their producer — not to permit the group to record any of their own songs, even as B-sides. Additionally, they felt that Macaulay reined in their “real” sound, making them seem more pop-oriented than they were. . . . It [also] seemed to Curtis . . . that some of the other members . . . weren’t putting out the same effort they’d been giving to the group when they were still struggling. Curtis was persuaded to pursue a solo career . . . . [S]axman Elliott quit as well, and was never replaced. Cutis was succeeded by Colin Young, a good singer in his own right who fit in perfectly with the group’s sound, and the reconstituted group hit once more in early 1969 with “Build Me Up Buttercup,” written by Macaulay with Mike D’Abo, which reached number two in England and number one in America. “In the Bad, Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me)” was yet another hit, reaching the U.K. Top Ten and the U.S. Top 30. The band’s success finally faltered when Macaulay exited Pye Records. . . . With his departure, the group was cut off from the only composer who’d written all of their hits. Additionally, the sounds of soul were changing faster than the group could assimilate it all — they tried for a funkier, James Brown-type sound on their last recordings together in 1970 but failed to attract any attention. The Foundations split in 1970 . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-foundations-mn0000067900#biography

Here is Quincy Conserve (New Zealand):

Here is Os Selvagens (Brazil):

Here is the Pop’s (Brazil):

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The Match — “Mornin’ I’ll Be Movin’ On”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 10, 2025

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

1,778) The Match — “Mornin’ I’ll Be Movin’ On”

The Match ignite a great song written by Paul Williams (see #1,300) and Roger Nichols (see #631, 828, 1,054, 1332), later appearing on Williams’ first LP, and (to my ears) shoot it even higher into the sunshine pop heavens.

Of the Match’s only LP — A New Light — Dusty Groove writes:

A Sunshine Pop treasure – and a record that perfectly straddles a few different strands of late 60s pop! The quintet have fabulous harmonies – of the sort rooted in The Four Freshmen, and given a sunny finish by The Beach Boys – but they also move here in a way that prefaces soft rock modes of the decade to come – working in arrangements from Jack Pleis that still have plenty of jazz and pop, but which also compress things in a cool way too – giving the whole album a sublime sound that’s really unique! The album’s not exactly like the Roger Nichols & The Small Circle of Friends [see #631, 828, 1,054, 1,332], but it’s definitely got a similar vibe . . . .

https://www.dustygroove.com/item/672721/Match:New-Light

What Frank Is Listening To adds:

The liner notes written by Henry Mancini, proclaim, “Something new, or is it something old, is happening to popular music”. And Henry hits the nail on the head. The Match have taken (1969) recent trad pop sounds and psyched them up for the late 1960s. They lent to familiar songs from films as well as a number of tunes by upcoming songwriters like David Gates, Jimmy Webb, Paul Williams, Paul Simon [see #1,621], Roger Nichols. The album straddles both the traditional and the new as was popular at the time . . . . The Match are probably a little more “traditional groovy” with lovely vocal harmony arrangements backed by some beautiful string arrangements but it is all very slick as you would expect from the trad pop world. The result is a breezy vocal harmony album full of sunshine pop that would have made Brian Wilson chuckle. Clearly the band are trying to match (sic) the success of Harpers Bizarre and The Association [see #1,264] but they owe a big debt to Jimmy Webb and the multi layered vocal arrangements and music he was doing with the 5th Dimension.

https://whatfrankislisteningto.negstar.com/sunshine-pop-and-baroque/the-match-a-new-light-rca-1969/

As to Paul Williams, Mark Deming writes:

Paul Williams remains one of America’s best recognized all-purpose celebrities in the ’70s and ’80s — while plenty of folks are aware that he was a songwriter, vocalist, and instrumentalist, he also acted in movies and television, was a frequent guest on leading talk shows (he appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson over a dozen times), competed on game shows of all sorts, and was as likely to pop up in a Planet of the Apes sequel as he was to write a hit song. . . . Williams developed a passion for both music and acting, and began appearing in school theater productions as well as local talent shows. A medical condition stunted Williams’ growth, preventing him from becoming taller than five feet, two inches, and at one point he considered a career as a jockey. But his love of the stage won out, and Williams did regional theater . . . before returning to California and joining a repertory theater company . . . . Williams hoped to break into the movies, but . . . his career in Hollywood didn’t take off right away. After a spell as a comedy writer . . . Williams teamed up with songwriter Biff Rose, providing lyrics for Rose’s melodies, and the two enjoyed a windfall when Tiny Tim recorded their song “Fill Your Heart.” The tune ended up on the B-side of Tim’s smash single “Tiptoe Through the Tulips,” and after getting his foot in the door of the music business, Williams formed a band with his brother Mentor Williams called the Holy Mackerel [see #24]. . . . but its sole . . . album was a commercial disappointment, and Williams set out on a solo career as he worked on his songwriting. Williams cut his first solo album for Reprise, 1970’s Someday Man, but it fared no better . . . . It was when Williams landed a job as a staff songwriter at A&M Records that his career finally started to click; working with Roger Nichols . . . he penned “Out in the Country,” which became a major hit for Three Dog Night, and the group had major chart success with two other Williams tunes, “Just an Old Fashioned Love Song” and “The Family of Man.” And a tune Williams and Nichols wrote for a bank commercial enjoyed an impressive second life when the Carpenters cut “We’ve Only Just Begun” and it became a massive chart success. . . . [H]e was cast in a supporting role as an orangutan in 1973’s Battle for the Planet of the Apes, and in 1974 he did double duty on Brian DePalma’s cult classic Phantom of the Paradise, composing songs for the film and playing sinister rock & roll mogul Swan. Williams also earned an Oscar nomination for writing the song “Nice to Be Around” for the movie Cinderella Liberty, a Song of the Year nomination after Helen Reddy cut “You and Me Against the World,” and in 1976 he . . . [took] home an Oscar for the love theme from A Star is Born, “Evergreen.” . . . While all this was happening, Williams somehow found time to cut five more albums for A&M . . . . Between his songwriting work and his acting gigs in everything from the TV shows The Odd Couple and The Love Boat (he also co-wrote the theme song for the latter) to the movie Smokey and the Bandit, Williams was seemingly everywhere, and in 1979 he won another Grammy . . . for the song “The Rainbow Connection,” written for The Muppet Movie. . . . [B]y the mid-’80s, Williams’ career had gone into a major slump; by his own admission, he had developed a serious addiction to drugs and alcohol during his years in the spotlight, and it wasn’t until 1990 that he got clean and sober and began rebuilding his life and career.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/paul-williams-mn0000753254#biography

Ed Hogan tells us of Nichols:

[Roger Nichols’] 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 Paul Williams:

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The Easybeats — “Do You Have a Soul”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 9, 2025

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

1,777) The Easybeats — “Do You Have a Soul”

This Australia-only B-side features “abrupt tempo changes, cascading choruses, chiming guitars, and hooks that seem to flow into each other effortless[ly]”. (Gripsweat, https://gripsweat.com/item/115031559457/the-easybeats-friday-on-my-mind-lp-united-artists-1967-us-origstereo-uas-6588 “WoW. And I thought I knew the Easybeats! This is an absolute corker. Why this hasn’t been covered by rockers, punk or even metal …? Classic riffing, tone and attitude. Just wow.” (stevebrickshitta870, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO41Ie2a1gY) Indeed. They even sound like monkeys, not the Monkees, but monkeys!

The definitive MILESAGO: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964-1975 states the importance of the Easybeats:

To describe The Easybeats as “Australia’s Beatles” is not to damn them with faint praise. They were without question the best and most important Australian rock band of the 1960s, and their string of classic hit singles set the benchmarks for Australian popular music. They established a unique musical identity, and they became our first homegrown rock superstars, and for quality, inventiveness and originality their work is arguably unmatched by any other Australian band of the period. The Easybeats scored fifteen Top 40 Singles in Australia between 1965 and 1970, including three No.1 hits. Chief among their many achievements, the Easybeats hold the unique honour of being our first bona-fide rock group to have an major overseas hit record – the legendary “Friday On My Mind”. They were also one of the few major Australian bands of their day to perform and record original material almost exclusively.

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

Milesago gives “Soul” some context:

After the Xmas euphoria of a Top 10 hit [“Fridday on My Mind”] came the New Year headache: finding a suitable follow-up. This was a crucial moment in their career, and it’s arguable that here is where it began to unravel. Although there was an obvious, gold-plated contender in the superb “Pretty Girl” . . . inexplicably, it was passed over, and relegated to the b-side of a later single. Instead, they opted for a new Vanda-Young track, “Who’ll Be The One You Love”, which was probably written in haste, under pressure, and was clearly not in the same league as “Friday” (George later dismissed it as “crap”). It was released in March in the UK, and flopped. Ominously, UA didn’t even bother to release it in America. Meanwhile the preceding months had been used to record tracks for their new album with Shel Talmy. By all reports it was not a happy working relationship and the track “Do You Have a Soul?” was supposedly written about him, (as was the Who’s “Waltz for a Pig”) and this would be the last time they worked together. In April “Who’ll Be The One You Love” [with “Soul” the B-side] was released in Australia, and went top 20, and the disappointment of the new single was relieved by news that “Friday” was now Top 20 in America. They also began their first, hugely successful tour of Europe this month, supporting The Rolling Stones. Their superb showmanship won many fans there, especially in Germany and Holland (where Harry was feted like royalty) and over the next few years Europe became their most loyal market outside Australia. In May the Talmy-produced Good Friday LP was released in the UK, but was not released in Australia until some time later, and then in an altered form.

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

Bruce Eder tells us of the Easybeats:

The Easybeats . . . met in Sydney . . . [but] lead singer Stevie Wright originally came from England . . . and bassist Dick Diamonde hailed from the Netherlands, as did guitarist Harry Vanda, while the others, guitarists George Young and drummer Gordon “Snowy” Fleet, were recent arrivals from Scotland and England . . . . [They were] a piece of authentic Brit-beat right in the heart of Sydney. . . . After honing their sound and building a name locally . . . in late 1964, the group was signed to [Ted] Albert Productions who, in turn, licensed their releases to Australian EMI’s Parlophone label. . . . Working from originals primarily written by Stevie Wright, by himself or in collaboration with George Young, the group’s early records . . . were highly derivative of the Liverpool sound . . . . [but] they were highly animated in the studio and on stage, they looked cool and rebellious, and they sang and played superbly. . . . [T]heir debut single [was] issued in March of 1965 . . . . “She’s So Fine,” their second . . . two months later, shot to number one in Australia and was one of the great records of its era . . . . Their debut album Easy, issued the following September . . . . [Their] attack on their instruments . . . coupled with Wright’s searing, powerful lead vocals, made them one of the best British rock & roll acts of the period and Easy one of the best of all British Invasion albums . . . . In Australia, they were the reigning kings of rock & roll . . . assembling a string of eight Top Ten chart hits in a year and a half . . . . Their second album, It’s 2 Easy, was a match for their first . . . whose only fault . . . was that it seemed a year out-of-date in style when it was released in 1966. . . . [They] could do no wrong by keeping their sound the same . . . . [but] George Young . . . had ideas for more complex and daring music. By mid-1966, the Wright/ Young songwriting team had become history, but in its place Vanda and Young began writing songs together. . . . In the fall of 1966, the Easybeats were ready to make the jump that no Australian rock & roll act had yet done successfully, and headed for England. In November of 1966 . . . the group scored its first U.K. hit with “Friday on My Mind[“, which] embodied all of the fierce kinetic energy of their Australian hits but . . . at a new level of sophistication . . . . It rose to the Top Ten . . . across Europe and much of the rest of the world, and reached the Top 20 in the United States . . . . The group spent seven months in England, writing new, more ambitious songs[, ] performing before new audiences, most notably in Germany . . . . [and] mov[ing] their base of operations to London . . . . Some of the songs were superb, but the[ir] . . . charmed existence . . . seemed to desert them in 1967-1968 — their single “Heaven and Hell” was banned from the radio in England for one suggestive line, and a six-month lag for a follow-up cost them momentum . . . . [But] the songs . . . were as good as anything being written in rock at the time. . . . By mid-1969, the band had receded to a mere shadow of itself, and their music had regressed to a form of good-time singalong music . . . . The band decided to call it quits following a return to Australia for one final tour . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-easybeats-mn0000145086#biography

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Jimi Hendrix — “Freedom”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 8, 2025

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

1,776) Jimi Hendrix — “Freedom”

This — the A-side of the single from Jimi Hendrix’s first posthumous album — is my favorite Hendrix song. It reached #59 in April 1971. Of “Freedom”, Ray McGinnis writes:

“Freedom” was a single from the first album released after his death, The Cry of Love. Hendrix was influenced by Curtis Mayfield and it is suggested that his reference to “keep on pushing, straight ahead,” is an affirmation of the civil rights of African-Americans. “Freedom” was one of the last songs Hendrix recorded prior to his death. Freedom was something Hendrix had reason to be singing about. He was in a toxic relationship with the manager of his band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Michael Jeffrey. In July, 1970, under two months before his death, Hendrix stopped all communications with Michael Jeffrey. Hendrix told Chuck Wein, a film director at Andy Warhol’s Factory: “The next time I go to Seattle will be in a pine box.” Hendrix died on September 18, 1970. The news media reported that he died of a drug overdose. However, beyond the headlines, questions remained about Hendrix’s death.

https://vancouversignaturesounds.com/hits/freedom-jimi-hendrix/

In this piece, McGinnis strongly implies that Jeffrey had Hendrix murdered: https://vancouversignaturesounds.com/hits/wind-cries-mary-jimi-hendrix/.

“Freedom, ’cause I’ve got lotta to give, baby Freedom, so I can live” — Chilling. What could have been.

Bruce Eder writes that:

Hendrix, for the first time, [was] moving his songs specifically into a black music idiom, embracing R&B and funk elements in his singing, playing, and overall sound; some of it could qualify as Hendrix’s extension of his years playing with the Isley Brothers [see #1,137]. Songs . . . such as “Freedom,” “Izabella,” “Angel,” and “Dolly Dagger” show him finally acknowledging that musical world that he had largely by-passed . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/album/first-rays-of-the-new-rising-sun-mw0000619298

https://www.facebook.com/JimiHendrix/videos/behind-the-scenes-jimi-hendrixs-freedom/199844399011025

Live at the Atlanta Pop Festival:

Live in Maui:

Of this alternate version (Record Plant, New York, NY, February 16, 1970), Matthew Greenwald writes:

An alternate, early version of possibly Jimi Hendrix’s last great single of his lifetime, this version of “Freedom” appears on the exquisite The Jimi Hendrix Experience box set. Filled with a collection of diverse soul and R&B riffs that all seem, oddly, to make perfect sense, this song hangs together quite well. Some excellent percussion overdubs add to the song’s overall Afro-rock atmosphere.

https://www.allmusic.com/song/freedom-mt0007640220

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Purple Canteen — “Brains in My Feet”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 7, 2025

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

1,775) Purple Canteen — “Brains in My Feet”

Welcome to the “freaky corner of the room” (instrumental version) (Beverly Paterson, Twist and Shake Magazine, https://psychofthesouth.com/) for this “mindblowing” (instrumental version) (Lost in Tyme magazine #4, https://psychofthesouth.com/) “psychedelic rock/acid rock with hypnotic vocals, use of haunting organ and killer, spacey fuzzy guitars”. (roquecolor, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/purple_canteen/if_you_like_it_that_way___brains_in_my_feet/) “[T]his should be the national anthem of 60’s psych!! F’ing fantastic!!!!” (heterodyne1, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VFq2q1L86E) “That organ sounds like it’s DEAD. This is, like, the deepest. Holy crap… ” (gwugluud, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjkLc6wlUgI) “Fuzz and organ freak out. Cool.” (balloonfarm5903, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VFq2q1L86E) It gives you “a wallop of brain tingling fuzz guitar, then back into the melodic gliding tripping organ-infused segment[. I]t’s so good, you need to hear this”. (instrumental version) (Psych Trail Mix magazine #5, https://psychofthesouth.com/)

Oh, and “Brains” throws in some of the most astounding psychedelic lyrics — ever: “When I woke up this morning, my head was in my shoes” (Band member and writer Terry Taylor says this “was based on a comment from drummer Jim Wheeless…I feel like my head is in my shoes”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VFq2q1L86E)) “My backbone dripping blood from my brain Without you here, now, I’ll go insane” OMFG

Streetmouse, sounding very much like Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now, explains it this way:

[H]ands down one of the most amazing psychedelic songs I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. It’s a singular number from 1969, from a band who delivered but one seven inch 45 rpm, a song deeply laced with haunting hypnotic droning magic, and has been the source of frustration for most of my life … first because it took me forever to find this gem on wax, and secondly, the magic laid down here on this one hit wonder has set the couch-bound lysergic drenched atmosphere that I can’t seem to get enough of, where this number stands as the beacon to which I compare everything else. It’s . . . so infectious that an entire album should have been built around its shimmering intoxication and ethereal delights. Both lyrically and instrumentally the song is responsible for setting the groundwork for what was to be rediscovered and become so essential to the structure of later low-keyed and morally wasted psychedelic music, that it simply staggers my mind each time I hear these notes ebb from my speakers, where I’m not so much drawn back in time, nor pushed forward, but am face to face with one of the few constants in my life, an eternal singular moment, with a song that is truly timeless, sounding as enchanting today as it did nearly fifty years ago … and if that’s not saying something, then I’ve been on the wrong train for far too long. . . . [A] psychedelic masterpiece.

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/purple_canteen/if_you_like_it_that_way___brains_in_my_feet/

Streetmouse tells us of the Purple Canteen:

The group hails from the Jonesboro area and rented a house in the tiny town of Goobertown, Arkansas as a place to practice and hang out. The band’s trailer was shaped like a huge purple coffin inscribed with Purple Canteen to scare the kids. “Brains” nearly mystically sprang from writer Terry Taylor’s head, though the whole group contributed parts, along with production ideas. Wheeless’ name appears in the credits due to the fact that he was the only member who was over eighteen at the time.

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/purple_canteen/if_you_like_it_that_way___brains_in_my_feet/

Here is the instrumental version:

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Wendy & Bonnie — “The Paisley Window Pane” (alternate take): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 6, 2025

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

1,770) Wendy & Bonnie — “The Paisley Window Pane”

Here is a more Brazilian-flavored alternate take of “a sweet piece of Brazilian Tropicalia-themed Psych” (Faltain, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/wendy-and-bonnie/the-paisley-window-pane-its-whats-really-happening/), a “wonderful track[] from their stellar LP [Genesis]” (tymeshifter, https://rateyourmusic.com/music-review/tymeshifter/wendy-and-bonnie/the-paisley-window-pane-its-whats-really-happening-1/69455982), “a delicately beautiful and morose ballad buttressed by [Larry] Carlton’s languid acoustic guitar picking” with “intertwining vocals [that] are exquisite, full of Karen Carpenter-esque yearning”. (Jive Time Records, https://jivetimerecords.com/2022/03/wendy-bonnie-genesis-skye-1969/)

Joseph Neff writes that:

This is what soft rock sounded like before it went to the dogs. . . . “The Paisley Window Pane” succeeds by being breezy and light instead of syrupy . . . or plagued with overwrought mellowness. It’s pretty, yet doesn’t amplify this quality into fragility or preciousness, and in fact it is greatly enhanced by an aura of melancholy.

https://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/graded-curve-wendy-bonnie-genesis/

Bonnie Flower wrote the song IN THE SEVENTH GRADE and was recorded in 1968, when her sister Wendy was 17 and Bonnie was 13! (Irwin Chusid, liner notes to the CD reissue of Genesis) Mozart had nothing on the Flower sisters!

Jive Time Records writes of Genesis that:

Genesis likely wouldn’t have ascended to its burnished status without contributions from a cast of stellar session musicians such as drummer Jim Keltner, keyboardist Mike Melvoin, and guitarist Larry Carlton. They all play their asses off for these gifted upstarts, and it’s goddamn precious to witness. Production from bossa-nova/jazz vibraphonist [Gary] McFarland and label support from Skye co-owner and Latin-jazz percussionist Cal Tjader, who’d heard and loved the duo’s early demos, further bolstered the recording sessions.

https://jivetimerecords.com/2022/03/wendy-bonnie-genesis-skye-1969/

Richie Unterberger is more equivocal:

Genesis was pretty sparsely produced, the arrangements highlighting their harmonies and pensive paisley tunes, but did benefit from backing by some top Los Angeles session musicians . . . . [It] is pleasant, if naïve, harmonized light rock with psychedelic, jazz, and folk influences. It is impressive given their tender ages . . . and the pair wrote all of the material on the LP. . . . [It] is a nice, if not truly necessary, relic of the late 1960s. It’s the sort of unconventional yet accessible project that might have had trouble finding its way into release in any other era, but managed to at least get issued, even if it was largely undiscovered until cult listeners unearthed it decades later. The sisters’ harmonies have the sweet-sour major minor blend typical of many San Francisco rock artists of the time, yet with a more homespun, intimate flavor than those of many a heavily produced band. Their songs have the sort of slightly askew lyrics that, again, were prevalent in their time and place, glowing with anticipation of an era of greater love and less social constraints, and also imbued with a certain innocent naïveté. . . . There are sometimes jazzier accents to their singing and chord progressions than there were in most psychedelic or harmony pop/rock groups. . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/wendy-bonnie-mn0000818065#biography, https://www.allmusic.com/album/genesis-mw0000006402

Irwin Chusid’s liner notes to the CD reissue of Genesis tell the Flower sisters’ story:

The were influenced by the groundbreaking pop-psych ferment of the late ’60s, without having been much a part of it. The girls absorbed rock from the radio, sultry tropical strains from Latin jazz legend Cal Tjader (their godfather and a devoted family friend), and a love of jazz and classical from their parents. . . . In 1967, Wendy co-founded a local band, Crystal Fountain, for whom she was the featured vocalist; Bonnie later joined the group on drums. They recorded a few garage-psych originals, one of which, “The Night Behind Us,” received airplay on fabled station KSAN. “Cal heard some of the things we did with Crystal Fountain and some duo compositions,” recalled Bonnie, “So he connected us with Skye Records.” Skye was a jazz imprint whose roster boased Tjader, vibraphonist Gary McFarland, [and] guitarist Gabor Szabo [see #185] (all co-owners of the label) . . . . Wendy and Bonnie were . . . Skye’s only fling with rock . . . . [They] had been writing songs for years, and were now afforded a chance to record a 45 single of two originals: “The Paisley Window Pane” and “The Winter Is Cold.” Bonnie had written “Paisley” in the seventh grade and performed it solo in French class for final exam credit. . . . The initial session proved promising, and Skye asked the sisters if they could generate an album’s worth of material. Within weeks they’d conjured up eight tunes. . . . McFarland agreed to produce the project. . . . [He] was an arranger, composer, and bandleader who’d worked with [many jazz greats]. . . . Thanks to McFarland and Skye’s connections in the West Coast jazz world, the Flower sisters were graced with top-notch sidemen. . . . [including] Larry Carlton on guitar, veteran drummer Jim Keltner . . . . Then, in 1970, just as the sister’s promising singing careers were being launched, Skye eclardd bankruptcy. . . . [Wendy recalls] “One day we were . . . scheduled to appear on The Merv Griffin Show. Next day, our label was no more. . . . We were totally devastated[.] . . . We were looking forward to doing other projects with Gary. . . . We were shattered to hear he passed away[.]” McFarland suffered a fatal heart attack on November 2, 1971, after being poisoned by liquid methadone slipped into his cocktail at a New York bar. . . . ” The opportunities were [still] there,” said Wendy. “However, life was pulling Bonnie and me in different directions. I wanted to record with Fantasy, but they wanted a sister act or nothing.[“]

Richie Unterberger notes that:

Although they did sing backup vocals on a couple of Tjader albums and some jingles and background vocals at Fantasy Records, they never recorded their own material again . . . . They did perform music separately in the subsequent decades, Wendy Flower issuing a children’s music cassette, and Bonnie Flower once rejecting an invitation to join the Bangles.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/wendy-bonnie-mn0000818065#biography

Here is the song on Genesis:

Live:

Live back in the day:

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I Shall Be Released: The Action — “I’m a Stranger”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 5, 2025

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

1,773) The Action — “I’m a Stranger”

A majestic and yearning song, sadly unreleased, from another top contender for the greatest lost album of the 60’s (see #393, 429, 966). Matthew Sweet calls the album that never was “melodic mayhem … fueled by an emerging psychedelia … approached with a spirt of abandon” (liner notes to the Rolled Gold CD comp). It came from “[a] mod band made up of genuine mods” (Andrew Sandoval, liner notes to Rolled Gold) that changed with the times. As guitarist lan King recalled:

Gone were the days of the pill-popping mods who seemed to rave all night long. Different drugs came onto the music scene . . . so attitudes and passions changed. We were no exception. We began to experiment with new ideas, writing songs even, which was very exciting. We wanted to play our own stuff, instead of doing covers all the time.”

liner notes to Rolled Gold

As to the album, Matt Collar says:

The term “lost classic” is applied liberally and often erroneously to unreleased recordings that resurface years later in a maelstrom of hype. However, for . . . the Action, the term is not only justified, it is painfully bittersweet. . . . [This] goes beyond “lost classic” — it is the influential masterpiece no one was ever allowed to hear. . . . By the time they recorded [Rolled Gold‘s] demo tracks in 1967, the band had grown weary of the musically limited mod scene, which was on its last legs. . . . Prefiguring the coming psychedelic movement, the songs were epic, heartfelt, melodic socks to the gut . . . think The Who’s Tommy meets The Byrds’ Fifth Dimension. Unbelievably, EMI — AIR’s distributor — was not interested, and the tracks were shelved. . . . Playing like the brilliant missing link between mod and psychedelic rock, [it] is experimental without being silly or twee and emotionally mature without being pompous and boring. . . . [Some t]racks . . . are as good, if not better, than anything that charted during the late ’60s . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/album/rolled-gold-mw0000661275

As to the Action, Bruce Eder tells us:

In the mid-’60s, the Action had a strong grassroots following among British mods. But despite the support of George Martin, they never managed anything close to a hit record. The Action were the most soul-oriented of the mod groups, favoring guitar-oriented covers of Motown tunes and R&B dance numbers of the day . . . . Martin’s production put the emphasis on Reg King’s impressive vocals and the group’s high vocal harmonies, in the process getting a unique sound. . . . The Action changed members and their sound as the decade progressed, and were reborn as Mighty Baby. The band started out in North London during 1963 as quartet called the Boys . . . . [who] went out of existence in 1964, but didn’t split up, instead reconfiguring themselves as a five-piece. . . . the Action. [T]hey developed a tougher, harder sound that quickly made them favorites among mod audiences. The Action had a sound similar to the Small Faces . . . . They were discovered by George Martin, who signed them to his newly founded AIR Productions in 1965 and got them a recording deal at Parlophone Records . . . . The Action debuted with an excellent single of “Land of a 1000 Dances” b/w “In My Lonely Room,” which failed to make the charts despite being an irresistible dance number and lovely ballad respectively, performed with genuine flair and inspiration, not to mention an authentic white soul sound from Reg King that was as credible as anything emanating from England at the time. The Action’s second single, “I’ll Keep on Holding On” . . . released in early 1966, was just as good . . . as their first, but saw no greater chart success. The Action maintained a serious following among the mods . . . but they couldn’t get a break with their records and were unable to get the exposure that would have bumped them to the next level. . . . [B]y late 1966 and early 1967, they were doing smooth soul-styled material . . . . [and] by mid-1967 the[y] had evolved . . . into a progressive folk-rock-based sound . . . . Though Martin still supported the music the Action were making, their lack of success meant that AIR could no longer keep them on the label and they were let go in 1967. They . . . soon were back in the studio cutting a new batch of songs that were all composed by the band and featured a heavier, more psychedelic sound. They sent the tape around to various labels, but were unable to drum up enough interest to sign a deal. . . . Reg King subsequently left the band to pursue a solo career, and . . . the outfit that remained, rechristened Azoth. . . . They eventually transformed themselves into a pure psychedelic outfit, Mighty Baby . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-action-mn0000029067/biography

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Phillip Goodhand-Tait & the Stormsville Shakers — “Gonna Put Some Hurt on You”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 4, 2025

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

1,772) Phillip Goodhand-Tait & the Stormsville Shakers — “Gonna Put Some Hurt on You”

Here is a scorching, exuberant version of Raymond Lewis’ 1962 R&B song that the never-quite-made-it Shakers were “convinced . . . could be a hit . . . . The B-side, ‘It’s a Lie’, found its way into an episode of . . . Danger Man, which helped [‘Some Hurt’] into the lower reaches [#40] of the influential Melody Maker charts”. (Phillip Goodhand-Tait, liner notes to the CD comp The Stormsville Shakers and Circus with Phillip Goodhand-Tait: One and One Is Two: Compete Recordings 1965-1967) In my opinion, the Shakers’ cover is the best recorded version of the song, a song that “embodied the early 1960s New Orleans sound perfectly”. (Jeff Hannusch, https://www.offbeat.com/articles/raymond-lewis-1933-2020/)

Bruce Eder tells us of Phillip Goodhand-Tait & the Stormsville Shakers:

The Stormsville Shakers were among the most promising R&B-based rock & roll bands of the British beat boom who did not find success. They had a great [live] reputation — and one fully deserved . . . but somehow never managed to get the right song out at the right time for a breakthrough as a recording act. Their roots went back to the third wave of British rock & roll’s early history, around 1960 — a young Phillip Goodhand-Tait, a pianist of some renown among the students at his school . . . , joined with a pair of friends in forming a band, which evolved along with its lineup through 1961, when, after a stint as Phil Tone & the Vibrants, they became Phil & the Stormsville Shakers (all the members were admirers of Johnny & the Hurricanes, who had . . . an album called Stormsville). . . . Their original sound was pure rock & roll, but they soon found room in their act for some serious American-style rhythm & blues. . . . This transition into R&B was only pushed further and harder when they were chosen as the backing group for visiting American R&B singer Larry Williams . . . soon they were playing songs by James Brown and other iconic American soul stars, and getting good enough at it that the material stayed in their repertory after the tour[, ]which also resulted in their backing Williams on two LPs . . . . [S]omehow, despite an ever-widening audience for their live performances, they could never get it together as a recording act. They played clubs such as the Flamingo and the Marquee in London, and crossed paths on the same bills with such American [blues and R&B] legends . . . . One new song, “Long Live Love” written by Chris Andrews (a friend of the band), that they were killing audiences with on-stage, ended up in the hands of Sandie Shaw [see #324, 1,259] , who scored a number one with it on Pye Records in 1965; meanwhile, the Shakers didn’t get a record out under their own name until the following year, and then it was an EP issued only in France (albeit on EMI). It died a death, as did the band’s immediate prospects for fame beyond the confines of the clubs they were playing, and by the time their next opportunity came along, the landscape under them had begun to shift — R&B and soul, at least as done by white English acts, had become passe, and psychedelia was starting to dominate the music scene. Worse yet, horn bands seemed to be out, and the Shakers had a pair of saxmen in their ranks. By 1967, the members decided that a change of image and sound was in order and the Stormsville Shakers morphed into Circus, a psychedelic outfit that lasted for a pair of singles and an album on Transatlantic. . . . Circus was a disastrous detour for the Shakers. I’m 1966, following the release of the French EP (which contained four of his original songs), Phillip Goodhand-Tait had been signed up as a composer by Dick James Music . . . . And by 1967, he’d begun to see some significant songwriting money start to come his way, while the rest of the band were living hand-to-mouth, still waiting for their big break. This sudden boost to his career did nothing to stabilize the band, and the Stormsville Shakers called it a day in 1968. Goodhand-Tait went on to a long career as a songwriter, producer, and session musician, in field far away from R&B.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/philip-goodhand-tait-the-stormsville-shakers-mn0000652716#biography

Here is Raymond Lewis:

Here is Alvin Robinson:

Here is Art Neville:

Here is Little Herman:

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The Scene — “Scenes (from Another World)”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 3, 2025

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

1,771) The Scene — “Scenes (from Another World)”

From Canada (sorry about that World Series thing!), here is “a delightfully dreamy slab of popsike” that is “criminally overlooked” (Michael Panontin, https://canuckistanmusic.com/index.php?maid=736), “a catchy slice of psychedelia with soaring harmonies and brass [that] sounds . . . like a throwback from the Summer of ’67” (Monocled Alchemist, https://monocledalchemist.com/2024/05/20/obscure-60s-garage-and-psychedelic-singles/) Wait one Montreal minute! I know musical trends changed quickly in the 60s, but let’s not chide a September (in the U.S.) and October (in Canada) ’67 single as a “throwback” to the summer of ’67!!!

Michael Panontin:

[“Scenes”] is one of the few Canadian productions of songwriter/producer/arranger Neil Sheppard. Born Neil Ship, the precocious Montrealer started playing at Lou Black’s Living Room just as he had entered his teens. He changed his name to Sheppard, mostly to get out from under the shadow of his father, a notorious club owner and “local legend” around town, and then made his way to New York City. By the age of fourteen, Sheppard had found work as a staff writer with Gil-Pincus Music . . . . [I]n 1963 he sang on his first record . . . . [H]e was a prolific writer, and the long list of artists who recorded his songs includes the Everly Brothers, Gene Pitney [see #382] Tony Orlando, the Cowsills, Tim Hardin [see #457] and Long John Baldry, to name a few. He even gave one to his brother, Michael Ship, who was playing keyboards in a little-known group back home called the Scene. The group, which also included guitarist Barry Albert, bassist Danny Zimmerman and drummer Marty Simon, had yet to release a single, so Sheppard had them record a song of his called “Scenes (from Another World)”. . . . It was issued on the Tokens’ [see #66, 923, 1,046] B.T. Puppy label in three countries: Canada, the US and Australia. . . . [It reached] #14 on RPM’s Canadian Hits chart. . . . Sheppard . . . was under contract with Polydor and had returned to Montreal with the intention of putting together a band to record his songs. . . . [H]e rechristened the [Scene as] Life (though Albert was later replaced on guitar by Jean-Pierre Lauzon). . . . [and] supplied them with a song he had written . . . “Hands on the Clock”, [and] the five watched it shoot to an impressive #9 slot on Montreal’s CFOX chart in the early summer of 1969. Life issued an entire album the following year (with Albert bailing halfway through the recording) and even did some touring. But when Lauzon and Simon were asked to join gospel rocker Mylon Lefevre for his Felix Pappalardi-produced Holy Smoke LP, it was an offer too good to refuse and Life broke up soon after.

https://canuckistanmusic.com/index.php?maid=736

For a while, it was a very mysterious Scene. The liner notes to the CD comp Hen’s Teeth Vol. 3: Catherine on the Wheel say that “They were Australian judging by the disc . . . . The joke could be on us — they might be American”!

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Vashti Bunyan — “Rose Hip November”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 2, 2025

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

1,770) Vashti Bunyan — “Rose Hip November”

From the now and justly legendary Vashti (see #204), “one of the most unique and soothing voices in folk” (David Hopper, https://360degreesound.com/10-great-november-songs/), here is “a gentle nature meditation” (Kitty Empire, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/12/vashti-bunyan-review-st-pancras-old-church-london) that “[o]f all her very beautiful songs . . . is my total favourite”. (mickigoe, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ2l65tB_Us) Well, it’s one of my favorites.

Sarah Lillard muses:

The words of “Rose Hip November” fill me to overflowing and I sing. Vashti’s voice, made of the stuff of earth, sings over me. . . . Some might describe her tender soprano as ethereal or angelic, but that does not do her justice. Think of the tinkling of an ice cold stream tumbling over smoothed rocks. Think of wind sweeping water droplets off lush green leaves. Think of a hummingbird finally coming to rest on a delicate branch, hunger satiated for a moment. Those things are Vashti’s voice to me. Her particular brand of folk music is traditional in theme, but unique in performance, using the standard guitar picking and fiddles/strings, but also organ, horns, and glockenspiel. The arrangements are anything but sparse and her voice glides over top of rich instrumentation to create peace-filled music. . . . “Rose Hip November[]” . . . beautifully exemplifies this magical combination. Vashti’s words paint pastoral landscapes for her hearers and each instrument lays a jewel-tone thread in an expertly woven tapestry. Listening is like pulling layers of soft blankets up to your chin on an icy morning. You will discover something new upon each listen and you will be better for it. Whether you are mourning the passing of warm weather, or you live the whole year waiting for fall, you will surely appreciate this graceful autumnal anthem.

https://medium.com/memoir-mixtapes/sarah-recommends-rose-hip-november-by-vashti-bunyan-ed9523a21bd9

Songfacts tells us that:

Bunyan and her boyfriend were making their way to the Isle of Skye when they met Mac and Iris MacFarlane, a couple who were also bound for Scotland. They offered their former home in northwest England’s Lake District as a respite for the travelers during the chilly autumn months of 1968. . . . The song title was inspired by Bunyan’s walks to Hawkshead, an English village where she bought food while she stayed at the MacFarlanes’ house. On her way back one November day, she noticed the hedgerows were full of rose hips, which are the seed pods of rose plants. Welsh fingerstyle guitarist John James performs on the track, but not with his typical instrument. He plays the dulcitone, a Scottish keyboard-style instrument that uses tuning forks in place of strings to produce sound. James went to art school with Robert Lewis, Bunyan’s boyfriend and traveling companion . . . . Robin Williamson of The Incredible String Band plays the fiddle, whistle, and Irish harp on this track. . . . [It] is a product of Bunyan’s introspective songwriting, capturing the melancholic beauty of the British countryside in late autumn. “It was when I was really grateful about being given a house to live in after being on the road and freezing cold,” Bunyan told Uncut magazine. “I was also still quite romantic about farming life. ‘Gold landing at our door…’ When I was a child, if you were to catch an autumn leaf you would be lucky. So, ‘catch one leaf and fortune will surround you ever more.'”

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/vashti-bunyan/rose-hip-november

Jason Ankeny tells us Vashti’s story:

Vashti Bunyan is an English singer/songwriter whose 1970 debut album Just Another Diamond Day was an overlooked gem in its time that later grew to be a defining classic of acid folk. Sluggish record saless discouraged Bunyan enough to give up music entirely shortly after its release, but as the years went on, more new fans grew enamored with the album’s hushed but surreal beauty. . . . Bunyan . . . first took up the guitar while a student at the Ruskin School of Fine Art and Drawing. She was ultimately expelled at age 18 for spending too much time writing songs and not enough time painting. A bit of a free spirit even then, she took a trip to New York and, while there, fell under the spell of Bob Dylan’s music . . . . Once back in London, Bunyan was committed to a career in music, and through theatrical agent Monte Mackay she soon met Rolling Stones manager/ producer Andrew Loog Oldham. . . . [H]e signed her to Decca Records and for her debut single brought her the Mick Jagger/Keith Richards-penned “Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind.” The record earned little attention, and Bunyan moved to Columbia for the follow-up, “Train Song,” [see #204] released in May of 1966. She moved into the orbit of Oldham’s Immediate Records after its founding that year and recorded a brace of sides, mostly of her own music, none of which was issued commercially. She also cut one side with the Twice as Much (Immediate’s answer to Simin & Garfunkel) entitled “The Coldest Night of the Year.” The latter, with its Phil Spector-like production and beautiful harmonizing, showed off her singing at its most pop-oriented and commercial. Sometime after that, she left London in a horse-drawn wagon on a two-year journey into communal living in the Hebrides, with the ultimate goal of meeting folk icon Donovan [see #908, 1,036, 1,064] on the Isle of Skye. She later chanced to cross paths with American producer Joe Boyd, who had made his name in London recording acts such as Pink Floyd [see # 13, 38, 260] and Fairport Convention [see #1,199]. Throughout her travels Bunyan had continued writing songs, and in 1969 she teamed with Boyd to record her debut LP, the lovely Just Another Diamond Day, which included some assistance from such British folk notables as Simon Nicol and Dave Swarbrick from Fairport Convention and the Incredible String Band’s Robin Williamson. After completing the album she left for Ireland, dropping out of music to raise a family.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6en1BTlY0Kw&list=RD6en1BTlY0Kw&start_radio=1&pp=ygUfdmFzaHRpIGJ1bnlhbiByb3NlIGhpcCBub3ZlbWJlcqAHAQ%3D%3D

Here is Vashti live in ‘11:

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The Anteeeks — “I Don’t Want You”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 1, 2025

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

1,769) The Anteeeks — “I Don’t Want You”

The only A-side by this band from Kilmarnock, Scotland, is an “R&B masterpiece” (Rockingscots, https://www.rockingscots.co.uk/Anteeeks.htm), “[s]uperb garage/freakbeat” (oscarowski, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LhaCDQIMzg), a “tough Garage R&B Beat dancer with hard guitar riffs” (teabiscuit, https://www.45cat.com/record/bf1471), an “organ-heavy groover” (liner notes to the CD comp Chocolate Soup for Diabetics: Volumes 1-5) And it was co-written by Pete Dello (see #920) of Honeybus (see #6, 52, 207, 434, 562, 605, 764, 1,100, 1,439, 1,582, 1,715 (with and without Dello))!

Rockingscots tells us of the Anteeeks:

The Anteeeks [were] Frank Knapp (vocals); Billy Gray (guitar); Jim Condron (bass); George Butler (drums); [and] a bloke from from Cumbernauld (Malcolm McNally) (keyboards). [They m]oved to London in 1965. . . . They supported The Animals at the Tiles club in London in 1966 and appeared on television – A Whole Scene Going in the same year accompanied by Gene Pitney [see #382]. George Butler played with Alex Harvey [see #440, 684] in Giant Moth in late ’60s, resurfaced with Eggs Over Easy – the first London Pub-Rock band then later in the Lightning Raiders. . . . [T]he Cumbernauld bloke was in fact Malcolm McNally who joined the group not long before they set off for London in late 1965. Their lone single came out in the spring of 1966, and by the summer Billy Gray had jumped ship to Bowie’s [see #9, 75, 464] The Buzz (Lower Third). Both George Butler and Jim Condon stayed on in London. George played on Georgie Fame’s [see #103, 169, 634, 695, 721, 1,044, 1,741] ‘Sunny’ record too.

https://www.rockingscots.co.uk/Anteeeks.htm

George Butler was also with Ian Dury & The Kilburns and has played for The Deviants [see #564, 1,402], Brian Ferry and Elvis Costello amongst many others.” (Discogs, https://www.discogs.com/artist/1002253-George-Butler-3) Deepinder Cheema adds that: Butler was a “pub rock stalwart drummer with Uncle Dog, the Lightning Raiders, the Dirty Strangers, the Pink Fairies, the Clash, etc, etc. . . . [He also] came up with the Stiff label slogan If it ain’t Stiff, it ain’t worth a f*ck”. (https://www.45cat.com/record/bf1471)

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Stella — “Si Vous Connaissez Quelque Chose De Pire Que Qu’un Vampire Parlez M’en Toujours, Ça Pourra Peut-Être Me Faire Sourire”/”If You Know Something Worse than a Vampire, Always Tell Me About It, Maybe It Will Make Me Smile”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 31, 2025

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

1,768) Stella — “Si Vous Connaissez Quelque Chose De Pire Que Qu’un Vampire Parlez M’en Toujours, Ça Pourra Peut-Être Me Faire Sourire”/”If You Know Something Worse than a Vampire, Always Tell Me About It, Maybe It Will Make Me Smile”

The greatest Halloween song/video ever, by a 16 year old French free spirit who wrote her own songs and loved to make fun of the yé-yé girls. “Stella really was the coolest singer in the history of pop music and this is the proof right here”. (ChrisSeahorse, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGwGWFrC85Q) Indeed. “[Her] snotty vocals get[] the cool backing they always deserved. . . . one of her best recordings”. (marcoschoir, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/ep/stella/si-vous-connaissez-quelque-chose-de-pire-quun-vampire/) Indeed.

Gillesmatheronpro writes (courtesy of Google Translate):

A marvel of offbeat dark humor and derision. Not to mention a musical composition and orchestration typical of French pop: polished, melodic, frankly rhythmic, and inventive. It’s a flavorful song, like a spicy dish, that only gets better with time. Bravissimo!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7czyv88k2Ec&list=RD7czyv88k2Ec&start_radio=1&pp=ygUOc3RlbGxhIHZhbXBpcmWgBwE%3D

If you want to make me happy, take me to see a horror movie. . . . I love the blood flowing at night deep in the woods. I love hearing the cries of drowning victims. . . . If you want to make me happy , make sure I’m scared.

(Genius.com (Courtesy of Google Translate), https://genius.com/Stella-fra-si-vous-connaissez-quelque-chose-de-pire-quun-vampire-parlez-men-toujours-ca-pourra-peut-etre-me-faire-sourire-lyrics)

The video is a “Scopitone” — shown on “Scopitone machines (which were a type of jukebox with music videos instead of songs)”. (SergeESC, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGwGWFrC85Q)

Joe Marchese:

The single-named French pop queen was born Stella Zelcer, and is today known as Stella Vander, wife and collaborator of Christian Zander of the jazz-influenced progressive rock group Magma. . . . Stella differentiated herself from the popular yé-yé girls by lampooning the genre itself. . . . [S]he poked fun at singer Sheila’s “Le Folklore Américain” with her own “Un Air De Folklore Auvergnat.” Answering Sheila’s tribute to American country and folk, Stella posited in her song that accordionist Andre Verchuren was France’s answer to Bob Dylan. The song caused controversy when The Auvergnat Association of Paris took exception to its lyrics; the group even lobbied to have Stella’s records pulled from radio. Still a teenager – she made her first recording in 1963 for Disques Vogue at age 12 – she drew influences from the international spectrum of pop and rock for her RCA long-playing debut, lyrically reworking Bob Dylan’s “Motorpsycho Nightmare” as her own “Cauchemard Auto-Protestateur” and creating sonic collages in the manner of The Beatles. She co-wrote all of the material herself, in collaboration with her uncle Maurice Chorenslup, and touched on pop, soul, garage rock, jazz and psychedelia on these recordings. . . . As the decade progressed . . . Stella’s songwriting pen and her sharply satirical wit became even sharper. “L’Idole Des Jaunes” paid tribute to Jimi Hendrix while mocking Maoists. . . . [T]he singer-songwriter turned her back on subversive pop and after a short spell in a blues-rock band, returned to her first love of jazz. She joined with Magma in 1973 . . . .

https://theseconddisc.com/2015/05/06/motorpsycho-nightmares-subversive-french-pop-of-stella-vander-arrives-on-cd-from-rpm/

Wikipedia adds

Stella . . . is a French singer, musician and record producer. Born in Paris into a family of Polish immigrants, she began writing music in the early sixties together with her uncle Maurice Chorenslup. Their songs were parodies of the Yé-yé style that was popular at the time. Stella’s first EP, which included “Pourquoi pas moi”, was released in November 1963, when she was twelve. In 1966, “Un air du folklore Auvergnat” (“a folk song from Auvergne”, mocking Sheila’s “Le Folklore Américain”) increased her fame, followed by protests by the Auvergnat association—which took the lyrics seriously. Her take on music was “engagingly sarcastic” [MOJO, Winter 2001]. 1966’s Beatnicks D’Occasion targeted weekend scenesters. Her final record as Stella was released in 1967. “I wasn’t even 17 yet, but I just said ‘Ok, pfft. Leave it.'” She married Magma drummer Christian Vander and has appeared on numerous Magma albums. During the band’s hiatus, she divorced Christian and married Francis Linon, the band’s sound engineer. Both founded the record label Seventh Records in 1987 for an independent promotion of Magma’s work. The couple started Seventh Records to organise Magma’s work and to release some of Christian Vander’s personal works. Since Magma’s reformation in the late 1990s, she has assumed a larger role in the band’s studio and performance efforts, and is currently Magma’s most enduring and prominent vocalist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Vander

Here’s another video:

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Joe Tex and the Vibrators — “I’ll Never Break Your Heart” (I & II): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 30, 2025

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

1,767) Joe Tex and the Vibrators — “I’ll Never Break Your Heart” (Parts I & II)

I love my Joe Tex (see #42, 455, 609, 732, 1,196) — and not only the raucous, riotous and raunchy Joe Tex. Here is a beautiful and heartfelt ballad by JT at his sweetest, a “stunning two-part track[] . . . in which Joe opened up a whole new territory of narrative in soul music”. (Dusty Groove, https://www.dustygroove.com/item/7693/Joe-Tex:Hold-On-It-s-Joe-Tex) It is a “follow-up to Jerry Butler’s [see #347] Fall 1960 No.1 R&B/No.4 Pop smash ‘He Will Break Your Heart’ p. . . . a tad pacier than Butler’s recording but didn’t fare as well as Tex’s initial Anna release”. (Pete Nickols, https://www.sirshambling.com/articles/joe_tex/index.php)

Michael Jack Kirby gives a fabulous introduction to Joe Tex (Joseph Arrington, Jr.):

In 1965 . . . [he] had his first big hit, “Hold What You’ve Got.” Perseverance got him to that point as he’d been making records for almost ten years. [Joe Tex] . . . . had advice for everyone, especially when it came to romance and moral behavior. The long road to stardom got under way in 1955 when he made the journey from the Lone Star State to New York City’s Apollo Theater, taking control of the crowds and coming in first place on more than one “Amateur Night.” Syd Nathan, owner of King records, offered him a chance to record . . . . After several releases but no breakthrough hit, King cut him loose and he headed back to Texas, where he served as a minister . . . . Tex joined the Ace [Records] roster in 1958 and waxed several singles . . . but . . . none were hits. . . . He [did] perfect[] some mean dance moves, including an impressive microphone stand gimmick by letting the stand fall to the floor as he grabs it with his foot just in time, proceeding to kick it around while dancing and singing, never missing a beat of the song. Those kinds of stage moves . . . would later get him into a skirmish with a certain “Mr. Dynamite.” Joe had . . . a few singles for the Anna label . . . “Baby You’re Right,” was interpreted with minor changes by James Brown . . . and hit the pop charts, and R&B top ten . . . the first major hit with Joe’s name attached. Any good feelings Joe had towards James was short-lived, though, when the latter made claims that the former had copied his moves onstage. Joe’s reply was to make fun of JB’s cape-wearing “Please, Please, Please” routine at a concert, and when James began dating Joe’s ex-wife . . . the two cut ties permanently.

The break of a lifetime came when Joe met William “Buddy” Killen. . . . Buddy worked for Big Tree Publishing . . . . Tex and Killen clicked when they first met and a deal was struck . . . . Ten singles came out . . . between 1961 and 1964 . . . . with the same frustrating results [as before]. Joe was ready to call it quits and move on . . . [but] Killen convinced him to hang in there a little longer. [The ’64 single] “Hold What You’ve Got[]” . . . went top ten on the pop charts and number one R&B in January 1965. . . . The Tex-Killen team was a well-oiled machine in those hitmaking years of the mid-to-late 1960s and the two became very close friends. Buddy produced and Joe continued doing all the songwriting himself . . . . [H]e caught a hot groove in 1967 with “Show Me,” . . [and] “Skinny Legs and All[]“ . . was a smash hit beyond all expectations; top ten, a million seller and Grammy nominee to boot. . . .

https://www.waybackattack.com/texjoe.html

Pete Nickols gets to the essence of JT:

He was the first to cut a southern-soul record actually in the South which crossed over to the US Pop chart, namely “Hold What You’ve Got” at the end of 1964. He was also the first performer to imbue many of his single releases with extended spoken ‘soul-preaching’ passages, which he termed ‘rap’, well before the style was taken up by the likes of Isaac Hayes, Barry White and Millie Jackson. In addition, he often wrote and included in his recordings comedic lyrics based chiefly on the sayings and lives of people he encountered . . . .

https://www.sirshambling.com/articles/joe_tex/index.php

Dave Marsh adds:

His raspy-voiced, jackleg preacher style . . . laid some of the most important parts of rap’s foundation. He is, arguably, the most underrated of all the ’60s soul performers associated with Atlantic Records . . . . Tex made his mark by preaching over tough hard soul tracks, clowning at some points, swooping into a croon at others. He was perhaps the most rustic and back-country of the soul stars, a role he played to the hilt . . . . His biggest hit was “Skinny Legs and All,” from a 1967 live album, his rapping pure hokum over deeply funky riffs. “Skinny Legs” might have served as a template for all the raucous, ribald hip-hop hits of pop’s future.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-tex-mn0000210323

Here is Jerry Butler:

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Timothy — “That Is All”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 29, 2025

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

1,766) Timothy — “That Is All”

An impossibly gorgeous folk rock B-side on Pittsburgh’s Segué label. Thank you yet again, Fading Yellow!

Fading Yellow tells us that “[i]n the early 80s [Timothy Wahler] relocated to New York City and formed Racer X with Allan Zane of the Speedies and recorded a mini-LP for France’s New Rose Records, which is sporadically sweated over by power pop collectors, before tragically contracting HIV and passing away in 1987.” (liner notes to the CD comp Fading Yellow Vol. 13: Lazy Days: US 60s Popsike & Other Delights)

Wahler also sung on Responding to Treatment’s 1982 EP. (https://www.discogs.com/release/3082551-Responding-To-Treatment-Responding-To-Treatment) And “[i]t appears that [he] was associated with several [other] music projects including The Tim Wahler Band, The Continuing Story, Jack (Parlor Sessions III), [and] New Music From The West”. (eBrothersOthers, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ebMS70HT60M)

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Neil Christian and the Crusaders — “I Like It”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 28, 2025

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

1,765) Neil Christian and the Crusaders — “I Like It”

This ’66 France-only B-side is a “wild mod wonder” (happening45, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3uOn5hAaeZo&list=RD3uOn5hAaeZo&start_radio=1&pp=ygUYTmVpbCBjaHJpc3RpYW4gaSBsaWtlIGl0oAcB), “uncommonly tough R&B-rock” with “some storming . . . British R&B guitar” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/neil-christian-mn0000390547#biography, https://www.allmusic.com/album/1962-1973-mw0000239620) courtesy of Jimmy Page. I like it!

Richie Unterberger writes about Neil Christian:

There’s no doubting Neil Christian’s contributions to the formative days of British rock. His groups included, at various times, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Nicky Hopkins, Albert Lee, and Mick Abrahams. As a singer and recording artist, though, he was distinctly lacking, with a rather wimpy and tentative voice . . . . He tried his hand at teen idol tunes, Merseybeat-ish numbers, British R&B, and bloated MOR pop, but could not overcome his fundamental lack of strong material. . . . Ultimately he belonged to that peculiar British Invasion subgenre of male solo singers who had a stronger visual image than vocal chops, like P.J. Proby [see #1,186] and Dave Berry [see #554, 778, 887, 955]. Christian . . . land[ed] just one U.K. hit, the vaudevillian “That’s Nice,” which made number 14 in 1966. Born Christopher Tidmarsh, Neil Christian started fronting his backing group the Crusaders in the early ’60s. Jimmy Page was the guitarist at the outset, but left in mid-1962 due to illness, although he would later record with Christian in the studio. Page’s replacement was Albert Lee (though he too only lasted a short time), and other fine musicians would continue to pass through . . . . Christian started recording relatively quickly, making his debut on the 1962 Meek-produced single “The Road to Love” . . . but none of his 1962-1965 Columbia releases . . . made a mark. Christian’s fortunes went on the upswing after he hooked up with songwriter and producer Miki Dallon and began recording for the U.K. indie Strike Records, for whom Dallon often worked. Virtually all of his 1966-1967 singles were written by Dallon, including “That’s Nice” and “I Like It.” Christian couldn’t follow up “That’s Nice,” however, and Strike went out of business in late 1967. Christian released his final British 45 for Pye in 1967, though he did better in Germany, where he released some additional tracks in the late ’60s.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/neil-christian-mn0000390547#biography

Oh, and 45cat.com adds that:

The . . . single, “Two at a Time” released in October 1966 in the UK (only reaching Number 25 on Radio London’s Fab 40) and issued later in Germany, was a massive hit in the latter country and Neil quickly gathered a collection of musicians as another Crusaders group to tour Germany during April and May 1967 [including] Ritchie Blackmore . . . . Although Strike was folding in the UK, Neil was becoming a superstar in Germany. “I was Elvis Presley there; a big star” Neil says. “All I had to do was mime to my records in this club, then take a break to sign autographs, then mime a bit more.” Inevitably, he moved to Germany . . . . Neil remained in Germany until 1970 upon which time he returned to the UK where the countryfolk were totally unaware that he had been a massively successful and popular star in Germany.

https://www.45cat.com/record/dv14599&rc=993654#993654

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