THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,003)Garnet Mimms — âAs Long as I Have Youâ
I am happy, oh so happy, as long as I can listen to this stunning “exceptionally good” song, “uptempo, driving, rhythmic soul, with ringing, appealing guitar, powerful drumming, horn fills and female backing vocals, [and] a soulful, energetic vocal proclaiming that there’s nothing in the world [Mimms] can’t get as long as he has the love of his woman.” (bayard, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/garnet-mimms/as-long-as-i-have-you-a-little-bit-of-soap/) As long as he keeps elongating those words like he never wants to let them go either.
âImho ‘THE’ best ever mimms track”. (doghot23, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKUvrAZ1acw) Could be! And it “couldâve easily been an American single, no question. Why it was an album title cut and never issued on its own, I guess Iâll never know.” (Mr. Lobbers, https://www.45cat.com/record/up1186) Well, it was released as a single in France two years later and as a single in the UK three years later (a stellar live version).
Steve Huey writes of Garnet Mimms:
Best known for his original rendition of “Cry Baby,” later a major item in Janis Joplin’s repertoire, Garnet Mimms’ pleading, gospel-derived intensity made him one of the earliest true soul singers. His legacy remains criminally underappreciated, since for some reason he never scored another hit on the level of “Cry Baby,” but his output from the early to mid-’60s — a blend of uptown sophistication and earthy, impassioned vocals — has earned comparisons to Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson from hardcore soul aficionados. Mimms was actually born Garrett Mimms in Ashland, WV . . . . He was mostly raised in Philadelphia, and began singing in church as a boy; during his teen years, he performed with several area gospel groups, including the Evening Stars, the Harmonizing Four, and the Norfolk Four, with whom he cut his first record in 1953. Mimms subsequently served several years in the military, and upon his release, he returned to Philadelphia in 1958 and formed a doo wop quintet called the Gainors, whose ranks included Sam Bell and onetime Evening Star Howard Tate [see #259, 261, 652, 1,229] . . . . The Gainors recorded singles for several labels over the next three years, including Red Top (later picked up by Cameo), Mercury (from 1959-1960), and Tally Ho (1961). Failing to produce a hit, Mimms left the group along with Bell and put together Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters . . . . Mimms took his group to New York in 1963 in search of a more receptive scene. There they met songwriter/producer Bert Berns, who signed them to United Artists and teamed them with another songwriter/producer, Jerry Ragovoy. Mimms quickly struck gold with the proto-soul performance of “Cry Baby,” a smash hit that reached the pop Top Five and topped the R&B charts in 1963. The follow-up, a cover of Jerry Butler [see #347, 1,921] & the Impressions’ [see #118, 285, 1,347, 1,544, 1,848, 1939] “For Your Precious Love,” hit the pop Top 40 later that year, as did the flip side, “Baby Don’t You Weep.” Mimms and the Enchanters parted ways in 1964; the group to record separately with a new lead vocalist, while Mimms cut solo sides for UA steadily over the next few years. Ragovoy’s productions became increasingly polished, mirroring the shift in R&B spearheaded by Motown, yet Mimms’ vocals retained all the fire of his gospel training, making for a combination that was fairly unique for the time. Minor hits like “It Was Easier to Hurt Her” and “I’ll Take Good Care of You” (the latter Mimms’ last Top 40 hit in 1966) didn’t perform nearly as well commercially as their quality seemed to indicate. In 1967, United Artists moved him to their Veep subsidiary, where “My Baby” was another inexplicable flop (it, too, was later covered by Janis Joplin on Pearl). Mimms subsequently followed Ragovoy to Verve, where he recorded four singles to little response; ditto for his brief stint at MGM. . . . Mimms retired from the music business permanently after becoming a born-again Christian.
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (ârelating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainmentâ â dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify — now over 1,300 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
Brace for the Obscure 60’s Rock has reached a new millennium. It has been one crazy magic carpet ride since I started the blog in 2021 â 2000 songs and beyond. Its origin and purpose is not a total mystery to me. As I said when I started out, it is to present the fruits of my labor of attempting to listen to every pop/rock/soul song released or recorded in the âSixtiesâ to anyone who might be interested â the most magical songs I have discovered in my quest that most people, even if they regularly listen to 60âs pop, are unlikely to have heard (at least in the U.S.). I love putting my blog together. I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do. As I also said when I started, I plan to keep posting songs until there arenât any more worthy of inclusion. Should that require me to be reincarnated, so be it. George Harrison would be proud. Please share my ultimate trip.
I start off with an encore performance by the IBM 7094 computer, whose rendition of “Daisy Bell” inspired HAL 9000’s rendition in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Song #2001 is the Smoke’s “Odyssey”. Song #2002 is the Millennium’s “I’m with You”.
135 [repeat])IBM 7094 — âDaisy Bellâ
âDaisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do. Iâm half crazy all for the love of you. It wonât be a stylish marriage. I canât afford the carriage. But youâd look sweet on the seat of a bicycle built for two.â
It is one of the most iconic scenes in Stanley Kubrickâs 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Discoveryâs supercomputer HAL murders astronaut Frank Poole after suffering a âmentalâ breakdown possibly the result of being put in the position of having to lie to the shipâs crew about the true purpose of its mission. Commander David Bowman must then wrest away control of the Jupiter-bound spaceship by turning off HALâs âconsciousnessâ module by module. HAL is fully-aware if what is happening, and expresses existential angst:
HAL: Iâm afraid. Iâm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. Iâm afraid.
HAL: Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If youâd like to hear it I can sing it for you.
David Bowman: Yes, Iâd like to hear it, HAL. Sing it for me.
HAL: Itâs called âDaisy.â
This moment elicits tremendous audience sympathy for HAL, which is quite an achievement by Kubrick as 1) HAL is a computer, and 2) HAL has just murdered almost the entire crew of the Discovery. But consciousness is consciousness, and we can all imagine what it must be like to witness ours slipping away. HAL is experiencing a sort of self-aware rapid onset dementia, which is in common parlance today in a way it wasnât in 1968.
OK, but what does any of this have to do with the greatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heard? The scene is famous, and, anyway, âDaisyâ was written in the 19th Century! Well, as Cary OâDell with the Motion Picture, Broadcast and Recorded Sound division of the Library of Congress explains, there is a connection, one whose first link was forged in 1892:
The song âDaisy Bellâ . . . was written in 1892 by an Englishman, Harry Dacre. Legend has it that Dacre . . . came upon the idea for the song during a visit to America. On his trip . . . Dacre had brought with him his bicycle and, when he docked, much to his chagrin, he was promptly charged a duty on it by US customs. Later, bemoaning the fee to fellow songwriter William Jerome, Jerome stated it was a good thing Dacre didnât bring with him a âbicycle built for twoâ as heâd be charged a twin duty. Smitten with the phrase âa bicycle built for two,â Dacre decided it would work well in a song. And so âDaisy Bellâ was born. âDaisyâ was first made famous by British music hall performer Katie (Kate) Lawrence. Since being introduced into the musical vernacular, the song has been endlessly revived, recorded, expanded, lyrically rewritten, parodied, and translated.
The story picks up again in 1961 and involves a cover version of âDaisy,â one distinguished by being performed by an IBM computer:
One of âDaisy Bellâsâ most radical and interesting uses . . . arrived in 1961 via IBM and a team of visionary computer programmers. That year . . . Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, made, for the first time, an artificial device âsing.â And the song it sang was the turn of the century ditty . . . . For years the demonstration was part of the formal tour of Bell Labs. In the early 1960s, when science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke visited . . . he took special note of this singing and talking computer. Later, as the author of . . . â2001: A Space Odyssey,â Clarke incorporated it into its screenplay. In the 1968 film, when . . . HAL (whose anagram coincidentally is just one letter alphabetically away from IBM) is switched off (essentially killed), âheâ (the voice of actor Douglas Rain) sings âDaisy Bellâ as power ebbs out of his circuits.
So, to make a long story short, here is #135 of the greatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heard, IBMâs 1961 cover version of âDaisy Bellâ:
And here is the original 1894 hit by the original artist:
2,001) The Smoke — âOdysseyâ
This baroque pop “masterpiece”, “suite-like and full of beautiful, complex passages” (Jason, https://therisingstorm.net/the-smoke-self-titled/), is from “certainly one of the best US pop-psych albums, straddling the edge of soft-rock light psych like Sagittarius, but rocking out quite a bit more convincingly. There’s a definite Beach Boys [see #667, 1,825] influence, but the soaring vocal arrangements and guitar-based song structures move in a direction those Boys never dared tread.” (Aaron Milenski, The Acid Archives, 2nd ed.)
Jason talks of the LP:
This was a Michael Lloyd studio band that released just one album which mysteriously appeared in 1968[ and] is a much better soft popsike record than Lloydâs earlier release, the October Country LP [no way, see #624, 1,702, 1,905] . . . . [It] was created while Lloyd was in between stints with the crazed, ill-fated West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band [see #197, 488]. The Smoke dedicated this obscure release to Stuart Sutcliffe and the band cannot help but pay homage to their obsessions, the Beatles [see #28-29, 113, 132, 374, 422-23, 520-22, 545, 669, 779-81, 840, 872, 942, 1,087, 1,256, 1,437, 1,473, 1,910] and the Beach Boys. There are no duff tracks on this soft pop masterpiece . . . .
Copies of the Smoke’s self-titled album are highly valued by collectors of West Coast soft rock and psychedelic music. The album certainly deserves its reputation as one of the masterpieces of 1968. . . . Lloyd had met [Brian] Wilson after Beach Boy Bruce Johnston invited him to the recording sessions for “Good Vibrations.” In addition to Beach Boys-style production values, there are also references to the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band throughout.
By the age of 13, he had formed his own band . . . at the same time continuing to take lessons in music theory and composition. He also started writing songs and pitching them to record labels in Los Angeles, including Tower Records, a subsidiary of Capitol. By Lloydâs own account, Eddie Ray, the head of A&R at Tower, suggested that the teenage Lloyd work with Mike Curb [see #57], and the pair began collaborating on songs and record production. Other sources suggest that Lloyd and Curb were introduced to each other by Kim Fowley [see #89, 449], who had signed Lloyd to a song-publishing deal. Lloyd also recorded surf music as a member of the New Dimensions, a group that included Jimmy Greenspoon, later of Three Dog Night. Around 1964, Lloyd began performing with brothers Shaun and Danny Harris . . . . Together they formed a group initially called the Rogues, later renamed the Laughing Wind. They recorded demos with Fowley, who then introduced the band to Bob Markley, a law graduate and aspiring performer who had already had his own TV show in Oklahoma. With Fowleyâs support and Markleyâs financial backing, Lloyd became a member of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band with the Harris brothers, Markley and drummer John Ware, releasing an album, Part One, in 1967. Fowley also released some of the Laughing Windâs demos, with other tracks featuring Markley, as Volume One, credited to the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. Lloyd left the band shortly afterward, but returned to contribute to their 1969 album Whereâs My Daddy?. In 1967, Lloyd wrote songs and produced [a] Fowley[] solo album . . . . Curb allowed Lloyd to use his Hollywood Boulevard studios, and together with . . . Stan Ayeroff and Steve Baim . . . Lloyd wrote and produced an album, The Smoke . . . . Lloyd also provided the music for Steven Spielbergâs first short film, Amblinâ, and worked with Curb on other movie soundtracks, including The Devilâs 8 . . . .
Jim lrvin and Tim Forster let Lloyd tell the story of Smoke:
[“]Mike Curb had this great studio called Hollywood Boulevard and he let me spend about six months there making an album. It was just me and those two guys. No engineers, no anything.” Thus was born The Smoke. Michael song lead vocals, played bass and keyboards while “those two guys” were Stan Ayeroff, who co-wrote three of the songs and played guitar, and Steve Baim who played drums. . . . Lloyd poured everything he’d learnt into the album. . . . [“]Obviously The Beatles and The Beach Boys were a prime motivation. I think I’ve always been trying to catch up with them.” There are overt Beatles references throughout the record . . . . the lush arrangements featur[ing] Pepperesque bursts of trumpet, strings, harpsichord and lashings of sweet singing. . . . As records by Beatle-obsessed youths of the ’60s go, it all remains remarkably fresh . . . . [But] the album flopped. “I don’t know if anybody really knew what to make of it,” sighs Lloyd. “We never went on to play live as The Smoke as I’d planned.[“]
Referred to as a boy genius at the start of his career Michael Lloyd has certainly proven that right. . . . [T]he prolific and talented record producer has accumulated in excess of 100 gold and platinum records well over 72 albums and 34 singles collecting numerous #1 singles and albums. Lloydâs records . . . rang[e] from Pop & Rock to Country & Jazz, R&B & Gospel . . . . His various chart records span five decades, from the 60âs to the present. Additionally, Lloyd has provided scoring, music supervision, song writing, song placement and or music producing for well over 100 motion pictures, 16 TV movies, 13 television specials & 35 television series. . . . As well as being the music supervisor for the motion picture, and the Dirty Dancing album . . Michael produced the blockbuster hits âIâve Had The Time Of My Lifeâ for Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, âYesâ by Merry Clayton [see #53] and âSheâs Like The Windâ by Patrick Swayze. . . [H]e met Mike Curb, which began a long and fruitful friendship and business association . . . . Curb put Lloyd to work scoring motion pictures, and a few years later, when Curb became president of MGM Records, he brought Lloyd, then 20 years old, in as vice president of A & R. At MGM Records, Lloyd signed Lou Rawls, which generated Lloydâs first major hit, âA Natural Manâ. Some of the artists Lloyd has worked with over the years include Barry Manilow, Belinda Carlisle, Kimberley Locke, Dionne Warwick, Steve Holy, Natalie Grant, Bill Medley, Benny Mardones, Stryper, Jennifer Warnes, The Righteous Brothers, The Monkees [see #1,718], Shaun Cassidy, Eric Carman, The Bellamy Brothers, The Burrito Brothers, The New Seekers, Sammy Davis Jr., Air Supply, Carmen, Jeffrey Osborne, The Osmonds, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Bill Medley, Tamara Walker, The Pointer Sisters, Leif Garrett, Susie Alllanson, Brush Arbor, Donny & Marie, Maureen McGovern, Roger Williams, Merry Clayton, Debby Boone, and Frank Sinatra [see #1,455] . . . .
Written by Lee Mallory (see #18, 1,693, 1,885-86), seemingly sung by a truly heavenly choir, and “offer[ing] up a slice of top caliber Association[ see #1,264]-styled sunshine pop.â (http://badcatrecords.com/MILLENNIUM.htm) Matthew Greenwald writes:
A lush, slightly syncopated pop melody guides the verses, and then turns into a more standard 4/4 rock time in the chorus. A quasi-mystical love song, it could easily be directed at a lover or a “creator.” In this way, the song indeed captures the somewhat skewed but disarming utopian vision of the [Millennium’s] album [Begin]. A brilliant arrangement with multiple guitar overdubs caps off the recording with buoyant, almost geometric precision.
Sunshine pop went supernova with the Millennium (see #397, 506, 586, 662, 810, 1,002), a 60âs sunshine supergroup that created Begin, the greatest sunshine pop album ever recorded. Begin cost more to make than any other album from â68 other than The Beatles (the White Album)â and no one bought it (at least until era of CD reissues). As Richie Unterberger writes, it was âat once too unabashedly commercial for underground FM radio and too weird for the AM dial.â (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-millennium-mn0000814312) Dominique Leone says the album, âprobably the single greatest 60s pop record produced in L.A. outside of The Beach Boys . . . found itself very much outside the times that year.â (https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5546-pieces/) Noel Murray sagely adds:
On the surface, the music . . . is right in the mainstream of radio-friendly pop from 1966-68. [The] songs had the angelic harmonies of The Association and The Mamas & The Papas [see #1,734], the aspirational naĂŻvetĂŠ of The Beach Boys, the live-inside-the-music atmospherics of The Beatles, and the lysergic tinge of every California band from San Francisco on down. But [Curt] Boettcher [see #1,881, 1,886] and [Gary] Usher were also interested in the avant-garde and classical music, and their highbrow approach to the sweet and fluffy didnât connect in an era where rock ânâ roll was getting harder and rowdier. . . .
The Millenniumâs Begin is a bona fide lost classic. The brainchild of producers Curt Boettcher and Gary Usher, the group was formed out of the remnants of their previous studio project, Sagittarius â which had been preceded by yet another aggregation, the Ballroom [see #707]. On Begin, hard rock, breezy ballads, and psychedelia all merge into an absolutely air-tight concept album, easily on the level of other, more widely popular albums from the era such as The Notorious Byrd Brothers, which share not only Usherâs production skills, but similarities in concept and construction. The songwriting . . . is sterling and innovative . . . . Begin is an absolute necessity for any fan of late-â60s psychedelia and a wonderful rediscovery; it sounds as vital today as it did the day it was released.
[Begin] is notable as being the second album to use 16-track recording and the group made the most out of that here. Wonderfully lush music that sweeps you in with its fantastic harmonies, both in the instruments and in the vocals, and with the individual melodies that grab your attention instantly and have you singing along by the end of the song. . . . [It] manages to capture a wonderful part of the the era that is was created in, but also remains timeless through its use of gorgeous melodies, harmonies and instrumentation.
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (ârelating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainmentâ â dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify — now over 1,300 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,000)Russell Morris — âThe Real Thingâ
Warning â if you are from Australia, read no further, as this iconic song for you guys (as well it should be!) reached #1. It’s “a classic, full blown psychedelic extravaganza that amazingly, was somehow brilliantly created . . . by Producer Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum in the steam powered studio’s of Late 60’s Australia.” (PROGROCKASAURUS, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/russell-morris/the-real-thing-parts-1-and-2-its-only-a-matter-of-time/)
Barnaby Smith writes of “The Real Thing”:
[I]n its nods to many of the most recognisable hallmarks of 60s psychedelia, from its use of âphasingâ to the Hammond organ and sitar, [it] has its roots firmly in San Franciscoâs Haight-Ashbury or Londonâs Carnaby Street. But it was sung by a man from Melbourne and written by a Dutch immigrant who grew up in Perth. Though heavily derivative in nearly every aspect, singer Russell Morris and composer Johnny Young [see #682, 1,681], along with producer Ian âMollyâ Meldrum, are responsible for a single that sits as a seismic release in the history of recorded music in Australia. . . . reach[ing] No 1 in May 1969 . . . . The[] . . . one ingredient . . . that does distinguish [it] from the imported rock of the era. . . . [is] Morris[â] . . . iconic âooh mama mow mowâ refrain, an odd but zeitgeisty piece of nonsense â Meldrum, after all, wanted the song to sound like âI Am The Walrusâ. In fact, the line was originally meant to be a guitar part, with Morrisâs improvised singing a mere guide for the guitarist. Meldrum had the nous to keep it. . . . Meldrum overheard Young playing it in a TV studio one day, and saw it as the perfect fit for Morris, the producerâs great new pop hope. The songâs recording was an elaborate affair, with Meldrum gathering up a coterie of musicians from Melbourneâs finest bands in a hell-bent quest to forge an all-encompassing sound in the vein of âStrawberry Fields Foreverâ . . . or âGood Vibrationsâ. . . . As far as Australian pop went, nothing had been quite this ambitious. As well as the sitars and the phasing . . . the track is a patchwork of overdubs and, of course, runs for over six minutes . . . thanks to the extended, multi-layered outro . . . . It was . . . a landmark sequence that proved that Australian studios could also create the new-fangled sounds floating down from the north. . . . Lyrically, the song is not as meaningless as it might seem. Young was apparently less than impressed by Coca Colaâs advertising slogan proclaiming the drink âthe real thingâ; the song was his retort, a celebration of authenticity . . . .
The definitive Milesago: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964-1975 goes deep:
During his eventful London sojourn — which included his first and only experience with LSD — [Johnny] Young began noodling around with a chord pattern on an acoustic guitar and gradually evolved a melody vaguely similar to Donovan’s [see #908, 1,036, 1,064] “The Hurdy Gurdy Man”. . . . . The song started out as a simple, plaintive ditty, which he intended as a “Strawberry Fields” style chamber piece, with acoustic guitar and strings. . . . [but] developed into the full-blown widescreen extravaganza we know and love thanks to the intervention of Russell Morris’ then manager and mentor, Ian “Molly” Meldrum. When Johnny Young arrived back in Australia in early 1968, he realised his pop career was effectively over, so he concentrated on developing his songwriting and producing career, and finding singers for his material. “The Real Thing” was originally earmarked for Ronnie Burns [see #1,657, 1,863], who was by then a major solo star. Young was playing it to Burns in the dressing room of the Channel 0 studios in Melbourne . . . . As luck would have it, Meldrum chanced by at that moment, heard the song and was smitten. Here was the vehicle he’d been searching for to launch the career of his young protege. . . . [N]othing was going to stop him. Young wasn’t particularly keen, but according to legend, Molly turned up at Young’s house in the early hours of the morning armed with a tape recorder and he refused to leave until Young had taped a demo of the song for him. In late 1968, Meldrum was assigned as producer for the new single, and set about assembling a backing group comprising denizens of Melbourne’s healthy and congenial rock fraternity . . . . Meldrum and his collaborators began to fashion the basic tracks . . . . using a session group built around the rhythm section of one of Melbourne’s top bands, The Groop . . . . The track was later augmented with guitar overdubs by Zoot’s [see #1,687] Roger Hicks . . . . Tracking began in late 1968 and continued over several months into early 1969. As the sessions progressed, Meldrum was building a sound collage idea in his mind, but he played his cards close to his chest . . . . Meldrum reputedly spent over $10,000 on this one track — many time more than was usually budgeted for an entire LP at that time. It was far and away the most expensive and complex single ever recorded to that time, and set new standards of production for Australian rock music. As a result of his supposed profligacy, Meldrum was reportedly sacked from the project, but he refused to let it go. When EMI decided to release the single only in Victoria, Meldrum personally took copies to Sydney to get it played on local radio stations. . . . The Groop played the body of the song through, but then they began to jam and improvise on it as the “take” continued past the presumed fade-out point. The quick ears of Molly and [engineer John] Sayers picked up that this was good stuff, and they wisely kept the tapes rolling, exhorting the musos to keep going . . . . [T]his spontaneous jam . . . provided the foundation for the extended “freakout” sound collage that makes up the second half of the song. . . . [It] was the first major Australian recording to employ [phasing], and to such a devastating extent. . . . impart[ing] an alien, tripped out feel to what, after all, began as a simple acoustic ballad. . . . [It] became a hit in several American cities, reaching #1 in Chicago, Houston, and New York. . . . [Russell recalls “]I loved ‘The Real Thing’ when I first heard it but in the end it drove me crazy. It was a big gimmick, a big commercial commodity that was forced on everyone and it almost killed me.” . . . [O]nce he established his solo career, he refused to perform it at all for many years. . . . A major rift between [Morris and Meldrum] arose out of Russell’s refusal of Molly’s urging that he undertake a promo tour of the States, where [it] had come out on the tiny Diamond label. Molly was so incensed at this apparent act of career self-sabotage that he withdrew completely from the project in disgust . . . .
“I give Molly 100 per cent credit for what he did . . . . He can be an incredible bullshit artist, but in a studio he can be a genius. Considering the time and the technology back in 1969, what he achieved was incredible.” [When asked whether he ever looks back and thinks that he should have done the song himself, h]e shakes his head. “It wouldn’t have been a hit if I’d sung it. My time as pop star was over. Russell Morris was unique, like a Roy Orbison, and I was like a Frankie Avalon. The reality was that it was the right song by the right person at the right time.”
[O]ne of Australia’s most enduring singers[, a][ major pop star in the late ’60s, he went on to become one of the country’s first singer/songwriters. . . . [His] career started in September 1966 with the formation of the Melbourne group Somebody’s Image, which rose to prominence with a local hit version of the Joe South song “Hush.” Morris was convinced to leave Somebody’s Image for a solo career. . . . Once [âThe Real Thingâ] was released to shocked radio programmers who had never been asked to play such a long Australian single before, it was up to Morris’ personality, singing, and performing talents to make the record work. . . . The second single — “Part Three Into Paper Walls” . . . and “The Girl That I Love” . . . became a double-sided number one hit, the first time an Australian artist had scored consecutive number ones with their first two singles. Morris, in the meantime, had traveled to the U.K. to help promote the release of “The Real Thing.” Morris had now decided to concentrate on his own songwriting and with the cream of Australian musicians, spent almost a year painstakingly recording and re-recording what became the Bloodstone album. It was one of the first Australian albums of its kind, the first from an Australian singer/songwriter, and a whole world away from the extravagant “The Real Thing.” The hit single . . . was the resonant, romantic “Sweet Sweet Love.” The following year, in 1972, Morris delivered the equally beautiful “Wings of an Eagle.” In 1973, Morris moved to London to record an album only to discover there was no record contract waiting for him. He relocated to New York and set to work on an album there, including new versions of both “Sweet Sweet Love” and “Wings of an Eagle” and the single “Let’s Do It.” A second American album appeared in 1976. It was two more years before Morris was granted his green card, enabling him to tour America. But by then, any chance of an American career had bolted. Instead, Morris returned to a very different Australia than the one he had left behind five years earlier.
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Americaâs greatest TV band of the 60âs? Donât think simian, think peppermint. The Peppermint Trolley (see #54, 136, 318, 426, 1,409, 1,832) appeared rehearsing in an episode of the classic detective drama Mannix (see #136) and camped it up on The Beverly Hillbillies, and thatâs just for starters. They also recorded the theme song to the generation-defining iconic TV series The Brady Bunch (at least for the first season). Talk about Monkee business!
In addition to the Trolleyâs contributions to television, it was a wonderful pop psych/ baroque pop band (not bubblegum, despite what its name might suggest). âFreeâ is taken from their sole LP, which Beverly Paterson aptly describes:
[T]he self-titled platter was padded to the ceiling with layers of sweet soaring harmonies stacked neatly atop pastoral textures, glistening melodies and exotic interludes. The bandâs attention to detail and their ability to deliver the songs in such a natural manner remains flawless. A spiffy paisley pop vibe, akin to that of the Poor, the Left Banke, and the Strawberry Alarm Clock [see #127, 272, 901, 1,111, 1,700, 1,834] , hugs the tunes. Challenging and ambitious, but highly accessible, [it] is one of the greatest overlooked efforts of the era.
Formed in Redlands, CA, in 1967, Peppermint Trolley Company managed to release one album and five singles. They were one of the initial bands signed to the Acta label, whose biggest success was the American Breed âBend Me Shape Me.â Only one of Peppermintâs singles managed to make the charts, âBaby You Come Rollinâ Across My Mind[]â [see #54]. It peaked at number 59 in the summer of 1968. They managed to keep a relatively high profile by performing the weekly TV theme songs for Love American Style and the first season of The Brady Bunch (the cast members sang the theme from the second season on). The band consisted of Bob Cheevers (vocals and guitar), Jimmie Faragher (bass, guitar, and sax), Danny Faragher (keyboards), Casey Cunningham (guitar and flute), and Greg Tornouist (drums). Their success was short lived and by the early â70s the band changed their name to Bones and finally the Faragher Brothers before disbanding. Bob Cheevers gained success as a solo artist, releasing several discs in the contemporary folk genre.
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Plant doesnât remember his effort with great affection:
[I] realised that tough, manly approach to singing Iâd begun on . . . âYou Better Runâ wasnât really what it was all about at all. Songs like . . . âBabe Iâm Going to Leave Youâ⌠I find my vocals on there horrific now. I really should have shut the f*** up!
Plantâs band was Listen. The other members were Geoff Thompson (drums), Roger Beamer (bass), and John Crutchley (guitar). (7226power, https://www.45cat.com/record/202456 (info from Midland Beat, July 1966, number 34))
Plant tells Jude Rogers how it went down:
âIâm 17, full of myself, in a youth club with Noddy Holder. . . . Weâd borrow Noddyâs dadâs window-cleaning van for our gear, buckets clanking through the Black Country streets, so to have a record that was going to be pressed, have a dust sleeve â it was showing-off time.[ ] âWell, weâve got this deal with CBS, Noddy.â And Noddy goes: âThatâs all right, weâve got one with Columbia.â And then I found out it was the same bloody song!â The track . . . was the first commercial release for both the NâBetweens (who became Holderâs band Slade [see #1,165, 1,247]) and Listen . . . although the label asked him to record their first single on his own. It was his first studio experience. âI still remember the pride and the thrill and the smell of fear; to walk in a studio and see session guys booked for me to sing. I was very, very nervous.â . . . âAnd here I was in the middle of it all, trying to create a style, looking at black soul singers and my heroes like Steve Marriott [see #969, 1,024].â* He still hears that nascent howl on Led Zeppelinâs debut three years later, too. âThat nasal boy. Itâs kind of cute now.â
* As to Steve Marriott, check out the Small Faces’ “You Need Loving” [see #969]. Decristo1021 says, âeven the most diehard Plant fan has to admit that Robbie aped Steveâs delivery to a âtââŚitâs uncannyâŚ.â (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpnF62TNYoM) “You Need Loving” was on the Small Faces’ first LP, released in May 1966. Listen’s single was released in November 1966.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,997)A New Generation — âPolice Is Hereâ
Before the Sutherland brothers (Gavin and Ian) (see #1,792) took Rod Stewart âSailingâ, they gave us a simply wonderful âdelicate” and âpretty little song” (patrickney6584, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VafGypTEJ5M) . . . about being arrested?! “Police” is “infectious . . . well crafted, intelligent period pop” (liner notes to Piccadilly Sunshine: Volumes 11-20: A Compendium of Rare Pop Curios from the British Psychedelic Era), “folky-pop [with] Iain Sutherland[‘s] ear for melody and . . . pleasant voice” (jhendrix110, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/a_new_generation/police_is_here___mr__c/),”[o]ne of my favorite singles of all time”. (Mark Frumento, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJMZ6Y9WpJ8).
Vernon Joynson tells us all things Sutherland:
This was actually The Sutherland Brothers. They scored a minor hit with âSmokey Blues Awayâ and the flip side âSheâs A Soldier Boyâ. . . . The brothers signed to Island in 1972 and recorded two albums of melodic folk-based pop. . . . They . . . wrote and recorded as their second single âSailingâ, which . . . became a million-selling record for Rod Stewart. Their second album was made with the help of session musicians and their search for a permanent backing group resulted in them amalgamating with Quiver in 1973 to form The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver. . . . Their first album . . . was well received and they had a US hit with their first 45 âYou Got Me Anywayâ. . . . When Rod Stewart achieved his massive hit with âSailingâ the band was signed by CBS and soon registered a Top 5 hit with the wimpy pop ditty âArms of Maryâ. They also enjoyed two hit albums . . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,996)Those Fadinâ Colours — âTry Me on For Size“
South London lads take a pretty good track off the Electric Prunes’ [see #893] 1st LP and “transform[ it] from a[] . . . blast of US garage punk arrogance to engagingly wistful English psychedelic pop” (David Wells, liner notes to Let’s Go Down & Blow Our Minds: The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1967), an “amazing piece of Psych with a bit of Zombies [see #1,138] influence, a really amazing gem” that “due to bad planning . . . was never mastered and released.” (PsychedelicGuy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emfWCXFHW84)
David Wells:
A row with their record company, Ember, saw The Fadin’ Colours walk out just as their version of “(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet” was being readied for April 1966 release. Ember quickly matched the group’s lead singer Geoff Coppens with a Kent group called the Deckhands, who duly promoted the disc and adopted the name Those Fadin’ Colours. After leaving Ember, in March 1967 they were spotted playing at a Mayfair discotheque by producer Mike Vernon, who took them . . . in May to record “Blow Up” (Tomorrow’s [see #72] aborted title song to the iconic Swingin’ London film) and an Electric Prunes album track, “Try Me on For Size” . . . .But the tracks were turned down by Decca . . . .
liner notes to Let’s Go Down & Blow Our Minds: The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1967
The British Music Archive takes a deep dive:
The Kingpins originated from Addington, Croydon in South London. The band played “high society balls” in and around the capital. . . . The band made their recording debut . . . on 31st May, 1965. . . . record[ing] a version of The Yardbirdsâ For Your Love and a group original . . . . [A r]ecord producer . . . persuaded the band to perform chart covers for a proposed budget LP to be released on Ember records. The band were re-named Those Fadinâ Colours and a single was released under this name by the band. The record featured a version of (Just Like) Romeo and Juliet . . . recorded . . . in 1966. As soon as the single was issued, the band were free to become The Kingpins again. Glyn Stevens and Geoffrey Coppens . . . departed . . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,995)Dick and Don (Addrisi) — âYouâre Badâ
How was this song not one of the big hits of ’66?! A year before they wrote “Never My Love”, which the Association [see #1,264] took to #2, the Addrissi brothers wrote and recorded this killer (but too short!) effervescent pop rock gem (of course, with sad lyrics). I think Michael Jackson must have thought it (“You’re bad, you’re bad”) was about him (“I’m bad, I’m bad”)!
Bruce Eder tells us of the Addrisi Bros:
The Addrisi Brothers are best remembered today for their early-’70s Columbia hit “We’ve Got to Get It on Again,” and for writing the Association [see #1,264]/Fifth Dimension hit “Never My Love.” Don Addrissi . . . and Dick Addrisi actually date back as a musical team to the 1950s. Their parents were part of a family acrobatic act, the Flying Addrisis, but Don and Dick chose music as their career, and by the mid-’50s, with the help from comedian Lenny Bruce, who was a fan, they got their first professional representation. The family was initially lured out to California by the prospect of Don and Dick getting parts on The Mickey Mouse Club — that didn’t work out, but they were eventually signed to Bob Keane’s Del-Fi label, where they recorded a series of singles that veered from Everly Brothers-style rock & roll to somewhat more cloying teen-pop numbers. They never really hit it big, however, and after further attempts at recording success on Imperial and Warner Brothers, they turned their attention to songwriting — both were natural musicians and Don was a music school graduate, and they were signed to Valiant Records. During this period, they signed up a new vocal act called the Association, who eventually recorded “Never My Love,” an Addrisi Brothers original that went to number two on the charts and put them permanently on the map of songwriters. They re-emerged briefly as recording artists in their own right in the early ’70s with a one-off hit single for Columbia entitled “We’ve Got to Get It on Again,” and were probably most visible during that period as authors and singers of the title theme to the ABC series Nanny and the Professor — their harmony singing was as good as ever. They continued working together until Don’s death from cancer in 1984.
Check out this fantastic interview Larry Wayne Clark did with Dick Addrisi for the International Songwriters Association: https://www.songwriter.co.uk/page746.html.
Here is an unreleased version by the Knickerbockers (see #718, 862):
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Hammersmith Sneakers club o a Monday or Tuesday night. Can’t remember exactly. Rode there on my PK50 with the Surrey Musketeers. Drank Pernod and black all night. Couldn’t dance for sh*t so didn’t. But watched in awe at those who could. Got left behind on the way back home but couldn’t get this song out of my head. Comes up on my music player every now and then and I’ll jump up and wriggle around a bit.
Mike Vickers is best known as the resident multi-instrumentalist in the original Manfred Mann, but he has participated on and played significant roles in the recording of dozens of successful (and occasional monster hit) records by everyone from the Beatles [see #28-29, 113, 132, 374, 422-23, 520-22, 545, 669, 779-81, 840, 872, 942, 1,087, 1,256, 1,437, 1,473, 1,910] to Gentle Giant, in addition to composing numerous film scores. Vickers’ jazz background and multi-instrumental skills made his musicianship a centerpiece of Manfred Mann’s sound; his guitar, sax, and flute highlighted their live shows and dozens of their sides from the beginning of their career in 1963 through his departure from the group in October of 1965. His exit from the lineup marked the beginning of the end for the original group. Vickers’ decision to leave Manfred Mann was apparently at least reasonably amicable, because the other bandmembers participated extensively on his debut solo album, I Wish I Were a Group Again, released in 1968, which is virtually a lost Manfred Mann record. Upon leaving the band, he began a career as a composer of film music, debuting with the comedy Press for Time in 1966. He also began a career as a composer, arranger, and conductor, working in the idioms of rock, jazz, and orchestral music. Among other projects, Vickers was the conductor of the 13-piece core ensemble playing behind the Beatles on their live broadcast (and record) of “All You Need Is Love” on June 25, 1967, and he later played synthesizer on their final album, Abbey Road. Since then, he has worked across the entire spectrum of English popular music, with singers as diverse as Cilla Black, Francoise Hardy [see #459, 476-77, 515], and Ella Fitzgerald in various capacities as arranger, orchestrator, or conductor, with groups as different as the Hollies [see #461], the Bee Gees [see #291, 353-54, 439, 466, 484, 497, 570, 594, 717, 861, 962, 1,065, 1,101, 1,125, 1,190, 1,321, 1,336, 1,343, 1,465, 1,584, 1,640, 1,685, 1,843], and Gentle Giant, and even turned up playing synthesizer on the original 1971 recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. The ’70s also saw him move into the scoring of films with more of an international exposure, including Dracula AD 1972 and At the Earth’s Core.
A trained woodwind musician, Mike Vickers played guitar in Manfred Mann. Although he wasnât that interested in the guitar, the band recognised they had a multi-instrumentalist onboard who was capable of putting together orchestrations that swelled their sound considerably. âI knew how to write for other instruments,â says Vickers, âand occasionally we used extras, like strings, and there were horns on one piece I think.â These modest orchestrations tended to happen when the rest of Manfred Mann werenât in the studio. Vickers worked with hired players and the bandâs producer John Burgess at the controls. Burgess was a producer at Abbey Road, where the Manfreds recorded for EMI imprint His Masterâs Voice, which is how Vickers came to the attention of The Beatlesâ producer George Martin. Vickersâ ambitions had long stretched beyond the pop treadmill he found himself on. Following a string of hits with Manfred Mann, he left the band in late 1965. His first extra-curricular success had come in the same year . . . called “On The Brink”, which was used as the theme tune for the BBC TV programme The Wednesday Play, and was released as a seven-inch single under his own name. . . . [It] resulted in Vickers being offered the chance to score a film, a comedy vehicle for Michael Bentine called The Sandwich Man. . . . âI left the band pretty soon after getting the film commission,â says Vickers. âI thought, âIf Iâm going to do this properly, Iâm going to need lots of time to do itâ.â More film and TV work followed, as well as sessions arranging pop hits for the likes of Engelbert Humperdinck. Vickers was seen as a safe pair of hands that could be turned to all manner of styles. His versatility, reliability and modesty are almost certainly why he got his first call to work with The Beatles. In 1967 . . . he spent a week helping with the orchestration of “All You Need Is Love” in the frenetic scramble to get The Beatles ready for their imperial performance on the Our World live broadcast.
John Burgess, the MM producer, asked me if Iâd like to do some of my own material with session musicians. The result was “On the Brink” . . . . Some film producers heard it, and asked me to write a score for their next movie. I said yes, and gave in my notice to MM, in order to have plenty of time to write the music. This started a period in my life when I worked so hard that I still donât know how I did it. I rapidly came into great demand as an arranger â someone who turns a rough voice & guitar demo into an orchestral piece or a brassy blockbuster. . . . It was non-stop work â finish an arrangement, start the next, go to a recording session, finish the second arrangement, start the next, go to another recording session, have meetings with singers and producers to discuss songs and choose keys, go to another studio for orchestral or vocal overdubs, go back home and finish the third arrangement and write three more. And so to bed, perchance to sleep, if my overloaded brain ever let me. I wrote a number of other music scores, for comedy films that werenât funny, horror films that werenât scary, adventure films that werenât adventurous, and sex films that werenât sexy. Odd, that. I also wrote commercials, and tons of library music. I bought a Moog Series III synthesizer, one of the first to arrive in the UK, and used it a lot in the studios, including programming all the electronic sounds heard on the Beatlesâ Abbey Road.
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French rock star Johnny Hallyday’s backing band, which included a pre-Foreigner Mick Jones (see #1,753, 1,974) and Tommy Brown (see #1,974), laid down this sizzling “soul-flavored British mod rock” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-state-of-mickey-tommy-mw0001671650) instrumental written by Jones and Brown. It was included on Hallyday’s EP Noir C’Est Noir (Black Is Black), which of course featured Hallyday’s version of Los Bravos’ (see #1,538, 1,636) “Black Is Black”.
Boris-85100 writes that: “This track can be considered emblematic of Johnny’s 1966 comeback, with its instrumental on par with the best British productions. Mick Jones and Tommy Brown were truly the two best musicians of his entire career, even though he already had excellent instrumentalists in his band”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUsReofzbd4)
Richie Unterberger tells us of Micky and Tommy:
Itâs not well known, but long before he joined Foreigner â and even before he was in Spooky Tooth â Mick Jones made quite a few records with Tommy Brown, the pair working in France for much of the period. . . . encompassing recordings billed to several different monikers, including the State of Micky & Tommy, the Blackburds Nimrod, the J&B, and Thomas F. Browne. It may be that the singles they released as the State of Micky & Tommy, obscure as those 45s are, are the best known of the lot, especially âWith Love from One to Five[]â . . . . [Their recordings are] fair, though not exceptional, music that reflects the British mod, pop/rock, and psychedelic trends of the time with occasional hints of French and Continental influences. âWith Love from One to Fiveâ is typical if classy 1967 orchestrated psychedelic pop; âNobody Knows Where Youâve Beenâ strongly recalls the arrangements on Sgt. Pepperâs cuts like âWithin You, Without Youâ; and âFrisco Bayâ is nice dainty, dreamy pop with beatific Summer of Love lyrics and the lightest hints of raga-rock. All of those songs were found on singles credited to the State of Mickey & Tommy; the ones billed to the Blackburds are more like soul-flavored British mod rock that could serve as incidental film music, while Nimrodâs 1969 single âThe Birdâ . . . is a fairly strong relic bridging psychedelia with early progressive rock. The best track, however, is the relatively unheralded 1966 single âThere She Goesâ by the J&B, a quite haunting, dramatic song thatâs a bit like a mini-soundtrack to a story of Swinging London heartbreak.
As guns for hire in the French Sixties scene, you couldnât land a better gig than writing for celebrity superstar couple Sylvie Vartan and Johnny Hallyday. Not only did Micky And Tommy write for these artists but they also played guitar and drums respectively in Johnny Hallydayâs backing band. . . . Somewhere in the distant past, two hip kids went to France and had the time of their lives, one of them went on to be a superstar the other drifted into obscurity.Â
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,992)Circus — âMother Mothaâs Great Sundanceâ
“From the ashes of Q’65 [see #108, 557, 913, 1,164, 1,227, 1,356] rose Circus”. (https://www.discogs.com/es/release/5113706-Circus-Medusa-Mother-Mothas-Great-Sundance-) This, the B-side from Circus’ unreleased ’68 single, is quite the freak show — a combination of disembodied vocals and rhythmic banging with an Eastern feel — sort of a mashup of Occupy Wall Street music making and the Star Trek opening theme, seemingly all put together by George Harrison [see #423, 545, 872, 942, 1,437] (like Wonderwall!)
Discogs opens the Circus:
. . . . Circus had everything to become the first Dutch super band, along the lines of a.o. Cream and Blind Faith. In January 1968 guitarist and composer Frank Nuyens and drummer/lyricist Jay Baar rose from the ashes of Q65. Marco Klein (James Mean) joined as keyboardist, Frank Verhoef became the bassist/singer. With them, Nuyens and Baar made the first recordings. Later they went into the studio with producer Hans van Hemert, for the complex basis of âMother Motha’s Sundanceâ, meant as B-side for the single âMedusaâ. Eventually their recording career never went beyond a test pressing of the singleâŚ. The single was shelved, but a sleeve for the original 45 was apparently printed and recently found in archive.
The Dutch quintet could have held their own with [the Pretty Things or the Yardbirds] or the Animals without breaking a sweat . . . . Q 65 have remained one of Europeâs best-kept star-caliber musical secrets for more than 30 years. . . . [They] first got together in 1965, in the Hague . . . âthe Liverpool of the Netherlands,â with a music scene that had been thriving since the end of the â50s. . . . The groupâs professed influences were American soul acts . . . yet somehow, when they performed, what they played came out closer in form and spirit to the likes of the Pretty Things . . . and the Yardbirds than it did to any of those soul acts, at least at first. . . . With two successful singles under their belt, the groupâs debut album, Revolution, followed in 1966. [It] was a powerful blues-rock album . . . . The album sold 3,500 copies, a respectable number in the Netherlands, and established the group sufficiently to rate a spot playing with the Small Faces, the Spencer Davis Group, the Kinks, and the Pretty Things when they toured Holland. During 1967, they didnât release any LPs, but did get a solid extended-play single out called Q Blues, which did well at home. Their music during this period reached what was arguably its peak . . . . The group continued trying to make it as a blues-rock band for most of 1967. Their sound began to change late in the year, just as music was turning psychedelic, and around the time just before Wim Bieler was drafted into the army. His exit heralded the end of the Q 65âs classic period. [The band, with some new members, formed] a new, more psychedelic-oriented outfit, which eventually evolved into a group called Circus, which lasted, in varying lineups, for the year of 1968. . . . In 1969, a second Q 65 album was released, entitled Revival and made up of singles and latter-day tracks. The music was still powerful and very intense â perhaps too much so â if not as accessible. Had the lineup stayed intact, the group might even have found an audience. . . . [T]he Q 65 split up at just about this point.
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Dusty Groove tells us of A Black Man’s Soul, Ike Turner’s ’69 LP that includes “Thinking Black”:
[It is o]ne of the funkiest albums that Ike Turner ever recorded â done during a late 60s moment when his fame with Tina Turner was really on the rise â but much more like some funky 45 take on the pre-Tina work he’d been doing in the 50s! This set’s a batch of obscure funky instrumentals â and sounds like a strong compilation of rare 45s, filled with hard funky drums, nice breaks, and plenty of super-tight grooves. Nearly every cut’s a winner . . . .
When he was out on tour in 1969 with his regular gig, the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, Ike Turner found the time to cut the instrumental album A Black Man’s Soul. Whenever he had some spare time he would drag the band into a local studio and lay down tracks, resulting in these 12 funky soul jams that sound like they were lifted from the soundtrack to a blaxploitation film. The band is tight and laid-back at once, with horns at the forefront most of the time. Turner came up with some fine grooves like “Thinking Black[]â. However, the record lacks Turner’s usual fire and flair and ultimately is too polite and slick to be very memorable . . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,990)Saffron — “Vision Is a Lonely Word”
This is entrancing and â[m]esmerizingâ (marchenprinz9533, https)://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6JUQqWJJeY) psych, guaranteed to put you in a trance (especially with the video). ChallengeTheNarrative asks “Is this what mushrooms are like?” and Derby1884 responds “Yes – but not the ones you buy in the shops!” (https)://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6JUQqWJJeY) Well, depends on the shop.
Who was, who is Saffron? Her origin and purpose is still a total mystery â sorry, 2001 on my mind. Is she Saffron Summerfield? Possibly.
LastFM:
Saffron Summerfield is a singer/composer and audio-visual artist from the UK, who started singing around the London folk clubs in the 1970s. She was a member of the Fairport Convention spin-off Trader Horne. After the group split up, Saffron continued her solo career and released her first two albums “Salisbury Plain” and “Fancy Meeting You Here”. She toured the folk and world music circuit in UK, Europe. USA, New Zealand and Hong Kong and gained considerable recognition. Today Saffron’s work involves ‘found sound’ and film with her own music blended with natural sounds, bird song and voices.
Saffronâs career started in 1970s London Folk Scene. Gigging alongside artists like Sandy Denny, Al Stewart and Long John Baldry. She has recorded nine albums on her own Mother Earth Music label, written songs for two channel 4 films, BBC R4 Start the Week and numerous BBC and indie radio shows including a live recording on John Peelâs show with rock band FREE! All Saffronâs recordings have been distributed worldwide with high sales in Japan and USA. Many of her songs have been recorded by other singers and bands. One of the few women acoustic bottle-neck blues guitarists (check out Dungeness video) Saffron learnt from black blues musicians when visiting Mississippi in 1977. She has performed all over the UK, Europe, USA, New Zealand and Hong Kong and played at most major UK Folk festivals including Cambridge, Ely, Sidmouth, Edinburgh and Marymass. She has toured with Joan Armatrading and Fairport Convention (saffron was in Trader Horne â a spin-off from Fairport.
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In this 1966 comedy about a “good girl” trying to get published in a “bad girl” magazine, Kelly Olsson (Ann Margret) plays a newbie writer with an obsession to get published. Figuring on the “sex sells” angle Kelly writes a sexually provocative story called “The Swinger” for a popular girlie magazine. When she is turned down by the magazine’s sexist editor because she is “too innocent to know about such things”. Kelly sets out to prove him wrong by setting up an elaborate hoax to show him just how “debased” her life really is. . . . I loved the movie, although I love most campy 60’s flicks! âŚand Ann Marget is absolutely gorgeous!
Of course, The Swinger has its detractors. Stephen Vagg writes:
[It is] a hopelessly confused comedy with a few musical numbers where the star plays a girl who for some reason wants to impress the publisher of a girlie magazine so they publish her storiesâŚ? Or something. It feels like it was written by someone while drunk and Tony Franciosa is yet another male lead not worthy of the star. Thereâs a scene where Ann-Margret is in a bikini and rolls around in pint with beatniks. Teri Garr doubled her, which is cool. I think this film, a vehicle geared entirely around Ann-Margretâs talents, came close to killing her Hollywood career more than any other by virtue of its sheer incompetence.
One of the best-known arrangers of the post-World War II era, Marty Paich had much stronger jazz credentials than many of his peers, thanks to his active presence on the West Coast scene during the ’50s. Paich was born in Oakland, CA . . . . [H]e started out as a pianist, and was performing professionally at age 16. . . . [H]e wrote arrangements for local bandleader Gary Nottingham. Tapped for military service in 1943, he continued to arrange while serving as the leader of the Army Air Corps band through 1946. Following his discharge, he used the G.I. Bill to further his musical education, enrolling at UCLA to study arranging . . . . He earned a master’s degree from the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music in 1951, and quickly found work in the industry as both an arranger and pianist . . . . Paich soon graduated to higher-profile gigs, playing and arranging for Shelly Manne and Shorty Rogers . . . over 1953-1954, and also serving a stint as Peggy Lee’s accompanist and musical director. He led his own groups as well, and in 1955 he began recording for a succession of labels . . . . He also toured with Dorothy Dandridge, and arranged (and performed on) the soundtrack to the Disney film Lady and the Tramp (1955). During the mid- to late ’50s, Paich wrote arrangements for a who’s who of West Coast jazz . . . . Perhaps his most notable work came with Mel TormĂŠ, whom he often backed with a ten-piece group dubbed the Dek-tette . . . . Paich contributed the arrangements to altoist Art Pepper’s 1959 masterpiece Art Pepper + Eleven: Modern Jazz Classics. . . . [O]ne of his greatest strengths as an arranger[ was] making relatively small groups sound like full-size orchestras. . . . Around 1960, he elected to move away from his own recording career to focus on arranging for pop (and sometimes jazz) vocalists. Over the course of the decade, he worked with the likes of Ray Charles, Lena Horne, Helen Humes, Al Hirt, Andy Williams, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra [see #1,455], Barbara Streisand, Astrud Gilberto, and Mahalia Jackson, among many others. He also composed music for films . . . and television shows, winning an Emmy for his work on Ironside. In the late ’60s, he served as musical director on a succession of variety shows, including The Glen Campbell Good-Time Hour, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour . . . and The Sonny and Cher Show. After the early ’70s, Paich’s activity began to tail off, though he still worked sporadically as an orchestra conductor and string arranger, both on movie soundtracks and for artists like George Benson, Carly Simon, Elton John [see #175, 1,598], and Kenny Loggins . . . not to mention his son David Paich’s album rock supergroup Toto.
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This is a baffling but very sought-after single from the prolific easy listening master Ray MacVay . . . . Ray was perhaps more daring than many pseudo-James Last characters in the work he took on, attempting reggae, rock and country as well as the pop tunes that loaned themselves best to a nice and easy arrangement. . . . While the repetitive central riff on side A does owe a small debt to Ray and Dave Davies, the band don’t get a songwriting credit, and it seems that MacVay and Larry Page who does get credited [as producer and co-writer] — were just using their sound as a springboard. . . . Indeed, I’m slightly surprised nobody has dug this one up to use on a television programme at any point in the last fifty years. It’s also found some favour as a turntable hit with the mod club crowd, which has pushed up the asking price of copies over the years. So far as I’m aware, Ray Davies’ opinions on the single are unrecorded, though as it didn’t even come close to being a hit, perhaps that’s not surprising. Larry Page, however, was fascinated by the idea of The Kinks tracks being given the easy listening treatment . . . .
I must inform that Vernon Joynson, who is usually unerring, says that the Ray McVay Sound was a “middle-of-the-road band that was popular on the Mecca ballroom and cabaret circuit” and was “[u]nderstandably dreadful.” (The Tapestry of Delights Revisited)
The Grand Order of Water Rats tells us of Ray McVay:
Ray McVay is a celebrated British bandleader, saxophonist and arranger whose name is firmly linked with the enduring sound of big band swing. A veteran of the UK music scene since the rockânâroll era of the 1950s, Ray first made his mark as a saxophonist and arranger, working through the dance band circuit of the 1960s and the disco years of the 1970s. His skill and musical direction led to regular appearances on radio and television, concerts at major venues, and performances for members of the Royal Family. His greatest achievement has been as conductor and leader of the Glenn Miller Orchestra UK, the only officially licensed British version of the world-famous band. Under Rayâs direction, the orchestra continues to tour extensively . . . to audiences across the United Kingdom and around the world, including Russia, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay and the United Arab Emirates. Renowned for his dedication to authenticity and his ability to capture the unique energy of the swing era, Ray McVay has spent decades keeping the Glenn Miller sound alive for new generations of music lovers.
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Their rare debut album I Feel So Free has nine originals and a few unique cover tunes, with [Klaus] Doldingerâs searing alto and soprano sax and clarinet lines aided and abetted by the pounding drums of Udo Lindenberg and Amon Duulâs Keith Forsey. The overarching format is jazz, but as the material was recorded in 1969, here there are plenty of psyche leanings throughout the disc, as well as doses of funky soul.
The brainchild of legendary Berlin-born saxophonist and bandleader Klaus Doldinger, this psych-funk ultra-rarity was recorded and released in Germany in 1969. . . . With original copies changing hands for well over $600, it makes its welcome reissue debut here.
Klaus Doldinger, best-known for leading the excellent fusion group Passport in the 1970s and â80s, has had a diverse and episodic career. He started out studying piano in 1947 and clarinet five years later, playing in Dixieland bands in the 1950s. By 1961, he had become a modern tenor saxophonist, working with such top visiting and expatriate Americans as Don Ellis, Johnny Griffin, Benny Bailey, Idrees Sulieman, Donald Byrd, and Kenny Clarke, recording as a leader for Philips, World Pacific, and Liberty. His late 60âs recordings were under the name Motherhood. They released two albums I Feel so Free in 1969 and Doldingerâs Motherhood in 1970, both for the label Liberty. In I Feel so Free featuring nine funky, punchy originals and two covers from Beatles and Cream. The original vinyl copies changing hands for well over 500 euros. However, in 1970, he initiated a long series of fusion-oriented sessions for Atlantic that featured his tenor, soprano, flute, and occasional keyboards with an electric rhythm section. In addition to writing music for films (including Das Boot) and television in Europe, Doldinger has remained active as a player who occasionally explores his roots in hard bop into the late â90s, but because he has always lived in Europe, he remains underrated in the U.S.Â
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As to Shy Limbs, who lasted for two singles, “John Dickinson manned the keyboards [and generally handled vocals], Malcom Brasher was on bass, Andy McCulloch played drums and Greg [Lake] took care of the guitars [and did the vocals on ‘Love’, the B-side of ‘Reputation’]. Lake went on to briefly join the Gods before King Crimson[ and Emerson, Lake and Palmer].” (liner notes to the CD comp Mojo Presents: Acid Drops, Spacedust & Flying Saucers: Psychedelic Confectionary from the UK Underground 1965-1969)
Vernon Joynson shares that “Indeed the church organ sound is ideally suited to a wedding and when I got married in 1985 it was one of two records played when we walked out of the church!” ((interview with Klemen Breznikar), https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2011/09/vernon-joynson-interview-about-fuzz.html) What, the wedding band couldn’t reproduce it live?!!!
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Honeybus is one of my favorite bands (see #6, 52, 207, 434, 562, 605, 764, 1,100, 1,439, 1,582, 1,715, 1,833), with the honey being especially bittersweet with what should have been, what could have been. LN writes:
When I once lent a friend a copy of my beloved Story he quipped that it sounded almost like a Beatles [see #28-29, 113, 132, 374, 422-23, 520-22, 545, 669, 779-81, 840, 872, 942, 1,087, 1,256, 1,437, 1,473, 1,910] album from the 1960s that had somehow escaped release. I had for some time lacked just the right phrase to describe the album, and here it was; my friend had completely summed up my feelings about one of rock musicâs true lost treasures in one neat soundbite.
Honeybus had the pop touchstones of the Beatles and the Hollies [see #461], while balancing the more sunshiny, twee aspects of the early Bee Gees [see #291, 353-54, 439, 466, 484, 497, 570, 594, 717, 861, 962, 1,065, 1,101, 1,125, 1,190, 1,321, 1,336, 1,343, 1,465, 1,584, 1,640, 1,685, 1,843] with some mild touches of post-Sgt. Pepper psychedelia. . . . Their songs were unusually tuneful, some lovely little hooks paired with sweet harmonies, and itâs almost shocking to hear these songs today and realize the band had pretty much zero commercial success (at least here in the US).
Bruce Eder beautifully ponders what made the band so special and what could have been:
Considering that most have never heard of them, itâs amazing to ponder that they came very close, in the eyes of the critics, to being Decca Recordsâ answer to the Rubber Soul-era Beatles. The harmonies were there, along with some catchy, hook-laden songs . . . . The pop sensibilities of Honeybusâ main resident composers, Peter Dello and Ray Cane were astonishingly close in quality and content to those of Paul McCartney [see #28, 132, 374, 521, 669, 779-81, 840] and the softer sides of John Lennon [see #29, 113, 520, 522, 781, 1,473] of that same era. Whatâs more, the critics loved their records. Yet, somehow, Honeybus never got it right; they never had the right single out at the proper time, and only once in their history did they connect with the public for a major hit, in early 1968. . . .
Dello and Cane . . . were the prime movers behind Honeybus. In 1966, they formed the Yum Yum Band . . . . A collapsed lung put Dello out of action in early 1966, and it was during his recuperation that he began rethinking what the band and his music were about. He developed the notion of a new band that would become a canvas for him to work on as a songwriter â they would avoid the clubs, working almost exclusively in the studio, recreating the sounds that he was hearing in his head. . . . It was a novel strategy, paralleling the approach to music-making by the Beatles in their post-concert period, and all the more daring for the fact that they were a new group . . . . The group was one of the best studio bands of the period, reveling in the perfection that could be achieved . . . .
They were duly signed to Englandâs Decca Records and assigned to the companyâs newly organized Deram label . . . . The critics were quick to praise the band . . . [but their first two singles were commercially] unsuccessful. Then . . . their third release, âI Canât Let Maggie Go,â [see #6] . . . . . . peaked at number eight. . . . [It] should have made the group, but instead it shattered them. Peter Dello resigned during the singleâs chart run. He had been willing to play live on radio appearances and the occasional television or special concert showcase . . . but he couldnât accept the physical or emotional stresses of performing live on a regular basis, or the idea of touring America . . . . Dello left . . . . [and] Jim Kelly came in on guitar and vocals, while Ray Cane . . . took over most of the songwriting, and Honeybus proceeded to play regular concerts. The group never recovered the momentum theyâd lost over âMaggie,â however, despite a string of fine singles . . . . [that] never charted . . . . [T]he group had pretty well decided to call it quits once they finished the[ir] LP . . . . The Honeybus Story . . . was released in late 1969, but without an active group to promote it, the record sank without a trace. . . . [I]t was a beautiful album, with the kind of ornate production and rich melodies that had become increasingly rare with the passing of the psychedelic era . . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,984)Lulu — âRattlerâ
The wistful “Rattler”, written by the Seekers’ Bruce Woodley, is one of the great railroad songs, deftly combining the themes of endless journeys and finally returning home to one’s love. It was first released by Herman’s Hermits (see #300, 613, 639, 841), then by the Dream Merchants, then Lulu (see #960), then the Seekers, then the Gingerbread Men, then Cliff Richard (see #630), and then Bruce Woodley himself. But only Lulu does it true justice. “Riding on some northern rail road . . . Rattler, take me home to my baby”
As to Lulu, Mark Deming tells us:
In the United States, Lulu is often thought of as a one-hit wonder, having scored a memorable number one hit in 1967 with the bittersweet and evocative âTo Sir, With Loveâ . . . . In the United Kingdom, however, [she] . . . . would become an enduring star in pop music, on television, on-stage, and in the movies . . . . Lulu was born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie . . . in Glasgow, Scotland. . . . After years of competing in talent contests, she was invited to join a local pop group, the Gleneagles, when she was 14. . . . [I]n 1962, the group was spotted by Marion Massey, who saw potential in the combo, in particular their charismatic lead singer. Massey became their manager, changed Marieâs stage name to Lulu, and dubbed the band the Luvvers. In 1964, Massey landed a recording deal for the group with Decca Records, and Lulu & the Luvversâ first single, an enthusiastic cover of the Isley Brothersâ âShout,â was a hit, rising to number seven on the U.K. singles charts. More chart successes followed . . . along with a steady stream of television, radio, and concert appearances that led to Melody Maker magazine naming Lulu Britainâs most promising new act of 1965. In 1966, Lulu . . . made her debut as a solo act. She signed a record deal with Columbia Records (the British label affiliated with EMI), struck a production deal with Mickie Most (best known for his work with the Animals, Donovan, and Jeff Beck), and set out on several concert tours . . . . In 1967, Lulu made her big-screen debut in the coming-of-age drama To Sir, With Love, in which she played . . . a student who learns important lessons about maturity and self-respect from teacher Sidney Poitier. The film became a hit in the U.K. and the U.S., and Luluâs emotional reading of the theme song rose to the top of the American pop charts . . . . In the U.K., âThe Boat I Row,â âLetâs Pretend,â and âLove Loves to Love, Loveâ were all major hits that year. . . . In 1968, Lulu became the star of her own television series . . . which aired . . . until 1975 â and scored more hit singles in the U.K. with âMe the Peaceful Heart,â âBoy,â and âIâm a Tiger.â In 1969, she made news when she wed Maurice Gibb . . , though the marriage would only last four years. Lulu also represented England in the Eurovision Song Contest that year, and her song, âBoom Bang-a-Bang,â not only won the competition for England but became a major U.K. hit, peaking at number two on the sales charts.
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Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (ârelating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainmentâ â dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify — now over 1,300 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
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What was distinctly Scottish was that old Celtic self-pitying doom and gloom in our character and in the music, those minor melodies. . . . Itâs just as well we remained a minor group; think of the kids that were saved from jumping off bridges[!]
As to George Gallagher and the Poets, the Herald (Scotland) writes:
[Gallagher had] an inherited regard for the principles of socialism and a love of football. Prodigiously gifted, he signed on as a youth player for Leicester City, aged 17. The solidarity of schoolmates won out and he became vocalist of a beat group, formed with his friends Hume Paton, Tony Myles, John Dawson and Alan Weir. They named themselves The Poets and â in an era when groups embraced gimmicks â created an appropriate look; vaguely Edwardian, with matching velvet jackets and tight trousers, and ruffled shirts intended to evoke Burns. The band were sporting this costume when, in 1964, they appeared in Beat News, a publication covering the Scottish music scene. It caught the eye of Andrew Loog Oldham . . . who was passing through Edinburgh Airport on his way to get married . . . . He . . . secured the singerâs address and made for Glasgow, where Gallacher lived. âIt was a Sunday morning,â Gallacher would recount: âI was still in bed and my mother came in and said, âGeorge, were you expecting the manager of The Rolling Stones?’â
The Poets were quickly signed to Decca by . . . Oldham, who produced for them a brace of highly-innovative singles, all co-written by Gallacher, and guitarists Hume Paton and Tony Myles. . . . The Poets followed manager Oldham into his new Immediate label venture, cutting two singles there including . . . âSome Things I Canât Forget,â the groupâs preferred choice for [a] topside. This was over-ruled by ALO in favor of âCall Againâââdepressing stuff⌠and we were depressed that it was going to be our single,â recalled Gallacher . . . . In early â66 . . . Gallacher left the Poets, disillusioned by lack of direction and momentum within the group, and the mess of ongoing management wrangles.
[The Poets were] the best Scottish rock group of the mid-â60s. . . . [T]hey . . . alternated between mournful, almost fey ballads and storming mod rockers. . . . A minor hit single right out of the gate and a management deal with [ALO] seemed to spell probable success. But the Poets fell victim both to subpar promotion and numerous personnel changes . . . Their first single, a characteristically moody original called âNow Weâre Thru,â made number 30 in the U.K. Yet that was to be their only taste of commercial success, despite a flurry of fine singles over the next couple of years. . . . [T]he . . . association [with ALO] may have worked against them, as he was naturally inclined to focus most of his energies upon the . . . Stones. The Poets were getting lost in the shuffle and discouraged, and by 1967 not one original member remained from the lineup that had first recorded.
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (ârelating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainmentâ â dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify — now over 1,300 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! / Off the Charts: 60s Rock Revelationsđ 