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

The Vagrants — “I Can’t Make a Friend”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 30, 2023

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

1,063) The Vagrants — “I Can’t Make a Friend”

A classic NYC “raw, garage rock rave-up[]” (James Allen, https://www.allmusic.com/album/i-cant-make-a-friend-1965-1968-mw0002082858) by a band out of Queens most of whose members went to Forest Hills High School along with Johnny and Tommy Ramone (who were huge fans). The Vagrants “offered a perfect marriage of blue-eyed soul mixed with fuzzy, raunchy garage rock built upon a foundation of squealing organs, rubbery bass lines, and rough and tumble guitar riffs.” (Matthew Hickey, https://www.turntablekitchen.com/2011/03/musical-pairings-the-vagrants-i-cant-make-a-friend-1965-1968/)

Hey, I think I lived in Forest Hills at the time!

James Allen tells us:

Though they never released an album and were only around for a short time, the Vagrants had a crucial place in rock & roll history. In the 1960s New York music scene, they were the missing link between the rockin’ soul of the Young Rascals and the slow-burning psychedelia of Vanilla Fusge, having come up under the wing of the former and provided a direct, overt influence on the latter. The Vagrants’ brief run of mid-‘60s singles was also the first to feature the sounds of guitarist Leslie West, who would soon attain celebrity status as the driving force behind power trio Mountain, alongside Vagrants producer/songwriter Felix Pappalardi. . . . [T]he band’s organist and occasional singer/songwriter, Jerry Storch, went on to release some fine solo work.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/i-cant-make-a-friend-1965-1968-mw0002082858

Ed Ward adds:

The Vagrants, between 1964 and ’68, rose from a bunch of New York high-schoolers rehearsing in a basement in the Forest Hills section of Queens to playing for thousands of kids in clubs. . . . [They] started when Peter Sabatino and his buddy Larry Weinstein saw The Beatles at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in August 1964 . . . and he and Weinstein decided that this was what they wanted to do. Weinstein’s older brother Leslie was a good guitarist, so he joined up. Jerry Storch . . . revealed one day that he played piano and had some songs, so they invited him to join. . . . [By] early 1965 they were playing one of New York City’s coolest clubs . . . . and by the summer of 1965 they were approached by two guys with a label, Southern Sound, who asked them if they wanted to make a single. . . . They got a summer-long gig in Hamptons Bay, on Long Island, and became friendly with a band working one of the other clubs, The Young Rascals.
https://www.npr.org/2011/03/29/134174281/the-vagrants-a-hot-60s-band-for-exactly-four-years

Finally, Richie Unterberger:

One of the few rock bands signed to the folkie Vanguard label . . . . [they] took their closest swipe at stardom after Felix Pappalardi helped them sign to Atco. A rock version of Otis Redding’s “Respect” . . . was a hit in some Eastern regions, but couldn’t compete with Aretha Franklin’s rendition, also released in 1967. After a couple of other singles on Atco, the group broke up in late 1968, when West formed Mountain . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-vagrants-mn0000575926#biography

Here is the Action’s cover:

Here is Paul and Barry Ryan’s:

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Gene Chandler — “(Gonna Be) Good Times”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 29, 2023

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

1,062) Gene Chandler — “(Gonna Be) Good Times”

“One of [Gene Chandler’s (see # 347)] best! [The Duke gives us a] killer from 1965″ (Wynonie, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3-_crgwzQE) that reached #92 (#40 R&B). It was written by the great Curtis Mayfield (see #118, 285) and boy does it sound like it! What an upbeat party song that just makes you feel good! “Good Times” was also on Chandler’s ’67 album The Girl Don’t Care, “[o]ne of Chandler’s best, chock full of midtempo grooves, succulent ballads and jump tunes like ‘Good Times’.” (Andrew Hamilton, https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-girl-dont-care-mw0000226045)

As to Chandler, Richie Unterberger writes:

Gene Chandler is remembered by the rock & roll audience almost solely for the classic novelty and doo wop-tinged soul ballad “Duke of Earl”; the unforgettable opening chant of the title leading the way, the song was a number one hit in 1962. He’s esteemed by soul fans as one of the leading exponents of the ’60s Chicago soul scene, along with Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler. Born Eugene Dixon, he was a member of the doo wop group the Dukays and “Duke of Earl” was actually a Dukays recording; Dixon was renamed Gene Chandler and the single bore his credit as a solo singer. Chandler never approached the massive pop success of that chart-topper (although he occasionally entered the Top 20), but he was a big star with the R&B audience with straightforward mid-tempo and ballad soul numbers in the mid-’60s, many of which were written by Curtis Mayfield and produced by Carl Davis. Chandler’s success became more fitful after Mayfield stopped penning material for him, although he enjoyed some late-’60s hits and had a monster pop and soul smash in 1970 with “Groovy Situation.”
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gene-chandler-mn0000162820#biography

Mohair Slim interviews Chandler about his collaborations with Mayfield:

To break out of The Duke Of Earl image … you started working with Curtis Mayfield. How was it working with the great man Curtis?

(Chandler): Well it was very nice because Curtis came up with tunes that I thought were my types of songs and those were a lot of love songs. Curtis wrote some beautiful love songs starting off with ‘The Rainbow Song’ and I heard those on the road. We went out on tours and shows together and he would sit down with the guitar and play me some songs and from doing that I began to fall in love with the songs he was writing from ‘Man’s Temptation’, ‘Just Be True’, ‘Nothing Can Stop Me’, and so on. I did a lot of his songs. As a matter of fact, Curtis was my salvation after ‘The Duke Of Earl’. I mean, it was his songs that kept me going all the way up until 1970 when I again recorded another million-seller which was ‘a groovy situation’.

Did he instruct you on how you should sing it because it occurs to me that he wrote for so many artists, but, there’s a definite style to the vocal of a Curtis Mayfield song. Do you just fall into the style that Curtis wants or does he actually give you some instruction?

(Chandler): No, he never gave me any instructions I can’t speak for anyone else. He loved the way I portrayed his songs and so I never had a problem. It was just a good marriage. I could hear what he was trying to say and I did it. I did it with a lot of feeling, the words was there, the melody was there and I just did it. There were times that he did play guitar. There were a couple of time where The Impressions some background, but, basically, I did the song on my own, the way I felt it should have been done. As a matter of fact, I did more Curtis Mayfield songs than anyone outside of the Impressions.
https://www.mohairslim.com/gene-chandler.html

Appearing on Shindig:

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Sir Douglas Quintet — “At the Crossroads”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 28, 2023

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

1,061) Sir Douglas Quintet — “At the Crossroads”

This soul-stirring ’69 A-side reached #104. Michael Paquette notes that “[i}t contains the great line, ‘You can teach me lots of lessons; you can bring me a lot of gold; but you just can’t live in Texas if you don’t have a lot of soul.’” (https://rockremnants.com/2021/10/23/song-of-the-week-at-the-crossroads-sir-douglas-quintet/ ) Ah, Doug Sahm (and the Sir Douglas Quintet (see #383)) — he had soul. As Adrian Mack mused: “Sahm’s good vibes weren’t just some artifact of his ’60s roots . . . . Sahm was internally groovy. It was fundamental to his nature. It’s partly why we love him so much . . . .” (https://thetyee.ca/ArtsAndCulture/2011/03/24/TheGroover/)

Malcolm Hanna says of “Crossroads” that:

[It] is a timeless piece of music that holds deep meaning within its lyrics and melody. . . . [and] showcases the band’s unique sound and captures the essence of the era it was created in. At its core, [it] explores the universal theme of facing difficult decisions in life. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a person standing at a crossroads, torn between two paths. It symbolizes the struggle between following the expected societal norms or taking the road less traveled. . . . The powerful instrumentation and soulful vocals further enhance the emotional impact of the song. By blending blues and rock elements, The Sir Douglas Quintet creates a unique and captivating sonic experience that resonates with listeners. The raw and heartfelt performance leaves an indelible mark, making “At the Crossroads” a truly memorable piece of music.
https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-at-the-crossroads-by-the-sir-douglas-quintet/

Of Sahm, Gary tells us that:

Sahm was a child prodigy — a pop-music Mozart who began performing at age six and released his first record when he was 11. He was on stage with Hank Williams, Sr., in Austin, Texas, on December 19, 1952. It was Williams’s last performance — he died in the back seat of a car on New Year’s Eve. The story goes that Sahm was offered a chance to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry, but that his mother said no — she wanted him to finish junior high school. As a teenager, Sahm joined a band that performed blues music, mostly at black R&B clubs in San Antonio. He also got to know a number of Mexican-American musicians. In 1964, Sahm assembled a band and persuaded record producer Huey P. Meaux (a/k/a/ “The Crazy Cajun”) to record them. Meaux named the band the “Sir Douglas Quintet,” hoping to capitalize on the popularity of British invasion bands. . . . The Sir Douglas Quintet dressed the part of a British invasion band when they appeared on Shindig and Hullabaloo, but no one with half a brain would have been fooled. For one thing, two of the band’s members were Mexican-Americans. For another, Sahm had an unmistakable Texas accent. Not only that, the Sir Douglas Quintet sounded nothing like a British band. . . .
https://2or3lines.blogspot.com/2012/03/sir-douglas-quintet-at-crossroads-1969.html?m=1

What did the Sir Douglas Quintet sound like? Michael Paquette tells us:

[He] began his career as a country singer as a young boy . . . . He crafted his musical skills and style in the barrios, dance halls, juke joints, and parking lots across the Lone Star State. He formed his first band, the Knights, in high school when he realized he’d rather play music than football. He assembled the Sir Douglas Quintet with his childhood friend Augie Meyers . . . in 1964. Their musical style was heavily influenced by the sound of bluesmen Jimmy Reed, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and Lightnin Hopkins. . . . [A]n emerging blues and TexMex sound [was coming from Fort Worth and San Antonio] that was also influenced by the Texas swing of Bob Wills, the guitar blues of T-Bone Walker, and the Mexican-American rockers like Don Santiago Jiménez of San Antonio . . . . With its rolling Chicano rhythms and pumping Farfisa organ SDQ influenced numerous new wave acts including Elvis Costello who patterned both his band and his vocals after the SDQ. . . . [Sahm’s] fusion of Texas C & W, Western Swing, Texas Blues, South Texas German polkas, and Tex Mex music lives on in artists who remain devoted to his sound.
https://rockremnants.com/2021/10/23/song-of-the-week-at-the-crossroads-sir-douglas-quintet/

Steve Huey adds that:

Arguably the greatest and most influential Tex-Mex group ever, the [SDQ] epitomized Texas’ reputation as a fertile roots music melting pot and established the career of Tex-Mex cult legend Doug Sahm. The [band] mixed country, blues, jazz, R&B, Mexican conjunto/norteño music, Cajun dances, British Invasion rock & roll, garage rock, and even psychedelia into a heady stew that could only have come from Texas. Although they went largely underappreciated during their existence (mostly in the ’60s), their influence was far-reaching and continues to be felt in Texas . . . and beyond . . . . According to legend, the [SDQ] was the brainchild of Houston producer Huey P. Meaux, who at the height of the British Invasion took a stack of Beatles records into a hotel room and studied them while getting drunk on wine. He found that the beats often resembled those of Cajun dance songs and hit upon the idea of a group that could blend the two sounds well enough to fool Beatles fans into giving a local band a chance. . . . Meaux told Sahm his idea and Sahm quickly formed a band . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-sir-douglas-quintet-mn0000018708

Here is Mott the Hoople’s cover:

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Chad and Jeremy — “Sunstroke”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 27, 2023

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

1,060) Chad and Jeremy — “Sunstroke”

Two “Limeys” give us either a gorgeously mellow L.A. “trip song” or enter the Inferno, “perfectly captur[ing] the image of a stoned Englishman wilting in the west coast heat”. I go with the former, but I’ll let you decide.

Chad Stuart called “Sunstroke” “a trip song”. ”Keith Noble . . . had come out to stay with me. And there we were, two Limeys in Encino, California, sitting by the pool, staring at the orange grove, smoking a little pot and thinking,’Holy sh*t! Has our life changed!'” (liner notes to the CD reissue of The Ark) Its “distorted vocals and sitar perfectly capture the image of a stoned Englishman wilting in the west coast heat”. (Alexis Petridis, https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/chad-jeremy-the-ark-their-last-and-most-interesting-album-psychedelic.636409/page-2)

As to The Ark, opinions differ. Jud Cost calls the LP “a trippy, post-Sgt. Pepper romp that can still rearrange the cerebral cortex of the innocent. The album brims with finely crafted melodies written mostly by Jeremy Clyde, while Chad Stuart’s robust arrangements throb with the very pulse of the day.” (liner notes to the CD reissue of The Ark). On the other hand, William Ruhlmann says:

[I]t was [a] psychedelic mishmash of styles — Indian one minute, musichall the next — of a kind so many popular performers had been indulging in at the time in hopes of making the next Sgt. Pepper. The difference was that most of Chad & Jeremy’s peers had gotten it out of their systems the year before. But C&J were upper-class types who took naturally to the pretensions of the form — they thought they were making Art. Their listeners thought differently . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-ark-mw0000345112

Ouch!

Jason Ankeny tells us of Chad and Jeremy:

Of the many British Invasion acts that stormed the charts in the wake of the Beatles, Chad & Jeremy possessed a subtlety and sophistication unmatched among their contemporaries, essentially creating the template for the kind of lush, sensitive folk-pop embraced by followers from Nick Drake to Belle & Sebastian. [Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde] met while attending [drama school]. The two became fast friends and . . . formed a folk duo as well as a rock & roll group, the Jerks. . . . When the Jerks dissolved . . . . the duo . . . [eventually reunited and] quickly earned a fan following . . . . They released their debut single, “Yesterday’s Gone[]” [which] entered the U.K. Top 40. . . . their only British hit of any real substance. . . . [T]he Daily Express published a photo of a young Clyde (a graduate of the prestigious private school Eton and a descendent of the famed Duke of Wellington) in royal garb at the 1952 coronation of Queen Elizabeth. . . . [T]he publicity proved a near-fatal blow, effectively branding Chad & Jeremy upper-crust nancy boys merely pretending at careers in music. However, as the album tanked at home, Chad & Jeremy’s U.S. label . . . scored a Top 20 American hit with “Yesterday’s Gone,” followed in August 1964 by “A Summer Song[]” . . . that cracked the Billboard Top Five. . . . [They] relocated to California . . . . [and] appear[ed] on . . . The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Patty Duke Show. . . . The Danny Kaye Show, Shindig, and Hullabaloo. . . . [and] guested on two episodes of the blockbuster Batman. [They] spent close to a year in the studio with producer Gary Usher to create 1967’s Of Cabbages and Kings, a dense, ambitious record . . . . [that] served to alienate much of the duo’s core fan base . . . and sales proved dismal. . . . Tensions between Chad & Jeremy continued, prompted in large part by the latter’s burgeoning acting career, and after completing The Ark, a project so expensive it led Columbia to terminate Usher’s contract — the duo split . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/chad-jeremy-mn0000799644#biography

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Opus 1 — “Back Seat ‘38 Dodge”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 26, 2023

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

1,059) Opus 1 — “Back Seat ‘38 Dodge”

Classic LA garage immortalizing a scandalous art exhibit that displayed what can happen in the back seat of a ‘38 Dodge.

Alec Palao:

Drummer John Christensen, short of a band for a party, improvised by hiring the rhythm section from Chris Morgan & The Togas, who just happened to live down the road from the date. Their shot at vinyl infamy would be th[is] surf-tinged, deliciously cryptic [aong] . . . inspired by the notorious Ed Kienholz sculpture of similar name. ”I personally never did see it other than in a photograph, ” admits Christensen, “but [the artwork’s controversy] was in the air at the time.”
liner notes to the CD comp Where the Action Is!: Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968)

Edward Wyatt:

The sculpture, which portrays a couple engaged in sexual activity in the back seat of a truncated automobile chassis, won Kienholz instant celebrity in 1966 when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors tried to ban the sculpture as pornographic and threatened to withhold financing from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art if it included the work in a Kienholz retrospective.
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/arts/design/02dodg.html?ex=1349928000&en=924d5cd6d7aea227&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Wikipedia:

A 1966 show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) drew considerable controversy over his assemblage, Back Seat Dodge ‘38 (1964). The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors called it “revolting, pornographic and blasphemous”, and threatened to withhold financing for the museum unless the tableau was removed from view. A compromise was reached under which the sculpture’s car door would remain closed and guarded, to be opened only on the request of a museum patron who was over 18, and only if no children were present in the gallery. The uproar led to more than 200 people lining up to see the work the day the show opened.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Kienholz

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Tamam Shud — “Jesus Guide Me”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 25, 2023

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

1,058) Tamam Shud — “Jesus Guide Me”

“[L]ead singer Lindsay Bjerre is almost screaming the words ‘Jesus Guide Me’ as if he is crying out in desperation for help” in this powerful, stark, spiritual, and “rocking song” from “a very psychedelic album” by the legendary “Australian surf acid[] rockers”. (AtomicCrimsonRush, https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=5732)

Tamam Shud* “took up the mantle of a progressive blues-based concert band, renowned for performing long instrumentals. Initially adopted by the burgeoning psychedelic and drug scene, their popularity rapidly took in the surfing fraternity and the college circuit. Their two original albums are considered progressive and adventurous.” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tamam-shud-mn0000160048#biography)

The definitive Milesago: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964-1975 goes deep on the early Tamam Shud:

Tamam Shud was one of the most original and innovative Australian groups of the late ’60s and early ’70s, and they played a very important part in our musical development as pioneers of acid-rock and progressive music. . . . Shud’s origins lay in Newcastle instrumental band The Four Strangers . . . . [A]t the end of [1964] . . . Lindsay Bjerre [became lead singer, and under his] guidance [the band] now renamed The Sunsets [see #403] — were steered into a more up-to-date beat/R&B style . . . . [They] recorded the music for the soundtracks for Paul Witzig’s surf-films A Life In The Sun and Hot Generation. . . . [A]t the end of 1966 [they] were invited to play a three-month residency at a Surfer’s Paradise nightclub . . . . [Bjerre recalls] “We played at this nightclub . . . just as 1967 came around and the whole LSD thing took off. The start of acid rock, the hippies, LSD . . . . The big revolution took place. We were doing covers . . . and few of our own things and we were playing six nights a week and it made the band incredibly tight. The whole band took LSD and no longer were we innocent surfie guys. All the people we ran into around the drug scene were putting us onto Albums like like Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow, Arthur Lee and Love’s Da Capo. We were all getting into jazz.” . . . As the year progressed The Sunsets . . . reinvented themselves as Tamam Shud. . . . They were certainly one of the first Australian groups to take up the new acid-rock style . . . . [T]hey were soon recognised as one of Australia’s most innovative bands, with their sets including long, improvised instrumental sections. . . . Over the next five years Shud became one of the most popular live acts of the east coast scene, playing at all the major disco and ‘head’ venues in Sydney and Melbourne. . . . [T]he major fan base for them . . . was on Sydney’s university and college dance circuit, and with the ‘hippy’ audiences at inner city underground venues . . . . Their first LP [Evolution] . . . has been justly hailed by Ian McFarlane as “one of the first wholly original rock albums issued in Australia”. It was made independently, the session financed by filmmaker Paul Witzig to provide music for his surf film Evolution . . . . Four tracks . . . were used in the film. . . . [which] were later re-recorded, along with eight other originals, for [their] debut . . . . Most of Witzig’s budget was committed to the considerable expense of transporting and filming surfers in exotic overseas locations . . . so the budget for the music was minuscule. Consequently, the twelve songs that make up Evolution were recorded live, with very basic equipment, in a single 2-1/2 hour session, and mixed in a mere 1-1/2 hours. . . . Although the recording quality is fairly rough, both the material and the performances are very strong . . . . Bjerre’s strong, soulful vocals carry the songs with ease . . . . [B]oth the film and its soundtrack were very successful . . . .
http://www.milesago.com/artists/tamam.htm

* The band took its name from “a Persian phrase meaning ‘the very end’ . . . taken by Bjerre from the closing words of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”. (http://www.milesago.com/artists/tamam.htm)

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Jerry & the Landslides — “Get Off My Roof [Santa]”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 24, 2023

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

1,057) Jerry & the Landslides — “Get Off My Roof [Santa]”

Don’t get off of my cloud, get “off my roof, buddy”! ”Former radio DJ Jerry Worsham has a Santastic time with his [’65] Rolling Stones parody. Ho ho ho”. (Sids60sSounds, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjZc3y93ohs) ”A perfect parody!” (Estonius, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er5eLTUvo0A)

Joe Knapp tells us that:

Jay recorded this song while he was working in a recording studio in New York City. It was in that studio where he had a chance to work on a recording session with Jimi Hendrix about a year before he became famous. The backing instrumental track was laid down by some unnamed musicians from Long Island which, supposedly, never actually met Jay!
http://musicmasteroldies.com/2011/12/10/new-oldies-get-off-of-my-roof-by-jerry-and-the-landslides/

Oh, and Jerry himself says the song “had the potential to be a big Christmas hit record, but the producer, PPX, released it too late for enough national airplay. Radio stations in the greater Philadelphia area got the only promo copies, and the song did well.” (http://musicmasteroldies.com/2011/12/10/new-oldies-get-off-of-my-roof-by-jerry-and-the-landslides/)

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Octopus — “Thief”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 23, 2023

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

1,056) Octopus — “Thief”

‘70 B-side and album track from this UK late psych group (see #759) “is a fast-paced rocker, complete with some nice rattling bass playing and cool riff” (Tom Ozrik, http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=5623) that “sounds like a rather nervously (in a good way) upbeat rendition of an imaginary Graham Gouldman [see #226] tune”. (Garwood Pickjon, https://popdiggers.com/octopus-restless-night/) WTF? Anyway, how was this not a hit?! ”Nothing like a little groovy music to make your shoplifting more enjoyable!” (claudehooper-bukowski4206, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFJiL_XPIwY)

Loser boy ponders the band and the album:

Fantastic UK psychedelic pop progressive act who really took the “Sgt. Pepper”‘s aura to another dimension. “Restless Night” . . . is a wonderful album full of 70’s era – BEATLE’esque themes and musical feelings. [The band] blend[s] superb fuzz guitar and organ work all wrapped up with some great lead vocals. Someone once described this album as being “So dangerously post-Sgt. Pepper’s that it approaches solo McCartneyism”. . . . IMHO this is an essential album . . . a masterpiece…
http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=5623

Forced Exposure says that:

[T]he album bridges the gap between ’60s psychedelia and a harder-edged ’70s sound, drawing on the obvious touchstones of the time including Lennon/McCartney, Argent/Blunsone and the brothers Davies and Gibb. But Octopus had the songwriting and playing chops to make this album much more than an also-ran; with hooks galore, swirling organ, and fuzz-tone guitars, Restless Nights is a prime piece of early-’70s UK psychedelia that’s rare as hen’s teeth in its original form.
https://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/octopus-restless-night-lp/RAD.7002LP.html

And Bruce Eder says “Restless Night . . . is on the smooth, commercial pop side, with the psychedelic elements mostly in the fuzztone guitar and organ flourishes, mixed with the music’s general melodic nature.” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/octopus-mn0001886653)

Bruce then brings us back to the Octopus’ garden:

Octopus’ origins lay in Hatfield, 30 miles from London, and a mid-’60s quartet called the Cortinas . . . . made up of Paul Griggs (guitar), Nigel Griggs (bass), Brian Glassock (drums), and Rick Williams (guitar). By 1967, the Cortinas had moved from Brit beat into pop-psychedelia and cut one single (“Phoebe’s Flower Shop”) for Polydor without success. The following year, the quartet renamed and redirected itself and Octopus was born. The band earned a support spot to Yes which was, itself, an up-and-coming group at the time. They also appeared on stage with acts like Status Quo and Humble Pie, and were discovered by Troggs bassist Tony Murray, who helped get them a record deal with independent producer Larry Page, who was the Troggs’ manager. Octopus . . . released a single, “Laugh at the Poor Man” . . . in 1969. Midway through the recording of their debut album, Restless Night, Glassock and Williams quit the band, and it was a re-formed Octopus, with John Cook on keyboards and Malcolm Green on the drums, that finished the record . . . . The resulting LP was popular in Hatfield but never found an audience anywhere else. . . . [The band] disbanded in 1972. . . . Malcolm Green and Nigel Griggs later became members of Split Enz.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/octopus-mn0001886653

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Affinity — “I Am and So Are You”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 22, 2023

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

1,055) Affinity — “I Am and So Are You”

This stunning UK jazz-rock album track (and A-side in Portugal and B-side in France) was written by Alan Hull (founding member of Lindisfarne) with brass arranged by John Paul Jones (liner notes to the CD reissue of Affinity), and the band was managed by Ronnie Scott!

As to Affinity, Jon “Mojo” Mills writes:

English jazz-rock group Affinity released only one album and one single during their brief existence, and though their work is obscure, it remains an important document of the type of crossover between psychedelic rock and progressive styles they and many other bands of their ilk were exploring in the early ’70s. The band remains a favorite for fans of deeply buried psychedelic artifacts . . . . Affinity formed gradually throughout the late ’60s, growing out of a jazz trio comprised of University of Sussex science students Lynton Naiff on keyboards, Nick Nicholas on upright bass and Grant Serpell on drums. Nicholas was replaced by Mo Foster early on. The band reached their highest form with the addition of guitarist Mike Jupp and vocalist Linda Hoyle, whose blues-tinged vocals added character to the band’s blend of jazz virtuosity and psychedelic exploration. Affinity signed on with Vertigo for the release of their self-titled 1970 album. The album included adventurous reinterpretations of songs by Bob Dylan and the Everly Brothers . . . . The record was well-received by critics and the band played often, but they broke up shortly after the albums’ release and went on to different musical pursuits. . . .

The self-titled album . . . displays a lot of potential, which if not wholly successful has an individuality separating them from their more jazzy and progressive peers. If Linda Hoyle’s talent for fusing the vocal traits of Bessie Smith, Grace Slick, and Sandy Denny together semi-successfully is the defining point, then Lynton Naiff’s pounding Hammond workouts fall somewhere between the exceptional and the overdone. [The album has] a very soulful feel reminiscent of the latter work of Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll & the Trinity [see #1,031-33] is created. And the album’s variety of moods sustains interest throughout.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/affinity-mn0001345141#biography, https://www.allmusic.com/album/affinity-mw0000222793

Chris Welch interviews Mo Foster:

What were their musical ambitions? ”It was that magic word ‘jazz rock.’ Bands like Colosseum and Blood, Sweat & Tears were happening. It was all about being able to play to rock audiences with jazz leanings. We also had a fascination with the Hammond organ and Brian Auger was our hero.” Auger played Hammond with Steam Packet and later with Julie Driscoll in the Brian Auger Trinity. ”In a way they provided the template for our band. We ended up buying his Hammond organ.” . . . Their debut gig was at the Revolution Club in Bruton Place, London on October 5, 1968. . . . [“]I read in Melody Maker about Ronnie Scott’s Club re-opening and wanting to manage younger bands. So I travelled up to London and took my tape to Ronnie’s partner Pete King. He listened and invited us to play in their Upstairs room. That was how Ronnie Scott and Pete King became our managers.”

[M]ost reviewers loved it. Distinguished critic Derek Jewell of the Sunday Times . . . [wrote] . . . . ”Affinity’s organist, Lynton Naiff, is already a virtuoso, soul-style, and the whole group is probaby the best new thing heard in the jazz-pop area this year.”
liner notes to the CD reissue of Affinity

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Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends — “Don’t Take Your Time”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 21, 2023

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

1,054) Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends — “Don’t Take Your Time”

This ’68 B-side and lead off album track is a delighfully horn-y sunshine pop confection by the master. Matthew Greenwald says:

A great example of up-tempo, West Coast MOR pop, “Don’t Take Your Time” started off the self-titled Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends [see #631, 828] album off with a bang. A romantic jumper, the song’s melody is graceful - loaded with well-placed major seventh chords - and is taken at a breezy tempo, underscored by a fine string arrangement. The lyrics by Tony Asher contain the same, undated literate grace that embodies his work on the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.
https://www.allmusic.com/song/dont-take-your-time-mt0010591490

Plus, Sammy Davis Jr., and the Match did great cover versions!

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

[Roger Nichols and a Small Circle of Friends is a] true sleeper in the context of California pop. . . . The album is a lot of things at once. Soft pop, a smattering of rock, and a heavy dose of easy listening. The group itself has a great vocal blend. Nichols is joined by Murray MacLeod and his sister, Melinda. The three voices combined create a wonderful, soft sheen, equally effective on the ballads . . . and uptempo numbers . . . . The credits on the album are a virtual who’s who of California pop at the time. . . . [including] Lenny Waronker, Van Dyke Parks, Bruce Botnick, and Randy Newman. Superbly produced by Tommy LaPuma, the album unfortunately didn’t do very well at the time of its release, which is an incredible injustice. The music, though, holds up extremely well today, and is an authentic slice of California pop. Delicious.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/roger-nichols-the-small-circle-of-friends-mw0000758583

Patrick Lundborg adds:

Mr Nichols and friends present a groovy smorgasbord of late 60’s pop music . . . . The album is full of candy-coated treats such as soft rock, psych pop and commercial pop. . . . Their sound is soft rock-based with a strong emphasis on imaginative male & female vocal arrangements that may include spicy touches of ethnic beats, lush strings and perky horn mixes. . . . There are many other bands from this period with a similar pop sound, but Nichols and friends had more talent and a healthy budget allowing to record with a top-notched production crew at a state of the art studio.
The Acid Archives, 2nd Ed.

And Steve Stanley adds:

[T]he album overall had the hallmark late-sixties soft pop sound that was selling busloads of records for acts like the 5th Dimension and the Association at the time. . . . [But] when it came to the record-buying public, the . . . LP fell on deaf ears. [Producer] Tommy LiPuma adds his perspective: “I think at the time, radio stations didn’t know what the dell to do with it, it didn’t necessarily fit into a format, and there wasn’t anything that broke out as a hit.”
liner notes to the CD reissue of Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends

Ed Hogan tells us of Nichols:

[Roger Nichols’] 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 of the Carpenters 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 Sammy Davis Jr.:

Here is the Match:

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Bobak, Jons, Malone — “House of Many Windows”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 20, 2023

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

1,053) Bobak, Jons, Malone — “House of Many Windows”

This house is “built from a dramatic opening (very similar, incidentally, to the first few seconds of the Kaleidoscope single “Flight From Ashiya” [see #552]) to a fully-fledged psychedelic/progressive crossover epic, with more evocative lyrics and another deliciously non-sequitur piano break” (David Wells, http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2011/04/bobak-jons-malone-motherlight-1970-uk.html), “a beautiful progressive psychedelic piece with inventive keyboard work” (Jason, https://therisingstorm.net/bobak-jons-malone-motherlight/), and “a triumph of the pre-prog, post-psych period, using some strangely effective (rather than outright pretentious) surreal lyrics in tandem with wobbly, giddy piano work and doomy organ passages”. (23 Daves, https://left-and-to-the-back.blogspot.com/2008/12/bobak-jons-malone-motherlight.html)

The song is the “highlight” (Jason, https://therisingstorm.net/bobak-jons-malone-motherlight/) of Motherlight, the band’s (see #839) only LP, an “odd little delight[]” of an album, “generally pitched somewhere between acid folk bliss-out and the kind of heavy riffage starting to coalesce into heavy metal, with sometimes strident piano tying all the songs together”. (Ned Raggett, https://www.allmusic.com/album/motherlight-mw0000590764) “[F]or an album issued in 1969, [it] is actually an enormously forward-thinking piece of work, stylistically predating a lot of material which other bands would bring out in the seventies, but excusing itself of pompous excess which many other acts would fail to do.” (23 Daves, https://left-and-to-the-back.blogspot.com/2008/12/bobak-jons-malone-motherlight.html)

As to BJM, Jason tells us:

The individuals behind the Motherlight LP never played a live gig as they were essentially a studio vehicle for Mike Bobak, Andy Johns, and Wil Malone. . . . Wil Malone had previously led the prolific UK psych group Orange Bicycle and would go on to release a folky solo disc in 1970 and also play in another psych pop group named Fickle Pickle [see #568]. The Motherlight project saw him write most of the album’s lyrics, sing lead, play keyboards and lead guitar while Bobak and Johns supplied the rhythm section. In my mind, the Motherlight LP is Malone’s finest work ever. The feel of this album is low key but ominous, unlike anything I’ve heard and it’s this quality that makes the LP so special.
https://therisingstorm.net/bobak-jons-malone-motherlight/

David Wells expands on the band, and our minds:

By the summer of 1967 [independent producer Monty] Babson was working with on outfit called Orange Bicycle, whose mainmon was Wilson Malone – a multiinstrumentalist who could write, sing, produce and arrange with equal dexterity. . . . [Babson] founded the Morgan Sound Recording Studios. . . . [and] the Morgan label . . . [I]t was the nascent progressive and underground bands who were capable of making the serious money. . . . [and] Babson’s response was to introduce the Morgan Blue Town label . . . to cater for the left-of-centre rock and pop audience. [In addition to Malone, s]taff engineers Mike Bobak and a teenage Andy Johns (younger brother of Stones producer Glyn) were already experienced studio hands. . . . [and] accomplished musicians. . . . With Wil Malone on drums, keyboards, vocals and songwriting duties, Bobak on guitar and Johns . . . contributing bass as well as performing various feats of studio trickery, the ad hoc studio trio agreed to create their own Morgan Blue Town long player. “Monty Babson had a deal with Wil Malone”, recalls Mike Bobak, “and it went from there. The album was definitely a low-key thing, really just us having fun. We used dead studio time late at night to record the music, and part of the agreement was that we lost all rights to the frocks as soon as we created them.[“] . . . Motherlight duly emerged in the summer of 1969, but without a band to promote it, the Morgan sales team were facing an uphill struggle. The album came and went . . . .”
http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2011/04/bobak-jons-malone-motherlight-1970-uk.html

23 Daves notes that:

Bobak, Jo(h)ns and Malone all went on to successful careers in the music industry as session players, engineers and producers – Wil Malone, in particular, has worked on arrangements with Massive Attack and The Verve, whilst Andy Johns co-produced Television’s “Marquee Moon”. This album may have only sold cultishly well in Holland and been largely ignored elsewhere, but the talent working behind it was enough to set the individuals involved up for life.
https://left-and-to-the-back.blogspot.com/2008/12/bobak-jons-malone-motherlight.html

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Les Charlots — “Hey Max”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 19, 2023

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

1,052) Les Charlots — “Hey Max”

Les Charlots, the French crazy boys, gave us this ’67 A-side parody of French rock icon Johnny Hallyday’s version of “Hey Joe” (which in turn turned the song’s murderous rage into passive aggression). It’s a hoot, an homage to getting drunk! “Hey Max! We’re going to have a little more, eh? Hey just a little one, hey you won’t die from it.” (courtesy of Google Translate).

As to les Charlots, Wikipedia tells us that:

Les Charlots, known as The Crazy Boys in the English-speaking world, was a group of French musicians, singers, comedians and film actors, who were popular in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. The group was active first from 1965 to 1966 as “Les Problèmes” [see #1,007]. . . . They renamed themselves Les Charlots and remained active from 1966 to 1997, then again briefly from 2008 to 2011 (as a duo). Charlots is slang for “clowns” or “idiots” rather than being a direct reference to Charlie Chaplin, who was generally called Charlot in France. Their light-hearted comedy style was influenced by the style of popular Italian group Brutos and by the anarchist humor of the Marx Brothers. . . . Rinaldi and Sarrus were musicians in various short-lived groups . . . and they first met in 1963. They became friends and decided to form a rock band . . . . In 1965, they became the backing band for singer Antoine under the name of “Les Problèmes” (“The Problems”) or sometimes “Antoine et les Problèmes” (“Antoine and the Problems”). They backed him on two his greatest hits . . . . After a spoof of Antoine’s “Je Dis ce que je pense, je vis comme je veux” released under the alias “Les Charlots” became a novelty hit, their manager convinced them to stick to comedy and switch names for good. . . . They became instantly extremely popular for their humoristic/parodic songs. . . . After they left Antoine, they toured a lot from 1966 to 1970, first as the opening act of . . . even The Rolling Stones. One day, as The Rolling Stones were late for their gig, Les Charlots started playing “Satisfaction”. Later in the evening, Sarrus said to Mick Jagger that, if they wanted, the Rolling Stones could play “Paulette la Reine des Paupiettes”. Jagger politely refused. In the late ’60s, Les Charlots began to appear in comedy sketches on French television . . . . In 1968, Rolling Stone . . . named them the best French rock musicians. . . . With their increasing popularity as a genuine rock/comedy group, they received many offers to appear in films. [Movies became their main activity in the ’70s.] All their [eight] films from 1971 to 1976 . . . became phenomenal hits in France and all around the world (especially in India) . . . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Charlots

Here they are on “Mini show: Chansons pour vous”, November 10, 1967:

Here is Johnny Hallyday:

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John Williams — “Ramblin’ Boy”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 18, 2023

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

1,051) John Williams — “Ramblin’ Boy”

This is not Tom Paxton’s “Ramblin’ Boy” or even Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On” (though John Williams (see #402, 784, 857, 858) did play with Jimmy Page). Rather, it is an exquisite ’67 Brit folk number about a ramblin’ boy, “a ramblin’ boy I always will be”.

As to Williams, Corbin explains:

John Williams was an artist in the mold of Donovan a sort of traditional folk artist with a twist. . . . He hailed from Bedford, England, a town about 30 miles north of London, and in 1964 was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist in a band with his brother Brian known as The Authentics. . . . Jimmy [Page] met Williams when Williams was a member of The Authentics[, ] an early 60’s British pop outfit who regularly performed gigs at the famed Marquee Club in London. The group had been signed to a record deal by Jimmy’s manager Giorgio Gomelsky. Jimmy would go on to sit in with the band on a few recording sessions, even co-authoring one of their songs, a number titled “Without You”. Williams and Page soon struck up a friendship that revolved around their mutual love of folk music, and Jimmy would pass around songs written by Williams to groups he worked sessions for, notably “Little Nightingale” performed by The Mindbenders.
http://findingzoso.blogspot.com/2012/07/pageia-obscura-maureeny-wishful.html

Lenny Helsing continues the story:

John Williams will probably be more famous for being the one that put together the rare 1968 Maureeny Wishfull album, a shimmering, and enchanting slab of strange folk excellence that features significant contributions from Jimmy Page, Big Jim Sullivan [see #817] and John Paul Jones. Williams was also responsible for a wonderful, more folk-blues styled, self-titled album [from which “Ramblin’ Boy” is drawn] which appeared on the Columbia label in 1967. Something, however, that will forever tie him to the then burgeoning psychedelic pop scene (albeit not in any commercially successful way) is the truly excellent single composition ‘Flowers In Your Hair’ [see #784].
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2015/04/john-williams.html

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Rare Earth — “Eleanor Rigby”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 17, 2023

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

1,050) Rare Earth — “Eleanor Rigby”

People either love or hate Rare Earth’s (see #869) cover of “Eleanor Rigby”. You get “[o]ne of the best rock versions of this song ever” (60seczmusicvideos86, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1_wwr_Slck&t=344s) and “[h]ow to make the beatles better just add some smooth funk”. (joelday9155, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1_wwr_Slck&t=344s) Or, you get, “[i]t sounds like a cross between Jim Morrison as a Vegas lounge singer & Bill Murray’s lounge singer character from SNL” (Scott Kornfeld, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1_wwr_Slck&t=311s), and ”Ecology bumps to a close with a somewhat ill-advised cover of the Beatles’ ‘Eleanor Rigby’ that mimics the Moody Blues – poorly.” (30 Days Out, https://30daysout.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/your-sisters-record-rack-rare-earth/) I find it sublime. If Lennon had gotten Rare Earth to play around with Let It Be instead of Spector, we’d be living in a better world.

Chris Rizik perfectly sums up Rare Earth in one extraordinary sentence: “Whereas a number of white acts spent the 50s stealing hit blues and soul songs and sanitizing them for pop audiences, Rare Earth largely made a career out of taking hit Motown songs and giving them an even funkier rock sound – and doing it as Motown’s first major white act.” (https://www.soultracks.com/rare_earth.htm)

As to Rare Earth, Ken McIntyre tells us that:

Rare Earth’s music straddles genres and defies categorisation, slipping seamlessly between the two seemingly disparate worlds of classic rock and R&B. This careful balancing act is a rarity even now, and was a near impossibility in the colour-segregated 60s when Rare Earth began their journey. . . . “When we first started playing, Motown Records . . . had the radio locked up, especially here in Detroit,” says [saxophonist Gil] Bridges. “That’s what we were listening to when we started out, that was our roots. That’s where the R&B came from. People were astounded that a white group could play black music, but that’s where we learned. That’s what we loved, listened to and played. . . . In the beginning they were The Sunliners, a teenage garage band [see #400]. And, frankly, they were kind of square. They formed in 1960 and gigged around Detroit for eight years; they were local heroes, but had yet to make an impact outside the city. Then, in 1968, the ‘dawning of the age of Aquarius’ hit. And The Sunliners decided it was time for a change. “There was a radical shift in the music,” Bridges remembers. “Bands had these crazy names like Iron Butterfly all of a sudden. ‘The Sunliners’ just wasn’t making it any more.” They changed their name, choosing Rare Earth because it sounded significantly ‘with it’. The change worked, and the band were soon signed to Verve Records who released their debut album, Dreams/Answers, in 1968. The album flopped, but Rare Earth’s reputation as one Detroit’s preeminent live bands continued to grow. . . . Rare Earth had a knack for improvisation, and could jam on a song for, literally, hours. . . . Rare Earth soon caught the ear of Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records. . . . [W]hen they approached us they told us they were starting a whole new division, one that catered exclusively to white acts. . . . Initially, much like the band’s first album, Get Ready stalled at the gate. “The record didn’t do anything for the first six months, and we thought, ‘Uh-oh, we’ve got a dud on our hands.’ And then all of a sudden a black DJ in Washington DC spun the record. At that time, ‘album-oriented radio’ was just coming out; it wasn’t just three-minute singles any more, the DJs could play longer songs and they had the choice of what they wanted to play. . . . People went wild for it in Washington and it just spread out from there. The record broke in the black market first, and the first concerts we played were to black crowds; they were all shocked and surprised when a bunch of white guys got on stage.” Eventually Get Ready caught on with white audiences as well . . . . The band settled in with producer Norman Whitfield, a pioneer of ‘psychedelic soul’ . . . .
https://www.loudersound.com/features/cult-heroes-rare-earth-motowns-funkiest-white-band

Mark Deming adds that:

Hailing from Detroit, Rare Earth were a band inspired by the Motor City’s twin legacies in hard rock and soul. Their biggest hits saw them covering classic Motown songs of the past, while their sound found a middle ground between full-bodied rhythm & blues and tough bar band rock & roll. This dichotomy was reinforced by the fact they were the only white act signed to the Motown Records organization that regularly achieved chart success, and their tight musicianship found room for them to transform their songs through extended jams . . . . Motown Records . . . had little luck breaking into rock & roll, which was dominated by white acts. Motown founder Berry Gordy decided to create a subsidiary label devoted to rock bands, and was looking for a band to launch the new venture. Rare Earth’s sound, which straddled rock and R&B styles, appealed to him and he signed them; when he asked the group to help brainstorm a name for the new label, they jokingly suggested calling it Rare Earth, and Gordy took them up on the suggestion. . . . Album number four, Ecology, arrived in stores in June 1970, and produced [the] hit . . . cover of “(I Know) I’m Losing You,” while “Born to Wander” racked up significant airplay in the Midwest.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/rare-earth-mn0000339490/biography

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Reparata and the Delrons — “Boys and Girls”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 16, 2023

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

1,049) Reparata and the Delrons — “Boys and Girls”

I love Reparata and the Delrons (see #258, 389, 578, 740) — and not just because they got together in ‘62 (the year I was born!) at St. Brendan’s Catholic School in Brooklyn (where I was living when I came home from the maternity ward!). “Fans of the girl group sound usually place Reparata and the Delrons near the top of their list of acts who, if the world was fair, would be household names.” (http://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/frontrow/2301/reparata.html) Yup!

As to “Boys and Girls”, Ray Otto writes:

[It] is a really strange track. . . . a humorous tongue in cheek B-side that Mary [O’Leary, their first lead vocalist] co-wrote with Bill Jerome. Do you know of any other record that begins with the singers introducing themselves? I don’t. It almost sounds like a commercial. I used to kid her about this song. ”Fish, in the sea they’re always found”??? Great stuff. So profound! And then, “Goodbye, from Reparata and the Delrons”, followed by all those goodbyes in various languages. Weird. I laugh every time I hear it. I love it!
https://spectropop.com/recommends/index2005.htm

As to their name, Mary O’Leary explained that their managers wanted one that was flamboyant and flashy, sort of like Martha & the Vandellas. Her confirmation name was Reparata, which she had taken “from the choir mistress at the Good Shepherd elementary school — Sister Mary Reparata, my favourite nun”. (liner notes to The Best of Reparata & the Delrons). And so they were christened.

Bruce Eder gives us some history:

For a group that never made the Top 40, and came along almost too late to exploit the sound they produced, Reparata & the Delrons have proved amazingly durable. . . . [They] were one of hundreds of girl groups that flourished in the early ’60s, and actually had a higher profile than many of their rivals, achieved in their own time by their participation in a pair of Dick Clark national tours and, for years after, from the fact that they actually released a complete LP to accompany their one widely recognized hit, “Whenever a Teenager Cries.” . . . The group started out as a quartet in 1962 at St. Brendan’s Catholic School in Brooklyn, NY, led by lead singer Mary Aiesen . . . . By 1964, Mary working under the name Reparata Aiese (the name came from a nun at the school, Sister Mary Reparata), had a new group . . . . [T]hey were spotted by Bill and Steve Jerome, brothers and producers looking for new talent to record. The Jerome brothers got the group . . . a record deal with Laurie Records . . . . This was already rather late in the girl group era, and the trio found themselves competing with a tidal wave of British Invasion sounds for attention from DJs. The Jeromes next brought them to the World Artists label . . . in late 1964, and they cut a group of songs at their first session that included “Whenever a Teenager Cries.” That song, released in early 1965, became a local success, although it never ascended as high as the Top 50 on the national charts. . . . [I]t got the trio a spot on Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars national tour. Meanwhile, World Artists tried a string of . . . singles, of which “Tommy” was a modest hit, although their subsequent efforts . . . were failures. A complete LP . . . was also released in 1965. . . . [They] ended up at RCA. . . . and . . . cut five singles for RCA . . . none of which charted, and in early 1967, the group jumped to Mala Records . . . . Their fortunes picked up a bit late that year with the release of “Captain of Your Ship[]” . . . . It just missed charting in America, but made number 15 in England in early 1968. After three hitless years in America, Reparata & the Delrons found themselves touring England. It was to be a momentary uptick in their success, however, for the group never had a follow-up hit in England.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/reparata-the-delrons-mn0000393299/biography

Oh, and “[t]he popularity of ‘Captain’ forced the girls . . . onto a plane for a British tour, highlighted by a hotel reception hosted by none other than . . . John Lennon and Ringo Starr”. (Jay Warner, American Singing Groups: A History from 1940 to Today)

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Yellow Bellow Room Boom (Godley & Creme) — “Easy Life”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 15, 2023

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

1,048) Yellow Bellow Room Boom* (Godley & Creme) — “Easy Life”

The B-side of future 10cc’ers Godley & Creme’s first single (‘68) is a “droll” (David Wells, liner notes to Frabjous Days: The Secret World of Godley and Creme 1967-1969) and wonderful song. ”Such a poignant song! How could such young guys write such a wise song?” (ajsmith, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO4VJXnDY48) Indeed.

As to G&C, Dave Thompson tells us that “Kevin Godley, a former member of Graham Gouldman’s Mockingbirds, and Lol Creme, once Godley’s bandmate in the early-’60s group the Sabres. . . . had studied for diplomas in graphic design”. (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/frabjoy-the-runcible-spoon-mn0001919409) They were attending different art schools. But, as David Wells tells us:

Although they were studying in different cities, Kevin and Lol were only about 45 miles apart, and they continued to play together. ”Lol would drive down in a van . . . with a Hammond organ in the back”, says Kevin. ”We would play loud, weird jazz all night and annoy the neighbours![“] . . . [T]hey hung out at weekends, as Kevin explained . . . “When we came back from the weeks at college, we’d sit down and write songs, discuss ideas for art and so on. At first we were keener on artistic things than music, and then gradually the music took over. . . . [They] worked on a project hat resulted in a Top Twenty single. . . . ”Pamela, Pamela” . . . came from an idea we had for a film . . .. We’d done the script for a story and then we’d written some music and we’d done the lyrics . . . . [Graham Gouldman] took the idea and developed it, and the song was a hit for Wayne Fontana. . . . suggesting that a career in music might be a viable option once they’d completed their studies . . . . [They] . . . . signed a management deal with Jim O’Farrell . . . .
liner notes to Frabjous Days: The Secret World of Godley and Creme 1967-1969

O’Farrell produced “Easy Life” and its A-side “Seeing Things Green”, and while the single “failed to make much impact . . . . [it garnered them] a publishing deal.” (David Wells, liner notes to Frabjous Days: The Secret World of Godley and Creme 1967-1969)

Mark Deming continues the story:

In 1970, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme would score their first serious hit with the oddball stomp of Hotlegs’ “Neanderthal Man,” and in 1973 they would become half of 10cc, who would release some of the smartest, wittiest, and best-crafted British pop of the decade. Dial back to 1969, and the two were veterans of the U.K.’s beat music scene who’d evolved into a pop-psychedelic duo called the Yellow Bellow Room Boom. Giorgio Gomelsky, who had previously helped guide the careers of the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds signed them to his Marmalade Records label and gave them a different (and similarly whimsical but clumsy) stage name, Frabjoy & Runcible Spoon, in hopes of transforming them into a British answer to Simon & Garfunkel. . . . [T]hey released only four poor-selling songs under that banner before Marmalade Records went under, and the album they’d been working on was doomed never to see the light of day. Thankfully, the tapes survived, and the British reissue label Grapefruit Records has released an approximation of that long-lost LP . . . . [including] seven unreleased tracks that were completed for the aborted . . . album [and] the four rare tunes that did see release . . . . Godley & Creme were showing off the compositional skills that would be the hallmark of their later work . . . . The pair were also well on their way to perfecting their vocal blend . . . . If there’s a difference . . . it’s in the absence of their pointed satiric wit, and a gentler melodic style more beholden to folk and pop-psych and lacking the splendid and shameless hooks that would reinforce the jokes on 10cc’s albums. . . . [T]his is fine and imaginative pop with a psychedelic edge . . . a splendid look at the juvenilia of one of the most fascinating partnerships in British rock.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/frabjous-days-the-secret-world-of-godley-creme-1967-1969-mw0003721503

* David Wells explains:

With Kev and Lol unavailable to promote their recording . . . five “ringers”[were assembled] to masquerade as the group for a publicity photo and live appearances . . . . [Kevin Parrott explains] “The Yellow Bellow Room Boom was an ‘artificial’ group put together . . . to front the first record by Godley and Creme on CBS. . . . Kevin and Lol were still away at art college at the time. The guys in the [publicity] photo didn’t play on the CBS single and actually never played a gig with that line-up . . . .”
liner notes to Frabjous Days: The Secret World of Godley and Creme 1967-1969

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Maxine Brown — “Love in Them There Hills”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 14, 2023

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

1,047) Maxine Brown — “Love in Them There Hills”

From “one of the most underrated soul and R&B vocalists of the ’60s” (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/maxine-brown-mn0000396154#biography) comes the definitive and killer version of this early Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Roland Chambers rich/poor love number previously done by the Vibrations and later by the Pointer Sisters.

As to Maxine, Stephen Thomas Erlewine tells us that:

[S]he never had many hits . . . . releas[ing] a series of singles for Nomar and Wand, with only a few . . . — “All in My Mind,” “Funny,” “Something You Got,” “Oh No Not My Baby” — managing to become either pop or R&B hits. Despite this, Brown is acknowledged as one of the finest R&B vocalists of her time, capable of delivering soul, jazz, and pop with equal aplomb. Born in Kingstree, South Carolina, Brown began singing as child, singing with two New York-based gospel groups when she was a teenager. In 1960, she signed with the small Nomar label, who released the smooth soul ballad “All in My Mind” late in the year. The single became a hit, climbing to number two on the R&B charts (number 19 pop), and it was quickly followed by “Funny,” which peaked at number three. Brown was poised to become a star, and she moved to ABC-Paramount in 1962, but left the label within a year without scoring any hits. She signed to the New York-based, uptown soul label Wand in 1963. Brown recorded her best work at Wand, having a string of moderate hits for the label over the next three years. Among these were the Carole King/Gerry Goffin song “Oh No Not My Baby,” which reached number 24 on the pop charts; “It’s Gonna Be Alright”; and the Chuck Jackson duets “Something You Got,” “Hold On I’m Coming,” and “Daddy’s Home.” Part of the reason Brown didn’t receive much exposure is that the label focused much of their attention on Dionne Warwick, leaving Maxine Brown to toil in semi-obscurity. In 1969, she left Wand and signed with Commonwealth United, where she had the minor hits “We’ll Cry Together” and “I Can’t Get Along Without You.” In 1971, she moved to Avco Records, but all of her recordings for the label were ignored and she faded away over the course of the decade.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/maxine-brown-mn0000396154#biography

Michael Jack Kirby goes deep:

Brown established herself quite easily through a right place-right time set of events, only to discover how challenging it would be to maintain anything close to the level of what she achieved in 1961, her first full year in music’s major leagues. Though “All in My Mind” and “Funny,” both of which she had a hand in writing, made for a high-profile introduction to music fans, subsequent single releases were usually composed by more seasoned songwriters but were oddly more of a hard sell. The end result was a full decade of performing for sizeable audiences . . . while occasionally showing up on the national charts. . . . [B]y the age of nine she and her mother had moved to Queens, New York . . . fle[eing] from her father, who was abusive past the point of tolerance) . . . . She had already begun singing gospel music with three close friends . . . . At 18 Maxine moved to Manhattan and . . . managed to talk her way into a job as a medical stenographer . . . . She joined a Manhattan-based gospel group . . . . [L]ater, the act went secular and with only two male singers and Maxine, they became The Treys. Leader Fred Johnson suggested a lyric, “Maybe it’s all in my mind,” which Maxine expanded into a full song; after some time had passed, she made a demonstration recording and Fred sent it around, hoping someone might make a “real” recording of it. In the fall of 1960, Tony Bruno, who’d started the Nomar label with financial help from mob members, heard the demo and released it as-is. . . . By early 1961, “All in My Mind” . . . was going strong nationally, reached the top 20 on the pop charts and got as high as number two R&B . . . . The surprise hit forced Maxine to decide between the security of a job . . . and a career in the . . . music business. . . . [S]he chose the latter. . . . “Funny” . . . made her two-for-two in the hit department when it climbed into the pop top 30 in April 1961 and R&B top ten in May. . . . [S]he . . . accepted an offer from ABC-Paramount . . . releasing eight singles there over the next year and a half. . . . [but] nothing made much impact. . . . . Florence Greenberg and Luther Dixon of New York’s Scepter Records had been fans . . . and, in the wake of Dionne Warwick’s . . . breakthrough, figured they could work a similar spell . . . . She signed with the company and appeared on its Wand subsidiary, hitting the charts right off with “Ask Me,” a well-produced vocal tour-de-force. Yet where sales and airplay were concerned, she seemed to hit a barrier not unlike the one that plagued her at ABC. . . . . . . “Oh No Not My Baby[]” . . . by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. . . . returned her to the top 40 . . . and sent her back to number two R&B . . . . Flo G. matched Maxine with Wand star Chuck Jackson on . . . Something You Got[]” . . . . land[ing] in the R&B top ten, which jump-started a three-year partnership between Chuck and Maxine. . . . 1967 found Miss Brown at the end of her association with Scepter/Wand; when Marvin Gaye’s most popular duet partner Tammi Terrell collapsed onstage in October, Maxine filled in for her during a week’s engagement with Gaye at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. Several sessions that year under Otis Redding’s direction . . . seemed to be leading her towards a contract with Stax/Volt . . . but with Redding’s tragic death in December, those recordings were shelved. . . . “I Can Get Along Without You” was her chart swan song in April 1970. . . . [S]he decided to expand her skillset by taking acting and dance lessons . . . . [and joined] the Broadway musical Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope . . . . Eventually Maxine left the business . . . . [but then f]ans in England discovered her brilliance as a vocalist and that interest spread to other parts of the world. Maxine Brown resumed performing and just kept on going.
https://www.waybackattack.com/brownmaxine.html

The Vibrations reached #93 with the song (#38 R&B). Ron Wynn writes:

Though never major hitmakers, the Los Angeles-based Vibrations were consistent performers through the ’60s. . . . They began recording as the Jayhawks, then scored a couple of novelty hits performing as the Marathons. Neither “The Watusi” nor “Peanut Butter” were particularly triumphant, but each managed to chart in both the R&B and pop markets. When they became the Vibrations in 1964, they gradually turned to more romantic material, although their first hit, “My Girl Sloopy,” was closer to their previous cuts. They had their last brush with glory in 1968 with the Okeh song “Love in Them There Hills.”
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-vibrations-mn0000922013#biography

Here are the Vibrations:

Here are the Pointer Sisters in 1974:

Here is the Pointer Sisters’ long version:

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The Tokens — “Animal”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 13, 2023

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

1,046) The Tokens — “Animal”

This crazy, wild, frisky song belongs in a zoo or on a Kim Fowley (see #89, 449) album. Wait, is there are difference? But an A-side?! I am not surprised that it flopped! Wikipedia tells us that “In 1968, The Tokens (see #66, 923) released the experimental ‘Animal’ intended to serve as lead single for a self-produced album entitled Intercourse. However, the single flopped and Warner Bros. Records rejected the album due to its uncommercial nature and sexual overtones”. (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tokens)

As to Intercourse, “Mitch Margo was going through a dark personal period; he then drew on his recovery for the Tokens’ 1968 album, Intercourse, a humanist song-cycle similar to the Beach Boys’ Friends[.”] (Bob Stanley, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/501HDJBygnrqPLnYgV0Zzzx/the-tokens-and-the-rockin-berries) Margo “became infatuated with psychedelia, particularly the Beatles’ horizon-expanding Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the dreamy Beach Boys harmonies on Pet Sounds. . . . [H]e persuaded his bandmates to follow his lead and record a trippy album titled Intercourse[.]” (Steve Marble, https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-mitch-margo-20171201-story.html) Tom Moon adds that:

The Tokens spent much of the ’60s trying to move away from “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” and doo-wop in general. The five-piece experimented unsuccessfully with folk, and then in 1967, primary songwriter Mitch Margo (dazzled by the horizon-expanding works of The Beach Boys and The Beatles) began working on an attempt at contemporary pop. He wrote breathless torrents of psychedelic imagery . . . and surrounded them with violins and mellotrons as well as guitars. And, crucially, he employed The Tokens’ distinctive harmonies more sparingly.
https://www.npr.org/2007/01/24/6969184/the-tokens-a-one-hit-wonder-goes-pop

Desertcart adds that:

Though The Tokens are best remembered for their international smash hit “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” . . . they did much more… [P]roducers, writers, publishers and label owners, they had a long string of hits in all those roles… “Intercourse” is a full on Softpop song cycle, inexplicably turned down by their then-label Warner Brothers, and released in an edition of 200 copies on their own BT Puppy label for contractual reasons… [F]ar from their Doo-Wop roots, The Tokens delivered an album pitched somewhere between Pet Sounds and Sergeant Pepper, with all the production and arrangement tricks that implies. . . . [N]o wonder Warner’s were dumbfounded!… and no wonder collectors have been going nuts and paying silly sums for this album ever since!… The Tokens show not only every cult Softpop group, but many superstars just how it’s done… with the wicked tongue-in-cheek touch which they were justly famous for.
https://luxembourg.desertcart.com/products/61340382-intercourse

Finally, Cub Koda:

[W]hat we have here is the great lost Tokens album, recorded in 1968 and promptly turned down by Warner Bros. To fill a contractual obligation, a few hundred copies were pressed up — in a slightly altered form — and the album pretty much remained an interesting catalog sighting before its CD-era reissue. What we also have here is a White doo wop group delivering an album that falls somewhere between Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper’s. No wonder Warner didn’t know what to make of it; previous attempts by other doo woppers at updating their sound produced some of the most laughable examples that the genre has to offer. But everything on here works in a very organic manner: all of the songs follow a neat continuum and could easily be termed as a humanistic song cycle, each one surrounded by late-’60s Beatlesque production values . . . . Trippy, loopy, and totally of its time, classic doo wop this is not; great, however, it is.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/intercourse-mw0000176757

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Samantha Jones — “Ford Leads the Way”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 12, 2023

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

1,045) Samantha Jones — “Ford Leads the Way“

Well, after playing Georgie Fame’s “Getaway”, I need to play Samantha Jones’ “Ford Leads the Way”, “a pretty swinging number” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/surrounded-by-a-ray-of-sunshine-the-ua-recordings-mw0000069372) and “Ridiculously Infectious!!” (SuperXavier30, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7p5mCutB20)

Georgie’s song originated “as a jingle [he wrote] for National Petrol” (Millie Zeiler, https://www.classicrockhistory.com/top-10-georgie-fame-songs/), while Jones’ (written and produced by Mark Wirtz) was released as a single as part of an advertising campaign for the new Ford Taunus. (Beatedelic Records, http://www.beatedelic.com/shop/product_info.php?info=p511_Samantha-Jones—Ford-Leads-The-Way–Go-Ahead.html&XTCsid=f0c7b2b16125cbd044de627376202dac) Jones recalls that “They gave it away at petrol stations, so everybody knew me.” (https://www.toppermost.co.uk/samantha-jones/) Square1971 says:

This proves my point that it doesn’t matter what you sing about. A good rhythm section, an interesting voice and good phrasing and you’ve got magic. “Put the sun in your pocket, the key in the lock and let’s go for a ride…” C’mon, that’s gold!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7p5mCutB20)

Ford needs to bring the song back for a new campaign!

For more on Ms. Jones, go all the way back to #1,042.

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Georgie Fame — “Getaway”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 11, 2023

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

1,044) Georgie Fame — “Getaway”

WARNING: If you are from the UK, do not read any further as “Getaway” hit #1! However, it only reached #70 in the U.S. It had “[t]he perfect sound for the emerging summer of love with its carefree mood” (Max Bell, https://www.udiscovermusic.com/artist/georgie-fame/) and is “every bit as good as ‘Yeh Yeh'”. (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) As an extra-special treat, the song is presented with a super-cool video created by a German TV show.

Millie Zeiler says that:

Coming from the album, Sweet Things, “Get Away” was a summer of 1966 hit for Georgie Fame as this single topped the UK Singles Chart. It also became a number one hit in Canada, as well as peaking within the top forty official music charts belonging to Australia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden. Originally written as a jingle for a commercial, this song became a big fan favorite not long after it was first released. . . . Immediately after “Get Away” was used as a jingle for National Petrol, it was reworked to become a single that would become one of Fame’s signature songs. Between the fast lyrics and brassy instrumentation, this hustling favorite beautifully balanced the world of jazz and rock and roll in what is still regarded as perfect harmony.
https://www.classicrockhistory.com/top-10-georgie-fame-songs/

I like to think I was named in honor of Georgie Fame (see #103, 169, 634, 695, 721) Hey, my mother used to call me Georgie, and we share the same initials (along with gluten-free items!). If only I were so cool! As Oregano Rathbone has said, “[i]t’s imperative not to trust anyone who doesn’t love Georgie Fame, though we can’t begin to imagine what kind of monster such a person would have to be.” (https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/whole-worlds-shaking-complete-recordings-1963-66)

As to Georgie, Max Bell says:

Georgie Fame . . . is one of British R&B music’s founding fathers. . . . [with immense] cultural influence. . . . The black music he championed with his band The Blue Flames brought new sounds to Swinging London and bossed venues like the Flamingo Club and the Marquee where he turned the English mod movement on to a whole bag of soul and authentic US urban and country sounds and also the ska and early reggae he heard in the Jamaican cafes and clubs in the Ladbroke Grove area of London. . . .
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/artist/georgie-fame/

Steve Huey adds that:

Georgie Fame’s swinging, surprisingly credible blend of jazz and American R&B earned him a substantial following in his native U.K., where he scored three number one singles during the ’60s. . . . Early in his career, he . . . peppered his repertoire with Jamaican ska and bluebeat tunes, helping to popularize that genre in England; during his later years, he was one of the few jazz singers of any stripe to take an interest in the vanishing art of vocalese, and earned much general respect from jazz critics on both sides of the Atlantic.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/georgie-fame-mn0000543055/biography

As to Fame’s early history, Bell tells us that:

[He] depart[ed] to London aged 16 to seek his fortune. He touted his talents up and down the legendary Tin Pan Alley area of Denmark Street just off Soho where he was spotted by impresarios Lionel Bart and Larry Parnes who christened him Georgie Fame – somewhat against his will. Working with touring rock and rollers like Joe Brown, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran young Fame became battle-hardened and was snapped up by Billy Fury in 1961 to lead his backing band The Blue Flames for whom he arranged and sang. The Blue Flames and Fury parted company and so Georgie took over . . . .
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/artist/georgie-fame/

Steve Huey again:

The[ Flames’] budding reputation landed them a residency at the West End jazz club the Flamingo, and thanks to the American servicemen who frequented the club and lent Fame their records, [Fame] discovered the Hammond B-3 organ, becoming one of the very few British musicians to adopt the instrument in late 1962. From there, the Blue Flames became one of the most popular live bands in London. In 1963, they signed with EMI Columbia, and in early 1964 released their acclaimed debut LP, Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo. It wasn’t a hot seller at first, and likewise their first three singles all flopped, but word of the group was spreading. Finally, in early 1965, Fame hit the charts with “Yeh Yeh,” . . . . [which] went all the way to number one on the British charts . . . . His 1965 LP Fame at Last reached the British Top 20, and after several more minor hits, he had another British number one with “Getaway” in 1966. After one more LP with the original Blue Flames, 1966’s Sweet Thing, Fame broke up the band and recorded solo . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/georgie-fame-mn0000543055/biography

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