THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,023)Aphroditeâs Child — âItâs Five OâClockâ
Warning: If you are from France, Italy or Belgium, read no further — for this psych/proto-prog epic reached #1. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Five_O%27Clock_(song)) Richie Unterberger writes that it is a “grandiose keyboard-based sub-British psychedelic track[ ] . . . . [whose] celestial organ . . . is much like that on heard on U.K. psychedelic records of the period such as Rupertâs Peopleâs [see #370, 1,594] “Reflections of Charlie Brown,” though . . . more sentimentally romantic than virtually anything a British band would have released, especially in its vocal delivery.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/its-five-oclock-mw0000470080) Yes, Vangelis Papathanassiou is that Vangelis!
ZowieZiggy is enthralled:
In May 1970 . . . . I was really in love with this beautiful song (fully Fab four oriented). I can’t tell how many spins I may have given [it]. Such a beautiful melody . . . great and symphonic keys. A jewel of a pop song and a major commercial success for the band. Almost forty years later, I can’t have enough of it . . . .
Greek progressive rock band Aphrodite’s Child were active for five years during the late ’60s and early ’70s, scoring a number one album in France and several international hits before keyboardist angelis began his highly successful and groundbreaking solo career. The 1968 single “Rain and Tears” was their biggest worldwide hit, while the 1972 double LP 666 is hailed as one of the greatest art rock albums of all time. Vangelis Papathanassiou and guitarist/vocalist Demis Roussos, who respectively played in the Forminx and Idols formed Aphrodite’s Child with drummer Loukas Sideras and guitarist Silver Koulouris. The musicians first played on George Romanosâ 1968 album In Concert and in Studio . . . . They attempted to move to London, but ended up stuck in Paris partly because they didn’t have work permits at the time. There, they signed to Mercury as Aphrodite’s Child, releasing the major hit “Rain and Tears” and their first album, End of the World. Successfully traveling to London, the group recorded their second album, Itâs Five OâClock which appeared in late 1969 and reached number one in France. The band toured, though Vangelis stayed in Paris and wrote the soundtrack to the film Sex Power. Harris Halkitis replaced Vangelis on tour, and the group released the single “Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall” in 1970. “Such a Funny Night,” another non-album single, appeared in 1971. The band spent a considerably long time working on 666, a musical adaptation of the Book of Revelation. They split up by the time it was released in 1972, and though it was not a commercial success, the album gradually gained a cult following . . . .
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 1,400 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,022) Sounds Incorporated — âDead as a Go-Goâ
Only in ’67 — a renowned British instrumental band lends its sax appeal to the Beatles’ “Good Morning, Good Morning” and then releases an inscrutable, lysergically infused self-written spoken/sung B-side “original[ly] title[d] ‘Dead As A Go-Go Bird’ but [shortened after] the record company . . . fear[ed] it might lead men to attack female go-go dancers.” (rockintc, https://www.45cat.com/record/56209). Only the eleven-and-a-half percent know.
Steve Huey writes of Sounds Inc.:
AÂ six-man, all-instrumental rock & roll combo, Sounds Incorporated was one of the first British rock groups to do more than imitate Cliff Richard’s backing band the Shadows, and wound up supporting a number of legendary artists while landing a few British hits in their own right. Formed in 1961 in their home area of northwestern Kent . . . . [t]hey gigged extensively on a local basis and occasionally played London as well, where they quickly made an impression as one of the few British rock & roll bands led by a horn section. Early on, they backed visiting American rockers like Gene Vincent, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Sam Cooke (among many others), learning the artists’ repertoires before their arrival in the U.K. They soon got an opportunity to record with the legendary producer Joe Meek, and in 1963 released several singles on Decca. They also began traveling to Hamburg to entertain American servicemen; there they played the famous Star Club and met and befriended the Beatles. Late in 1963, Beatles manager Brian Epstein signed Sounds Incorporated to his company; the following year, the group not only became singer Cilla Black’s regular backing band, but also toured the world as the Beatles’ opening act, and released their self-titled debut album (plus several more singles, including an arrangement of “William Tell” that topped the charts in Australia) on Columbia. During the mid-’60s, they augmented their own recordings with numerous gigs on the U.K. ballroom circuit and plenty of session work; they also landed a fairly sizable hit with an arrangement of “Hall of the Mountain King.” A second album, also . . . titled Sounds Incorporated, appeared . . . [T]he following year, the Beatles invited [the band’s three saxophonists] to be the saxophone section on . . . âGood Morning, Good Morning.” The same year . . . Trevor White [joined, giving] the group its first vocalist. . . . In 1971, they finally called it a career . . . .
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 1,400 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,021)Brian Auger & Trinity — âTigerâ
From Brian Auger (see #1,031-33, 1,312), “one of the world’s funkiest organists” (Jon Harrington, liner notes to the CD comp Halcyon Days: 60s Mod, R&B, Brit Soul & Freakbeat Nuggets), “this is wickedly purrfect…fake tiger skin clad..go go girls galore, groovy-gumbo, jive in the jungle, psyche lounge…… this soooooooo cool man……im stoned! PEACE!” (sunchilde68, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8FcJ4ijg7g) Alex Gimenez calls it (courtesy of Google Translate) “a small modernist gem[ with] Auger mim[ing] the roar of a feline on the organ. The whole thing surprises with its groove and precision. Unsurprisingly, this record was a favorite among 1960s DJs.” https://croqmac.fr/45-tours-brian-auger-the-trinity-tiger-marmelade-1968/)
Matthew Greenwald is equivocal:
“Tiger” is sort of a fantasy/psychedelic rocker that uses the taming of a tiger as a sexual metaphor. Somewhat clumsily written and over-produced (especially the horn arrangement), the song and recording comes off as almost a novelty. However, Brian Auger’s whirling Hammond organ flourishes are indeed something to behold.
As John Riggins might have said, Come on, Matty baby, loosen up. You’re too tight.
Jon Harrington tells us how it went down:
Brian Auger swapped the piano for the Hammond after hearing Jimmy Smith’s seminal Back at The Chicken Shack LP. After Auger’s first two singles — covers of Mose Allison’s “Fool Killer” and Booker T. and the M.G.’s “Green Onions” — flopped his record company weren’t too happy, complaining that they were too jazzy. As a riposte, he decided to write a song that would get himself thrown off the label by combining The Kinks’ [see #100, 381, 417, 450, 508, 529, 606, 623, 753, 865, 978, 1,043, 1,108, 1,330, 1,451, 1,591, 1,697, 1,784, 1,907] “All Day And All of the Night” riff played backwards with lyrics that spoofed the current Number 1 single “Wild Thing” by the Troggs. The joke backfired as the record company loved the track, it was a huge hit in France and continues to be a favourite among fans today.
liner notes to the CD comp Halcyon Days: 60s Mod, R&B, Brit Soul & Freakbeat Nuggets
As to Brian Auger, William Ruhlmann tells us:
[H]is swinging, jazzy keyboards remained at the fringes of British rock through the 1960s. His roots were in R&B-inflected jazz . . . and he thrived during the late â60s and into the 1970s by playing adventurous, progressive music . . . . [F]or decades, [Auger swung] between jazz, rock, and R&B . . . . [He] was raised in London, where he took up the keyboards as a child and began to hear jazz by way of the American Armed Forces Network and an older brotherâs record collection. By his teens, he was playing piano in clubs, and by 1962 he had formed the Brian Auger Trio . . . . [In] 1964, he won first place in the categories of âNew Starâ and âJazz Pianoâ in a readerâs poll in the Melody Maker music paper, but the same year he abandoned jazz for a more R&B-oriented approach and expanded his group . . . as the Brian Auger Trinity. This group split up at the end of 1964, and Auger moved over to Hammond B-3 organ . . . . By mid-1965, Augerâs band had grown to include guitarist Vic Briggs and vocalists Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart, and Julie Driscoll, and was renamed Steampacket. More a loosely organized musical revue than a group, [it] lasted a year before Stewart and Baldry left and the band split. Auger retained Driscoll and brought in bass player Dave Ambrose and drummer Clive Thacker to form a unit that was billed as Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity. . . . Open, was released in 1967 on Marmalade Records (owned by Augerâs manager, Giorgio Gomelsky), but they didnât attract attention on record until the release of their single âThis Wheelâs on Fire,â (music and lyrics by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko) in the spring of 1968 . . . . The disc hit the Top Five in the U.K., after which Open belatedly reached the British charts. Auger & the Trinity recorded the instrumental album Definitely What! (1968) without Driscoll, then brought her back for the double LP Streetnoise (1968) . . . . Driscoll quit during a U.S. tour, but the Trinity stayed together long enough to record Befour (1970) . . . before disbanding in July 1970. Auger put together a new band to play less commercial jazz-rock and facetiously called it the Oblivion Express, since he didnât think it would last; instead, it became his perennial band name. . . . Their initial LP, Brian Augerâs Oblivion Express, was released in 1971, followed later the same year by A Better Land, but their first U.S. chart LP was Second Wind in June 1972 . . . .
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 1,400 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.
Kicking off with an elemental riff, the drums hit and launch into a lead guitar line that sounds like what an electric guitar was made to do. Reg Kingâs impassioned shout, the gorgeous backing vocals, sung lyrics that feel classic but not cliche. By the end of the song the drums are practically tripping over themselves with energy. Play it loud.
The LP that never was “deftly balances understated, sensitive rock with soaring anthems, and at its best it achieves both with muscle and melody.” (Matt Kritzer again) Matthew Sweet calls it âmelodic mayhem ⌠fueled by an emerging psychedelia ⌠approached with a spirt of abandonâ. (liner notes to the CD comp Rolled Gold) It came from â[a] mod band made up of genuine modsâ (Andrew Sandoval, liner notes to Rolled Gold) that changed with the times.
As guitarist lan King recalled:
Gone were the days of the pill-popping mods who seemed to rave all night long. Different drugs came onto the music scene . . . so attitudes and passions changed. We were no exception. We began to experiment with new ideas, writing songs even, which was very exciting. We wanted to play our own stuff, instead of doing covers all the time.â
liner notes to Rolled Gold
As to the album, Matt Collar writes:
The term âlost classicâ is applied liberally and often erroneously to unreleased recordings that resurface years later in a maelstrom of hype. However, for . . . the Action, the term is not only justified, it is painfully bittersweet. . . . [This] goes beyond âlost classicâ â it is the influential masterpiece no one was ever allowed to hear. . . . By the time they recorded [Rolled Goldâs] demo tracks in 1967, the band had grown weary of the musically limited mod scene, which was on its last legs. . . . Prefiguring the coming psychedelic movement, the songs were epic, heartfelt, melodic socks to the gut . . . think The Whoâs Tommy meets The Byrdsâ Fifth Dimension. Unbelievably, EMI . . . was not interested, and the tracks were shelved. . . . Playing like the brilliant missing link between mod and psychedelic rock, [it] is experimental without being silly or twee and emotionally mature without being pompous and boring. . . . [Some t]racks . . . are as good, if not better, than anything that charted during the late â60s . . . .
In the mid-â60s, the Action had a strong grassroots following among British mods. But despite the support of George Martin, they never managed anything close to a hit record. The Action were the most soul-oriented of the mod groups, favoring guitar-oriented covers of Motown tunes and R&B dance numbers of the day . . . . Martinâs production put the emphasis on Reg Kingâs impressive vocals and the groupâs high vocal harmonies, in the process getting a unique sound. . . . The Action changed members and their sound as the decade progressed, and were reborn as Mighty Baby [see #1,646]. The band started out in North London during 1963 as quartet called the Boys . . . . [who] went out of existence in 1964, but didnât split up, instead reconfiguring themselves as a five-piece. . . . the Action. [T]hey developed a tougher, harder sound that quickly made them favorites among mod audiences. The Action had a sound similar to the Small Faces [see #969, 1,024] . . . . They were discovered by George Martin, who signed them to his newly founded AIR Productions in 1965 and got them a recording deal at Parlophone Records . . . . The Action debuted with an excellent single of âLand of a 1000 Dancesâ b/w âIn My Lonely Room,â which failed to make the charts despite being an irresistible dance number and lovely ballad respectively, performed with genuine flair and inspiration, not to mention an authentic white soul sound from Reg King that was as credible as anything emanating from England at the time. The Actionâs second single, âIâll Keep on Holding Onâ . . . released in early 1966, was just as good . . . as their first, but saw no greater chart success. The Action maintained a serious following among the mods . . . but they couldnât get a break with their records and were unable to get the exposure that would have bumped them to the next level. . . . [B]y late 1966 and early 1967, they were doing smooth soul-styled material . . . . [and] by mid-1967 the[y] had evolved . . . into a progressive folk-rock-based sound . . . . Though Martin still supported the music the Action were making, their lack of success meant that AIR could no longer keep them on the label and they were let go in 1967. They . . . soon were back in the studio cutting a new batch of songs that were all composed by the band and featured a heavier, more psychedelic sound. They sent the tape around to various labels, but were unable to drum up enough interest to sign a deal. . . . Reg King subsequently left the band to pursue a solo career, and . . . the outfit that remained, rechristened Azoth. . . . They eventually transformed themselves into a pure psychedelic outfit, Mighty Baby . . . .
Here is Sidewalk Society (’17), who recorded not a cover song, but a whole cover album, of which Olav Martin Bjørnsen writes:
Sidewalk Society have taken on the job of recording these songs in the manner they deserve, and they have done a smashing job of doing just that. Perhaps not always in the way The Action may have intended, but most certainly in a time typical manner of the age and from the age when these songs were crafted.
You can picture George Martin bringing this kind of clean and polished sound to each song if he was left to craft the original songs in Abbey Road. Sidewalk Society have been working on this tribute to the legendary band The Action for a long time â and itâs a classic â a true labour of love.
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 1,400 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,019)Â Tintern Abbey — âBeesideâ
Iâve played the B-side(see #35) of the greatest double A-side of underground London, a single that is “little short of a masterpiece” (liner notes to the CD comp Acid Drops, Spacedust & Flying Saucers: Psychedelic Confectionery from the UK Underground 1965-1969), “arguably the best British psychedelic two-sider of the 1960s.” (liner notes to the CD comp Chocolate Soup for Diabetics: 82 UK Psych Classics) Here is the A-side, of course named “Beeside”, “a woozy slice of piano-led pop” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited), “a paean to the joys of acid-induced indolence . . . a shimmering haze of Mellotron, clashing cymbals and throbbing bass lines, with [writer] David MacTavish’s spectral, gossamer-light vocal floating over the top like a message from beyond” (David Wells, Record Collector 100 Greatest Psychedelic Records: High Times and Strange Tales from Rock’s Most Mind-Blowing Era), “a landmark by which all other popsike should be measured. . . . [whose] beauty is in its frailty”. (cinique, https://www.45cat.com/record/dm164) “[N]o other song from the era is as atmospheric. It sounds like nothing else. It is perfect organic psychedelic music.” (cinique again)
“I can’t rest while the sun and the stars are so bright ‘Cause your friends are picking flowers, take away all my light”
David Wells tells us that:
[T]he band . . . came together in mid-1967 after meeting in a Chelsea dole queue [and] were . . . a regular attraction on the London-based late 60s underground circuit, helped in no small measure by the fact they were managed by Nigel Samuel, a teenage multi-millionaire who, among many other subterranean ventures, financed the counter-culture’s parish magazine, International Times . . . . [“A]t that stage he was looking for a pet psychedelic pop group”, recalls bassist Stuart Mackay . . . . “We were despatched to Carnaby Street to pick up all the latest psycedelic clothes, and he moved us into a house that had been the headquarters of IT[.”]
Record Collector 100 Greatest Psychedelic Records: High Times and Strange Tales from Rock’s Most Mind-Blowing Era
Richie Unterberger adds:
British psychedelic band Tintern Abbey were active for only the blink of an eye in the late ’60s, leaving behind just one single, “Beeside”/”Vacuum Cleaner,” made for Deram in 1967. But on the strength of that sole 45, they qualify as one of the very best (if one of the more obscure) one-shots of the British psychedelic era. . . . Tintern Abbey . . . [was] comprised of original members Don Smith, David MacTavish, Stuart MacKay, and John Dalton. In December of 1967, the band released their sole Deram single, employing a wistful melodic character rarely seen in the hard-rocking psychedelia of the time . . . . Smith left the band after the release of the single, and new guitarist Paul Brett [see #625] and keyboardist Terry Goldberg joined the fold. More recordings were made, and a second single was planned for a 1968 release, but the band broke up before it saw the light of day. In the decades that followed, a couple of members . . . had associations with other marginal bands on the British psych/prog scene. Vocalist/songwriter MacTavish was in Big Bertha . . . and a late version of the Velvet Opera [see #375, 688, 1,818] . . . .
Regarding the ads in IT, [Tintern Abbey] weren’t at all popular, but their manager, Nigel Samuel, was a major backer of IT and was therefore well-placed to give them prominent coverage in the paper. Tintern Abbey were therefore included in a feature about hot bands in the ‘Pop Supplement’ that accompanied the March 8th-21st 1968 issue. In the following issue, columnist John Peel took the unusual step of condemning their inclusion, stating: ‘I was concerned about the economic pressures that ensured the prominence given to Tintern Abbey, who may be of great worth, but have yet to prove it.’ Some of us might beg to differâŚ
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 1,400 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.
Baroque pop duo Jim and Dale teamed Philadelphia natives Jim Carter and Dale Jerred. Little is known about their formative years, but in 1967 the twosome made their debut on Roulette with the single “Livin’ on Love”; a year later, Jim and Dale resurfaced on United Artists with their lone LP, 86% of Us, a minor classic of the sunshine pop genre. Two singles were released from the album–a cover of the Paul Simon song “Richard Cory” and the excellent “Past the State of Mind”–but neither charted, and the duo was not heard from again.
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 1,400 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.
[T]he Essex-based Living Daylights[‘]. . . . first single was issued on 21 April 1967. âLetâs Live For Todayâ had a good chance. Lightly psychedelic, it was in the same bag as The Hollies [see #461]â very melodic, catchy, engaging. But no dice, and all that subsequently appeared under their name was a second and last single, October 1967âs âBaila Mariaâ. Another flop, so that was it. The band spilt in early 1968. Between their two singles, they recorded an album which was never issued. âLetâs Live For Todayâ had a backstory which could have helped Living Daylights into the charts. There was a lot of interest in the song. It was originally issued in Italy in June 1966 as âPiangi Con Meâ, a B-side by ex-pat British band The Rokes [see #1,370]. Next, it was covered in the Netherlands by The Skope as âBe Mine Againâ. The Rokes then issued it in English as âPassing Through Greyâ. British music publisher Dick James got the rights but didnât like the lyrics, so had it reconfigured as âLetâs Live For Todayâ. Living Daylights had just come onto his books, so they recorded it. Another Rokes version â as âLetâs Live For Todayâ this time â was issued on the same day as the Living Daylightsâ single. Neither single charted. However, the song was recorded in America by The Grass Roots and [the rest is history] . . . . In America, to compete with The Grass Roots, their âLetâs Live For Todayâ was deviously marketed as âthe original hit English versionâ. . . . Years later, the[y] . . . got some attention when âAlways With Himâ â the B-side of âBaila Mariaâ â and âLetâs Live For Todayâ were included in 1984 on the first volume of the Rubble collection[] . . . . [The band recorded] a confident pop album with some great psychedelic touches. . . . Living Daylights were a fine band, one worthy of having an album released . . . . But after âBaila Mariaâ stiffed . . . the album was shelved . . . .
Itâs hard to fathom that seemingly everyone involved with the group on the business side was so cloth-eared that they couldnât hear just how good the album was. The songs that leaked out to comps over the years . . . gave a tantalizing glimpse of a band that was a combo of great players, singers, and writers. . . . [T]hree songs could have been hits . . . . The rest of the album has some similarly shiny gems; their producer Caleb Quaye [see #807, 1,169] penned the moody ballad âCos Iâm Lonelyâ . . . . [The LP not to be is] pretty close to revelatory and should be studied and enjoyed by all who consider themselves freakbeat aficionados.
[T]he Living Daylights recorded an album of rugged freakbeat and groovy post-beat pop in 1967 . . . . The band came together when two groups who were the toast of the Essex town of Harlow joined forces. Both the Naturals and the Guyatones built a large following with their beat group stylings; the former got as far as scoring a recording contract and releasing a few singles. One of them, 1964âs âI Should Have Known Betterâ almost broke into the Top 20, while another featured the first cover of a Pete Townshend [see #119, 548, 833, 976] composition (âIt Was Youâ). By the time 1967 rolled around and the beat boom was giving way to freakbeat and psychedelia, the Naturals had broken up and the Guyatones were looking for a change. Their core membership (guitarist Garth Watt-Roy, bassist Norman Watt-Roy, and drummer Ron Prudence) welcomed refugees from the Naturals (vocalist Bob OâNeale and guitarist Dougie Ellis) into the fold. Rechristened the Living Daylights, they were taken under the wing of legendary publisher Dick James, signed to Phillips, and sent to the studio with producer Caleb Quaye. . . . Mixing together some catchy Garth Watt-Roy originals that leaned in the chunky freakbeat direction, a couple of Beatles covers . . . and a song penned by Quaye . . . the album never made it to record store shelves, a handful of songs were released on a French EP and the song âAlways with Himâ came out as a single later that year. The band continued to play live shows, hoping for a break that would inspire their label to issue their finished album. It wasnât to be, though, and the group broke up in early 1968. The two Watt-Roy brothers and Prudence continued on together under the name the Greatest Show on Earth, signing to Harvest and making music in a more progressive vein. Once that band folded, the Watt-Roy brothers stayed active in the music business: Garth notably played in Fuzzy Duck, and Norman was a member of Ian Drury & the Blockheads and a session bassist.
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.
One of Chicago’s finest female soul vocalists, [she] never made the Big Leagues in terms of commercial success and ditto status. Nonetheless, the few singles she did record, along with [a] lone album for legendary Chess Records, surely stand out as some of the finest Windy City soul available. Miss Garrett’s voice has the passion of Aretha [see #1,161, 1,249], the ‘swang’ of Carla Thomas [see #432, 1,372] and the beautiful sophistication of Minnie Riperton [see #23, 478].
Garrett was a Chicago sensation in the late 60s and early 70s, but she didnât break out nationally . . . . Her reputation as a talented soprano singer caught the attention of her [DuSable High School] classmate Cormie Vance, who sang with R&B vocal group the Para-Monts . . . . Vance urged Garrett to audition for WVON DJ and club owner Pervis Spann. Garrett passed the audition, which got her a spot at a talent show at the Regal Theater. She took second place . . . and . . . ended up with record contracts. . . . [H]er music career was being managed by Spann and Robert âBobâ Lee, who owned a small local label called Hawk Records . . . . Beginning in 1966 [Spann] co-owned the south-side venue known simply as âthe Clubâ . . . . Garrett began performing regularly [there] and around the city, and soon she . . . . cut two dreamy soul ballads . . . . Chess Records picked up the recordings and released them as Garrettâs first single, and the record did well locally in spring 1966. . . . [Then] the ethereal âThousand Miles Awayâ (a remake of the 1957 Heartbeats hit) . . . . earned a lot of Chicago airplay and enough attention in markets outside the city that Garrett could tour. In 1968, Garrett . . . began working with a fledgling company called Duo . . . . Garrettâs debut . . . fared very well locally, and Garrett released several more excellent singles with Duo over the next few years . . . . [I]n 1969, [Chesa] released her lone LP, Just a Taste . . . . contain[ing] a few tunes that had previously been local favoritesâalongside the excellent psych-soul number âItâs No Secret[]â . . . âWalk on Byâ [see #950] . . . and a smoky, jazzy rendition of the Nat King Cole classic âUnforgettable.â Chess released a single from the album . . . but neither it nor the album made much of a splash at the time. . . . . The last Garrett release that I can find any evidence of online is an R&B-adjacent 1972 single for the Duke label . . . . After that point, it looks like she retired from music.
[Jo Anne] went to DuSable High School in Chicago and live[d] in the âHoleâ in the Robert Taylor projects. She and my sister were classmates. Her brother Larry was mine. We all were glad she made it. Lovely voice.
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 1,400 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,014) Scott Harris — âMorning Sunâ
Scott Harris sends us some beautiful baroque pop from . . . The Netherlands? This is a B-side from Scott, ahem, John Vis, released in the Netherlands and the UK. Vis was also a member of Disillusion â21. https://www.nldiscografie.nl/scott-harris)
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 1,400 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,013)The Act — âJust a Little Bitâ
I can see this propulsive and exhilarating “mod-influenced 45” being a big hit a few years earlier — it indeed “sounded rather dated by 1968.” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) But as anachronisms go, it is pretty ace.
Vernon Joynson tells us of the Act:
An Essex-based beat group who were signed to Columbia for whom they recorded three 45s. None of them made much impression and they split in 1968 after being dropped by the label.. . . . Game Showbiz personality Kenny Lynch took them under his own wing.
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.
The Bad Seeds were the first rock group of note to come out of Corpus Christi, Texas, itself a hotbed of garage-rock activity during the middle/late 1960s. They started when guitarist/singer Mike Taylor and bassist Heb Edgington, then member of a local band called the Four Winds, met up with lead guitarist Rod Prince and drummer Robert Donahoe . . . . Prince wanted to form a new group, and he, Taylor and Edgeington became the core of the Bad Seeds, who were signed to the local J-Beck label in 1966. They stayed together long enough to record three singles during 1966, of which two, “A Taste of the Same”/”I’m a King Bee” and “All Night Long”/”Sick and Tired,” are unabashed classics of blues-based garage-punk, three of them originals by Taylor (who wrote most of their originals) or Prince. Even their normally maligned second single, “Zilch Part 1″/”Zilch Part 2,” has some worth as a pretty hot pair of throwaway tracks. The band’s sound was the raunchy Rolling Stones-influenced garage-punk typical of Texas rock groups in the mid-’60s. Following the breakup of the group after the summer of 1966, Mike Taylor became a writer and producer for the Zakary Thaks [see #1,391, 1,629], another Corpus Christi-based band (who were signed to J-Beck after being spotted playing on a bill with the Bad Seeds), and also recorded singles in a folk-like mode as The Fabulous Michael. Rod Prince went on to become a key member of the legendary band Bubble Puppy . . . and the post-psychedelic group Demian.
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 1,400 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.
Shmulik Kraus was already recognized as a known composer in his own right when he returned from the US, heavily influenced by the American psychedelic rock scene. Together with Arik Einstein, probably Israel âs most beloved singer, and Josie Katz, they created what to my opinion became the most perfect pop album in the history of Israeli music. Vocal harmonies Ă la the Mamas and Papas and spectacular arrangements and lyrics by the finest songwriters combined to create an album in which every track became a hit song. This album signaled the beginning of an era in which Israeli culture became more and more engrossed by international culture and music.
Only album by the Israeli vocal trio, which included Arik Einstein, Shmulik Kraus and Josie Katz, and which is considered as the first original Israeli Pop album ever recorded. Strongly influenced by the Beatles and other (then) contemporary Pop and Rock groups, the High Windows recorded a superb set of songs in Hebrew (all written by Kraus), using vocal harmonies and instrumental arrangements, which were completely revolutionary at the time. Israeli music up to that point was based mainly on East-European melodies and folksy approach and this was the first attempt to create a local scene modeled after Western Pop. The musical âestablishmentâ at the time received this music with harsh criticism (The Beatles were not allowed to play in Israel to avoid the âbadâ influence on local youth) and some of the songs were banned by the censor from being played on the radio. But the public loved the songs and the album soon became one of the most popular Israeli albums of all times. It had a crucial influence on the local scene and soon after an entire new generation of local musicians would start to create original Israeli Pop and Rock, including Progressive Rock. It is interesting to notice that the instrumental work and arrangements on this album were done by a brilliant piano player Ziggy Skarbnik, a legendary figure of the early days of both Israeli Rock and Jazz, who unfortunately died of cancer at an incredibly young age. The drummer was no other than Zohar Levy, another legendary figure. Listening to this album 40 years after it was recorded can be quite revealing and the realization of how brilliant this stuff was and still is becomes inevitable.
It is the album that revolutionized the entire Israeli Rock and Pop scene, much like Rubber Soul did globally. The lyrics were so controversial, criticizing both the religious population and the military, that some of the songs were labeled offensive and banned to play on radio. Nonetheless, some of the songs became Israeli classics, and are loved to this day. The High Windows was also revolutionary musically. Taking a lot from many British acts, and especially The Beatles, the album utilizes vocal harmonies and fresh instrumental arrangements. The dreamy guitar lines . . . are executed perfectly, and fit just right. The sad ballads . . . are extremely gloomy and bleak, marking another high point of the album. . . . The band was firstly named The Windows, as a tribute to The Doors . . . . The High Windows was both musically amazing and very influential on the music scene, starting a Pop, Rock and even Progressive Rock culture in Israel. The album led to the forming of other great Israeli bands like Tamouz and Churchillâs [see #975]. It is an essential piece of history, and a fun album to listen to on its own.
Wikipedia tells us of the High Windows (courtesy of Google Translate):
In 1966, Shmulik Kraus and Josie Katzâ then a married couple â used to perform as a duo. One day, Kraus invited Arik Einstein to their home to play him songs they were working on at the time and melodies he had written. Einstein heard and spontaneously joined them in singing, the three voices matched, and about a week later, Arikâs wife Alona . . . suggested that they become a band. . . . In April 1967, the bandâs only album . . . was released. . . . Many of the songs on the album became hits. Ziggy Skrebnik is responsible for the musical arrangements on the album and also played piano and organ on it. The collaboration came about after Kraus and Einstein were enthusiastic about his playing in one of the nightclubs in Tel Aviv. The bandâs style was characterized by unique, innovative and harmonious production and arrangement experiments, unusual in the musical landscape of that time . . . . After the albumâs release . . . the band enjoyed great success and was invited to perform in Israel and abroad. The three recorded several more songs . . . . Professional disagreements, mainly between Einstein and Kraus, over the continued activity and promotion of the band internationally, led Einstein back to Israel. In 1968, after about two years of activity, the band disbanded.
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 1,400 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,010) Pearls Before Swine — âRocket Manâ
Written, as Pearls Before Swine’s (see #1,408) Tom Rapp recalled, âwhile watching the men landing on the moon” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NbvEyzEi6o) and cited by Bernie Taupin âas his inspiration for the lyricsâ to Elton Johnâs [see #175, 1,598] âRocket Manâ , this is â[t]ruly one of the more haunting songs of this modern age” (srguy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV_jDmSmu2g), âso achingly beautiful in its melody, lyrics, and delivery, that it is impossible to ignore.â (Ben_Moses, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV_jDmSmu2g) âIt makes you stop whatever you are doing, listen closely, and perhaps cry a little bit. It is truly a masterpiece.â (Ben_Moses again) Indeed.
“The Rocket Man’ first appeared in The Illustrated Man and Macleanâs in early 1951. Itâs about a 14-year-old boy who cherishes the few days his father is home from space. The father is always going off for three-month tours of duty as a rocket man. He tells the boy and his mother that when heâs in space he canât wait to get home, but when heâs home, he canât wait to get back to space. âThe Rocket Manâ deglamarizes space travel. In fact, the dad eventually asks his son to promise to never go into space.
Rappâs âRocket Manâ is told from the perspective of the spouse and child of a spacefarer who feels more at home in space: âTears are often jewel-eyed My mother’s went unnoticed by my father For his jewels were the stars In my father’s eyesâ Elton John and Bernie Taupinâs âRocket Manâ is told from the perspective of a spacefarer who feels more at home with his family: âI miss the Earth so much, I miss my wife It’s lonely out in space On such a timeless flightâ
As to the LP The Use of Ashes, Lindsay Planer writes:
For their second Reprise Records outing, Pearls Before Swine worked primarily with Nashville-based musicians, including a small orchestra who provide a stately feel to the highly intimate nature of the material. According to Tom Rapp, the songs were written while he and his wife were living in the Netherlands, which Rapp said contributed significantly to the air of romanticism throughout.
The psychedelic folk band Pearls Before Swine was the brainchild of singer, composer, and cult icon Tom Rapp . . . . [who] formed [the band] in 1965, recruiting high-school friends . . . to record a demo which he then sent to the ESP-Disk label; the company quickly signed the group, and they soon traveled to New York to record their superb 1967 debut, One Nation Underground, which went on to sell some 250,000 copies. The explicitly antiwar Balaklava, widely regarded as Pearls Before Swineâs finest work, followed in 1968; the group â by this time essentially comprising Rapp and whoever else was in the studio at the moment â moved to Reprise for 1969âs These Things Too, mounting their first-ever tour in the wake of releasing The Use of Ashes a year later. Two more albums . . . followed in 1971 . . . . [and] Rapp resurfaced as a solo artist [in] 1972[,] but . . . a year later he then retired from music, subsequently becoming a civil rights attorney.
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.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,009)Jacques Dutronc — âProverbesâ
A gorgeous baroque ’67 love song by French provocateur Jacques Dutronc, with music by Dutronc and lyrics by Jacques Lanzmann (which can be found here in French and English: https://genius.com/Jacques-dutronc-proverbes-lyrics). I guess it helps when your girlfriend is Françoise Hardy [see #459, 476-77, 515]!
For those who don’t know Jacques, Timothy Monger tells us:
Emerging out of the Parisian garage rock scene of the early 1960s, Jacques Dutronc found some early success writing songs for future wife Françoise Hardy before putting his own stamp on French rock & roll in the latter part of the decade. With his smart, provocative lyrics and rebellious spirit, Dutronc rose to stardom with hits like “Et moi, et moi, et moi,” âLes play boys,” and 1968’s “Il est cinq heures, Paris s’ĂŠveille,” a French pop classic widely considered to be his crowning achievement. He spent the bulk of the ’70s pursuing a similarly successful career as a film actor, then returned to album-making with 1980’s Guerre et pets which he co-wrote with Serge Gainsbourg [see #1,366, 1,788, 1,801]. A CĂŠsar Award for his 1991 portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh marked a new peak in Dutronc’s acting career and he also made a pair of strong musical comebacks, first with 1995’s Brèves Rencontres and later with 2003’s critically acclaimed Madame l’existence. . . . Dutronc was born . . . in Paris . . . and formed his first rock band, El Toro et les Cyclones, in 1960. A pair of singles for the Disques Vogue label yielded little success and the budding singer was soon drafted into the army. After his discharge in 1963, he briefly played guitar in Eddy Mitchell’s band, then found work at his former label as a staff songwriter. He was paired up with a writer named Jacques Lanzmann, who would go on to become Dutronc’s primary songwriting partner for the bulk of his career. Among the artists he wrote for was the already well-established pop star and Vogue labelmate Françoise Hardy. Dutronc’s career as a solo artist began in 1966 with the number two hit “Et moi, et moi, et moi.” His rugged R&B-flavored rock songs belied a keen and playful intelligence and he was soon racking up additional hits . . . . Over the next few years, Dutronc was one of France’s most commercially successful artists with a string of hits that included “J’aime les filles” and the eternal “Il est cinq heures, Paris s’ĂŠveille,” both of which hit number one. By this time, he’d begun a relationship with Hardy, establishing them as a significant power couple of the era. In 1973, after five successful albums, Dutronc appeared in the film Antoine et SĂŠbastien, effectively launching the second phase of his career. Aside from 1975’s, Jacques Dutronc 75, he devoted the remainder of the decade to acting, earning critical acclaim and a CĂŠsar nomination for his 1977 role in the film Mado. He and Hardy, who had been living together since the early ’70s and gave birth to a son, Thomas, eventually married in 1981. Heading into the ’80s, Dutronc decided to resume his music career and re-entered the studio, this time with Serge Gainsbourg as his primary co-writer. Provocative as ever, the resulting album, Guerre et pets, was a minor success, hampered in part by his racial epithet-listing lead single “L’hymne Ă l’amour.” . . . His starring role in director Maurice Pialat’s Van Gogh biopic drew widespread critical acclaim and won Dutronc a CĂŠsar Award for Best Actor.
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.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,008) Liz Brady — âPartie de Damesâ/”Checkers Game”
In Liz Brady’s soaring yĂŠ-yĂŠ extravaganza, love is like a game of checkers.
Wikipedia tells us of Liz Brady:
Liz Brady . . . . Is the stage name of Raymonde Zaghikian, born in Cairo to a French-Armenian father and a Greek mother. From a very young age, she sang, becoming a choir soloist. Liz Brady went on to become a high-level rock ânâ roll dancer, participating in international competitions . . . In numerous countries. She married her dance partner who took her to live in England for six years, She then began singing in numerous cabarets in Egypt, Kenya and Beirut[, Lebanon]. There, she met a troupe of French dancers and asked them if they knew of an agency in Paris where she could work in France. They gave her their agency’s contact information, and Liz decided to get in touch. She had an appointment in Paris and began working in Parisian cabarets and nightclubs. Noticing Liz’s stage presence, the agency directors decided to have her record a 45 rpm single in a studio. In 1965, her first 4-track EP, “Hey o daddy o ,” was released by PathĂŠ-Marconi. Three more 4-track EPs were released by PathĂŠ. A new 4-track EP was released by Decca in November 1967 [including âPartie de Damesâ]. During 1967, she also participated in the 4th Majorca International Song Festival with “Toi, moi et une rose” (You, Me and a Rose) . . . . She participated in the Budapest Festival the same year and brought back a song representing Yugoslavia, which she translated under the title “Si tu partais” (If You Left) and which was released by Decca. In April 1968, she moved to Quebec and formed the duo Les ScarabĂŠes with Martine Bee. They released three singles on Gamma and four on RCA-Canada, as well as an album. They earned a gold record with “Le cĹur de mon pays”. The group disbanded in 1972. . . . In 1985, she moved to Florida. She has been singing there ever since under the name Liza Brady.
Liz’s website gives us a fascinating account of her life. Here are just two excerpts:
As her fatherâs family was very French, they welcomed into their home twenty members of the French Foreign Legion, waiting to leave for El Alamein in 1942. After dinner, during parties thrown to honour and entertain them, the soldiers would take Liz in their arms and twirl her around to the sound of her grandfatherâs piano playing. Liz says that this is probably when her passion for music and dancing was born. The day the Legionnaires left for the front they wrote âMondieâ, Lizâs baby nickname, in lime on the hoods of their Jeeps and christened her âMascot of the Legionâ, by pouring a bottle of Arak on her head! . . .
One night in the wings of âElle et Luiâ a tall man held out his business card and told her: âGive me a call, Iâm very interested in signing a contract with youâ. This man was Johnny Stark himself! Liz did not know him or anyone else in show-business in Paris at that time. Agents had very strict rules for artists under exclusivity contracts with them: âNo meetings with competitorsâ, she had been told by her Managers at the Modei Agency. So Liz threw the business card away! Three years later, in 1967, she saw Mr. Stark again. She was now LIZ BRADY performing at the famous âOlympia of Parisâ! She had already recorded 4 EPâs with Pathe/EMI, appeared on a slew of television variety shows, [and] toured France, Belgium and Switzerland with big names . . . . Johnny Stark was the manager of Johnny Hall[y]day, (often referred to as the French Elvis Presley) . . . . One evening Liz overheard Mr. Stark arguing with her manager Roberta, saying: âSo, will you sell me this girlâs contract or not?â and Robertaâs answer was âNo!â. . . . Richard also tried to buy out Lizâs contract in order to become her producer. He was willing to invest one million francs on her, but again her agents refused to let her go.
This clip of the song has some nice period video of Liz performing:
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.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,007)Steampacket II/The Longboatmen — âTake Her Anytimeâ
Sweden’s Steampacket let off some “extra good” “heavily echoed Fuzz Mod Psych Beat” (teabiscuit, https://www.45cat.com/record/56115), an “early psych punker monster killer” (thomasbaumgartner3032, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU4bNdM0aEM), “the raunchiest that came out in Sweden in the 60’s”! (kristerlund8845, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urMemHbQiDk) Sweden exported it to the UK under the guise of the Longboatmen (so as not to be confused with Rod Stewart). What genius picked the name the Longboatmen? I’m sure that name freaked out the entire nation. Think of the poor souls on a pirate radio ship — the Viking are coming!*
“Oh holy crap never knew they were Swedish when I first heard this song I was thinking ‘Those guys must be from a small town in Connecticut’ lmao” (happydaystoytown, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kADXxI55urM) That is hilarious!
Gregory McIntosh tells us of Steampacket:
Formed in 1965 under the name Steampacket, Sweden’s Steampacket II combined the influence of soul music with their take on the British Invasion to change and update the Swedish rock & roll movement. This combination proved to be good for the quartet, making them stand out from their contemporaries, which enabled them to become one of the first Swedish rock bands to tour England. On this tour, the Swedes learned of the Rod Stewart/Brian Auger group also named Steampacket forcing them to change their name at home to Steampacket II, while in England they adopted the name The Longboatmen to avoid confusion. They released a handful of singles, the most popular of which is 1966’s “Take Her Anytime”, released under The Longboatmen, as well as versions of ” Happy Together” and Lovin’ Spoonful’s 1967 hit “Nashville Cats” sung in Swedish and others. Steampacket II disbanded in 1968 after growing tired of musician’s wages and called it quits with a memorable Who-style, smash-up-the-instruments ending to their final performance.
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.
Born from Sussex University’s creative cauldron in 1967, this mysterious outfit turned their complete lack of live appearances into pure mystique, armed with Hammond organ wizardry and arrangements sophisticated enough to make jazz cats weep. With just two official singles — . . . “Anniversary (Of Love)” and the mind-bending “Ice Man” [see #322]âthey carved a unique British rock niche proving less really is more.
UK psychedelic pop quintet formed in the mid-60s while John Carter (bass), Glyn James (vocals), Lynton Naiff (organ), Grant Serpell (drums) and Steve Turner (guitar) were attending Sussex University in Brighton, Sussex, England. Their debut single, âAnniversary (Of Love)â, was released in 1967 after the group signed a recording contract with Decca Records. . . . A second single followed a year later, but “Ice Man” also failed to impress commercially. . . . The band was later joined by expressive vocalist Linda Hoyle and pursued a jazz rock direction under the new name of Affinity [see #1,055, 1,364, 1,410]. Serpell was later a founder member of Sailor.
This late-60s Brit band received a leg-up from the BBC, and even made the occasional TV appearance, but lack of label support brought Ice’s spread to an abrupt halt. . . . [W]hat strikes one immediately is just how eclectic and unique Ice were. [“Iceman] is a wonderful piece of psychedelia whimsy, but the group were also equally adept at vocal-drenched pop, delicate rock ballads delivered in a very English fashion, and more emotive R&B/soul-fired numbers. . . . [F]inally, you begin to see their label’s problem, for how do you package a psychedelic pop/rock-R&B-soul band for the mass market, even if the group did boast a superb singer, phenomenally intricate arrangements, and a totally unique musical vision?
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.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,005)The Liverpool Scene — âBabyâ
These Liverpool poet/hipstersâ âraucous pastiche” (Marco Rossi, https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/the-amazing-adventures-of) about a girl who “make[s] me feel like last weekâs knickers!”, “like two already legalized consenting vicars” is âa strange uptempo jazzy beat R&B track with a talking half sung vocalâ. (Teabiscuit, https://www.45cat.com/record/rca1762) Teabiscuitâs verdict: âpretentious theatre styled stuff no commercial potential/A case of âYou Had To Be Thereâ is probably a fair comment.â What?! It is hilarious. I wish I was there. Well, we can be there! Here is a cool video of the Scene performing “Baby” in London’s Victory Park in ’70: http://damnable-iron.com/liverpool_scene.html.
Piccadilly Sunshine tells us:
A notorious outfit that was effectively a collaboration between numerous poets including Adrian Henri, Andy Roberts, Mike Evans and Pete Brown (Battered Ornaments) amongst many others. Heavily supported by John Peel and Jack Bruce, they were popular on the college circuit, but it was a limited enclosure for wider appeal. They managed five albums in various guises up until 1972.
liner notes to Piccadilly Sunshine: Volumes 11-20: A Compendium of Rare Pop Curios from the British Psychedelic Era
Marco Rossi adds:
The Liverpool Scene coalesced semi-accidentally around poet and painter Adrian Henri, one of the chief architects of the cityâs multi-media âeventsâ of the early-to-mid-60s. Today, being a poet is to risk being battered, de-kegged and set on fire. Back then, however, poetry was a noble, rather sexy and decidedly rockânâroll calling, thanks in no small measure to the witty, perceptive and pretension-free work of Henri and his âMersey Soundâ contemporaries. Fronting a band was a logical and inevitable progression . . . .
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.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,004)Led Zeppelin — âAs Long as I Have Youâ (live at the Fillmore West, April 27, 1969)
“Listening to Zep [see #110, 589] live and raw is just one of life’s greatest joys.” (BubbaZen10, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lg98FMKupU) “The[ir] early, raw recordings are mind-blowing perfect.” (Michael-yn9tx, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lg98FMKupU) Yesterday, I featured “As Long as I Have You”, a ’64 soul stunner by Garnet Mimms. Today, I feature Led Zeppelin’s volcanic and “furious medley centered on ‘As Long As I Have You'” (Nick Tavares, https://www.staticandfeedback.com/Music/1009zepp.html) from the April 27, 1969 show at San Francisco’s Fillmore West. “Unbridled power is all that comes to mind as the band roughs up the crowd with this naked display of brute strength and musical ability.” (talkfromtherockroom (discussing a performance of the song at a Miami show), https://talkfromtherockroom.com/2019/11/put-boot-in-new-yardbirds-become-led.html) The song was a staple of Zeppelin’s early shows — and thank heavens concertgoers taped them, as no studio version has ever come to light (even assuming there is one, as legend maintains).
Paul writes:
Led Zeppelin played it in concert at least 80 times (only in 1968 and 1969), which makes it one of their most frequently performed covers in their career. . . . As chance has it, most of the performances of the song were never bootlegged, or were only recorded poorly. But luckily, there’s one pristine soundboard recording of it from April [27,] 1969 that’s extraordinary. The song is 18 minutes long, and it’s a medley with “As Long as I Have You” for a few minutes at the start and about a minute at the end. . . . [I]t’s incredible to me that no version . . . has been officially released. The bonus tracks that have been added to deluxe editions of their official albums in recent years make it seem like they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel, with most of them the same songs on those albums but with some minor differences. Meanwhile, some of the band’s greatest musical performances remain unreleased and obscure. It’s very strange.
Talkfromtherockroom explores a performance in Miami:
At this point in the bandâs career they were lacking original compositions, so songs like âAs Long As I Have Youâ were their main improvisational vehicles until tunes like âWhole Lotta Loveâ came into the rotation. There are a few versions of this song available on other Zep boots such as 4/24/69 and 4/27/69 which contain soundboard sound quality and arguably more mature performances. But this in no way dampens the astonishing intensity of this [February 14, 1969] audience recording. Intensity may be too broad a term for this jam, as it is full of dynamics, light, shade, and careful instrumental placement. But it is played with such enthusiasm and strength that intensity seems an apt description. At around five minutes into the song things really heat up as Bonham and Page start to churn a delicious groove that just rumbles quietly until igniting into a âMockingbirdâ jam. Jimmy has his âWah Wahâ emanating a slippery whine behind Robertâs bellowing vocals. The jam suddenly drives into a heavy syncopated rock and roll swing with Page laying down his most impressiveâYardbirdâ riffs which are marinated in a spicy psychedelic sauce. Riff after riff is shot out like machine gun ordnance until they climax into a long sound wave of guitar feedback that segues into a wordless Robert Plant [see #1,998] scream recital. Led Zeppelin is now a tight and smoking R&B band strutting their stuff across the darkened stage. âAs Long As I Have Youâ epitomizes the early Led Zeppelin ideal, and gives fans a glimpse into the bandâs influences, and a peek at the ânuts and boltsâ of the group. This is Led Zeppelin broken into their primal elements. At one moment the band is a sharp toothed beast clawing its way toward your throat, at another a dancing gazelle gliding across the landscape.
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.
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.
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 