THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,005) The Vejtables — âI Still Love You”
Wait, is it a Byrd (song)? Is it a Beatle (song)? No, itâs the first A-side by the San Francisco Bay area band (reaching # 84), âa jangly synthesis of the Beatles and the Byrds” (Jud Cost, liner notes to the CD comp Feel . . . The Vejtables), a “Mersey-flavoured local smash . . . that got the band a spot on northwest tours with the Yardbirds and the Beach Boys, as well as the TV shows American Bandstand and Where The Action Is“. (Alec Palao, liner notes to the CD comp Dance With Me: The Autumn Teen Sound) Beverly Patersons writes that “[It] favorably paired bouncy Merseybeat curves with crisp and crackling folk rock overtones. A regional hit, the catchy tune resembled a razor sharp hybrid of the Beatles and the Beau Brummels, fronted by a top-dollar female vocalist, Jan Errico.” (http://therockasteria.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-vejtables-feelthe-vejtables-1965-66.html) Yeah, Jan was a force of nature â a superwoman among mojo men, a triple threat â singer, songwriter and drummer.
As to the Vejjies, Beverly Paterson tells us that:
The Vejtables were [a] great band from the San Francisco area, and had their discs received more promotion, they surely would have attained widespread commercial success. . . . People talk about how influential and innovative San Francisco acts like the Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead were, but here’s a band that deserves just as much acclaim. . . . Right from the start, the Vejtables attracted attention and were signed to the local Autumn label, which also employed the Beau Brummels [see #713]. . . . Chiming twelve-string guitars and billowy harmonies were indeed an integral part of the band’s repertoire.
Their pair of singles for the San Francisco-based Autumn label strongly recalled a much poppier Beau Brummels, with their 12-string guitars, folky harmonies, and sparse harmonica. The similarity was quite understandable: the Beau Brummels were not only also from San Francisco, but also on the same label. The Vejtables’ chief distinguishing mark and asset was one of the very few female drummers in a mid-’60s rock group, Jan Errico, who also sang and wrote much of their material (including “I Still Love You”).
1966 was a transitional year for the Vejtables. To begin with, Autumn Records ceased to be and Jan left the fold to join the Mojo Men [see #84, 140, 275, 720, 787, 802], another red hot San Francisco band. Upon losing Jan and their contract with the Autumn label, the Vejtables basically deserted their folk pop roots and simply got better and better. Imagination reigned and trippy raga rock aspirations pierced a good deal of their ensuing ventures. . . . In 1967, the Vejtables switched their handle to the Book of Changes and gifted with the Tower label with a groovy single. . . . [T]he band was equally as capable of playing underground rock as they were mainstream pop music. A pity they didn’t stick around longer and realize their full potential. The musicians in the Vejtables may not be as immediately recognizable as Jerry Garcia or Grace Slick, but it is important to mention that a few of them performed in other worthy bands. For instance, Rick Dey was a member of the Wilde Knights from the Pacific Northwest. He also wrote “Just Like Me,” which was of course a hit single for Paul Revere and the Raiders. After exiting the Vejtables in 1966, Jim Sawyers landed a job with the Syndicate of Sound, while Richard Fortunato held a role in the Los Angeles based Preachers, a band garage rock junkies certainly need no introduction to.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,004) Bettye Swann — Donât You Ever Get Tired (of Hurting Me)?â
The real Queen of Country Soul reached #102 in ’69 with this killer soulified version of the Hank Cochran song first recorded by George Jones (’65) (and also done country style by Mel Tillis and Bob Wills (’70), Merle Haggard (’78), and Willie Nelson and Ray Price (’80) among many other versions). (https://secondhandsongs.com/work/126789/all)
Jason Ankeny tells us about Bettye:
Best known for her 1967 R&B chart-topper “Make Me Yours,” Southern soul chanteuse Bettye Swann was born Betty Jean Champion in Shreveport, Louisiana . . . . She . . . mount[ed] a solo career in 1964 with . . . [a] series of Arthur Wright-produced singles for the independent Los Angeles label Money. . . . [T]he gorgeous “Make Me Yours[]” . . . also served as the title for her first full-length LP. . . . [T]he next year heralded a leap to major label Capitol for “My Heart Is Closed for the Season.” The follow-up, “Don’t Touch Me,” was the first single released from Swann’s second long-player, The Soul View Now; Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me? followed in 1969, highlighted by the minor hit “Little Things Mean a Lot.” . . . Swann [then] landed at Atlantic; her label debut, “Victim of a Foolish Heart,” cracked the R&B Top 20 in 1972 . . . . Her next Atlantic effort, “I’d Rather Go Blind,” was notable in large part for its B-side, a reading of Merle Haggard’s “Today I Started Loving You Again,” that proved Swann a superb interpreter of country-soul — 1973’s “Yours Until Tomorrow” was backed by another Nashville cover, this time Tammy Wynette’s “Til I Get It Right.” In 1974, she made a return to the lower rungs of the Billboard Hot 100 with “The Boy Next Door” . . . . With 1975’s “All the Way In or All the Way Out” she again enjoyed minor chart success, but subsequent recording sessions are undocumented . . . .
“So why did you quit the music industry anyway?” . . . Swann[:] “I love music and I love people . . . . But I hate show and I hate business. I couldn’t feel it, the show or the business.” . . . [T]he promising soul singer . . . . flirted with country music throughout her 15-year career. . . . [â]I left Louisiana in 1963. I was 18 . . . . [and] went to live with a sister . . . . When I first got to L.A., my friend Emma would always say, ‘Hey, that sounds good. Why don’t you do something?’ She introduced me to someone who knew Huey Harris, who wrote some well-known blues songs. That’s the person who introduced me to Al Scott [an R&B disc jockey], who had a radio show that was sponsored by Ruth Dolphin, [owner] of [a record store called] Dolphins of Hollywood and Money Records.” She chose the stage name Bettye Swann, because she always thought swans were “lovely.” . . . Scott became Swann’s manager and quickly got her into the studio with producer Arthur Wright. Wright would go on to create the perfect package for Bettye’s music. . . . She had already written an R&B chart-topper titled “Don’t Wait Too Long[]â . . . a couple of years earlier. . . . There had been other Swann songs . . . but none of them had traction. “Make Me Yours” . . . . perched itself at No. 1 on the R&B charts and was a certified Top-20 pop hit. . . . Things soured soon after, particularly her relationship with Scott. She left L.A. for Athens, Ga., and acquired a new manager, George Barton, an established music promoter in the South. After Swann’s contract with Money expired, Motown Records expressed interest in Swann. She passed on the label and instead hitched her wagon to Capitol Records in 1968. In essence, Swann jumped from the frying pan of a small, independent, Southern soul label with a built-in audience and into the fire of a mainstream record company that now had to sell a new artist to the larger listening public (i.e., white folks). The results were stellar. The reason was Wayne Schuler, a multi-talented producer/ songwriter/A&R guy from Louisiana . . . . He longed to have Swann sing tunes like “Stand By Your Man[.]” [and] . . . . wanted to make Swann a crossover artist, bridging the gap between country and soul. . . . [W]ith Shuler . . . she would record “Stand By Your Man” and Merle Haggard compositions like “Just Because You Can’t Be Mine.” Yet it was a sultry, down-tempo duet with Buck Owens on the Haggard classic “Today I Started Loving You Again” that thwarted Shuler’s plan to catapult Swann into stardom. According to Shuler, the heads of Capitol blew a gasket when they heard Owens perform a love song with a black woman . . . . The label quickly shelved the single. . . . “I had the feeling they wanted me to be a black female Charley Pride,” she says, laughing. . . . After leaving Money, Swann made Athens, Ga., her home and a launching pad for what many African-American musicians referred to as “the chitlin circuit.” . . . [H]er manager George Barton often had to pull a gun on someone in order for Bettye to get paid. . . . Swann married Barton in 1970. . . . She continued to record music and tour until 1976, when she and Barton moved to Las Vegas . . . . [H]er last public performance took place in 1980, the year Barton passed away. . . . [and she] was reborn as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
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Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (ârelating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainmentâ â dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify. 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.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,003) Fortes Mentum* — âGreen Mello Hillâ
A delicious UK pop psych confection by Danny Beckerman, a “mercurial producer/arranger/writer/musician . . . an archetypically precocious studio whizzkid who was one of [the] Morgan [Blue Town label] owner Monty Babsonâs favoured lieutenants”. (David Wells, liner notes to the CD comp Angel Pavement: Maybe Tomorrow). Beckerman wrote this “whimsical popsike charmer” (Wells again, talking about Angel Pavement’s version in the liner notes) that was recorded by three Morgan Blue Town bands. Angel Pavement’s version was released as a ’69 B-side, while Fortes Mentum’s (see #904) version wasn’t released in the ’60’s. I have to give the edge to FM, but both versions are wonderful.
Maggie Regan tells us that:
Danny Beckerman was a staff writer at Morgan Music in 1966 and wanted to get a band together to record his own material. He decided on talented London musicians Frank Bennett on vocals, Ron Regan on bass, Keith Giles on drums, Alan Ward on Organ and Barry Clark on lead guitar. Originally Danny didnât want to be part of the band but as they all got on well together the other guys persuaded him to join them and so was born, Sons of Chopin??? Their first single was refused by the BBC, they wouldnât play it under copyright rules because, wait for it . . . they were not actually the Sons of Chopin!!! So instead âSaga Of A Wrinkled Manâ became the first single from the newly named [Fortes Mentum]. . . . They released three singles as Fortes Mentum. Despite a good following, the band never made any money although they performed all over London and the UK including such famous venues of the time like The Whisky A Go Go and the Starlight Ballroom in Crawley, as well as the usual college gigs and such. In March 1969 they were offered a unique opportunity to work in Germany. Unfortunately Alan and Barry had very good âday jobsâ and they didnât want to give them up. They were replaced by Rod Creasy on keyboards and Paul Coles on lead guitar. This line up worked the famous Top 10 Club in Hamburg and the K52 Club in Frankfurt. It was at the Starlight Ballroom later on that Frank and Danny had a falling out. Danny decided to pursue his career in songwriting and so left the band. The inimitable Bob Flag (ex-Riot Squad) joined on saxaphone and flute. Fortes Mentum then toured with David Bowie amongst others but prestige doesnât pay the rent and the band disbanded around a year later due to lack of gigs. The band had known agents such as The London City Agency/Capital Artistes but earning a living was hard in those days. The scene went a bit dead, even though the band were getting terrific write ups.
As to Angel Pavement (see #933), Bruce Eder tells us that:
Anyone unfamiliar with Angel Pavement shouldnât feel too bad. . . . [I]ts peak of exposure consisted of a pair of failed singles at the very tail-end of the 1960s in England. But they were a seriously wonderful sunshine pop outfit from late 1960s, hailing from York, with a sound that was equal parts psychedelia and pop/rock in the best Hollies/Zombies/Beatles manner. The band . . . was assembled by guitarist/songwriter Alfie Shepherd out of the remnants of a soul-based outfit, Wesley Hardinâs Shotgun Package . . . . They quickly developed an effective pop-oriented psychedelic sound . . . with lush harmonies, glittering instrumental textures, horns and brass in the right places on the pop numbers. They managed to build a large following in their native York . . . . [and their] attempt to crack the London club scene coincided with their starting work on a debut album at Morgan Studios, but those efforts were interrupted by an offer to play a series of gigs for a few days in Mexico City in early 1969. Instead, they stayed for five months, and returned to London to pick up work on the album . . . . A pair of singles . . . issued through Fontana Records, failed to elicit any serious chart action in late 1969 and early 1970; a third single and their announcement of a forthcoming LP all ended up missing in action because of disputes between Shepherd and the studioâs publishing arm. Their producer apparently put the final nail in the coffin, and they broke up at the end of 1970.
[Their sound] was probably a little late, coming at the end of the decade, but divorced from those commercial concerns . . . [they] make a compelling variant on sunshine pop with British psychedelia. And the truly astonishing thing about the music represented here, apart from its quality and the fact that it was never heard until now, is that most of it is original material â how these guys missed at least a serious grab at success by getting this stuff released is anyoneâs guess . . . well-nigh essential listening for anyone who loved those late-â60s British pop/rock sounds.
[P]revious chroniclers . . . suggested[ed] that Angel Pavement werenât a band at all, merely as studio aggregation that masked the identity of . . . Danny Beckerman . . . . Angel Pavement, however . . . . [were a] five-piece outfit hailing from York . . . christened by their leader, chief songwriter and lead guitarist Clive âAlfieâ Shepherd . . . . [It] had a firm following in and around York . . . . They arrived in London in October 1968, almost immediately playing a couple of gigs at Sibyllaâs, the trendy Regent Street nightclub part-owned by George Harrision. . . . After two relative flops . . . despite appearances on radio programmes like Radio One Club . . . Fontana elected to pass on further releases. With . . . Morgan, having bitten the dust by this point, Angel Pavement were placed with the clearly uninterested Bell label in time for an intended third single . . . but this failed to gain a release despite advance publicity . . . . Even more peculiarly, a further single . . . and a debut album . . . were trumpeted for an August 1970 release but also didnât make it to the shops . . . . There were other problems as well, with main composer Alfie Shepherd falling out with . . . Morganâs publishing arm over their treatment of his songs.
liner notes to the CD comp Angel Pavement: Maybe Tomorrow
* HarvestmanMan says: âIf the name [in Latin] was supposed to mean âstrong mindâ (just one), itâd be âfortis mensâ⌠if it was supposed to mean âstrong mindsâ itâd be âfortes mentesâ. Someone never completed their language classes in school⌠;)â. (https://www.45cat.com/record/2400). Harsh!
Here is a shorter version:
Here is Angel Pavement:
Here are the Magic Worms (another Morgan Blue Town outfit):
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. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
I’m not sure I would have believed when I started this blog in July of 2021 that I would hit the 1000 non-hit (in the U.S.) song mark in a little over two years. But here I am. I just hope you have enjoyed the ride even half as much as have I. And to the artists, God bless you, wherever you are. You have given us all such precious gifts of music. To the extent that I have been able to expose and turn people on to your creations who would not otherwise have ever heard them, I will consider this ongoing endeavor a worthy pursuit.
Unterberger says that the Namelosers âwere among the rowdier Swedish mid-â60s bands, heavily influenced by the British Invasion sounds of the Rolling Stones, Who, and Beatlesâ. (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-namelosers-mn0001270532) Olle Berggren adds (courtesy of Google Translate) that:
[They] were the prettiest, cockiest and loudest. One of the few Swedish bands from this time that is still mentioned with respect to this day. . . . [They] forever put MalmĂś on the rock map. The tough port and working-class city. . . . Like Hamburg and Liverpool. . . . The clothes were bought at Ohlssons at Stortorget, where Ă ke Arenhill made sure to bring in the latest from Kings Road, Carnaby Street and Savile Row in London.
Expressen tells us more (courtesy of Google Translate):
This group was perhaps the most popular of the MalmĂś bands in the 60s. It consisted of pop stars living like pop stars. The Namelosers started out as Tony Lee & The Fenders and mostly played songs associated with Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley. The groupâs breakthrough came in the summer of 1964 in Pildammsparken. The highlight was supposed to be guest soloist Gunnar âSiljablooâ Nilsson, but when Namelosers started the crowd went wild. In the audience was Urban Lasson, who immediately realized the groupâs potential and booked studio time for it in Copenhagen. Lasson then went to Stockholm and visited record company after record company. EMI pounced and with the song âNew Orleansâ Namelosers ended up in the Top Ten. There were several years of touring around Sweden, but there were no new hits in the Top Ten. âLand of a 1,000 dancesâ everyone believed â but no. It ended up off the list. The disappointment was so great that Namelosers lost their desire . . . and soon the group disbanded.
Johnny Andersson and Tommy Hansson met in 1962 in Malmo and talked about getting a band together. They became Tony Lee and the Fenders who played covers of Elvis and Cliff Richard songs. When their bassist and drummer quit to get real jobs they found the lanky Christer Nilsson who had long Beatle-style hair and a Hofner bass. Andersson and Hansson adopted the Beatle mop-top look, pulled in drummer Anders Lagerlof and named themselves the Beachers, an amalgamation of the Beatles and the Searchers. They became very popular in Malmo for their live covers of songs popularised by the Beatles such as Twist and Shout and Roll Over Beethoven. They recorded an EP New Orleans and title track got to number 12 on the Swedish charts . . . . [T]hen a rival group from Gothenburg demanded they change their name. Improbably, they too were the Beachers. A local radio station ran a competition for a new name for the band and the winner was . . . the Namelosers. And suddenly it was all on: a tour of Denmark with the Kinks and the Honeycombs; around Sweden with the Dave Clark Five and Cliff and the Shadows; TV appearances; more recording; a holiday in London for Andersson and Nilsson where they caught the Who at the Marquee and came back with new and more rowdy influences . . . . They recorded Land of 1000 Dances which was critically acclaimed so they expected to top the charts but it only got to 11 and they became depressed. The band broke up in August 1966 after a hectic few years, the highpoint being opening for the Stones in â65 and partying with them afterwards. They jammed with Jagger in a rehearsal hall in Malmo.
Namelosers also appeared in the documentary Rolling Like a Stone from 2005 by Stefan Berg and Magnus Gert. Everything revolves around a roll of film from the year 1965. It was filmed during a party in Ola StrĂśms (Gonks) parental apartment in MalmĂś. Gonks, Namelosers, regular girls and guys and then âunknownâ The Rolling Stones join the party.
1001) The Electric Banana — “A Thousand Ages from the Sun”
Who would have thought that the Electric Banana (see #94, 251, 731, 892) would do a Dylan impression. Well, they did, and it is pretty damn good. The EB, of course, was the Pretty Things (see #82, 153, 572) in disguise, making some much needed money by providing songs for films trying to be hip.
David Wells explains that:
[The] Swinging London phenomenon had led to a profusion of groovy movies chronicling life [there] that, naturally enough, required an appropriately switched-on soundtrack for added verisimilitude. However, film companies soon discovered that the cost of licensing bona fide hit singles was prohibitively high [so, the music library de Wolfe] started searching for a young, vibrant pop group who were capable of providing an authentic but relatively inexpensive sound.
liner notes to The Complete De Wolfe Sessions CD comp
1002) The Millennium — âThere Is Nothing More to Sayâ
Sunshine pop went supernova with the Millennium (see #397, 506, 586, 662, 810), a 60âs sunshine supergroup that created Begin, the greatest sunshine pop album ever recorded. Begin cost more to make than any other album from â68 other than The Beatles (the White Album)â and no one buys it (at least until era of CD reissues). As Richie Unterberger writes, it was âat once too unabashedly commercial for underground FM radio and too weird for the AM dial.â (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-millennium-mn0000814312)
“There Is Nothing More to Say” ends [Begin] in grand, elegant style. Musically, most of the song is based on an almost Elizabethan-style folk melody with strong classical flourishes. Overall, it’s one of the more simple pieces of music on the album, but perhaps the most eloquent. The lyrics, however, really define the song. Encapsulating the overall utopian vision of the band (and especially producer Curt Boettcher), it sets the 1960s ethos of freedom and consciousness expansion in forged iron, and remains a classic of the period. All of this, and the song is less than two and a half minutes.
As to Begin, Dominique Leone says the album, âprobably the single greatest 60s pop record produced in L.A. outside of The Beach Boys . . . found itself very much outside the times that year.â (https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5546-pieces/) Noel Murray sagely adds:
On the surface, the music . . . is right in the mainstream of radio-friendly pop from 1966-68. [The] songs had the angelic harmonies of The Association and The Mamas & The Papas, the aspirational naĂŻvetĂŠ of The Beach Boys, the live-inside-the-music atmospherics of The Beatles, and the lysergic tinge of every California band from San Francisco on down. But [Curt] Boettcher and [Gary] Usher were also interested in the avant-garde and classical music, and their highbrow approach to the sweet and fluffy didnât connect in an era where rock ânâ roll was getting harder and rowdier. . . .
The Millenniumâs Begin is a bona fide lost classic. The brainchild of producers Curt Boettcher and Gary Usher, the group was formed out of the remnants of their previous studio project, Sagittarius â which had been preceded by yet another aggregation, the Ballroom. On Begin, hard rock, breezy ballads, and psychedelia all merge into an absolutely air-tight concept album, easily on the level of other, more widely popular albums from the era such as The Notorious Byrd Brothers, which share not only Usherâs production skills, but similarities in concept and construction. The songwriting . . . is sterling and innovative . . . . Begin is an absolute necessity for any fan of late-â60s psychedelia and a wonderful rediscovery; it sounds as vital today as it did the day it was released.
[Begin] is notable as being the second album to use 16-track recording and the group made the most out of that here. Wonderfully lush music that sweeps you in with its fantastic harmonies, both in the instruments and in the vocals, and with the individual melodies that grab your attention instantly and have you singing along by the end of the song. . . . [It] manages to capture a wonderful part of the the era that is was created in, but also remains timeless through its use of gorgeous melodies, harmonies and instrumentation.
“There Is Nothing More To Say” is a little unique, in that it’s the only track here penned by 3 members. It’s also my favourite track on the album. A simple ballad, but the vocal performance is easily the most emotive and powerful on the the record and the music backing them pushes those emotions to their max.
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. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
997)The Crazy World of Arthur Brown — âDevilâs Gripâ
“Devil’s Grip” is “a haunting and powerful track that showcases [Arthur] Brownâs [see #783, 797] ability to captivate listeners with his unique blend of rock and theatricality. . . . [It] delves into the darker side of Brownâs music, incorporating elements of psychedelia and showcasing his ability to create a mood of mystery and suspense.” (https://oldtimemusic.com/most-popular-arthur-brown-songs/) The song had âcreepy-yet-catchy black mass organ riffsâ and âwas put over by Brown’s vocals, shakily gentle . . . rising into stentorian high-pitched yelps at the most dramatic crescendos. . . . ‘[T]he record that introduced all that [satanic] imagery to the rock field, in England at least,’ [Brown] claims.” (Richie Unterberger, http://www.richieunterberger.com/brown.html)
Perry Jimenez contends that:
If it wasnât for this underrated one-hit-wonder we wouldnât even have Shock Rock, Thatâs Right, as in No Alice Cooper seducing snakes and Killing chickens, No Ozzy Osborne biting off the heads of Bats and turning into a werewolf, no Kiss and Gene Simmons Bleeding from his tongue and breathing fire, and no Marylin Manson turning into a demonic hermaphrodite, letâs take some time to truly appreciate the legacy this man had made, and to think he did it by singing with fire in his head, Thank Mr. Arthur Brown, you have changed Rock and Roll for generations.
[He] was undoubtedly one of the memorable figures of British psychedelia. . . . [The Crazy World] had become a very popular attraction around Londonâs underground clubs, like the UFO . . . . They had a flamboyant stage act which often involved Brown appearing in a flaming helmet with bizarre facial make-up. Indeed, their act was so expensive to stage that Brown eventually [went] broke.â
The Tapestry of Delights Revisited
Mark Deming gives us some Crazy World history:
Arthur Brown burst out of obscurity in 1968 with âFire,â an energetic and forceful fusion of blues, jazz, psychedelia, and embryonic hard rock . . . invoking the dangers of the dark side. . . . [I]t was the defining song of his career, but Brownâs oeuvre was impressively diverse. . . . The common thread that ties [it] together is his big, booming voice, over-the-top vocal theatrics, and a willful eccentricity that boosts the power of his music. . . . He was a member of the Ramong Sound [later to become the Foundations of âBuild Me Up Buttercupâ fame] . . . . [E]ager to launch a project that would match his outsized stage persona, he left the band to form the Crazy World of Arthur Brown . . . . Kit Lambert and Peter Townshend were part of the production team for their self-titled debut album. . . . [and] captured a grandiose sound full of drama and menace . . . . âFireâ . . . became a major hit on both sides of the Atlantic. The[ir] live show, which featured Brown wearing a helmet that spit fire and occasionally taking the stage naked, help spread the word about the group, and Brown became one of the most talked-about characters in British rock. In the wake of the success of their debut, [they] cut a second album, Strangelands. It was originally slated for release in 1969, but executives at Atlantic and Track felt it was too experimental for mainstream listeners, and it was shelved. (It received a belated release in 1988.)
This “[f]antastic horror prog pop rocker [was] released on UK Pye in 1971” — “[b]rilliant heavy prog pop with diabolical psych leanings”. (Happenings45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMESjEpgYVc, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyKU9EpfT4s) It is “like a pop version of the Satanic rock then being released by the likes of Black Sabbath and Black Widow. Opening with sparse heavy drums and including a mixed cauldron of stinging lead guitar, Glam hand-claps and demonic laughter this 45 is a lot of fun and I only wish I owned a copy!” (Dr. Doom, https://www.45cat.com/record/7n45034) Forget about Black Sabbath, I say that it would have been a mega hit for Def Leppard had they released it in their 80’s prime!
And it was released by the Laurels, an English comedy/variety act! Dig the Fuzz Records tells us:
Originally a comedy act releasing a couple of harmony pop singles on RCA, Hertfordshire’s Laurels signed to Pye and this was their second and last single for that label. . . . [T]he A side, The Devil’s Well, features some mean fuzzy lead guitar in this 7th of this, 7th of that etc… tale of damnation. It’s a fun Eddie Seago/Mike Leander creation and the 3rd verse is made more interesting by featuring some crunching Proto-Glitter handclaps prior to the song dissolving into a Devil’s laugh…
[A] combination of vocal harmony, expert musicianship and riotous comedy . . . . From Wakefield to Wiesbaden, Istanbul to Ilford, the Paradise Club in Guideley to the Playboy Club in London’s Park Lane, these four talented young men have covered every major Club venue in Great Britain, plus successful forays into Europe and beyond with their happy highspeed presentation of music, comedy, harmony and impressions. With two single discs to their credit, TV appearances and broadcasts, THE LAURELS are a modern package of quality entertainment which finds appreciation by all classes and most nationalities. Their biggest — and longest — London engagement to date, after headlining all over the Provinces in clubs both great and small, was at the celebrated “Carousel” in Piccadilly, the heart of London’s nightlife, where they starred for a sixteen week season! . . . These four fellows . . . certainly combine musical and vocal talent with well-timed comedy teamwork to give a professionally-presented act which goes from strength to strength — and deservedly so.
Little known in the U.S. [,] . . Takeshi Terauchi, affectionately known as Terry[,] . . . started recording electric guitar . . . music in the early Sixties. His best recordings in the mid-to-late Sixties were with two different bands: the adorably named Bunnys and Blue Jeans. Generally, the music itself is Ventures inspired instrumentals accented with fuzzed-out whammy bar acrobatics. What makes The Bunnys and Blue Jeans unique is that they were also influenced by traditional Japanese Minyo, that is, very old rural folk songs. Terry recorded many a Minyo with the electric guitar at the helm in place of traditional instruments like the Shamisen. Terry-san ranks close behind Western contemporaries Link Wray and Davie Allan when it comes to bad-ass guitar riffing. . . . Terry recorded with The Blue Jeans during the early to mid Sixties. The Blue Jeans belted out surf instrumentals with authority and Terryâs guitar is always interesting. Management problems coupled with the need to keep up with changing times triggered Takeshiâs departure from Blues Jeans in 1966. The Beatles invaded and GS, or Group Sounds (Mersey Beat pop sap with vocals), was in. Terry recruited unknown players to form his own GS band, the Bunnys. . . . Terryâs years with Bunnys were brief: â from Dec. of â66 through â68. Terryâs Bunnys put out 16 singles, and 6 LPs, including a live album. . . . His next move was to add something uniquely Japanese to an otherwise Western sound. Seicho Terauchi-Bushi, released in â67, is Terryâs interpretation of Japanese Minyo. He replaced the traditional shamisen (3-string instrument) with his powerful electric guitar sound and created fresh and exciting eleki versions of 200 year old songs. This heightened his fame, as he simultaneously exposed his young audience to something from past generations and gained the older crowdâs respect. This was the Bunnysâ most successful record, selling over 100,000 copies and becoming the best selling GS record at the time. 1967 was a busy year for The Bunnys, as they released 8 singles on Seven Seas and 3 LPâs on King. . . . Terry left in the Fall of â68 to form his own Blues Jeans . . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
996)Jimmy Campbell — “Forever Grateful”
This blog oâ mine gives me great joy, as when I played as my 22nd song âMichel Angeloâ, by Jimmy Campbell (see #22, 648, 736-38) and his band at the time the 23rd Turnoff. I called the song â[o]ne of the most gorgeous songs I have ever heard.â It is certainly the greatest ever pop psych ballad I have ever heard. But the blog also can give me great sadness, as when today, I focus again on Jimmy and how his talents were left to wither by cruel fate and an indifferent public. As dpnewbold comments, âThis guy is so under-rated it hurts.â (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI-KHv7u4qE) Yes, it does.
“Forever Grateful” is such a gentle, vulnerable, fragile and wonderful song, it makes my heart ache. Spencer Leigh writes in Jimmyâs obituary that âhe once told me, âA lot of my songs are cries for help and I suppose thatâs why they didnât make the grade.’â (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jimmy-campbell-436273.html) “Lend a helping hand to me, and I’ll be forever grateful.” I think it fits.
Matty Loughlin-Day aptly states that:
[Jimmy Campbell is a] songwriter who, for this writerâs money, could go toe-to-toe with any of the more celebrated prodigies from the region, yet whoâs name is frequently met with blank faces or a shrug of the shoulders. A writer who, in a sane universe, would be esteemed alongside . . . yes, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Jimmy Campbell is arguably the archetypal lost son of Liverpool. A talent that was never quite reciprocated by the buying public and the victim of some cruel twists of fate, his is a name that is for one reason or another, never quite mentioned when discussing the plethora of musical talent that the city has produced. . . . [H]is songs entice immediately and gradually work their way into the sub-conscious.
Campbell should rightfully be considered closer to a Merseyside Bob Dylan than the sullen working class Nick Drake he is often painted as. He could have been the Poet Laureate of England! How is it that one day of the greatest sonic creations in his fascinating and flawless back catalogue should be gathering dust for the past thirty-three years?
liner notes to the CD reissue of Rocking Horse’s Yes It Is
And Richie Unterberger poignantly sums things up:
[Jimmy was] perhaps the most unheralded talent to come out of the Liverpool â60s rock scene, as he was a songwriter capable of both spinning out engaging Merseybeat and â unlike almost every other artist from the city, with the notable exception of the Beatles â making the transition to quality, dreamy psychedelia. . . . It seems as if Campbell needed just a bit more encouragement, and his groups just a little more studio time, to develop into a notable British psychedelic group that could combine solid pop melodies, sophisticated lyrics and arrangements, and touches of English whimsy. Unfortunately they didnât get that chance . . . .
Campbellâs slightly moody yet catchy melodies, as well as his drolly understated lyrics, mark him as perhaps the best â60s Liverpool rock songwriter never to have a chart record . . . .
To give a touch of Jimmy Campbellâs early and later history, Matty Loughlin-Day writes that:
Campbellâs first band, The Panthers, were formed in 1962 and were at the heart of all things Merseybeat. Legend has it that at one gig, John Lennon stood in front of the band, keen to suss out local competition; one must assume he was impressed, as before long, the band were able to add âsupported The Beatlesâ to their CV. Convinced by Cavern-legend Bob Wooler to change their name to The Kirkbys (in homage to their home suburb) and looked after by Brian Epsteinâs secretary Beryl Adams, Campbell et al toured across Western Europe and recorded a handful of songs, including the Rolling Stones-esque stomper Itâs a Crime . . . [see #648]. . . . [I]nitial singles found success in, of all places, Finland. . . . [but a]t home, the singles fared less impressively, and a second name change soon followed. The Kirbys became the 23rd Turnoff, again based in local geography, named after the M6 junction required for Kirkby. . . .
With a short European tour in 1972 backing Chuck Berry . . . and fortunes truly fading, Campbell decided heâd had enough. . . . [A]pparently rejuvenated and able to muster the strength to record a fourth solo album during the 80âs, Campbell, on completing it, went to the pub to celebrate, only to return home to find his house ransacked and the only master tapes of the album gone, along with a range of equipment. The guy, it seemed, could just not catch a break. . . .
By all accounts, a life of hard-living took its toll and he sadly passed away in 2007 after battling emphysema.
Mark Johnston talks about Half Baked, the album from which today’s song is selected:
It would be Dick Leahy, A&R for Fontana, who had originally helped sign Jimmy Campbell to a three record deal with Philips, and who then approached Olav Wyper about releasing the second album on Philips’ subsidiary Vertito. Vertigo was established in 1969 as Philips’ answer to EMI’s Harvest Records and Decca’s Deram progressive subsidiaries. . . . The label change would provide Jimmy with the best opportunity in his career to be heard by a larger audience. . . . The recording would begin in January of 1970 . . . with a solid all-star backing band featuring . . . drummer . . . Pete Clarke, along with Merseybeats [see #725] Tony Crane and Billy Kinsley. . . . Half Baked would be a mix of Jimmy’s very personal songs, many inspired by [his then pregnant wife] Yvonne . . . with lush orchestral arrangements . . . . [It] would be chosen as the inaugural release for the Vertigo label in the U.S.A. The album failed to chart, but it did find fans in New York City, most notably with the Ramones. Although Jimmy played one solos spot at the Marquee . . . there were no tours established to promote the album. The album’s sales suffered, in part, due to the reluctance and inability to get Jimmy on a promotional tour . . . . An appearance performing the melodramatic single “Don’t Leave Me Now”, on the Simon Dee show, fell through when Dee was sacked the day of the broadcast. Dee felt the single was one of the strongest tracks he had ever heard. Such was Jimmy’s luck, as the prime time televised appearance would have given the biggest boost yet to his career. . . . . With the lack of commercial success and the departure of Olav Wyper to RCA . . . the new management of Vertigo saw no compelling reason to pursue a follow-up release with Jimmy.
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With his blatant reverence for Buddy Holly, fellow Texan Bobby Fuller was a bit of an anomaly in the mid-’60s. With his Stratocaster guitar and brash, full sound, at his best Fuller sounded like Holly might have had he survived into the ’60s. Cracking the Top 30 in 1966 with a cover of Hollyâs âLove’s Made a Fool of You” and the Top Ten with “I Fought the Law” (written by one-time Cricket Sonny Curtis), Fuller had just become a star when he died in mysterious circumstances in a parked car in Hollywood (the police thought it was a suicide, just about everyone who knew him disagreed). Fuller’s relatively short period of national stardom actually crowned a good half-dozen years of recording, during which he released many outstanding tracks. After a few local singles in his hometown of El Paso in the early ’60s, he moved to California with his combo in 1964 . . . . In the short time he recorded for Mustang in 1965 and 1966, he waxed quite a few tracks (most self-penned) in addition to his hits . . . . Rocking, tuneful, and infectiously joyous, they showed Fuller to be a worthy inheritor of early rock & roll and rockabilly traditions without sounding self-consciously revivalist. . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
994)Tidal Wave — âSpider Spiderâ
This soaring â69 A-side reached #1 in South Africa. Jay-Z, you need to sample this one!
Brian Currin tells us:
The Tidal Wave was one of South Africaâs foremost exponents of psych-influenced pop music in the late â60s and early â70s with hits like âSpider Spiderâ, âMango Mangoâ and âWith tears in my eyesâ. They also experimented with both brass and prog rock influences and although they existed for a relatively short time the band is regarded by many as the bridge between pop and the then developing âundergroundâ rock scene. . . . Tidal Wave is probably best known for their bubblegum pop hits âSpider Spiderâ and âMango Mangoâ in 1969 and 1970 respectively, but they were so much more than that. Yes, they did play pop and they had a few hits, which were featured on the top radio stations at the time. . . . However, Tidal Wave also played some very interesting psychedelic pop rock enhanced by the fuzz guitar sounds of Mike Pilot, who formed the hard rock band Stingray in the late 70s. . . . It all started with a man named Terry Dempsey, songwriter and record producer. . . . [who was] born in England and came to South Africa in 1968. He wrote and produced The Staccatos first song, âButchers And Bakersâ in 1968. This song had originally been recorded by UK freakbeat band Les Fleur De Lys in 1967, though they called themselves Chocolate Frog at the time. Dempsey recalls; âEarly in 1968 I met Roy Naturman at Gallo studios . . . . Shortly thereafter Roy invited me to a popular night spot to hear the band he was playing with, The In Crowd . . . . A few weeks later Roy . . . phoned me to tell me that the band was breaking up and would I be interested in recording a new band he was putting together with the drummer from The In Crowd, Mike Koch, Ken Haycock as bass player and lead guitarist/singer Mike Pilot both of whom came from The Brackets. . . . What a hot unit this proved to be,â says Dempsey about Tidal Wave, âthey were the first band to be released on my newly formed independent record label STORM with the title âMan On A Stringâ.â . . . [which] was released in 1969 but failed to make an impression on the radio charts at the time . . . . [It] was followed by âWith Tears In My Eyesâ which also failed . . . . âSpider Spiderâ [written by Dempsey] saw Tidal Wave go to number one for the first and only time, although âMango Mangoâ outsold âSpider Spiderâ by a long way.â âSpider Spiderâ hit the number one spot on the Springbok Radio Charts in April 1970 and also achieved number eight on LM Radio. . . . Mike Koch and Roy Naturman left Tidal Wave and the last single was released in 1971 titled âMoney Babyâ (b/w âIâve Got To Get Awayâ) . . . . This song went to number 15 on the Springbok charts and did even better on LM Radio going to number nine. After a couple more line-up changes, sadly, Tidal Wave was no more. . . . Tidal Wave is fondly remembered by many . . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
993)Poet and the One Man Band — “The Fable”
Utterly magical and haunting folk rock by some future musical luminaries, including guitar legend Albert Lee and two future members of Sandy Dennyâs Fotheringay. “The Fable” has â[s]imilarities to the late-period Zombies, though with a bit more psychedelic pop fantasy/whimsyâ. (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/poet-the-one-man-band-mw0000843418)
The band (see #710, 855) must have been named after the line from Simon & Garfunkelâs âHomeward Boundâ. It doesnât get nearly the respect it deserves, even from its CD reissue label. The liner notes I got with my CD state:
Poet & the One Man Band try a bunch of approaches vaguely related to late-â60s trends in folk-rock, singer/songwriter-oriented, and psychedelic music on their sole and obscure LP. None of them are embarrassing, but none of them are noteworthy or exciting, either. . . . [S]ome of the stronger tracks are those that get into the moodiest territory . . . . [but it] sure would sound better as sung by Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent of the Zombies, though.
liner notes to the CD reissue of Poet and the One Man Band
What kind of marketing is that?! This is Richie Unterberger talking, though the liner notes are uncredited, since the notes are identical to Unterbergerâs discussion of the album on All Music Guide (https://www.allmusic.com/album/poet-the-one-man-band-mw0000843418). Anyway, Unterberger goes on to add that it is âa fairly average psychedelic-era album with some slight resemblance to the late-period Zombies, though thereâs some typical, and unmemorable, songs in a more straightforward, harder-rocking late-â60s British style.â (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/poet-the-one-man-band-mn0001060807)
And for some background, Unterberger notes that âJerry Donahue and Pat Donaldson would soon move on to Fotheringay, the British folk-rock group fronted by Sandy Denny, and play on their sole album; guitarist Albert Lee, Tony Colton, Ray Smith, and Pete Gavin would form Heads, Hands & Feet.â (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/poet-the-one-man-band-mn0001060807)
Derek Watts says that:
[The band was] essentially a vehicle for the song-writing talents of Colton and Smith. . . . At that time Poet was merely a recording enterprise: there was no band as such, about which Albert was professionally realistic. âPoet was really their album. We were just session players.â
Derek Watts, Country Boy: A Biography of Albert Lee
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
992)Edge of Darkness — âMean Townâ
Sort of a mashup of Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town” and Scorsese’s Mean Streets. No, really! This A-side from the upstate New York (Oswego) band’s only single, is “[b]rooding ’68 . . . guitar/organ psych with haunting vocal and searing guitar breakâ (Arf Arf Records, http://www.arfarfrecords.com/bad/records.html), “[o]ne of the coolest upstate 45s ever [with c]ool ambiance, and wicked organ and fuzz guitars”. (Dan, https://theegarage.blogspot.com/2011/02/in-dan-garage52.html?m=1)
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The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
991)Focal Point — âFar Away from Foreverâ
Focal Point is one of the greatest coulda/shoulda-beens in the annals of British pop psych (see #4, 43, 198, 538, 747). This âlanguid, introspectiveâ (Len, https://therisingstorm.net/focal-point-first-bite-of-the-apple/) and trance-like number was a favorite in Beatleland. Co-band founder Paul Tennant recalls that “[w]e played the demo to Terry Doran [manager of Apple Publishing] and he loved it. He also played it to George Harrison and John Lennon who both loved the song.” (liner notes to the CD comp Focal Point: First Bite of the Apple: The Complete Recordings 1967-68)
The band only released one single, but it all started out like a fairy tale when two guys cornered Paul McCartney walking his dog Martha in Hyde Park . . . . AsTennant recalls:
It was . . . the summer of 1967 . . . . We knew which house Paul lived in due to the large amount of girls hanging about outside. . . . Then all of a sudden the gates opened and a mini shoots out and away. Without a second thought we were on his tail, and there in the back of the car was a large sheepdog . . . . I never let it out of my sight . . . [W]e were at Hyde Park, the mini stopped and out stepped Paul, let the dog out and waved to the driver â Jane Asher and he was away walking the dog. . . . [W]e shouted to [Paul] and he turned around. We then told him . . . we were writing songs and didnât know what to do with them, could he help? . . . [H]e said to us âI could get you a recording contract just like thatâ and flicked his fingers. âBut why should I?â It was then that he proved to be human by planting a finger up his nostril. Dave [Rhodes] laughed and he laughed. Dave then said . . . âBecause we are good, our songs are good.â It was just like that, Paul then wrote down . . . a phone number . . . . âPhone this guy and tell him I sent you[]â and he was then gone . . . . [W]hen we got back to Liverpool, Dave and I phoned . . . . Terry [Doran] listened and told us Paul had told him we were going to ring and when could we go down to London. . . . Out came the guitars and we sang four of our best songs . . . . He said he liked our songs and would like to get acetate done of them. . . . âJohn loves your songs, he is absolutely going mad over themâ said Terry. We were . . . gob smacked. He wants me to play them to Brianâ. . . . âBrian agrees with John, your songs are fantastic.â . . . Brian . . . suggested that we should form a band [and] call [it] Focal Point.
Stefan Granados notes that âDoran recorded several demos with Tennant and Rhodes . . . who became the first two songwriters signed to Apple after both John Lennon and Brian Epstein responded enthusiastically to the demo recordings.â (liner notes to Focal Point: First Bite of the Apple: The Complete Recordings 1967-68)
Then it all came crashing down. I often talk about the singer/songwriters and bands that became collateral damage in the collapse of Andrew Loog Oldhamâs Immediate Records. Focal Point, however, fell victims to the demise of Apple and the Beatles. To read about it, check out Paul Tennantâs fabulous interview at Marmalade Skies and bassist Dave Slaterâs great interview at the Strange Brew:
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The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
990)The Heirs — âYou Better Slow Downâ
I love my moody teenage 60’s garage rock, and here is a fabulous example from Eugene, Oregon — “delicious jangle introduces a moody, melodic beat ballad with haunting backing vocals” (maxmyndblown, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJp8nFMlJks) that “conjures an impressively vivid atmosphere”. (Matt Ryan, http://strangecurrenciesmusic.com/an-introduction-to-pacific-northwest-garage-rock/) This was the only A-side by the Heirs — twice! — an earlier version being released under their prior name the Critters.
Maxmyndblown tells us that:
“You’d Better Slow Down” was retitled âYou Better…â and reworked . . . for their April ’66 follow-up on Panorama. By then they were known as The Heirs. Further recordings during the summer failed to secure a release . . . . A final 45 appeared in 1967 after another name change, to X-25.
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. 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.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
989) Boudewijn de Groot — âAeneas Nuâ/âAeneas Nowâ
A â[t]roubadour with a Dylan-esque impact, who shoots to fame in [the Netherlands in] the ’60s and ’70s” (https://en.muziekencyclopedie.nl/action/entry/Boudewijn+de+Groot) (see #107, 161, 305), gives us the only A-side I know about Aeneas, Trojan hero from Greco-Roman mythology. Needless to say, it didnât chart. Maybe he should have tried his luck with brave Ulysses!
The song:
“Aeneas nu” was released as a single in February 1969. This single was included for free with the first 5,000 copies of De Groot’s album Nacht en ontij. . . . The text of Aeneas now refers to the Greek mythological figure of the same name. He wants to go out when he’s home, but as soon as he’s out he wants to go home. . . . Aeneas now did not reach the charts.
Ratelzwatel adds that “[t]he text is originally by [de Groot’s longtime collaborator] Lennaert Nijgh. [De Groot] is said to have changed it so much that he put it in his own name. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-bdAACev3Y)
As to de Grootâs early years:
Boudewijn de Groot was born on May 20, 1944 in the Japanese internment camp Kramat in Batavia (now Jakarta) in the former Dutch East Indies. A few months later . . . the family was transferred without the father to the Tjideng women’s camp . . . where his mother died . . . . In May 1946, Boudewijn left for the Netherlands with his father, sister and brother, where he lived with an aunt in Haarlem. . . . Lennaert Nijgh, a school friend of Boudewijn’s stepbrother . . . also lived in the same street. . . . In 1961 . . . both of them were interested in film. After graduating, Boudewijn began studying at the Dutch Film Academy in Amsterdam . . . . In 1963 Lennaert wrote and directed a short 8 mm feature film . . . . Boudewijn played the role of troubadour, for which he wrote two songs himself. The video was shown at home and the then newsreader Ed Lautenslager was present at one of those performances. He was particularly impressed by the two songs, especially the singing and the music, and he advised the pair to do something together in that direction: Lennaert the lyrics, Boudewijn music and singing. Lautenslager was able to arrange a recording through a relationship with the record company Phonogram. Four songs were recorded there . . . . [and] were released on two singles, both of which flopped, but did result in an invitation to the television program “Nieuwe Organisatie” . . . . Boudewijn won first prize from the professional jury. . . . The record company tried to achieve success by combining the two singles and releasing them on an EP . . . . When there turned out to be no market for that either, producer Tony Vos presented Boudewijn with a choice: quit or record a commercial song. For the latter, Tony had ‘Une enfant’ by Aznavour in mind. After much hesitation and with great reluctance, Boudewijn agreed to this, after which Lennaert provided a Dutch translation. The single was released and became a success. After working for a year and a half as a warehouse clerk . . . to support his family . . . Boudewijn was finally able to make a living from his career as a singer. After the success of ‘A girl of sixteen’ [see #305], an LP was . . . put together . . . including ‘Good night, Mr. President’. . . an indictment of the war in Vietnam . . . [and] . . . President Lyndon B. Johnson[. It] was released as a single in ’66 and was the first self-penned hit by the duo De Groot/Nijgh. . . . In 1966 the first LP was released with exclusively the De Groot/Nijgh duo’s own material. . . . “For the Survivors”, received a gold and a platinum record and also an Edison. ‘Het Land van Maas en Waal’ was released as the second single. . . . [and] became the first Dutch-language record to reach number 1 in the Top 40. It was 1967 and the hippie era was beginning. The LP ‘Picnic’, inspired by the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, . . was a success, achieved gold and platinum and a second Edison. . . . Boudewijn thought he could continue experimenting. Together with a friend from the film academy . Zz zz he wrote the quasi-mystical epic ‘Witches’ Sabbath’, the main component of the LP “Nacht en ontij” (1968). . . . After some wanderings in Belgium and the Netherlands, Boudewijn decided in November 1969 to retire to a farm . . . with a number of musicians to start a beat band and sing English songs. This formula turned out to be unsuccessful. . . . Boudewijn . . . renew[ed] artistic ties with Lennaert. . . . Between 1971 and 1975 he produced records . . . . In ’73 he himself made a new LP . . . which includes the song ‘Jimmy’, named after his son born in ’72. This LP went platinum and Boudewijn received an Edison for this.
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Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (ârelating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainmentâ â dictionary.com).
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
988)Val McKenna— “House for Sale”
Northern soul doesnât get much better than this âmarvellous and baroquely atmospheric” self-penned â68 A-side. (Kieron Tyler, liner notes to the CD comp Sassy and Stonefree: Prime Late ’60s Brit Girl Rock & Soul) Of course, it wasn’t a hit. Paul Pearson says that “[h]er songs, many of which she wrote herself, are . . . hard-driving, straight R&B pieces that the mod population allegedly found appealing.” (http://paul-pearson.blogspot.com/2015/05/song-20150507-val-mckenna.html)
Bruce Eder tell us about Val:
A singer whose career was managed by Ivy League members John Carter and Ken Lewis, Val McKenna was one of the better white female pop soul-style singers to come out of early- to mid-’60s England. Apart from a convincing delivery on numbers like “Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl,” she also benefited from the presence of Jimmy Page on lead guitar on her records, which also included “Baby Do It” and “Now That You’ve Made Up Your Mind,” the latter her own composition and very good indeed.
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Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (ârelating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainmentâ â dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify. 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.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
987)Ottilie Patterson — âSpring Songâ
Ottilie, “the world’s only Irish blues singer”, wrote this totally unexpected and magical ’69 B-side and album track — “jazzy, laid-back pop that flirted carelessly with psychedelia in the genre’s dying days” and was produced by Giorgio Gomelsky. (liner notes to the CD comp Piccadilly Sunshine: A Compendium of Rare Pop Curios from the British Psychedelic Era, Volumes 1-10)
As to Ottilie, Garth Cartwright writes that:
County Down-born Patterson surely is the finest blues vocalist hailing from these damp isles. She was also an excellent jazz and folk singer, and her mellifluous voice can even be heard singing Shakespeare sonnets and baroque late-60s psychedelia. She blazed a trail that everyone from Dusty Springfield to Amy Winehouse has since followed; the Rolling Stones, Patterson said, “didnât come out of a vacuum â we paved the wayâ.Â
As to the album, 3000 Years with Ottilie, she “explored outside of her more familiar jazz and blues surroundings in the late 1960’s with Giorgio Gomelsky’s Marmalade label.” (liner notes to Piccadilly Sunshine: A Compendium of Rare Pop Curios from the British Psychedelic Era, Volumes 1-10) and “drew on her eclectic musical and literary interests to record . . . an ambitious solo album with strong folk and psychedelic influences, writing several of its fourteen tracks, including songs about her unhappiness”. (James Quinn, https://www.dib.ie/biography/patterson-ottilie-anna-a9903) Cartwright adds that:
[Ottilie] finally recorded without [Chris] Barber and band for the first time, singing her own songs alongside poems and sonnets. Richard Hill orchestrates proceedings and the album has a beautifully late-60s autumnal quality. Its label Marmalade folded in 1970 and a 1971 reissue on Polydor (as Spring Song) achieved little.
[I]n 1949 won a scholarship to study art at Belfast Municipal College of Technology, where a fellow student, Derek Martin, introduced her to Bessie Smith, ‘Empress of the Blues’, and taught her to play boogie-woogie piano. By 1951 she was singing occasionally with Jimmy Compton’s jazz band in Belfast, but, seeking a more bluesy musical outlet, formed The Muskrat Ramblers with Martin and Al Watt in August 1952. After graduating from college, she became an art teacher . . . . Visiting London in summer 1954, she secured an audition with the up-and-coming Chris Barber jazz band, who were immediately impressed by her singing. . . . [S]he joined the band [and] first performed . . . at the Royal Festival Hall on 9 January 1955 and received rave reviews from several newspapers . . . . Audiences and critics were astonished that this small, demure-looking white woman could sing the blues with such power and authenticity. For the next seven years she toured extensively with the Barber band . . . . She . . . became one of the best-known female singers of the day and a key figure in the band’s success. [In] 1959 she and Chris Barber were married in London. When American blues singers such as Big Bill Broonzy, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Muddy Waters and Sonny Boy Williamson toured Britain from the late 1950s with the Barber band, Ottilie performed alongside them and held her own. Visiting artists were impressed â sometimes even astounded â by her singing, and offered encouragement and praise. Ottilie was often compared to Bessie Smith (even by Louis Armstrong) . . . . After a US hit with Sidney Bechet’s ‘Petite fleur’ in 1959, the Barber band toured America regularly. The American press latched onto the novelty of a white Irishwoman singing the blues, the San Francisco Examiner describing her as ‘the world’s only Irish blues singer’. . . . During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Ottilie performed regularly on British radio and television. . . . The Barber band played up to 200 dates a year and Ottilie increasingly found their tour schedules gruelling. . . . [A]s the only woman in the band, [she] often felt excluded and ill at ease. Her chatty and gregarious nature masked a troubled and vulnerable personality that was highly sensitive to criticism and prone to anxiety and depression. She both dreaded and loved live performance . . . . She suffered serious bouts of exhaustion . . . and in October 1962 had a nervous breakdown, forcing her to rest for several months. Around this time she began to suffer throat problems, and was sometimes unable to speak. . . . . Taking the opportunity to experiment with her own musical projects, in 1964 she set to jazz and recorded Shakespearean verse . . . . When her health permitted, Ottilie performed occasionally with the Barber band . . . . In 1973 she was diagnosed as suffering from a mild form of epilepsy and retired.
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. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
986)The New Dawn — âDark Thoughtsâ
A stunning dark psyche/garage cut from the Pacific Northwest that “is the ultimate in doomy bumblebee fuzz guitar”. (Ron Moore, The Acid Archives (2nd ed.))
Ron Moore calls the New Dawn’s album:
Dreamy downer LP with rhythm-centered (monotonous?) drums, organ, and chiming guitar. Moody heartfelt vocals and buzz fuzz breaks fill out the claustrophobic soundscape. Full of despairing lyrics about dissatisfaction with life and feelings of hopelessness without God. . . . Too deep and dark for some, but could be the pinnacle for soul-searching lounge band sorrow.
The Acid Archives (2nd ed.)
Must have been all that rain!
Isaac Slusarenko tells us about the Dawn:
In 1966, Dan Bazzy . . . ran into bass player Bob Justin and guitarists Larry Davis and Joe Smith, local garage band musicians . . . . Bazzy joined their band and after a brief stint of playng as The Sound Citizens, The New Dawn was formed. By 1967, The New Dawn was essentially a nightclub band, touring throughout the northwest . . . down through California and Nevada, and as far north as Alaska. The band recorded and released their private press album . . . in July of 1970. The songs were composed in the studio and were recorded late at night after gigs. Initially five hundred albums were pressed . . . . [D]istribution was limited since the album was sold mostly at their live shows. Their one chance at the big time came in 1971 when the ABC-Dunhill Records label expressed a serious interest in the demo of three of their new heavier sounding songs. . . . By the end of 1971, the New Dawn faded into the sunset after years of living motel to motel under the disillusionment of their missed opportunity.
liner notes to the CD reissue of There’s a New Dawn
The band’s (apparently no longer active) website adds:
In 1966, Joe Smith and Larry Davis got together and started playing at part[ies]. By the first part of 1967, Bob Justen and Dan Bazzy had joined the group and The New Dawn was born. For the next two years, the band played at part[ies], dances and local bars. In 1969, the group quit their day jobs and signed with a booking agent. They added a fifth member, Bob Green, to front the group and share the lead vocal load with the drummer and lead singer, Dan Bazzy, and went on the road. They played in clubs in Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, California, and Alaska. In 1970, Bob Green was replaced by Bill Gartner, and the group recorded and released . . . There’s a New Dawn. By the end of 1971, all the members in the group were married, and a few of the wi[v]es started having babies. Along with the babies came the desire to settle down and start roots. So, the group came off of the road, got “normal” jobs, and settled in to playing in local clubs on weekends. Over the years, most of the original members retired from the group and were replaced by other local musicians.
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. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
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Rich Orlando tells us of the songâs rich history:
Haleyâs was a âcleaned upâ version of a song that had been released only two months earlier. The original was written and recorded by James Edward âDickieâ Thompson. Thompson was a jazz and R & B guitarist and singer who began working in New York Cityâs jazz clubs in the late forties. He appears to have had a couple of records released in 1946 and had nothing else released under his own name until Thirteen Women and One Man came out on the Herald label in 1954. . . . [It] appear[s] to have been a little too âforwardâ in terms of subject matter for [its] time and garnered little airplay. Legendary record producer/ label owner (Commodore) Milt Gabler, working for Decca Records, heard the song and had Haley and his band record it at their first session for the label, which also featured . . . “(Weâre Gonna) Rock Around the Clock”. [For their first single, “Thirteen Women” was the A-side and “Rock” the B-side. “The single was reissued in 1955 with the sides reversed after the B-side was played over the titles of the movie Blackboard Jungle.”] Gabler changed the arrangement of Thompsonâs song but more importantly, he bookended the number with verses indicating that the song was just a dream. . . .
The song reminds me of the classic exchange from Dr. Strangelove about cave life for the select few after a nuclear armageddon:
General âBuckâ Turgidson:
Doctor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn’t that necessitate the abandonment of the so-called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?
Dr. Strangelove:
Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious… service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.
The Renegades was formed in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. They never succeeded in their home country, but had a successful career both in Finland and in Italy during the 1960s. Their first single “Cadillac” was released in Finland in January 1964 . . . . The song was credited to be written by the band itself, but it was actually a remake of “Brand New Cadillac” by Vince Taylor And His Playboys. The band performed in Finland for the first time in October 1964. They intended to tour for three weeks, but due to success and demand, they ended up touring for seven weeks. They released the total of four albums in Finland, the last one was released in 1966, after which the band relocated to Italy. The group was disbanded in 1971 . . .
Orlando adds that: “they recorded a âuniqueâ arrangement of Franz Lisztâs âHungarian Rhapsodyâ (titled âHungarian Modâ) for release on an LP sampler of local groups titled âBrum Beatâ in 1964.” (https://smilingcorgipress.com/4-versions-of-thirteen-women/) And Vernon Joynson adds that “[i]n 1963 they turned professional and changed their stage outfit radically; they began to use the cavalry costumes of the American Civil War.” (The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) I guess Finlanders love that stuff! We should send them some F Troop DVDs!
Here are the Renegades with (only 5!) women dancing:
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
984)P.K. Limited — âMy Imaginationâ
As to this sparkling gem that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, Tony 879 says:
[It] is a lovely summery little pop psyche number with plucked guitar and wistful harmonies that sounds like something off one of those Fading Yellow comps [Well, it is on Soft Sounds for Gentle People Vol. 3!] or that a band of the time like The Association would have come up with. A very cool little Hippy/trippy/Folk/Psych number indeed. An anomaly it seems as the rest of their output seems to be horrendously twee country rock pastiches that should be avoided at all costs. Just get this one and be transported away on gentle clouds in a bright blue sky….baby…
45sUS afds that “[t]his pleasant song was released in March 1970, as a flip side of ‘Ain’t No Way’ and then resumed in February of the following year, as a flip of ‘Shades Of Gray.’ The song was composed by the duo and produced by David Gates.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17d5K5T69sM)
As to P.K. Limited, William Sargent tells us that “[l]ead members were Dan Peyton and Marty Kaniger [who] had formed The Loved Ones in 1965 while in high school. They signed with Colgems as songwriters and later took on the name P.K. Limited.” (Superstar in a Masquerade) 45sUS adds that “[t]his excellent folk-rock duo, despite having produced six singles with a total of eleven tracks between 1969 and 1971, failed to release an album.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17d5K5T69sM)
A number of P.K. Limited’s songs appeared in the ’70 movie Getting Straight, starring Elliot Gould as a “Vietnam vet and former social radical [who] is conflicted by his desire to become a teacher and his sympathy with anti-establishment student protests.” (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065775/)
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The playlist includes all the âgreatest songs of the 1960âs that no one has ever heardâ that are available on Spotify. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
983)Peter and the Wolves — âWoman on My Mindâ
Oh man, does John Pantry (see #494) kick ass. OK, since he followed his calling and embarked on a notable career in Christian music and broadcasting after the 60âs came to a close, let me just say âHallelujahâ for John Pantry. A singer and songwriter for the ages. Today we have “perfectly crafted pop sike wonderment” (Happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh6YQJs-rNo), a “superb Emitt Rhodes [see #50, 156] like” number. (Jason, https://therisingstorm.net/year/1968/page/5/) David Wells elaborates:
“[A] December 1968 single . . . was altogether darker, an inherently futile attempt to reconcile the two different worlds that Pantry had been inhabiting: the hedonistic pop business, with its slavish adherence to the pleasure principle, and the temperate Christian upbringing that had shaped his character. Lines like “I’m a man and the Lord has made me, body and soul is what he gave me” suggest that the writer was beginning to experience some unease at his lifestyle choices.”
liner notes to the CD comp The Upside Down World of John Pantry Featuring Peter & The Wolves, Sounds Around, Wolfe, The Bunch, Norman Conquest and The Factory
Jason gives us a sense of Pantryâs B.C. history:
John Pantry is one of those artists that deserves to be heard by more people, especially those who value melodic British pop. . . . [He was] a talented studio engineer for IBC Studios (working with Eddie Tre-Vett), producing for the likes of Donovan, The Small Faces, The Bee Gees, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and Cream. He was also a member of Peter & The Wolves, an accomplished mid 60s pop group from Leigh-on-Sea/Southend and had a major hand with many other IBC studio projects of the time: the Factory, Sounds Around, Wolfe, The Bunch and Norman Conquest [see #612]. . . . Besides being a savvy studio technician, Pantry was a gifted songwriter and vocalist and an accomplished musician (. . . keyboards). . . . [O]ne of Pantryâs first groups, Sounds Around. . . . played straight pop with slight soul and psych influences â they released two singles in 1966-1967. Peter & The Wolves came shortly after Sounds Aroundâs demise (they were essentially the same group). This is the group with which Pantry is most associated, along with The Factory. . . . [Peter & The Wolvesâ] most productive period was probably the years of 1967-1969, where they released a string of pop gems . . . . It was around this time that John Pantry was asked to write two tracks for The Factory, a legendary psychedelic group who had previously released the classic âPath Through The Forestâ 45 [see #5]. Pantry wrote and sang lead on the two Factory standouts, âTry A Little Sunshineâ [see #460] and the more folk-like âRed Chalk Hill [see #761].â . . .
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. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
982)Episode Six — âJak DâOr”
This ’69 B-side is an ultra-hip and “[g]roovy” (Sids60sSounds, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY_VhAMaZBs) near-instrumental from Episode Six’s (see #811) last single before Ian Gillan and Roger Glover left to join Deep Purple. Why they didn’t score hits is a mystery. As Bruce Eder says:
[T]his reviewer is at a loss to explain how Episode Six never managed to chart a record, even in England . . . . [The band recorded] solidly commercial and eminently listenable British pop/rock of its era, and very nicely done . . . . [T]his is the one precursor unit to Deep Purple that should have charted records in the middle/late ’60s.
Most famous for including bassist Roger Glover and singer Ian Gillan before they joined Deep Purple, Episode Six managed to release no less than nine British singles between 1966 and 1969 without coming close to a hit record or establishing a solid identity. Also prominently featuring organist/singer Sheila Carter-Dimmock, the groupâs 1966-1967 singles were rather light pop/rock harmony numbers, with an occasional ballad and a bit of a soul influence. Light years removed from Deep Purple, Episode Six was nothing if not eclectic in their choice of material, trying their hands at numbers by the Hollies, the Beatles, the Tokens, and Charles Aznavour, as well as a British hot-rod tune (written by Glover). While their repertoire lacked focus, their singles were actually pleasant and their fine cover of Tim Roseâs âMorning Dewâ would have been a deserving hit. In 1967, they began to fuse pop and psychedelia with reasonably impressive results, especially the single âI Can See Through Youâ (written by Glover), one of the finest British psychedelic obscurities. Their final two singles showed the band going in a much more progressive direction and anticipating some of the most indulgent art rock of the â70s with âMozart Versus the Rest [the A-side to today’s song],â which assaulted one of the composerâs most famous riffs with manic electric guitars. Episode Six folded in 1969, after Gillan and Glover had joined Deep Purple.
In April 1969 the band entered the studio to begin recording tracks for a long-delayed album . . . but it wasnât to be. Ian Gillan was lured away to replace Deep Purpleâs departing vocalist Rod Evans and Roger Glover joined . . . a few days later.
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. 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 