The B-side of future 10ccâers Godley & Cremeâs first single (â68) is a âdrollâ (David Wells, liner notes to Frabjous Days: The Secret World of Godley and Creme 1967-1969) and wonderful song.â”Such a poignant song! How could such young guys write such a wise song?”â(ajsmith, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO4VJXnDY48)âIndeed.
As to G&C, Dave Thompson tells us that âKevin Godley, a former member of Graham Gouldmanâs Mockingbirds, and Lol Creme, once Godleyâs bandmate in the early-â60s group the Sabres. . . . had studied for diplomas in graphic designâ. (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/frabjoy-the-runcible-spoon-mn0001919409)âThey were attending different art schools.âBut, as David Wells tells us:
Although they were studying in different cities, Kevin and Lol were only about 45 miles apart, and they continued to play together.â”Lol would drive down in a van . . . with a Hammond organ in the back”, says Kevin.â”We would play loud, weird jazz all night and annoy the neighbours![“] . . .â[T]hey hung out at weekends, as Kevin explained . . . “When we came back from the weeks at college, we’d sit down and write songs, discuss ideas for art and so on.âAt first we were keener on artistic things than music, and then gradually the music took over. . . .â[They] worked on a project hat resulted in a Top Twenty single. . . .â”Pamela, Pamela” . . . came from an idea we had for a film . . ..âWe’d done the script for a story and then we’d written some music and we’d done the lyrics . . . .â[Graham Gouldman] took the idea and developed it, and the song was a hit for Wayne Fontana. . . .âsuggesting that a career in music might be a viable option once they’d completed their studies . . . .â[They] . . . . signed a management deal with Jim O’Farrell . . . .
liner notes to Frabjous Days: The Secret World of Godley and Creme 1967-1969
O’Farrell produced “Easy Life” and its A-side “Seeing Things Green”, and while the single “failed to make much impact . . . .â[it garnered them] a publishing deal.”â(David Wells, liner notes to Frabjous Days: The Secret World of Godley and Creme 1967-1969)
Mark Deming continues the story:
In 1970, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme would score their first serious hit with the oddball stomp of Hotlegsâ âNeanderthal Man,â and in 1973 they would become half of 10cc, who would release some of the smartest, wittiest, and best-crafted British pop of the decade. Dial back to 1969, and the two were veterans of the U.K.âs beat music scene whoâd evolved into a pop-psychedelic duo called the Yellow Bellow Room Boom. Giorgio Gomelsky, who had previously helped guide the careers of the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds signed them to his Marmalade Records label and gave them a different (and similarly whimsical but clumsy) stage name, Frabjoy & Runcible Spoon, in hopes of transforming them into a British answer to Simon & Garfunkel. . . . [T]hey released only four poor-selling songs under that banner before Marmalade Records went under, and the album theyâd been working on was doomed never to see the light of day. Thankfully, the tapes survived, and the British reissue label Grapefruit Records has released an approximation of that long-lost LP . . . . [including] seven unreleased tracks that were completed for the aborted . . . album [and] the four rare tunes that did see release . . . . Godley & Creme were showing off the compositional skills that would be the hallmark of their later work . . . . The pair were also well on their way to perfecting their vocal blend . . . . If thereâs a difference . . . itâs in the absence of their pointed satiric wit, and a gentler melodic style more beholden to folk and pop-psych and lacking the splendid and shameless hooks that would reinforce the jokes on 10ccâs albums. . . . [T]his is fine and imaginative pop with a psychedelic edge . . . a splendid look at the juvenilia of one of the most fascinating partnerships in British rock.
With Kev and Lol unavailable to promote their recording . . . five “ringers”[were assembled] to masquerade as the group for a publicity photo and live appearances . . . . [Kevin Parrott explains] “The Yellow Bellow Room Boom was an âartificialâ group put together . . . to front the first record by Godley and Creme on CBS. . . . Kevin and Lol were still away at art college at the time. The guys in the [publicity] photo didnât play on the CBS single and actually never played a gig with that line-up . . . .”
liner notes to Frabjous Days: The Secret World of Godley and Creme 1967-1969
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,047)Maxine Brown — âLove in Them There Hillsâ
From “one of the most underrated soul and R&B vocalists of the ’60s” (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/maxine-brown-mn0000396154#biography) comes the definitive and killer version of this early Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Roland Chambers rich/poor love number previously done by the Vibrations and later by the Pointer Sisters.
As to Maxine, Stephen Thomas Erlewine tells us that:
[S]he never had many hits . . . . releas[ing] a series of singles for Nomar and Wand, with only a few . . . — “All in My Mind,” “Funny,” “Something You Got,” “Oh No Not My Baby” — managing to become either pop or R&B hits. Despite this, Brown is acknowledged as one of the finest R&B vocalists of her time, capable of delivering soul, jazz, and pop with equal aplomb. Born in Kingstree, South Carolina, Brown began singing as child, singing with two New York-based gospel groups when she was a teenager. In 1960, she signed with the small Nomar label, who released the smooth soul ballad “All in My Mind” late in the year. The single became a hit, climbing to number two on the R&B charts (number 19 pop), and it was quickly followed by “Funny,” which peaked at number three. Brown was poised to become a star, and she moved to ABC-Paramount in 1962, but left the label within a year without scoring any hits. She signed to the New York-based, uptown soul label Wand in 1963. Brown recorded her best work at Wand, having a string of moderate hits for the label over the next three years. Among these were the Carole King/Gerry Goffin song “Oh No Not My Baby,” which reached number 24 on the pop charts; “It’s Gonna Be Alright”; and the Chuck Jackson duets “Something You Got,” “Hold On I’m Coming,” and “Daddy’s Home.” Part of the reason Brown didn’t receive much exposure is that the label focused much of their attention on Dionne Warwick, leaving Maxine Brown to toil in semi-obscurity. In 1969, she left Wand and signed with Commonwealth United, where she had the minor hits “We’ll Cry Together” and “I Can’t Get Along Without You.” In 1971, she moved to Avco Records, but all of her recordings for the label were ignored and she faded away over the course of the decade.
Brown established herself quite easily through a right place-right time set of events, only to discover how challenging it would be to maintain anything close to the level of what she achieved in 1961, her first full year in music’s major leagues.âThough “All in My Mind” and “Funny,” both of which she had a hand in writing, made for a high-profile introduction to music fans, subsequent single releases were usually composed by more seasoned songwriters but were oddly more of a hard sell. The end result was a full decade of performing for sizeable audiences . . . while occasionally showing up on the national charts. . . .â[B]y the age of nine she and her mother had moved to Queens, New York . . . fle[eing] from her father, who was abusive past the point of tolerance) . . . . She had already begun singing gospel music with three close friends . . . . At 18 Maxine moved to Manhattan and . . . managed to talk her way into a job as a medical stenographer . . . . She joined a Manhattan-based gospel group . . . .â[L]ater, the act went secular and with only two male singers and Maxine, they became The Treys. Leader Fred Johnson suggested a lyric, “Maybe it’s all in my mind,” which Maxine expanded into a full song; after some time had passed, she made a demonstration recording and Fred sent it around, hoping someone might make a “real” recording of it. In the fall of 1960, Tony Bruno, who’d started the Nomar label with financial help from mob members, heard the demo and released it as-is. . . .âBy early 1961, “All in My Mind” . . . was going strong nationally, reached the top 20 on the pop charts and got as high as number two R&B . . . .âThe surprise hit forced Maxine to decide between the security of a job . . . and a career in the . . . music business. . . .â[S]he chose the latter. . . . “Funny” . . . made her two-for-two in the hit department when it climbed into the pop top 30 in April 1961 and R&B top ten in May. . . .â[S]he . . . accepted an offer from ABC-Paramount . . . releasing eight singles there over the next year and a half. .. . [but] nothing made much impact. . . . . Florence Greenberg and Luther Dixon of New York’s Scepter Records had been fans . . . and, in the wake of Dionne Warwickâs . . . breakthrough, figured they could work a similar spell . . . . She signed with the company and appeared on its Wand subsidiary, hitting the charts right off with “Ask Me,” a well-produced vocal tour-de-force. Yet where sales and airplay were concerned, she seemed to hit a barrier not unlike the one that plagued her at ABC. . . . . . .â“Oh No Not My Baby[]â . . . by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. . . . returned her to the top 40 . . . and sent her back to number two R&B . . . . Flo G. matched Maxine with Wand star Chuck Jackson on . . . Something You Got[]â . . . . land[ing] in the R&B top ten, which jump-started a three-year partnership between Chuck and Maxine. . . . 1967 found Miss Brown at the end of her association with Scepter/Wand; when Marvin Gaye’s most popular duet partner Tammi Terrell collapsed onstage in October, Maxine filled in for her during a week’s engagement with Gaye at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. Several sessions that year under Otis Redding’s direction . . . seemed to be leading her towards a contract with Stax/Volt . . . but with Redding’s tragic death in December, those recordings were shelved. . . .â“I Can Get Along Without You” was her chart swan song in April 1970. . . . [S]he decided to expand her skillset by taking acting and dance lessons . . . . [and joined] the Broadway musical Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope . . . .âEventually Maxine left the business . . . . [but then f]ans in England discovered her brilliance as a vocalist and that interest spread to other parts of the world. Maxine Brown resumed performing and just kept on going.
The Vibrations reached #93 with the song (#38 R&B).âRon Wynn writes:
Though never major hitmakers, the Los Angeles-based Vibrations were consistent performers through the ’60s. . . . They began recording as the Jayhawks, then scored a couple of novelty hits performing as the Marathons. Neither “The Watusi” nor “Peanut Butter” were particularly triumphant, but each managed to chart in both the R&B and pop markets. When they became the Vibrations in 1964, they gradually turned to more romantic material, although their first hit, “My Girl Sloopy,” was closer to their previous cuts. They had their last brush with glory in 1968 with the Okeh song “Love in Them There Hills.”
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,046)The Tokens — âAnimalâ
This crazy, wild, frisky song belongs in a zoo or on a Kim Fowley (see #89, 449) album.âWait, is there are difference?âBut an A-side?!âI am not surprised that it flopped!âWikipedia tells us that “In 1968, The Tokens (see #66, 923) released the experimental ‘Animal’ intended to serve as lead single for a self-produced album entitled Intercourse. However, the single flopped and Warner Bros. Records rejected the album due to its uncommercial nature and sexual overtones”. (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tokens)â
As to Intercourse, “Mitch Margo was going through a dark personal period; he then drew on his recovery for the Tokens’ 1968 album, Intercourse, a humanist song-cycle similar to the Beach Boys’ Friends[.”]â(Bob Stanley, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/501HDJBygnrqPLnYgV0Zzzx/the-tokens-and-the-rockin-berries)âMargo “became infatuated with psychedelia, particularly the Beatlesâ horizon-expanding Sgt. Pepperâs Lonely Hearts Club Band and the dreamy Beach Boys harmonies on Pet Sounds. . . . [H]e persuaded his bandmates to follow his lead and record a trippy album titled Intercourse[.]” (Steve Marble, https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-mitch-margo-20171201-story.html)âTom Moon adds that:
The Tokens spent much of the ’60s trying to move away from “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” and doo-wop in general. The five-piece experimented unsuccessfully with folk, and then in 1967, primary songwriter Mitch Margo (dazzled by the horizon-expanding works of The Beach Boys and The Beatles) began working on an attempt at contemporary pop. He wrote breathless torrents of psychedelic imagery . . . and surrounded them with violins and mellotrons as well as guitars. And, crucially, he employed The Tokens’ distinctive harmonies more sparingly.
Though The Tokens are best remembered for their international smash hit âThe Lion Sleeps Tonightâ . . . they did much more⌠[P]roducers, writers, publishers and label owners, they had a long string of hits in all those roles⌠âIntercourseâ is a full on Softpop song cycle, inexplicably turned down by their then-label Warner Brothers, and released in an edition of 200 copies on their own BT Puppy label for contractual reasons⌠[F]ar from their Doo-Wop roots, The Tokens delivered an album pitched somewhere between Pet Sounds and Sergeant Pepper, with all the production and arrangement tricks that implies. . . . [N]o wonder Warnerâs were dumbfounded!⌠and no wonder collectors have been going nuts and paying silly sums for this album ever since!⌠The Tokens show not only every cult Softpop group, but many superstars just how itâs done⌠with the wicked tongue-in-cheek touch which they were justly famous for.
[W]hat we have here is the great lost Tokens album, recorded in 1968 and promptly turned down by Warner Bros. To fill a contractual obligation, a few hundred copies were pressed up â in a slightly altered form â and the album pretty much remained an interesting catalog sighting before its CD-era reissue. What we also have here is a White doo wop group delivering an album that falls somewhere between Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepperâs.âNo wonder Warner didnât know what to make of it; previous attempts by other doo woppers at updating their sound produced some of the most laughable examples that the genre has to offer. But everything on here works in a very organic manner: all of the songs follow a neat continuum and could easily be termed as a humanistic song cycle, each one surrounded by late-â60s Beatlesque production values . . . . Trippy, loopy, and totally of its time, classic doo wop this is not; great, however, it is.
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This proves my point that it doesn’t matter what you sing about. A good rhythm section, an interesting voice and good phrasing and you’ve got magic. “Put the sun in your pocket, the key in the lock and let’s go for a ride…” C’mon, that’s gold!
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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
1,044) Georgie Fame — âGetawayâ
WARNING: If you are from the UK, do not read any further as “Getaway” hit #1! However, it only reached #70 in the U.S. It had “[t]he perfect sound for the emerging summer of love with its carefree mood” (Max Bell, https://www.udiscovermusic.com/artist/georgie-fame/) and is “every bit as good as ‘Yeh Yeh'”. (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) As an extra-special treat, the song is presented with a super-cool video created by a German TV show.
Millie Zeiler says that:
Coming from the album, Sweet Things, âGet Awayâ was a summer of 1966 hit for Georgie Fame as this single topped the UK Singles Chart. It also became a number one hit in Canada, as well as peaking within the top forty official music charts belonging to Australia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden. Originally written as a jingle for a commercial, this song became a big fan favorite not long after it was first released. . . . Immediately after âGet Awayâ was used as a jingle for National Petrol, it was reworked to become a single that would become one of Fameâs signature songs. Between the fast lyrics and brassy instrumentation, this hustling favorite beautifully balanced the world of jazz and rock and roll in what is still regarded as perfect harmony.
I like to think I was named in honor of Georgie Fame (see #103, 169, 634, 695, 721) Hey, my mother used to call me Georgie, and we share the same initials (along with gluten-free items!). If only I were so cool! As Oregano Rathbone has said, â[i]tâs imperative not to trust anyone who doesnât love Georgie Fame, though we canât begin to imagine what kind of monster such a person would have to be.â (https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/whole-worlds-shaking-complete-recordings-1963-66)
As to Georgie, Max Bell says:
Georgie Fame . . . is one of British R&B musicâs founding fathers. . . . [with immense] cultural influence. . . . The black music he championed with his band The Blue Flames brought new sounds to Swinging London and bossed venues like the Flamingo Club and the Marquee where he turned the English mod movement on to a whole bag of soul and authentic US urban and country sounds and also the ska and early reggae he heard in the Jamaican cafes and clubs in the Ladbroke Grove area of London. . . .
Georgie Fameâs swinging, surprisingly credible blend of jazz and American R&B earned him a substantial following in his native U.K., where he scored three number one singles during the â60s. . . . Early in his career, he . . . peppered his repertoire with Jamaican ska and bluebeat tunes, helping to popularize that genre in England; during his later years, he was one of the few jazz singers of any stripe to take an interest in the vanishing art of vocalese, and earned much general respect from jazz critics on both sides of the Atlantic.
[He] depart[ed] to London aged 16 to seek his fortune. He touted his talents up and down the legendary Tin Pan Alley area of Denmark Street just off Soho where he was spotted by impresarios Lionel Bart and Larry Parnes who christened him Georgie Fame â somewhat against his will. Working with touring rock and rollers like Joe Brown, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran young Fame became battle-hardened and was snapped up by Billy Fury in 1961 to lead his backing band The Blue Flames for whom he arranged and sang. The Blue Flames and Fury parted company and so Georgie took over . . . .
The[ Flamesâ] budding reputation landed them a residency at the West End jazz club the Flamingo, and thanks to the American servicemen who frequented the club and lent Fame their records, [Fame] discovered the Hammond B-3 organ, becoming one of the very few British musicians to adopt the instrument in late 1962. From there, the Blue Flames became one of the most popular live bands in London. In 1963, they signed with EMI Columbia, and in early 1964 released their acclaimed debut LP, Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo. It wasnât a hot seller at first, and likewise their first three singles all flopped, but word of the group was spreading. Finally, in early 1965, Fame hit the charts with âYeh Yeh,â . . . . [which] went all the way to number one on the British charts . . . . His 1965 LP Fame at Last reached the British Top 20, and after several more minor hits, he had another British number one with âGetawayâ in 1966. After one more LP with the original Blue Flames, 1966âs Sweet Thing, Fame broke up the band and recorded solo . . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,043)The Kinks — âLavender Hillâ
Turn on, tune in, and drop out Kinks-style.
DJ Stereo Faith tells us:
âLavender Hillâ is a gorgeous, yearning music hall meets psych rarity . . . . Initially recorded during the late â60s, during the We Are The Village Green Preservation Society era, the song did not see light until it was released on the odds ânâ sods collection, The Great Lost Kinks Album in 1973. The song is built around a minor key oboe and harpsichord vamp, a cascade of backing vocals and one of Ray Daviesâ very best lead vocal turns. The song is also helped along by some deeply wistful and poetic lyrics. . . . It remains one of The Kinksâ very best song . . . .
[T]he group recorded a song that was considered to be a follow-up single from . . . the timeless “Waterloo Sunset”: “Lavender Hill”. . . . [P]sychedelic rock reached an apogee during 1967, and with “Lavender Hill” The Kinks recorded an earnest foray into the genre. . . . Despite being shelved in favour of the brilliant “Autumn Almanac” (which reached number 3 in the UK charts in October 1967), “Lavender Hill” is a more-than-worthwhile experiment conducted by a peculiar band at the peak of their powers. Lyrically, Ray Davies hits a poetic and observational note . . . but in a vibrant fashion, depicting a land where the âsun saturates [him] with loveâ, birds âsing sweet melodiesâ, and itâs ultimately run on âsugar and milkâ. . . . Davies channel[s] a spirit of unreality akin to . . . Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his preternatural poetry. His vocals are drenched in reverb and carry the same endearing vulnerability that blessed “Waterloo Sunset”; coupled with the hypnotic melody, Daviesâ performance is a lysergic delight. . . . [T]hereâs no discernable chorus but rather a refrain (âLavender Hill for meâ) that comes at the end of the verses, whilst there are two different bridges into the second verse and eventual outro to the song. There is a peak-and-trough quality that makes the outtake an involved listening experience, almost emulating the euphoria and come-down that comes with indulging in psychedelics. Only in this case, thereâs no sign of existential dread. . . . Avoryâs jazzy and imprecise delivery . . . nicely balances the celestial and soft tones of the songs that are provided by Daviesâ vocals and the angelic backing vocals by Quaiffe, Dave Davies, and Rasa Davies (Rayâs wife would record vocals during this period). The psychedelic aesthetic is perfectly rounded off with the use of the mellotron, which adds a trippy, ethereal edge to the song (if it needed anymore) . . . . “Lavender Hill” . . . has all of the bandâs whimsy packaged into a 3 minute, British, psychedelic expression of . . . a dreamy part of London.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,042)Samantha Jones — âToday Without Youâ
No, not from Sex and the City! This slinky “hideously rare and hard to find but brilliant” (doowopmike, https://www.45cat.com/record/pen703) and unforgettable Brit Girl classic inexplicably failed to become a megahit in the UK. Well, it did win Samantha “the Radio-TĂŠlĂŠ Luxembourg Grand Prix International Song Contest” (https://www.toppermost.co.uk/samantha-jones/) and charted in Belgium and the Netherlands. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Jones_(singer)) The song was produced by ex-Teenage Opera producer Mark Wirtz. Samantha says it “was successful all over the continent. But I absolutely hated it! However, Mark liked it and pushed for its release. And, certainly, when I sang it around Europe everybody loved itâ. (https://www.toppermost.co.uk/samantha-jones/) Wirtz and everbody in Europe were right!
Bruce Eder tells us about Ms. Jones:
A one-time key member of the Vernons Girls, Samantha Jones bidded fair for stardom in her own right in early-’60s England — some think she might even have been a potential rival to Dusty Springfield had things gone right — but somehow she never made the cut. . . . Sheâs distinguished herself among the dozens of women who passed through the ranks of the Vernons Girls and had sung on all of the group’s early-’60s hits for English Decca before exiting in 1964. Jones signed with United Artists . . . . [She] was modestly successful in England despite a powerful voice and great songs to work with, and her magnum opus . . . âI Deserve It[]â . . . compares favorably with the best work of Darlene Love or the Ronettes with Phil Spector, never even got released in the U.K. until 1994. She later scored hits in the category of Northern soul and retreated to more of an MOR style in the 1970s.
[Samantha Jones] is regarded by very many lovers of the 60s Brit Girl genre as one of the very best, and one whose failure to ever dent the British charts is both baffling and unjust. She was born Jean Owen in Liverpool . . . . As the 60s got under way Jean was working in the offices of Jacobâs biscuit factory. She answered an ad in the Liverpool Echo for a girl soprano for a group that did television work. She got the job and the group turned out to be the Vernons Girls who had been regulars on shows like 6.5 Special and Oh Boy! There were around 16 in the group at that time but the company decided to reduce it to a trio, and Jean would eventually find herself recruited to join Maureen Kennedy and Frances Lea. She would emerge as the main lead singer and over the next few years the girls would record several singles for Decca. Released in 1962, âLover Pleaseâ was a great single . . . . In 1964, Jack Good put together a TV special, Around The Beatles, featuring the Fab Four alongside the likes of Cilla Black, P.J. Proby, Millie and Long John Baldry. One musical item was to feature Cilla duetting with Baldry. But . . . as Sam explains . . . . [“]Cilla refused to do it â âitâll spoil me image,â she said . . . . In the show Long John starts singing, and Maureen . . . comes forward through the crowd and sings Lover Please at him. The cameras then cut to me and I move forward towards John and sing Forty Days . . . . That made quite a splash. John Lennon came up to me and said, âYou shouldnât be singing with these girls, you should be singing solo.’â Arranger Charles Blackwell also persuaded her to strike out on her own. . . . She was signed to United Artists and given a new name â Samantha Jones. . . . Singles and albums followed but somehow that British chart hit eluded her. One of her most commercial was 1967âs âSurrounded by a Ray of Sunshine . . . . Towards the end of the sixties, Sam signed with Penny Farthing Records . . . . [Her version of âMy Wayâ] won her a Belgian music festival and reached No.4 on the Dutch charts. She would go on to win first prize in the Sopot International Song Festival in Poland with “He Moves Me” in 1971. Sam continued to record throughout the seventies and early eighties, finally bowing out of the recording scene and embarking on a new life producing shows for cruise ships.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,041)The Petards — âRainbows and Butterfliesâ
Get hoisted by Germanyâs own Petards with this â68 B-side, a pop psych masterpiece and âpsychedelically-propelled opus” (liner notes to the CD comp Electric Sound Show: An Assortment of Antiquities for the Psychedelic Connoisseur). The band recorded the #1 in Germany A-side âin only 30 minutesâ, but todayâs song âneeded 14 hoursâ! (https://www.bear-family.com/petards-the-the-petards-lp-180gram-vinyl.html)
The bandâs website: (courtesy of Google Translate) tells us that:
The Petards were one of the most successful and popular bands of the Beat era in Germany in the 1960s, alongside bands like “The Lords” (see #335) and “The Rattles”. In its founding year in 1966, the original formation of the Petards consisted of Horst and Klaus Ebert, RĂźdiger “Roger” Waldmann and Hans JĂźrgen Schreiber, who was replaced in June 1967 by Arno Dittrich – considered Germany’s best drummer at the time. Arno literally put the listeners into a trance with his solos. With him they won the SWF’s young talent competition. This enabled them to record their first LP âA Deeper Blueâ. Their singles âShoot Me Up To The Moonâ and the follow-up âGolden Glassâ took first place on . . . the SWF hit parade. In 1968 their second LP “Petards” was released with the No. 1 hit “Pretty Liza”. Th[at] year they [also] produced their single âMisty Island,â a sophisticated catchy tune that is still considered a classic of the Beat era. They toured through Germany and gave a few concerts in what was then the [USSR]. . . . In the pop poll survey conducted by the magazine âMusikexpressâ they were voted the âbest young groupâ. Their album reached 5th place in the âLP of the Yearâ evaluation. The group also produced cover LPs under pseudonyms such as ZONK and FLITTERMOUSE, for example with songs from Creedence Clearwater Revival. [Their] third LP âHitshockâ was released in 1970. Appearances on French television and in “Olympia” in Paris followed. Their single âBlue Fire Lightâ made it into the top ten of the French and Belgian charts. The boys also showed their musical versatility when staging a musical (Shakespeare) at the theater in the Hanseatic city of Bremen. As the organizer of the legendary âBurg Herzberg Festival,â the band started a tradition that continues to this day. At the debut in 1970, over 5,000 visitors came to see the stars of progressive German rock from CAN to FRUMPY to AMON DĂĂL II. At the end of 1970, the PETARDS said goodbye to Klaus Ebert, who went to Hamburg as label manager. As a replacement for Klaus, the band chose guitarist Bernd Wippich from 60 applicants, who played an ingenious “Hendrix guitar”. The double album “Pet-Arts” (Favorite Arts) was released at the beginning of 1971 as one of their best and most creative with lovingly sophisticated songs . . . . [O]n September 3, 1972, the Petards unpacked their instruments for the last time in the Western Saloon in Wiesbaden.
The Petards, one of Germanyâs most successful beat-turned-innovative kind of psychedelic rock and pop bands, are absolutely marvelous musicians! . . . Having its origins in Schrecksbach, located in the Schwalm-Eder District in the State of Hesse, The Petards (whose name is derived from the French for âbullfrog,â* making the German name Die KnallfrĂśsche an alternate name for the group) were the brainchild of two guitar-playing brothers, Horst and Klaus Ebert. Before The Petards . . . Horst and Klaus formed . . . The Magic Stompers, who were more of Dixieland and Skiffle styles, complete with cover songs. After The Petards were formed, they literally kicked things off by recording the ear-slaying, distortion-fueled garage rock of âBaby Run Run Run,â before producing more Beatlesque tunes such as the awesomeness that is âRight Time.â Note that the shrillness of the bandâs early, garage rock-focused sound had actually caused them to be taken to court in Treysa for disturbing the peace! They even played a concert before the judge! The music of The Petards is a sonic dinner of multiple courses, consisting of songs in the manner of garage rock, beat, pop rock, psychedelia, hard rock and even prog. The bandâs more poppier, light-hearted side is found in songs such as their first major hit single, âShoot Me Up to the Moon,â as well as âGolden Glassâ and âMisty Island.â On the flip side of that coin, they were able to produce more guitar-focused, hard rocking material on tracks such as âKeep On,â âStone By Now,â âGood Good Donna.â . . .
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,040) Iron Butterfly — âSo Loâ
Heavy metal founding fathers Iron Butterfly’s first LP is appropriately titled Heavy. Yet it contained this lovely ditty â âCLA-HA-HA-HAS-IC!! one of a kind. unique. dark, happy, spooky, in a psychic tongue-in-cheek and merry wayâŚâ. (starcloud49595, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-6cGbHKC934&pp=ygUUSXJvbiBodXR0ZXJmbHQgc28gbG8%3D)
Andrija Babovic writes that:
When Iron butterfly started playing the club circuit in â66, there had never been anything that sounded like them. Dubbed âheavy metalâ, Butterfly both directly and indirectly influenced more bands than arguably anyone else. . . . Heavy is essentially revolutionary . . . and it reflects the roots of hard rock. This album is definitely the âmust haveâ LP for . . . those who just want to hear how heavy music started its development 45 years ago.
[Heavy] introduced the band’s dense sound fusing hard rock and psychedelia with a set of original songs plus a reimagining of Allen Toussaint’s “Get Out of My Life Woman.” While three-fifths of the band left after that debut, Heavy nonetheless began Iron Butterfly on a journey
Heavy makes good as a mighty impressive introduction to the band. As the title of the album so openly announces, Iron Butterfly was keen on targeting their music at the burgeoning underground audience of the day. Playing sweet pop little tunes geared for commercial radio was not the bandâs motive . . . . Iron Butterfly really had their act together on this album, with each and every entry sporting memorable qualities. . . . Ambitious and enterprising, Heavy is regularly cited as one of the first authentic heavy metal albums. . . . Unified songwriting, strengthened by crack arrangements and some pretty fierce melodies, cause the record to be a brash and brain-twisting collection of sounds that flip back to a time when rules were meant to be broken in rock and roll. And in most instances, as is the case with âHeavy,â in the end a stunning piece of music was created.
The heavy, psychedelic acid rock of Iron Butterfly may seem dated to some today, but the group was one of the first hard rock bands to receive extensive radio airplay, and their best-known song, the 17-minute epic “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” established that more extended compositions were viable entries in the radio marketplace, paving the way for progressive AOR. The track was written by vocalist, organist, and bandleader Doug Ingle who formed thefirst incarnation of Iron Butterfly in 1966 in San Diego with drummer Ron Bushy. After the group moved to Los Angeles and played the club scene, they secured a recording contract and got national exposure through tours with the Doors and Jefferson Airplane. Following the release of their 1968 debut album, Heavy, original members Jerry Penrod (bass), Darryl DeLoach (vocals), and Danny Weis (guitar) left the band and were replaced by guitarist Erik Braunn and bassist Lee Dorman. Weis went on to join Rhinoceros. The new lineup recorded In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida later that year, which sold four million copies and spent over a year in the Top Ten. . . . A shortened version of the title track, which contained extended instrumental passages with loud guitars and classical/Eastern-influenced organ, plus a two-and-a-half-minute drum solo, reached number 30 on the singles charts. The follow-up album, Ball, showed greater musical variety and went gold, but it also marked the beginning of the band’s decline. Braunn left the group and was replaced by guitarists Mike Pinera and Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt, but the band’s success was largely over. Iron Butterfly broke up in 1971 . . . .
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As to MĂłdulosâ early years (they broke up in â79), Aloha Picky tells us that (courtesy of Google Translate):
Within the sound fauna of rock in Spain at the end of the 60s there were forgettable emulators of the most significant groups of the British Invasion, with a special predilection for imitating the first compositions of the Beatles . . . . [T]he Modules [was] led by the great singer Pepe Robles. They both established themselves as pioneers of psychedelic and progressive music in the Peninsula, with writing in the style of groups such as: Vanilla Fudge/The Nice/Procol Harum/Gentle Giant . . . . As in extensions of pop songs with high quality melodies that express his homage to the Beatles, his favorite band, the Hollies or the Californian vocal groups, and baroque cuts, beautifully arranged and produced that are so reminiscent of the wonders of Left Bankeâs baroque popas to the classical compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach. All of this was executed in a splendid manner, however they were excellent instrumentalists, with significance for the omnipresent keyboards of TomĂĄs BohĂłrquez and the guitar of Robles, one of the best vocalists in the history of rock music in Spanish who impregnates his songs with heartbreak a captivating sad and melancholic tone. The Modules arose in Madrid in 1969, when the singer and guitarist Pepe Robles . . . who was also in charge of playing bongos and playing wind instruments, such as the flute or the oboe . . . was requested by the producer of the Hispavox label . . . impressed by his talent . . . to lead a new musical group.
Abraham says (at the Spanish Progressive Rock Encyclopedia site â so you know itâs authoritative!) (courtesy of Google Translate) that:
Modulos was an extraordinaire band formed in 1969, unfortunately too late for the classic rock of the 60âs and when the spanish labels were not decided for supporting the winds of change coming from the outside. Modulos created an own and distinctive sound without loosing the commercial punch . . . . In their sound they mixed the inherence of 60sâ spanish pop espaĂąol with the intensity of Vanilla Fudge, the Cantatas of J. S. Bach or the delicious touch of Le Orme. That exceptional band was formed up by Pepe Robles, singer of a very large register, composer and remarkable guitarist. The rhythm section was for other two talented players: Emilio Bueno on bass and G. Reyzabal on drums and also on violin. Finally the chief on Hammond was Tomas Bohorque, howling like never heard before. In addition he played accordion and triangle, providing a characteristic âclincâ. . . . Innovative and avant-garde, they take care of their sound to the maximum. They were very professional (the first having an office in Madrid). Their first presentation was prepared until the smallest details. But that was never recognised. Too hard for their time, with too weak words compared to those of bands caming later. Their influences could be found in bands like Vanilla Fudge, Cream, Young Rascals, Italian progressives and lately Yes, but their hippism led them also to the west coast bands. They were pionneers and really good. Not an usual band. Their first three singles become hits but it was their first LP their actual âhitâ. . . . Pure velvet, round in shape and content. For the first time in Spain a band gave more importance to the Long Play than to the singles. No one can miss hearing it.
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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,038)Washington DCs — âAny Timeâ
A Liverpool band named the Washington DCs? Well, I’m just glad they didn’t burn down the White House as a publicity stunt. If they’d been managed by Andrew Loog Oldham, they probably would have!
“Ring me anytime, love me anytime, I’m your anytime boy”. Uh, you should have hooked up with Billy Nicholl’s “day time, night timĐľ, rag time girl”! (see #964)
As to the DCs:
A Liverpool band [which] sign[ed] to Ember in the early Sixties. After some considerably mediocre beat for Ember, the band started to shine after signing with CBS in 1966. CBS issued two singles . . . including their famed “Seek and Find” single before finally calling it a day. Miki Dallon stepped in two years later and issued their final single “I’ve Done It All Wrong” b/w “Any Time” on Domain records in 1968. . . . [T]his was easily their strongest, but failed to lift the band any further. Roger Saunders and Walter Monaghan teamed up with Bobby Harrison to form a revised line-up of progressive psych legends, Freedom in 1970.
liner notes to the CD comp Piccadilly Sunshine: Volumes 11-20: A Compendium of Rare Pop Curios from the British Psychedelic Era
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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
1,037) Andwella â âShe Taught Me to Loveâ
This number from Northern Ireland’s Andwella (see #714, 770) starts off with a Paul McCartney/Wings sort of vibe and then blossoms into a grand 70’s-sounding power ballad. How it is not on heavy rotation at every remaining classic rock radio station is just beyond me. At least it starred in a Guccicommercial and on Netflix’s Locke & Key a few years back. Too little too late!
Andwellaâs â then Andwellaâs Dream â first album is their most âfamousâ (among collectors). The âstunning debut LP âLove & Poetryâ . . . captures the moment when psychedelia was at the point of splintering into progressive and acid folk.â (https://www.irishrock.org/irodb/bands/andwella.html) Well, Philip Chevron â yes, of the Pogues â says that the band’s third album Peopleâs People is âeven better . . . . By th[is] time . . . [Belfast’s David Lewis] was at the top of his game, with a new maturity to his voice which gave added conviction to the material.â (liner notes to the CD reissue of Love and Poetry). I agree!
Of People’s People, the Numero Group says:
Peopleâs People finds David Lewis and his band of freewheelers stripping their sound down to the essentials. Emerging from the psychedelic haze, the trio find themselves at a crossroads of American southern rock and a pastoral English countryside and deliver an album with booming harmonies and transcendental hooks that could go head-to-head with The Band or The Allman Brothers. The final chapter in the Andwella story has all the makings of a classic LP, and if not for the Reflection labelâs own chaotic dissolution around the time of the release, it probably would have been . . . .
Now things weren’t too good for Andwella. Two albums of musical brilliance have been recorded and released with miserable sales and clearly something was gonna change and the musical climate was changing anyway. . . . The guitar flies out the window. So do dark progressive influences and psychedelic brain blasters. A friendly, pastoral, melodic, and song based album of very pleasant music and great lyrics is what lies in store for you . . . . Right off the album starts with one of their best songs in the soul influenced “She Taught Me To Love” and there’s not one weak track on the album, but I miss the soaring smashing guitar pyrotechnics and energy of the first two making the third a very different listening experience. Some songs sound like attempts at a hit single, but none of the emotional power is thrown out this is just the most introverted and most commercial of the three albums. . . . I can’t believe it didn’t work out better for the brilliant songs of David Lewis. He’d written three albums worth of greats and classics, but the record sales were poor again. Not surprisingly it was the last album. I feel very sad for Andwella. This album is beautiful. It isn’t quite as good as the first two or maybe it is. I leave that for my mood swings to decide. When I want to smile and relax I put PEOPLES PEOPLE on. When I want to fly out into a completely different world I put the first two on, but one thing can’t be denied- there’s a vision here and it’s a powerful one.
David Wells gives us some background on Andwella and David Lewis:
[Andwella was] primarily a vehicle for the varied talents of pianist, guitarist, songwriter and singer David Lewis. . . . Something of a child prodigy, Belfast-born Lewis had been writing songs since he was eight years old . . . by the age of 12 he was performing as a singer on various Northern Ireland TV shows. However, the Andwellaâs Dream story really starts when he formed a Cream-style blues group, the Method . . . . [which] built up a bit of a following, and by March 1968 their leader was named alongside the likes of Rory Gallagher . . . in a Top 20 popularity poll of Irelandâs favorite rock and pop musicians. Flushed with such attention, the Method decided to move to London and try their luck . . . . Changing their name to Andwellaâs Dream, they began to make the transition from covers to original material . . . .
Record Collector: 100 Greatest Psychedelic Records: High Times and Strange Tales from Rockâs Most Mind-Blowing Era
Philip Chevron adds:
Irish radio in the 60s . . . took money â in the legitimate enough form of sponsored programming â to play cover version records by Irish showbands, a handful of them sublime, the rest truly awful. The showbands were a genuine phenomenon. In a rural culture which was still hooking itself up the the electrical grid in that era and in which not even television had yet made a major impact, the better showbands could draw three to five thousand people every day of the week, in enormous dancehalls . . . . In this climate, it took guts for a musician not to be in a showband. Van Morrison and Rory Gallagher were the two most celebrated defectors but there were dozens more . . . . Britain and America aspired to an underground counter-culture, but Irish blues and rock was so involuntarily underground it was positively subterranean. . . . The more significant bands made this transition well. One such was Dave Lewisâs group The Method who . . . came out of the hub of the Maritime Hotel in Belfast . . . .
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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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Celeste,” the closing track on Donovan’s 1966 Sunshine Superman album, is perhaps the singer’s most unjustly underrated track. . . .
[Itâs] the natural climax to the Sunshine Superman album’s pioneering blend of rock, classical, and folk instrumentation. The main instrumental hook of “Celeste” is the first sound you hear: a wavering two-note, incantational tone combining the timbres of strings, reeds, and guitars. The sweetly crooned verses, in which Donovan excels at stretching out certain syllables for emphasis, seem to be mixing a paean to both a physical lover and to a muse that visits the singer/songwriter for inspiration. For 1966, it was an unusual ambiguously seductive lyric of the mystical kind that George Harrison would, later in the 1960s with the Beatles and in his early ’70s solo career, also explore from time to time. The melody weaves through an extremely attractive assortment of major and minor keys with unhurried ease. A sympathetic sitar, usually in the background but never used as a lead instrument, adds a suitable hint of Middle Eastern delights. Particularly lush and wondrous is the instrumental break, which provides the title for the song. For the word “Celeste” is not sung, but it’s a celeste* that becomes the lead instrument during that intermission.
* In fact, the name Celeste doesnât appear in the lyrics. âAn actual celeste â per the songâs title â makes its appearance around the 2:06 mark. Unlike a piano, the celeste (also known as celesta) employs its hammers to strike metal keys, not strings.â (Zero to 180, https://www.zeroto180.org/celeste-makes-a-tinkly-sound/).
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.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,035) Copperpenny — âCastles of Sandâ
Before they hit it big in Canada, Ontarioâs Copperpenny gave us this charming baroque pop number off its first LP. It is not Little Stevie Wonderâs âCastles in the Sandâ or Jimi Hendrixâs âCastles Made of Sandâ!
As to CP, John Bush writes:
In 1965, vocalist Kenny Hollis and keyboard player Rich Wamil formed a band, first known as the Penny Farthings. The Ontario-based duo changed their name to Copperpenny in 1966 and gradually added members Blake Barrett (drums), Ron Hiller (bass) and Bill Mononen (guitar). Canadian hits for Columbia (“Nice Girl”) and RCA (“Stop [Wait a Minute]”) followed in the late ’60s, along with a self-titled 1970 album. Copperpenny signed to a subsidiary of London Records in 1973 and released “You’re Still the One,” the single that put the band on the map. Sittin’ on a Poor Man’s Throne was also issued in 1973. Copperpenny signed with Capitol in 1975 and released The Fuse Album . . . one year later.
The band was formed in 1965 while the British Invasion had been in full force, and so naming the group “The Penny Farthings” (most likely taken from the name of a Yorkville, Toronto, coffeehouse), didn’t sound like such a bad idea. It was wisely changed to “Copperpenny” (or “Copper Penny” as shown on many of their singles), the following year. . . . “Baby Gives Me Everything” and “Beezel Bug” never charted, but in between, “Nice Girl” made an appearance at number 77 on the Canadian weekly RPM 100 Singles chart. Unfortunately, the pop-flavoured releases weren’t successful enough for Columbia to justify spending any additional effort . . . and so the group was dropped. Picking up the ball was Jack Richardson. His Nimbus 9 production company had recently signed a deal with RCA Victor to distribute a new project with The Guess Who, consisting of the Wheatfield Soul album and the smash single, “These Eyes.” After a second Guess Who LP was out of the way, Richardson took Copperpenny to RCA’s recording facility in Chicago to record ten songs. Rich Wamil . . . handled keyboards and lead vocals; Kenny Hollis . . . also sang lead vocals; Vern (Laverne) McDonald . . . played lead guitar; Bert Hamer looked after drums and percussion; and Paul Reibling played bass, but was soon replaced by ex-Rain member, Ron Hiller . . . . Wamil and McDonald also wrote all of the band’s material. The songs were described by Walt Grealis of RPM Weekly Magazine, as “bubblegum or heavy rock[.]” The first single from Copperpenny’s self-titled album was “Just A Sweet Little Thing,” a ray of sunshine pop in 1969. It didn’t chart, and neither did the grittier follow-up, “I’ve Been Hurt Before.” But eventually, the album’s best song, “Stop (Wait A Minute),” cracked the top 100 on the strength of a catchy chorus when Hollis and Wamil trade lead vocals. The song received a lot of airplay in Southern Ontario and kept Copperpenny on the road for most of the year, with the band occasionally opening for The Guess Who or The Five Man Electrical Band. Closing the 1970 debut album was “Stop The World,” a psychedelic track that lasted just under 9 minutes and finished with an explosion followed by the sound of a toilet flushing. . . . Although RCA widened its distribution of Copperpenny’s 1970 album into the U.S., the LP didn’t sell very well. The group was also barely getting by financially, so it’s not surprising then that within a couple years, only Wamil and Hollis remained from the original line-up. . . .
Highschool friends Ken Hollis and Rich Wamil began jamming together in the garage in 1965, and formed their first group, Penny Farthings soon after. Adopting a name they felt reflected the British Invasion they were hearing on the airwaves, they soon became staples around the Kitchener, Ontario area. Members came and went over the next few years, but with Hollis on vocals and Wamil on keyboards and vocals, the lineup by â68 also featured guitarist Vern McDonald, Paul Reibling on bass, and drummer Bert Hamer. While writing some material, they shopped some demos around while pounding the streets, eventually catching the attention of execs at Columbia. The first thing the label did was suggest a name change, so Copperpenny was born . . . . By that summer, theyâd recorded some material, and three tracks were picked as singles over the next few months â âBaby Gives Me Everythingâ . . . followed shortly after by âNice GiRL” . . . and âBeezel Bugâ . . . . None shook the worldâs foundations, nor did they live up to the expectations of some of Columbiaâs staff, although âNice Girlâ did make it to #77 on the Canadian RPM chart. This was despite label brass putting little or no effort into promotions . . . . They hooked up with RCA Records and went into the studios in Chicago with famed producer Jack Richardson (Guess Who, among a million others). While finishing up work on their upcoming debut album, they continued playing gigs, highlighted by an opening slot for Led Zeppelin in Kitchener. Their self-titled debut album was in the stores in the spring of 1970, and RCA and Richardsonâs Nimbus 9 both released singles. But the lollipop melody of âJust A Sweet Little Thingâ and the grittier âIâve Been Hurt Beforeâ both failed to chart. But the final single, âStop (Wait A Minute)â cracked the top 100, fuelled by Wamil and Hollis trading lead vocals on the song. It got good airplay in the GTA and throughout southern Ontario. With âStop (Wait a Minute)â getting decent airplay in the Detroit market, thanks to southern Ontario radioâs support, RCA was encouraged to widen its distribution into the US, but the album still failed to make a dent. Also featured was the psychedelic âStop The World,â a nine minute epic that when added to the rest of the album, had the critics totally baffled as to what direction the band was going was. The band kept on the road for the better part of a year, opening for the likes of The Guess Who and 5 Man Electrical Band. Throughout â71 the band continued to tour while writing their own material. But by the following summer, only Hollis and Wamil remained from the original lineup, due in part to what some members claimed to be financial mismanagement, where their manager Dick Wending kept a reported 51% of all bookings and recording deals.
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.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,034)Lea Riders Group — âDom Kallar Oss Modsâ/”They Call Us Modsâ
From one of âthe most powerful rhythm & blues based Swedish 60’s bands” comes this ’68 B-side and title track to the Swedish flick of the same name. It is a “towering 1968 psych masterpiece” (Swedish Progg Blog, http://swedishprogg.blogspot.com/2018/08/made-in-sweden-complete-albums-1968-1970.html?m=1), â[I]nspired psychedelic madnessâ that is the band’s “shining moment . . . with a grinding guitar riff and birdcall blasts of guitar distortion backing the garbled English-Swedish lyrics of failure and alienationâ (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-lea-riders-group-mn0000788055#biography), “[a] free form freakout stepped in guitar . . . . with a few seconds of chill out strings for a closer and voila, Iâll have a pint of whatever these critters are on, thank you very muchâŚâ. (Lindsay Hutton, liner notes to the CD comp Searchinâ for Shakes: Swedish Beat 1965-1968)
As early as 1961, Hawkey FranzĂŠn together with two friends formed the band Red River Band . . . . More members were added and after 1963 they called themselves Lea Riders Group. Many members came and went, but the founder and frontman Hawkey FranzĂŠn was always in the band. After playing at schools and party places . . . the band got the chance in 1966 to play in Stockholm. There, they quickly made a name for themselves . . . . A number of singles were recorded and released by Philips. They . . . got to record some of the film music for Dom kallar oss mods. . . . In mid-1968, several of the members felt that gigs and altercations did not lead the group forward, and the group disbanded in May of that year. Out of the ashes of Lea Riders Group, Made in Sweden was formed shortly afterwards . . . .
The Lea Riders Group weren’t the best Swedish band of the ’60s, but in a field crowded by imitators of British Invasion acts, they were one of the most original. Nothing else they did was nearly up to that level of inspired psychedelic madness [of “Dom Kallar Oss Mods”], although they did release five singles between 1966 and 1968 (all of their other songs were entirely in English). Guitarist and singer Hawkey Franzen wrote virtually all of their material, which pursued a jagged rock-blues line and some petulantly rebellious lyrics . . . . A pretty strange group in the context of mid-’60s Sweden. . . .
The first in Stefan Jarl’s Mods Trilogy, the film documents the life of two teenagers, Kenta and Stoffe. With interviews from the two boys and their friends about their hedonistic lifestyle, and what their future holds, the film explores the highs and lows of mod life in 1960s Stockholm, Sweden.
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.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity* define Swinging London for me. “Sadly short-lived, but the combination of Driscoll’s vocals and sex appeal and Augerâs musicanship was stunning for a while.” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited)
“Auger is one of the truly great Hammond slingers to come out of the UK in the 60s . . . . [He] wasnât any run-of-the-mill organ grinder hammering out blues riffs with his elbows either. His roots were in jazz and he had the chops to bring the heat. . . . [JDBAT] created a grip of enduring dance floor classics, melding jazz, R&B, beat and psychedelia”. (Larry, https://funky16corners.com/?p=2674)
For a brief moment in time, ‘Jools’ became ‘The Face’ of Swinging London. And what a face — huge eyes with dark shadow and long, long lashes dominated the heart-shaped, pale-lipped visage of this arresting beauty. Needing no unnecessary adornment, she wore her hair close-cropped and moved with a spider’s shadowy grace under layers of chiffon and feather boa. Her deep voice was just as captivating and the detached way she deployed her vocals added to the mystique.
Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth
Of course, Driscoll’s re-recording of “This Wheel’s on Fire” as the theme song to Absolutely Fabulous, but did you know that three songs from JDBAT’s ’67 debut LP Open resulted in four absolutely fabulous music videos, surely the greatest of all pre-MTV videos? Well, they did and I feature them all today, cause whatever I choose is cool because I am cool!
“Idea was a television special starring the Bee Gees with Brian Auger and The Trinity, Julie Driscoll and Lil Lindfors. It was aired on 11 December 1968 on Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen] ZDF. It was directed by Jean-Christophe Averty. Belgian artist Guy Peellaert provided art direction. This special was intended to promote their new album Idea on French television. The Bee Gees performed ten songs from their Horizontal and Idea LPs.
Of this Open track and ’68 B-side (France) (that did not feature Driscoll) and the accompanying video:
“What the Hell! This mind blowing!!! What music – what a video – 1968?! This has to be one the best things ever heard and seen on You Tube/what a gem !!!!!!” (gnjp8340, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1nmBJwmQy4)
âBlack Cat” is where [Open] REALLY comes to life and hits you straight between the eyes. It’s a storming Jazz rocker with Brian Auger taking lead vocals. This is where Brian Auger gets to display his amazing dexterity on the Hammond organ with some incredible keyboard runs. His fingers literally fly over the keys like lightning on the . . . video that accompanies this barn-storming song. This song is no timid ‘Black Cat’. No, this is a growling black panther which leaps out at you and grabs your attention right from the first blast from Auger’s powerful Hammond organ.” (Psyechedelic Paul, http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3300#reviews)
“Auger wasn’t much of a vocalist, but he could dig deep and get the emotion out of a song — especially in a funky number like ‘Black Cat,’ which featured a killer though uncredited studio horn section. ” (Thom Jurek, https://www.allmusic.com/album/open-mw0000205733)
“‘Black Cat’ is a positively storming, monster of a tune, with a vocal by Auger (not all that common), heavy horn chart and some absolutely fiery Hammond action. . . . [I]t has more than enough momentum for the dancers (itâd fit right in if anyone ever decided to do a recreation of Swinging London right, Iâm giving you the stink eye Austin Powers).” (Larry, https://funky16corners.com/?p=2674)
Here Brian Auger & the Trinity and the Molly Dancers perform on West Germany’s Beat Club:
Here it is in Italiano!:
Here are Spainâs Los Dixieâs with a cool â68 cover:
1,032) Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity — “Break It Up”
“Probably the greatest 60’s music video. . . . Years ahead of its time. Yes, the “Season of the Witch” video has an awesome set. It just drags a bit in length . . . and, in my opinion, is a rather underwhelming cover. Now, “Black Cat” I had neither heard before nor seen its video â and, wow! Yes, incredibly visually dynamic for its time. For me, it’s a tie between “Cat” and “Break.” This video, to me, is the best overall package â the strongest song with strong visuals.” (jeremyr.3180, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X__eAdLX1UY&list=PL_TaS3ukydpI4xuEvGkasrIajJW0P3bjw&index=6)
“This one is very nice . . . but to me lacks the spark of genius of Cat (the sliding perspective in the white room making it look like musicians are zooming around) or the raw manpower of Witch (a huge set constructed with many very specific effects in mind).” (lqr824, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X__eAdLX1UY)
“A warped Big Ben chime then introduces the Booker T/Stax influenced Break It Up, which really should be kept a secret from the samplers. Driscoll’s vocals sound more assured with this original number, going into Aretha Franklin territory in style, if not spirit. The vocal improvisations intertwine well with the piano, and the fadeout comes all too soon.” (Certif1ed, https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=17035)
1,033) Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity — “Season of the Witch”
As to this Open track and ’68 A-side (France) and its two fab videos:
“One day, I will reach Queen Witch levels this powerful. In honor of Halloween and the Season of the Witch, I present the indomitable JULIE F*CKING DRISCOLL, babes!” (Delia Celeste, https://face.gta.world/posts/419387)
“[T]he real highlight of the album . . . a song originally co-written and recorded by Scottish songsmith Donovan in 1966 and also famously covered by Vanilla Fudge . . . . This is spooky bedknobs and broomsticks music to listen to under a full moon on the night of Halloween with a glowing hollowed-out pumpkin for company, although in reality, the song is probably no more scary than a box of Black Magic chocolates.” (Psychedelic Paul, http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3300#reviews)
“A reading of Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” that single-handedly established [Driscoll’s] reputation as a vocalist of great interpretative ability and emotional dexterity. Almost eight minutes in length, it is the perfect interplay for the quartet with its dark, smoky swirling energy and extant soul groove, and capos the album on a high note, making it a delightful precursor to the classic Streetnoise which was to follow.” (Thom Jurek, https://www.allmusic.com/album/open-mw0000205733)
Finally, Matthew Greenwald:
The final selection on the brilliant and underrated Open album, [JDBAT’s] reading of Donovan’s classic “Season of the Witch” fits the band’s jazzy/psychedelic threat like a glove. Taken at an even slower tempo than the author’s original, the song meanders around a downtempo, soul-intensified groove. Featuring both Julie Driscoll’s dark, soulful vocals and Brian Auger’s evocative Hammond organ, this song focuses on the band’s strongest overall vibe, to great effect. A slightly disturbing, dissonant, and powerful harmony vocal section in the middle of the song adds to the overall Halloween vibe and give the listener an even more accurate picture of the darkness that was already at hand throughout the counterculture movement. Cut at approximately the same time as the excellent Al Kooper/Stephen Stills version to be found on Super Session, one of these covers most likely influenced the other in terms and mood and feel.
Here is the utterly fab video of the song from the Norwegian TV special Groovy:
Here is all of Groovy:
Here is a live performance:
As to Julie Driscoll, Jason Ankeny tells us:
As a teen [she] oversaw the Yardbirdsâ fan club, and it was the group’s manager and producer Giorgio Gomelsky who encouraged her to begin a performing career of her own. In 1963 she issued her debut pop single “Take Me by the Hand,” two years later joining the short-lived R&B combo Steampocket alongside Rod Stewart . . . John Baldry and organist Brian Auger. After [it] dissolved, Driscoll signed on with the Brian Auger Trinity, scoring a Top Five UK hit in 1968 with their rendition of Bob Dylanâs âThis Wheel’s on Fire.” Dubbed “The Face” by the British music press, Driscoll’s striking looks and coolly sophisticated vocals earned her flavor of the month status, and she soon left Auger for a solo career. Her debut solo album 1969 heralded a significant shift away from pop, however, enlisting members of the Soft Machine and Blossom Toes to pursue a progressive jazz direction. Also contributing to the record was pianist Keith Tippett, whose avant garde ensembles Centipede and Ovary Lodge Driscoll soon joined. She and Tippert were later married, and she took her new husband’s name, also recording as Julie Tippetts. With her 1974 solo masterpiece Sunset Glow, she further explored improvisational vocal techniques in settings ranging from folk to free jazz. Two years later, [she] joined with Maggie Nicols, Phil Minton and Brian Ely to form the experimental vocal quartet Voice . . . .
As to the breakup with Brian Auger & Trinity, Driscoll explains:
“I suppose, I had a lot to get off my chest really[. ] But as we were doing a lot of travelling, I would have my guitar with me. I bought myself a Martin in New York, which I still have and which I love, and I started writing a lot of material[.] I was always searching for my identity. I think it was almost inevitable that the songs I was writingâbecause they were based on the guitar âwould take on a different life. I suppose with hindsight, I was pulling in another direction. But I have to make this clear, it was not because I didn’t love the work I was doing with Brian Auger and the Trinity. I loved it and I would love it to this day. Brian had found what he wanted to do and he perfected that. Whereas, I really needed to find something else.”
[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 ’60s 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 brother’s 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 “New Star” and “Jazz Piano” in a reader’s 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, Auger’s 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 Auger’s manager, Giorgio Gomelsky), but they didn’t attract attention on record until the release of their single “This Wheel’s on Fire,” (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 didn’t think it would last; instead, it became his perennial band name. . . . Their initial LP, Brian Auger’s 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 . . . . Meanwhile, Auger had moved to the U.S. in 1975, eventually settling in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Open has been unfairly characterized as a kind of groove jazz rip, one that combines Wes Montgomery, Jimmy McGriff, and the rock sensibilities of the psychedelic era. Whatever. There are many tracks here, from deep grooved funky jazz to lilting ballads and greasy blues numbers and the skronky exotica number “Goodbye Jungle Telegraph.” Auger may not have been as gifted an organist as Alan Price technically, but he could more than hold his own on the Hammond B-3 (as evidenced by the first two tracks here which are instrumentals, “In And Out” and “Isola Nate”). He was also able to pull more sounds out of the instrument than any of his peers.
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.
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,030) Ralph McTell — âBright and Beautiful Thingsâ
Dare I feature a wisp of a song whose lyrics are based on the nursery rhyme âLittle Miss Muffettâ (at least until they take an unexpected turn)? I do dare, especially since the song is by Ralph âStreets of Londonâ McTell (see #907) and has the most beguiling and gorgeous melody. If you donât like it, you can sue me in folk court! And I just might play Paul McCartney’s “Mary Had a Little Lamb” to boot!
Mark Deming delves into Ralph McTell:
Best remembered for writing the classic and much-covered song âStreets of London,â Ralph McTell is one of the most enduring figures on the British folk scene. A talented guitarist and songwriter who also possesses a strong and expressive voice, McTell has enjoyed a long and successful career in the U.K . . . [but] heâs only attracted a cult following in the United States . . . . Early efforts such as Spiral Staircase [from which today’s song is drawn] . . . were the foundation of [his] reputation with his often witty and just as frequently poignant songwriting and warm, rich vocals. . . . [I]n the â80s he scored unexpected success composing music for childrenâs television . . . .
McTell was born Ralph May in Farnborough, Kent, England . . . . Ralphâs father Frank McTell . . . abandoned the family in 1947, and Winifred McTell raised her sons . . . on her own in the South London town of Croydon. Frank showed an interest in music at an early age, and when he was seven, his uncle gave him a harmonica and he learned to play. When the skiffle boom hit the U.K., Ralph bought a used ukulele and . . . quickly taught himself to play and formed a band. . . . [When he] had grown tired of school he] signed up for the Junior Leaders Battalion of The Queenâs Surrey Regiment. Military life proved even worse than education, and after six months he was discharged and he enrolled in college, studying art. . . . McTell immersed himself in beat literature and American folk, jazz, and blues music. . . . [H]e took his cues from Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Robert Johnson, and Blind Willie McTell, taking his new stage name from the latter. . . . [H]e took off to travel along the south coast of England and the rest of Europe, where he made his way around hitchhiking and busking. . . . [He] tried out a conventional career as a teacher but continued playing folk clubs around London. He began a long tenure at Les Cousins in the Soho section of the city and there he began to make a name for himself. A music publisher was impressed by McTellâs early songs and secured a recording deal for him. His first album, 8 Frames a Second, was released . . . in 1968; Capitol Records issued it in North America, to little response. . . . McTell began attracting a large audience as a live act, mixing vintage blues and original material in his sets. In 1969, McTell issued his second album, Spiral Staircase (which featured his first recording of âStreets of Londonâ), with the third, My Side of Your Window, following several months later. . . . [I]n December [1969 he] was headlining his first major London concert. . . . [and i]n May 1970[ he] sold out the Royal Festival Hall and was booked to play the Isle of Wight Festival . . . .
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
1,029) Los Vidrios Quebrados — âUna Manera de Vivirâ/”A Way of Living”
Los Vidrios Quebrados (The Broken Glass) (see #763) are âunanimously considered as the great lost band of Chilean rock and, along with Los Macâs [see #123, 203] . . . the prime movers of psychedelic rock in the country”. (liner notes to the CD reissue of Fictions). They give us an infectious number âabout the break with the aspirations of [their] parents (“I love poetry and music and I don’t want the plans they have”) (Marisol Garcia, CanciĂłn Valiente: 1960-1989 Tres Decadas de Canto Social y Politico en Chile/ Brave Song: 1960-1989 Three Decades of Social and Political Song in Chile) (courtesy of Google Translate)) that opens with the riff from the Hombres’ “Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)”!
The liner notes elaborate:
In a list of the pioneers of Chilean psychedelic rock music, it is impossible to omit the [band]. They are among the most important band in this musical style to emerge from Latin America during the 1960s. [It had] just one single, âFriendâ . . . and one album, âFictionsâ (1967) . . . . A love of the Beatles, the Kinks, Yardbirds, and the Byrds united three of its members, who studied law at the Catholic University. . . . [Juan Mateo OâBrien, guitarist and lyricist, notes that] âOddly, we sang in English and had a Spanish name, whereas the other groups had English names and sang in Spanish. Everything with us was the other way around from the norm in the Chilean musical atmosphere.[â] . . . The band obtained a recording contract at their first public appearance as Los Vidrios Quebrados, in a festival of the Catholic University, in 1965. . . . [OâBrien says that] âAt our first concert, we played three songs and we had a record contract!â
liner notes to Fictions
OâBrien notes that âwe were young university students, we were very arrogant, arrogant and smug. We made music that we felt was ahead of the times, with a very high vision of ourselves.â (https://soloartistaschilenos.cl/?p=17569)
And band member HĂŠctor SepĂşlveda recalls that:
Los Vidrios Quebrados began in 1965 at the Catholic Law School. . . . We started with instruments made by ourselves and we played in schools. . . . When we were studying law we started out calling ourselves The Lawyers, then we called ourselves Los Cuervos, until finally we became Los Vidrios Quebrados. We started doing covers of The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds . . . . To get a song out, I had to go to a wurlitzer [jukebox] that was in a business near my house, to catch the melodies and tones and then I would come home to get it out. We cut the guitars, we glued them and we assembled the frets by eye and saw. . . .
I went to England in 1969. The idea was to go together with Los Vidrios Quebrados, but it couldnât be done . . . . In England I played on the street and the best I achieved was opening for the Family group at The Marquee . . . where even Hendrix played.
We sang in English to differentiate ourselves from the commercial music of the time, the New Wave [Nueva Ola]. . . . The lyrics spoke of the things that happened to us on a daily basis, of the lack of freedom, of those tied up for having long hair, in short, we wanted to be spokespersons for people who were experiencing the same thing, in a very formal world. Although we started doing covers, all the songs on our album were original. Parenthetically, we recorded the Fictions album in just 9 hours.
Ana Maria Hurtado says that âSepĂşlveda returned to Chile in 1971 and joined former Blops [see #541] drummer Pedro Greene to form the jazz-rock group Nuevas Direcciones in 1975 . . . . He is currently the only one from Los Vidrios Quebrados who continues with music, giving guitar classes at his house, parallel to his profession as an astrologer.â (https://www.musicapopular.cl/grupo/los-vidrios-quebrados/, courtesy of Google Translate)
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
1,028) O.V. Wright — âEight Men, Four Women”
From a “truly incendiary deep soul performer” (Bill Dahl, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ov-wright-mn0000457807/biography) (see #71, 274, 773), comes a timeless ’67 A-side that reached #80 (#4 on the R&B chart). Ray Ellis tells us that “[a] ‘jury of love’ theme comprising O.V.’s tortured vocals, sparse accompaniment from what was to become the core of the ‘Hi’ house band featuring a dominant guitar figure courtesy of Mabon ‘Teenie’ Hodges and pleading femme back-ups from [Donna] Rhodes-[Charlie] Chalmers-[Sandra] Rhodes [Al Green’s back-up singers] places this firmly in the ‘classic’ category.” (liner notes to the CD comp O.V. Wright: Giant of Southern Soul 1965-1975)
A few quotes get right to the core of Wright:
Al Green producer Willie Mitchell (see #181, 551) proclaimed that âWhen you gave O.V. Wright a song, the song belonged to him. Nobody would do it that way again. In fact, I think O.V. Wright was the greatest blues artist Iâve ever produced.â (liner notes to the CD comp O.V. Wright: Giant of Southern Soul 1965-1975)
Bill Bentley writes that “[t]he staff writers for Back Beat would marry the pain of the blues with the uplifting joy of religious music for an intensity bordering on the fearful. Wright’s blend of heaven and earth would prove to be the ultimate complement for this soul synthesis over and over again. . . . ‘Eight Men, Four Women[]’ . . . cement[ed] that connection.” (liner notes to the CD comp The Soul of O.V. Wright)
And Bluesman Mark writes:
[H]as a singer ever sounded so desolate, so lost, so obsessed with sadness as [O.V. Wright] always did? . . . [H]is songs were often largely tailored to his unique style of âeloquent desolationâ . . . . [Wright] always sounded like a man on the edge in songs like . . . “Eight Men, Four Women”, & he could wring pathos from every line he sung. And donât take âeloquentâ as meaning he sounded sophisticated. OV was as âcountryâ sounding as any southern soul singer ever got. The eloquence comes from how he phrased the songs, how he found the potential of inherent sadness in any song. OV always sang like he was staring into a vast, cold void. . . . If you havenât experienced OV Wrightâs music, I suggest that you do so. Just make sure youâve got some good whiskey handy.
O. V. Wrightâs melismatic vocals and Willie Mitchellâs vaunted Hi Rhythm Section combined to make classic Memphis soul during the early â70s. Overton Vertis Wright learned his trade on the gospel circuit with the Sunset Travelers before going secular in 1964 with the passionate ballad âThatâs How Strong My Love Isâ . . . .  Otis Redding liked the song so much that he covered it, killing any chance of Wrightâs version hitting. . . . [I]t took Memphis producer . . . Mitchell to wring the best consistently from Wright. Utilizing [his] surging house rhythm section, Wrightâs early-â70s Backbeat singles âAce of Spades,â âA Nickel and a Nail,â and âI Canât Take Itâ rank among the very best Southern soul of their era. No disco bandwagon for O. V. Wright â he kept right on pouring out his emotions through the â70s . . . . [He] died at only 41 years of age in 1980.
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.
[Embryoâs debut album Opal is o]ne of those historically important albums, one of those that made Germany the third force in 70âs rock after UK and US and second in prog (after UK and before Italy and France kicked in). . . . Embryo became internationally reknowned for their particularly free and ever inventive jazz-rock often tainted with world music . . . . Christian Burchard is of course one of the founding members of Amon Duul II but also the leader in this band.
Jean Jacques Perez expands (into the ether, courtesy of Google translate)):
One of the emblematic figures of the German progressive scene, between krautrock and jazz rock and even ethnic music. . . . Far from commercial pressures, EMBRYO will allow itself great musical freedom.
Created in Munich in 1969, the group . . . . quickly entered the studio to publish its first album entitled Opal on the Ohr label the following year. . . . [which] unveil[s] a strange and experimental album of jazz influence with a good dose of psychedelia, rock, blues and soul. Letâs call it kraut-jazz.
Starting with the eponymous title, the disc goes into a crazy rhythmâs & blues where the violin immerses us in a disturbing and hypnotic atmosphere, reinforced by a guitar under acid and heavy. . . . a dazzling and fascinating moment of music which explodes in our face and invades our brains with a trance that takes our temples by the fingers. EMBRYO . . . showed that Germany was the third producing force in pop, behind the USA and England.
The original band arrangement wouldn’t last long and would only play together on this debut album OPAL, which gives album #1 a very unique overall sound in the vast canon of EMBRYO’s eclectic output. Even right from the start EMBRYO stood out in the pack of the Krautrock scene with a keen musical vision already polished to near perfection as they delivered tight jazz-rock compositions with African percussive drive and plenty of throwbacks to the most kosmsiche representations of the German psychedelic scene. OPAL deftly straddles the line between the psychedelic aspects of Amon Duul II type of Krautrock with that same heavy bass driven groove . . . yet incorporates a seriously fierce delivery of not only post-bop driven jazz but also the more avant-garde sax frenzied touches . . . of what Ornette Coleman created all throughout the 60s. The tracks keep a fairly busy high-powered tempo with nice chord changes and instrumental tightness that was above average for many bands of the era in the Krautrock world. While most tracks are instrumental there are brief moments of vocals (in English) . . . but are usually semi-spoken in dramatic poetic prose rather than bursting into fully-fledged singing but soulful outbursts of singing do occur (“You Don’t Know What’s Happening” for example.) Needless to say, the vocals are not the strong point and hint to a clear Can connection however the music itself is much more dynamically performed with a strong emphasis on a heavy busy groove with lots of jazzy touches alongside various ethnic influences ranging from the African percussive drive to . . . rather Middle Eastern touches . . . . While EMBRYO would go on to develop even more sophisticated albums and become one of the most revered and well known of the German bands that outlasted the majority of its contemporaries, this first offering that finds itself more rooted in the 60s heavy psych scene is quite the treat itself as there are no weak tracks but rather one grooviliscious ethnic jazz jam after another.
Out of all the bands that emerged out of Germany from the big bang of progressive rock developing during the late 1960s, EMBRYO has sustained itself throughout the decades into the modern day mostly due to its being a musical collective that has seen over 400 members come and go throughout the years with Christian Burchard serving as the founder and driving force, however much of this longevity also comes from it having emerged as one of the most creative and versatile bands that has been filed under the umbrella term Krautrock. While that label more often than not connotes some sort of psychedelic mind bending qualities (Amon Duul II, Exmagma, Guru Guru) prevalent in the music, it also covers the heavier blues oriented rock bands with progressive touches (Birth Control, Electric Sandwich), the more electronic oriented artists with rock elements (Kraftwerk, Neu!) as well as the jazz-fusion crowds such as Eiliff, Brainstorm and Out Of Focus. EMBRYO stood out in that it pretty much tackled all of the above with not only a heavy emphasis on jazz-rock but also managed to slip in healthy doses of 60s infused psychedelia, traces of blues oriented rock, electronic atmospheric ambience and went even further by tackling a wide variety of the world music stock by incorporating many styles of ethnic music. . . . .
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 