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

Rainy Daze — “Blood of Oblivion”/”Fe Fi Fo Fum”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 3, 2022

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

540) Rainy Daze — “Blood of Oblivion”/”Fe Fi Fo Fum”

Fab ’67 A-side was no Apaculco Gold, but much tastier, a great pop-psych track that deserved so much more. Billboard said in July of ’67 that it was a “hot follow-up” and an “interesting rocker with off-beat lyric matter [and a s]trong dance beat.” Gordon Skene calls it “a great almost totally unknown track by a band that quick got pigeonholed as a One-Hit Novelty Act.” (https://colomusic.org/profile/the-rainy-daze/) He goes on to say that:

[I]t didn’t fare well for the band and the single went almost nowhere. I remember hearing it once when it first came out via my local Top-40 station, and then it was never heard from again. . . . [T]his is one of the many overlooked classics that are hidden away on the b-sides of singles, or the dusty tape shelves or the initially poorly received follow-up singles. It’s all history, it’s all music and it often makes no sense.

https://pastdaily.com/2012/07/28/the-rainy-daze-1967-nights-at-the-roundtable/

Gordon, thank you. You pretty much sum up the ethos of Brace for the Obscure: “It’s all history, it’s all music and it often makes no sense.”

Anyway, about the Daze and the Gold, Jason Ankeny tells us:

Psychedelic pop combo the Rainy Daze formed in Denver, CO, in 1965. . . . [T]he group started as little more than a covers act, nevertheless parlaying a string of frat party gigs into a local television appearance that reportedly caught the attention of famed producer Phil Spector, who extended a management contract. A massive publicity campaign was in the planning stages when the spectacular failure of his magnum opus, Ike & Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High,” left Spector’s career in shambles; the Rainy Daze were among the collateral damage, and only in 1967 did their debut single, “That Acapulco Gold” — written by [guitarist and singer] Tim Gilbert in collaboration with his college roommate John Carter — appear . . . . When the single caught fire locally the fledgling UNI label snapped up national distribution rights, but with “That Acapulco Gold” at number 70 on the Billboard charts, the bottom fell out. Once radio programmers finally intuited the song’s pro-marijuana content, it was pulled from play lists coast to coast. The Rainy Daze quickly resurfaced with “Discount City,” which went nowhere. The follow-up, “Fe Fi Fo,” was quickly deleted and reissued under the new and improved title “Blood of Oblivion,” even securing a U.K. release but still failing to crack pop radio.

After an LP . . . UNI dropped the group. However, by this time Gilbert and Carter were earning notice as a crack songwriting duo, and . . . earned a crack at revamping a demo track cut by an unknown psych-pop outfit known as Thee Sixpence. [They] added lyrics and a new melody, titling the finished song “Incense and Peppermints.” Thee Sixpence cut the new tune, renamed themselves the Strawberry Alarm Clock [see #127, 272] . . . and in late 1967 topped the Billboard pop charts. No doubt the success of “Incense and Peppermints” contributed to splitting the Rainy Daze in early 1968 . . . . Carter . . . later wr[ote] for Sammy Hagar and the Motels. He also produced two songs on Tina Turner’s . . . Private Dancer before moving into artist management.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/rainy-daze-mn0000388850/biography

The Colorado Music Experience adds:

“We were a working band,” lead singer Tim Gilbert said. “The idea wasn’t to get rich and famous, although the availability of young women was way up on the list of reasons to do it. The whole idea was to play and make money . . . . A band’s identity was more determined by the covers you played than anything else. You had to play some Beatles, but we were more Stones, Yardbirds and Who, so people thought we were ‘edgy.’ We would periodically go into the studio and try to record an original song and become stars so that the pool of available women would grow!” Originals were written by Gilbert and fellow Denver South High School student and . . . John Carter. “Everybody was going to the University of Colorado,” Gilbert said. “John was a roommate . . . . When it became important to write original music, with people in Hollywood saying, ‘If you’re going to be anything, you’ve got to write your own music,’ we looked at each other and said, ‘Shit, who can do that?’

[“Acapulco Gold”] was 180 degrees from all the music we were playing.” . . . [N]ational sales and airplay went up in smoke once word got around about the song’s real inspiration. . . . According to Gilbert, “KHJ was the ‘boss’ radio station in Los Angeles at that point. Every week, they’d print the Top 30 weekly survey. At one point, ‘Acapulco Gold’ was No. 1 with an asterisk next to it that said, ‘Not suitable for airplay.’ Stations didn’t think it was inappropriate until . . . Bill Gavin wrote in his tip sheet that if you played this record on the air, you did stand a chance of losing your license, because it did proselytize drug use. Which was fairly obvious . . . . George Carlin came up and shook our hands and said, ‘You’re the most courageous people in the United States.’ . . . We had our 15 minutes of fame. It was a happy accident, or an unhappy accident—ultimately, the song broke up the band. We got pigeonholed into that kind of a sound, and nobody wanted to play that music.”
https://colomusic.org/profile/the-rainy-daze/

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Black Merda — “Got Me Running”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 2, 2022

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

539) Black Merda — “Got Me Running”

Here is an incendiary funk-rock out-take from Detroit’s legendary Black Merda (see #134, 467) If the song was a fine wine (which it is, and it gets even better with age), I would say that to my nose it displays notes of Hendrix and Zeppelin. If either of them had released this song, it would have been a billion seller (I know, know, Zep didn’t do singles!).

Eduardo Rivadavia opines that:

Black Merda[] . . . is what happens when a group of Detroit-based R&B musicians discover Jimi Hendrix and reinvent themselves as psychedelic rock ‘n’ soul explorers. Can you dig it? Guitarist Anthony Hawkins, bassist V.C. Veasey, and drummer Tyrone Hite began playing together in school before paying their dues as both session and backing musicians (usually billing themselves as The Impacts) for Motor City contractors like Fortune Records and Golden World Studios. By the late ‘60s, they’d backed major names like Jackie Wilson, Joe Tex, The Chi-Lites, and even cracked the Motown assembly line behind The Temptations, The Spinners, and hard funk pioneer Edwin Starr, who dubbed them The Soul Agents and made them his permanent support unit. But the trio had also fallen under the spell of cutting-edge British rock groups like Cream and The Who, plus transatlantic superstar, Hendrix, whose Are You Experienced? LP inspired them to cut one of the first known covers of “Foxey Lady” . . . . [T]hey officially became a self-contained rock band, flirting with the name Murder Incorporated, then Black Murder, and finally settling on Black Merda, because they felt it represented the African American slang and enunciation. . . .
https://vinylspinning.tumblr.com/post/677381255462092800/black-merda-black-merda-1970-black-merdas?is_related_post=1

Sylvain Coulon notes that:

In the electric atmosphere of late sixties Motor City, [Black Merda’s] abrasive sound, their hybridization of funk with voodoo blues and fuzzed up guitar parts, their eccentric get-ups and their virulent lyrics struck many minds. Their career was meteoric (1968-1972), marked by two albums, commercial failures both, which are now fetching amazing prices on e-Bay, even after their reissue by the New York record label Tuff City in 1996. And they owe their come back to a cassette compilation. In 2001, a collector from Chicago copies a few of Black Rock’s ultra-rare singles for a Memphis pal, who in turn runs countless copies of that cassette. Under the title “Chains and Black Exhaust”, the compilation soon is found all around the world as a bootleg CD. . . . [T]heir[‘s was a] unique sound and colorful style (frilly shirts, necklaces, paladin hats or keffiehs adorned with jewels or pearls) . . . .
http://digitfanzine.chez.com/digitarticlesenglishblackmerda.html

VC Lamont Veasey in person, founder member, bass guitarist and lead singer, recounts that:

[O]urs were about poverty, racism, hypocrisy, despair, freedom, separating reality from fantasy, consciousness raising and expanding and all of the bad shit that was befalling Black people and others on the everyday street level of experience back then. Our lyrics weren’t so much political as there were truthful and a light shining intensely on issues that people didn’t want to see but needed to see and needed to come to grips with in order to live a better, happier life and to help others do the same.
http://digitfanzine.chez.com/digitarticlesenglishblackmerda.html

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Focal Point — “Hassle Castle”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 1, 2022

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

538) Focal Point — “Hassle Castle”

A magical, wistful song by Focal Point, one of my favorite bands of all time (see #4, 43, 198). Focal Point only released one single, but it all started out like a fairy tale when they cornered Paul McCartney walking his dog Martha in Hyde Park . . . . As co-founder Paul Tennant recalled:

It was . . . the summer of 1967 . . . . We knew which house Paul lived in due to the large amount of girls hanging about outside. . . . . Then all of a sudden the gates opened and a mini shoots out and away. Without a second thought we were on his tail, and there in the back of the car was a large sheepdog . . . . I never let it out of my sight . . . [W]e were at Hyde Park, the mini stopped and out stepped Paul, let the dog out and waved to the driver – Jane Asher and he was away walking the dog. Well Dave looked at me and I looked at him . . . . [W]e shouted to [Paul] and he turned around. We then told him . . . we were writing songs and didn’t know what to do with them, could he help? . . . . [H]e said to us “I could get you a recording contract just like that” and flicked his fingers. “But why should I?” It was then that he proved to be human by planting a finger up his nostril. Dave laughed and he laughed. Dave then said . . . “Because we are good, our songs are good.” It was just like that, Paul then wrote down . . . a phone number . . . . “Phone this guy and tell him I sent you[]” and he was then gone . . . . [W]hen we got back to Liverpool, Dave and I phoned . . . . Terry [Dolan] listened and told us Paul had told him we were going to ring and when could we go down to London. . . . Out came the guitars and we sang four of our best songs . . . . He said he liked our songs and would like to get acetate done of them. . . . “John loves your songs, he is absolutely going mad over them” said Terry. We were . . . gob smacked. He wants me to play them to Brian”. . . . “Brian agrees with John, your songs are fantastic” . . . . Brian and John . . . wanted to sign us to a five year publishing deal with Apple Publishing. Brian also suggested that we should form a band [and] call [it] Focal Point.
http://www.marmalade-skies.co.uk/focalpoint.htm

And then it all came crashing down. I often talk about the singer/songwriters and bands that became collateral damage in the collapse of Andrew Loog Oldham’s Immediate Records. Focal Point, however, fell victims to the Beatles’ Apple’s demise. To read about it, check out the rest of Paul Tennant’s fabulous interview at Marmalade Skies.

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pkH84d98LcU

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The Rolling Stones — “Blood Red Wine”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 31, 2022

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

537) The Rolling Stones — “Blood Red Wine”

A great unfinished song from May ‘68, apparently too rich for the Banquet, recorded at Olympic Sound Studios in London (Martin Elliott, The Rolling Stones Complete Recording Sessions 1962-2012). Jim Connelly says that: “Despite the fact that it was obviously unfinished, ‘Blood Red Wine’ packs both a musical and emotional wallop.” (https://medialoper.com/certain-songs-2046-the-rolling-stones-blood-red-wine/). And Dave Swanson says that: “What is there . . . sounds like the makings of a Stones classic.” (https://ultimateclassicrock.com/unreleased-rolling-stones-songs/). “Blood” is a precursor to Goat Heads Soup’s “Winter” and it seems to be all about Marianne.

Swanson goes on:

‘Blood Red Wine’ is an outtake from the ‘Beggar’s Banquet’ sessions. While it has the mood and feel of that period soaked into it, the track is obviously unfinished. . . . That melancholy feels so prominent on songs like ‘Sister Morphine,’ Moonlight Mile’ and others is all over this one. Another track ripe for nursing back to life for sure.

And Connelly adds:

[I]t starts with with Keith playing some lovely sad guitar, like he’s trying to find the right chords — which he may very well be — and eventually, he finds an even sadder lick . . . . It just struck me today that “Blood Red Wine” is quite possibly a lyrical precursor to future Certain Song “Winter” — recorded only four years but a million decades later — which also has a line about Mick wrapping his coat around someone. In the case of “Blood Red Wine,” it’s probably Marianne Faithfull who inspired the next verse.

“You say that every man you ever had has been obsessed with you and I want to prove an exception to the rule that you lay down. Babe, please don’t make me cry, because there’s a little pain inside. Yes, my darling, now you can’t expect me always to hide.”

It’s so tentative, his phrasing is so weird and off and real and sad and he’s totally making it up on the spot and I love it all so much, especially when they follow it up with another chorus filled with Nicky[Hopkins’] overmodulated piano and Charlies refusal to play anything but his toms. . . . the melody line of that chorus is as sad and pretty, it just makes the fumbling stumbling verses that much more real. . . . At this point, Charlie finally finds his snare drum, and plays a beat during the final chorus, which has gotten even grander and bigger.

“I got red blood, and I got blood red wine, which I bring you, when the snow lies heavy on the ground. If you get cold I wrap my coat, coat around. My, my, my, my don’t you stay on that, that snowy ground.”

And yeah, it doesn’t even matter that Mick is rhyming “ground” with “ground,” not now, not with the snow covering everything everywhere forever. Which is how it feels as Charlie makes footprints with his snare drum until it just ends. It’s too bad they never finished it, because it’s a pretty great song . . . .

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCDxY5ejx58&t=0s

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The Rose Garden — “Here’s Today”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 30, 2022

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

536) The Rose Garden — “Here’s Today”

To my mind, the best thing this Byrds-obsessed L.A. group ever did was “Here’s Today”, the B-side to their final single (and one of their only self-penned songs). Michael Doherty calls it “a really cool folk-rock song” (http://michaelsmusiclog.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-rose-garden-trip-through-garden.html?m=1), and Mark X calls the song “very Byrds-like” with “a fab chorus and nice 12-string guitar signature riffs.” (https://audiophilereview.com/audiophile-music/byrds-family-n-friends-rose-garden-cd-gene-clark-lp-tidal-streams-reviewed/) The moral of the song? Seize the day!

Joe Marchese says it is “a surprisingly commercial track that could have held its own as a A-side” and goes on give some band history:

The Los Angeles-area band (John Noreen, Jim Groshong, Bruce Bowdin, and Bill Fleming) was enamored with The Byrds . . . . With the addition of singer Diana De Rose, The Blokes gained a gal and rechristened themselves The Rose Garden (a play on their newest addition’s surname.) A showcase at hot spot Gazzarri’s on the Sunset Strip landed the still-underage band a deal with Buffalo Springfield managers Charles Greene and Brian Stone. They got The Rose Garden signed with the Springfield’s label, Atco, and set about producing their first album.
https://theseconddisc.com/2018/08/13/reviews-gene-clark-and-the-rose-garden-return-from-omnivore/

All But Forgotten Oldies adds:

The Rose Garden was a short-lived male-female folk rock quintet formed in Los Angeles in 1967 . . . . best remembered for the evocative and wistful “Next Plane To London,” a ballad about a frustrated singer in Hollywood who hopes to find success in London but has mixed feelings about leaving her boyfriend behind. The Rose Garden began in 1964 as a Byrds cover band known as The Blokes. They also performed and recorded as the Giant Sunflower for “February Sunshine” which became a minor hit. After West Virginia native De Rose joined the group in 1967, they became known as The Rose Garden and signed with Atco Records. The Rose Garden made its chart debut in late 1967 with “Next Plane To London” which became a Top 20 hit.
https://www.allbutforgottenoldies.net/rose-garden.html

Richie Unterberger chronicles the band’s final days, including its “flop” final single:

[T]he group only released one subsequent single, the non-charting “If My World Falls Through” . . . before splitting. “I felt that the band was watching out for the band, Diana was watching out for Diana, and that created some problems with the record company,” says Noreen. “At the same time, Jim and Bruce were called by Uncle Sam. We were dead in the water with all that going on.” The B-side of the non-LP single, the extremely Byrdsy “Here Today” — co-written by Noreen and roadie Phil Vickery — was probably the truest representation of what the Rose Garden’s music could have evolved into, away from the demos they were being fed.
http://www.richieunterberger.com/rosegarden.html

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Le Cirque — “Land of Oz”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 29, 2022*

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

535) Le Cirque — “Land of Oz”

Leon Russell and Marc Benno made quite a team. First, with Le Cirque and then with Asylum Choir — heavenly psychedelia before Russell found fame. “Land of Oz” was the bodacious Beatlesque A-side of Le Cirque’s only single (’67). As Ace Records says, “the Beatles-flavoured ‘Land Of Oz’ [was] released before [Russell’s] name became well known to the public, although he was already established as a leading session musician on the Los Angeles recording scene.” (https://acerecords.co.uk/the-songs-of-leon-russell) And, as Egyptian Chimney emotes, “Land of Oz” is an “[e]arly Leon Russell psych-oddity . . . . This nugget is totally ruling my trip to the dentist” (https://www.dreamchimney.com/tracks/27237)

Todd Lucas writes that:

The group was surely nothing more than a one off, a studio concoction. In fact, Leon Russell co-wrote and produced this single and also reportedly played on it. . . . [O]bvious Beatles influence to me. . . . I’d definitely cite the Fab Four’s Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt. Pepper era material as a reference point. Here we have a song that’s pure pop, with an intoxicating hook that’s also dressed up as light pysch, via the lyrics, vocals and some studio gimmickry. . . . The lyrics are what I’d call “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”-light, conjuring vague psychedelic images and including a call for sitars and violins, which come in at the appropriate times. The vocals are sung in a trippy manner by stretching out some of the words. Near the end of the song, we get sped up vocals that’ll either have you thinking Munchkins or Alvin & the Chipmunks, I’m not sure which. But even the goofy effects can’t spoil the fun here. The song is just too good a period piece and otherwise excellent.
http://itsgreatshakes.blogspot.com/2005/10/le-cirque-land-of-oz.html?m=1

Yeah, that Chipmunks stuff at the end is totally annoying! But it can’t spoil the fun!

We all know who Leon Russell was, but just a bit about his early years by Jason Ankeny:

The ultimate rock & roll session man, Leon Russell’s long and storied career included collaborations with a virtual who’s who of music icons spanning from Jerry Lee Lewis to Phil Spector to The Rolling Stones. A similar eclecticism and scope also surfaced in his solo work, which couched his charmingly gravelly voice in a rustic yet rich swamp pop fusion of country, blues, and gospel. . . . As a member of Phil Spector’s renowned studio group, Russell played on many of the finest pop singles of the ’60s, also arranging classics like Ike & Tina Turner’s . . . “River Deep, Mountain High”; other hits bearing his input include the Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man,” Gary Lewis & the Playboys’ “This Diamond Ring,” and Herb Alpert’s “A Taste of Honey.”
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/leon-russell-mn0000816387

Marc Benno? Chris Darius writes that:

“By 1973, Texas singer, songwriter, guitarist, and piano player Marc Benno had spent better than a decade as an all-star studio pro, lending his talents to recordings by folks like Rita Coolidge and the Doors. Benno recorded a pair of albums with friend and fellow session-player Leon Russell as the Asylum Choir.
https://marcbenno.com/interviews/

William Ruhlmann adds that:

Marc Benno came up playing guitar in various bands in Austin, TX, in the late ’60s, then moved to Los Angeles, where he hooked up with Leon Russell and formed the duo Asylum Choir which released one album in 1968 and recorded a second before splitting up. (The second [album] was released in the wake of Leon Russell’s success in 1971 and hit #70 in the charts.) He made four albums of mainstream pop/rock in the 1970s, the most successful of which was the third, Ambush, in 1972.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/marc-benno-mn0000955347

Benno reminisces about Le Cirque:

“[M]y funkiest band was back in 67, at the height of the psychedelic movement. It was call Le Circ, and we all dressed up in circus costumes made from drapes. Leon arranged our first single, ‘The Land of Oz’ that came out on the old Buddha label. If this sounds a little bizarre, bear in mind that in 1967 Dallas was not exactly the most liberal city in the world, and someone with Benno’s off-the-wall approach to rock was looked upon as being, well, a little “strange”, but “the best was yet to come.”
https://marcbenno.com/interviews/

Man, I wish I was there!

* OK, I need to admit that the picture is from their Asylum Choir days. You can go out there and try to find a Le Cirque photo!

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The Recession’s Here! Special Edition: Nobody’s Children/The Artwoods: Nobody’s Children — “Good Times”, The Artwoods — “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 28, 2022

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

The perfect songs to welcome in the recession!

534) Nobody’s Children — “Good Times”

The A-side of the Children’s only single (’68) is a hilarious garage rock classic from the Irving, Texas band about a hardscrabble life. Or is it? “Well, I work all day from nine to five just grubbing enough to try to stay alive. Five o’clock comes, crawl back in my crummy hole eating wheat cheapies from a cracked plastic bowl.”

Mome Wrath comments “remember hearing this record was so hated when first released, no-one would well it so all copies you find are mint, unlike his cracked plastic bowl. . .” (https://www.45cat.com/record/1944us)

Band member Allen Schram recalls:

My brother Ray and I wrote and produced Good Times in 1968. I played the bass and drums and did the vocal and Ray did the guitar work. I want to thank you for putting it up and calling it great music. It was great fun for us. Thanks, Allen
https://shyc.posthaven.com/nobodys-children-good-times

Here’s a cool version by Australia’s Beasts of Bourbon (’84, B-side):

58) The Artwoods — “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime” [REPLAY]

The Artwoods were founded by, yes, Art Wood, who was the older brother of future Stones guitarist Ron Wood. They were a top touring R&B band, but their success never translated to record.

“Brother” was a Depression-era classic made famous by Bing Crosby in 1932. Art Wood explains their ‘67 A-side cover version: Fontana Records “wanted the band to cash in on the ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ movie. . . . They suggested it would be a great idea if we all dressed up as gangsters . . . . [W]e had a press reception . . . where stuntmen fired blanks from real machine guns. . . . It was exactly the same lineup as the Artwoods, but called the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre!” Alas, the 45 was only successful in Denmark.

Here is Bing:

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Annie Philippe — “Qu’il Le Dise”/(“Till He Tells Me”): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 27, 2022

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

533) Annie Philippe — “Qu’il Le Dise”/(“Till He Tells Me”)

This ’65 B-side is another yé-yé delight from Annie (see #206, 328), with a cool promo video of her frolicking on the ski slopes.

Elephantsoundz says:

Annie Philippe recorded a bunch of really groovy tunes in the sixties, combining angelical French Yeye with American Girl Group and British Sixties garage sounds. From Phil Spector arrangements with a cute-girl style delivery to French pop ballad orchestration with fuzzy guitars, including handclaps. [Annie Philippe] became a DJ, aged 17, at the Twenty One Club, located at the Rue Balzac near the Champs Élysées, and it was here where she met Paul Mariat. Mariat had already worked with Charles Aznavour and would later enjoy huge success with L’Amour Est Blue, launching the career of the Greek-German Vicky Leandros. After auditioning for Mariat . . . he got Annie her first recording contract . . . and she released her first EP in 1964 . . . including . . . . Unfortunately, she failed to make any impact initially. . . . Annie was getting noticed by the time of her 1965 third EP . . . . The follow up EP [included] her biggest hit Ticket De Quai, a sweet ballad which charted in March 1966.
http://lockitdown.blogspot.com/2008/

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=51VaeDcEoNY

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The Haunted — “Vapeur Mauve”/(“Purple Haze”): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 26, 2022

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

532) The Haunted — “Vapeur Mauve”/(“Purple Haze”)

OK, this has got to be the greatest cover of “Purple Haze” that I have ever heard — and it is sung in French by an English language Quebec band! As their last vocalist Johnny Monk says, “We started playing arenas right across Quebec – an English band in a French market – and they loved us[.]” (https://johnkatsmc5.tumblr.com/post/168259299019/the-haunted-the-haunted-1967-mega-rare-canada)

Richie Unterberger says that the Haunted was “[one] of Canada’s most popular homegrown rock groups in the ’60s, though they made no inroads to the rest of North America. From the English-speaking community of Montreal, the group was very explicit in their desire to emulate the Rolling Stones, and most of their 1966-1968 singles (as well as their sole LP, from 1967) were in a raunchy R&B/blues-rock style.” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-haunted-mn0001469476/biography)

Johnkatsmc5.tumbler.com adds to their history:

Haunted were a garage rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band was formed by Jurgen Peter (guitar) in 1965 . . . . They were among the first Canadian bands to achieve a level of success . . . . The band’s first big break came after winning a Battle Of The Bands at the Montreal Forum in 1965, beating such competitors as David Clayton-Thomas and the Shays. The first prize was studio time that they used to record the two songs on their first single, “1-2-5”, with “Eight O’Clock This Morning” as the B-side. The first pressing of this record had the band name misprinted as “The Hunted.” . . . The single achieved substantial local success, making the Canadian version of the national charts . . . and enough attention in the US to attract a US pressing of the single on the Amy record label. Several more singles, as well as a self-titled album over the next two years, served to increase their popularity. Their final single, “Vapeur Mauve” is a French language version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze”. . . . The band grew to be one of the most in demand bands in Canada for the balance of the 1960s and into the early 1970s.
https://johnkatsmc5.tumblr.com/post/168259299019/the-haunted-the-haunted-1967-mega-rare-canada

Juergen Peter recounts that: “We were the most sought after and highest paid Canadian band for many years. When I folded the band in 1971, I had to cancel a whole year of advance bookings and it cost me a fortune in lawyer’s fees to get out of some of them.” (http://www.thehaunted.com/)

Hyperbolium notes that: “As champions of the English-language side of the Montreal garage rock scene, The Haunted managed to get a few international releases even though they never toured outside of their home country or saw any international chart action.” (https://johnkatsmc5.tumblr.com/post/168259299019/the-haunted-the-haunted-1967-mega-rare-canada)

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Harbinger — “Control”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 25, 2022

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

531) Harbinger — “Control”

This haunting song from Dave Bixby’s ultra-rare ’70 downer/loner folk album Second Coming (by “Harbinger”) sounds eerily similar to “Space Oddity”, David Bowie’s iconic song from ‘69. Bowie’s lyric is “The planet Earth is blue and there’s nothing left to do.” Bixby’s is “We’re beyond the blue and there’s nothing they can do.” Since “Space Oddity” was written and released in ’69 and “Control” was likely written in ’69 but not released till ’70 (and was ultra-obscure), it looks most likely that Bixby took the melody from and wrote similar lyrics to Bowie’s song, not the other way around. Thanks to skullsaresopasse’s and devilmaskrascal’s comments on Reddit (r/vintageobsura) for setting me straight.

Anyway, Bixby describes the song as “Christian cult propaganda. They verses us.” (https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2011/11/dave-bixby-interview-about-ode-to.html) What the hell?! Literally, what the hell?

OK, here goes. Klemen Breznikar writes that:

Dave [Bixby] played with folk bands in high school before cutting off his hippie hair to join a religious group. Dave’s definitive loner acid folk album, ‘Ode to Quetzalcoatl’, was recorded following a long period of time [he] spent in what he calls “the void”. A dark, depressive episode after a prolonged period of taking LSD almost daily. Dave came out of the void and turned to God, a journey and transformation ‘Ode to Quetzalcoatl’ documents. . . . [He’s] lived a vivid and fascinating life . . . .
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2011/11/dave-bixby-interview-about-ode-to.html

As to Ode to Quetzalcoatl, Ron Hart says that:

For collectors of the downer/loner folk movement of the late ’60s . . . the solo debut from Michigan garage rocker-turned-born-again Xian Dave Bixby . . . go[es] for upwards of $2,000 on eBay. . . . Recorded after he spent a year playing solo and experimenting with LSD, Bixby laid down this album in a living room with the bare bones of amenities. . . . Bixby relies on the strength of his deeply faithful lyrics rooted in the Book of Revelations and the artist’s own personal drug-fueled Armageddon to carry his songs through the night.
https://www.popmatters.com/110072-dave-bixby-ode-to-quetzalcoatl-guerssen-harbinger-second-coming-guer-2496072674.html

His second album was Second Coming. François Couture explains:

Bixby’s first LP . . . was the work of a man in search of himself. His second, released under the group name Harbinger, is the work of a man who thought he had found himself, but got “indoctrinated” in the process . . . . After the first LP, which was a brutally honest downer-folk album, Bixby met and joined Don DeGraaf’s religious group. A charismatic Christian guru, DeGraaf quickly harnessed Bixby’s talent and got him to write and perform uplifting, utopian songs about finding the light and understanding yourself — which was what Bixby had written before, although this time the lyrics have lost their erstwhile aspect in favor of a more didactic style. [W]hereas Ode . . . simply chronicled a personal path to inner realization, Second Coming is more about collective salvation, communal bonding, and proselytism.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/second-coming-mw0000819487

Hart adds that:

Recorded at the same time as Quetzalocatl and under the name Harbinger, Second Coming . . . . might sound more spiritual than Quetzalcoatl, [but] the psychedelic atmosphere that haunts that album is also apparent on this one, too [the songs] play out like biblical scriptures rewritten on sheets of high-powered blotter acid.
https://www.popmatters.com/110072-dave-bixby-ode-to-quetzalcoatl-guerssen-harbinger-second-coming-guer-2496072674.html

And Forced Exposure adds that:

Unknown to most ’60s/’70s collectors until its discovery a few years ago, this is the beyond rare second album released by loner/downer folk legend Dave Bixby, recorded around 1969, the same year as his first one . . . . Musically, Second Coming is equally as good and very similar to the first one, but this time the recording took place in a professional studio . . . . Bixby is joined by [musicians including] Don DeGraaf on bass and production duties. Don was in fact leader of the, in the end, destructive religious cult known as “The Group” or “The Movement[]” . . . . The lyrics deal with cosmic imagery, psychedelics and religious/biblical references, but this goes much deeper than any Xian record you’ve ever heard . . . point[ing] towards some sort of New Age/post-Revelations utopian consciousness.
https://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/harbinger-second-coming-cd/GUESS.026CD.html

As Bixby himself explains:

Don assumed power and named himself Sir. I had more songs that were not selected for ‘Ode to Q’ and new ones in the making. . . . Don saw the concerts as opportunity to make money and recruit new members plus he got to sing and play base. Sir used the labor force of group. People were hanging posters, selling tickets and selling records after the concerts. Concert money bought studio time in a real studio for the ‘Harbinger’ LP. . . . Harbinger was a creation of Sir using songs I wrote. It was fun to see him accomplish his goal. I really didn’t need credit and did not mind giving to the cause of obvious success. Harbinger means for[e]runner to Christ. To prepare the way for the coming of Christ. . . . Harbinger was conceived in 1969 shortly after ‘Ode to Q’. by Don DeGraff, released in 1970. A new decade. No credits were on the front or back cover. . . . Sir wanted to be invisible to the world and a star at the same time. . . . A Christian cult is growing and Harbinger was added to the product line.
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2011/11/dave-bixby-interview-about-ode-to.html

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Here is “Space Oddity”:

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The Spike Drivers — “Strange Mysterious Sounds”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 24, 2022

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

530) The Spike Drivers — “Strange Mysterious Sounds”

As to the B-side of their second (or third) and last single, Superbillie1 aptly describes it as a little like a collision between doomstruck raga rock and Mamas & the Papas harmonies”. (http://poprunners.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-spike-drivers-60s-folkrocking.html?m=1). “Mysterious Sounds” is one the most revealing songs I have heard about mental illness from the perspective of one experiencing it, and also the only one accompanied by a killer guitar riff and a “sha la la la la la la” chorus — I assume that “Sha La La La Lee” by the Small Faces doesn’t count.

Jason Ankeny talks about the Spike Drivers:

Mid-sixties Detroit psych-popsters the Spikedrivers were fronted by Ted Lucas, previously known to local audiences as a leading light of the Motor City folk music scene. . . . [T]he Spikedrivers debuted in 1966 with the single “High Time;” originally recorded for the Om label, it was soon snapped up for national distribution by Warner/Reprise, but despite limited success on the East Coast and across the Midwest the record failed to chart. When their 1967 follow-up “Strange Mysterious Sounds” met the same grim fate the Spikedrivers disbanded . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/spike-drivers-mn0003463526

Chris Roughan explains that the band’s name “came from a song by Mississippi John Hurt called the Spikedriver Blues.” (https://chrisroughan.webs.com/apps/videos/videos/show/5841655-spike-drivers-often-i-wonder)

Lucas’ son talks of his father’s battles with mental illness:

Throughout his career Lucas struggled with mental illness and erratic behavior that weighed heaviest on his family until his death in 1992. . . . Lucas’ son, Tony, [talks] about his father’s legacy. “When people ask me about my dad, it’s weird, because when I was growing up most of my time was avoiding talking about my dad,” Tony says. “It always included some kind of insanity, right. Some kind of craziness, some kind of nuttiness. And when I talk about my dad now, I almost brag about him. You know, it’s such a different way of thinking about somebody.”
https://wdet.org/2018/12/20/remembering-ted-lucas-first-and-only-solo-album/

Lucas wrote the song. Ahh . . .

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Here is a “live” version on Detroit TV:

Here is an extended alternate version:

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The Kinks — “Drivin'”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 23, 2022

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

529) The Kinks — “Drivin'”

Ray Davies’ magnificent ode to escaping one’s troubles through a drive in the country was the first single off ’69’s legendary concept album Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) — and it failed to chart! As Lande Bakare notes, “[d]espite the critical praise, the album and its singles did not perform particularly well for the band, with lead singles Drivin’ and Shangri-La [see #450] failing to chart – the first failure for the band since their breakthrough in 1964.” (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/oct/06/the-kinks-album-arthur-to-be-turned-into-bbc-radio-drama)

Wikipedia says that “[a[ccording to critic Johnny Rogan and author Thomas Kitts, “Drivin'” is based on real experiences from Ray Davies’ childhood when his family drove from London to the country.”

As to Arthur, Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes that:

[It is] the story of a London man’s decision to move to Australia during the aftermath of World War II. It’s a detailed and loving song cycle, capturing the minutiae of suburban life, the numbing effect of bureaucracy, and the horrors of war. On paper, Arthur sounds like a pretentious mess, but Ray Davies’ lyrics and insights have rarely been so graceful or deftly executed, and the music is remarkable. An edgier and harder-rocking affair than Village Green [Preservation Society], Arthur is as multi-layered musically as it is lyrically. . . . The music makes the words cut deeper, and the songs never stray too far from the album’s subject, making Arthur one of the most effective concept albums in rock history, as well as one of the best and most influential British pop records of its era.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/arthur-or-the-decline-and-fall-of-the-british-empire-mw0000713876

Bryan Wawzenek tells the story:

In early 1969, Ray Davies was contacted by British TV producers in regards to creating a television movie. Ray would co-write the teleplay, as well as a soundtrack album that the Kinks would release in conjunction with [its] airing . . . . Davies wanted to . . . examine what it meant to be British in the 20th Century [by] charting the radical changes of the era through the perspective of one man: Arthur . . . . Morgan . . . an old carpet layer who had fought in one world war and survived another to build a family and a life in a London suburb, all the while witnessing the shrinking of the British empire and the dwindling of opportunities in his homeland. Arthur was based on the real-life Arthur Anning, Davies’ brother-in-law who had moved his family to Australia in 1964 to try to build a better life. . . . The initial plan was that the soundtrack . . . would come out in July, to be followed by the broadcast of the stage production in September. Complications regarding the financial backing of the play delayed everything . . . . [Then, i]magine Davies . . . horror when [he] found out a producer had mismanaged the money side of things and subsequently caused the cancellation of the entire project. All that remained was the Kinks album. And so, quite unintentionally, the Kinks’ soundtrack album turned into a stand-alone concept record . . . when released on Oct. 10, 1969.
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/the-kinks-arthur/

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Mad Men Special Edition — The Hellers — “This Brand Is My Brand”, The Hellers — “Sixteen Tongues”, The Hellers — “Eve of Advertising Destruction”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 22, 2022

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

526) The Hellers — “This Brand Is My Brand”

527) The Hellers — “Sixteen Tongues”

528) The Hellers — “Eve of Advertising Destruction”

Yesterday, I played the Hellers’ “It’s 74 in San Francisco”, which was an actual — and great — pop psych song. Today, I play three brilliant fake advertising jingle send-ups of popular tunes that Hugh Heller put together as part of his zany private ’67 LP Creative Freakout: Advertising Protest Songs.

If there really was a Don Draper, he would have been Hugh Heller, and he would have put together the songs that I feature today. Don’t just take my word for it. Gripsweat says:

This is a rare privately pressed LP album produced by the Hellers Agency as a promotional tool to demonstrate the successful ad campaigns they had created to entice future potential clients to sign with their agency. This is a great 1967 psychedelic period piece which would fit in beautifully with the Mad Men TV show.
https://gripsweat.com/item/191216936873/hellers-creative-freakout-advertising-protest-songs-10-lp-1967-psych-nm

As Basic Hip further explains:

The Heller Corporation (Heller-Ferguson, Inc) was an advertising agency based in Los Angeles and produced highly creative commercials and thematic identification music for television and radio. Led by Hugh Heller, The Hellers released a number of promotional records to be given out to clients and were never intended for public sale. Talented writers like Jacques Wilson, who wrote the lyrics for “The Zodiac Cosmic Sounds” . . . created these slick productions that utilized top professional singers like The Norman Luboff Choir, The Clark Sisters and The Johnny Mann Singers. “Creative Freakout” features the narration of Johnny Spots (Ben Chandler) weaving in and out of several commercials for products from beer and Cornuts to Dial Soap. Like most Hellers promos, it is presented as a story, this time with the theme being a 1960’s protest march.
https://wfmu.org/365/2003/035.shtml

Radio King says:

Intended as a promotional giveaway to potential and existing advertising clients, Creative Freakout is a groovy two-sided trip involving orgies, crazy Mod threads and the avant garde. MOJO Magazine says: “Like a clash between Marshall McLuhan and Mike Sammes, Creative Freakout is a charming and very funny little record.”
https://www.radioking.com/artist/the-hellers

Not all are so amused. Douglas is seriously put out:

“This record may sound like it must be great, but I hope it’s not something you’d actually want to listen to, cause “subversive” ad jingles from stoned, smug pseudo-counterculture ad men are still just dated-ass jingles at the end of the day. I’m not down with this record.
https://waxidermy.com/blog/the-hellers-creative-freakout/

Why wasn’t this a Mad Men episode???!!!

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“Eve of Destruction” starts at 11:53:

“This Brand Is My Brand” starts at 1:08, “Sixteen Tongues” starts at 5:54:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlWbXk_-FEs

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The Hellers — “It’s 74 in San Francisco”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 21, 2022

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

525) The Hellers — “It’s 74 in San Francisco”

Back when San Francisco was hale and hearty, hip and Haight, and definitely not yet San Fransicko, this breezy ’68 “enjoyable psychy-sunshine pop” (sf scene, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTDSEO95IT4) delight extolled the city’s weather.

But who the hell were the Hellers? Basic Hip tells us that:

The Heller Corporation (Heller-Ferguson, Inc) was an advertising agency based in Los Angeles and produced highly creative commercials and thematic identification music for television and radio. . . . The Hellers did issue one commercial album in 1968, the way, way out “Singers, Talkers, Players, Swingers and Doers” on Enoch Light’s Command label. A sophisticated sound collage of spoken word, sound effects, moog-like “Heliocentric Sounds” and those familiar jingle singers.
https://wfmu.org/365/2003/035.shtml

Sf scene notes that:

[N]ot really a group but an advertising agency who worked for many large and various clients . . . run by Hugh Heller it was extremely successful . . . . top session musicians were used on the recording which was given out to clients of the agency. . . . weird, wonderful and full of electronic effects quite what they were hoping to achieve by this I really don’t know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTDSEO95IT4

François Couture goes deeper:

In 1968, producer Enoch Light commissioned an LP from Hugh Heller, a publicist who used to put together albums of skits and short musical spoofs his agency privately distributed to industry people. Heller teamed up with his agency’s commercial jingle composer Dick Hamilton. Together, they wrote 12 light comedy tracks and brought in visionary electronician Robert Moog ([yes, the] inventor of the Moog synthesizer[!]) to give their project a space-age feel. The result is an unusual cross between Perrey Kingsley’s infamously kitsch outer-worldly music, the Lawrence Welk Show, and The Partridge Family Show — technology, ballroom music and variety show one-liners, all rolled into one. This half-hour of material has aged tremendously, but to most connoisseurs of the genre, that is where its value resides. Some themes are actually nice and groovy . . . but the format chosen (two-minute tunes) means that nothing gets developed and what you hear on first listen is what you get: thirty minutes of collaged commercial jingles. The album failed to sell, but attained a certain cult status.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/singers-talkers-players-swingers-and-doers-mw0000584275

Record Heaven opines that:

[O]verseen[]by legendary jingle composer Hugh Heller and arranger Dick Hamilton (with a little help from Robert Moog), this zany ’68 album merges sunshine pop with electronica and spoken word to unique effect. An established cult favourite, and a rich source of DJ samples, it’s one of the most bizarre albums to emerge from America in the late 60s . . . .
https://www.recordheaven.net/index.cfm?x=browseLabel&ID=3493&iID=63763&sc=&ob=tl&so=ASC&pp=20&pn=1&showList=false

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Arthur Conley — “People Sure Act Funny”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 20, 2022

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

524) Arthur Conley — “People Sure Act Funny”

Arthur Conley was way more than a one (“Sweet Soul Music”) or two (“Funky Street”) hit wonder. His ’68 A-side “People Sure Act Funny” reached #58 (#17 R&B), and, as Lindsay Planer says, was a “fun and funky closer” to his ’68 album Soul Directions. Linsday notes that the song “bears more than just a trace of Joe Tex’s influence” — oh man, yeah, with the guffaws — “even as it had actually been recorded by the likes of Lee Dorsey”. (https://www.allmusic.com/album/soul-directions-mw0000785380) I would love for there to have been a Joe Tex version! The song was originally released in ’62 by Titus Turner (and written by Turner and James McDougal). Unfortunately, Conley’s album only made it to #185 on the Billboard chart.

Jason Ankeny gives us some history:

Arthur Conley sang and (with mentor Otis Redding) co-wrote the 1967 classic “Sweet Soul Music,” arguably the finest record ever made about the genre it celebrates. . . . Conley was just 12 years old when he joined the Evening Smiles . . . gospel group . . . . By 1963 [age 17!] he was leading his own R&B outfit, Arthur & the Corvets which over the next two years issued three singles . . . . Despite Conley’s graceful yet powerful vocals . . . the . . . singles earned little attention, and he dissolved the group to mount a solo career, releasing “I’m a Lonely Stranger” . . . . Label owner Rufus Mitchell . . . passed a copy of the single to . . . Redding, who was so impressed he invited Conley to re-record the song at Memphis’ Stax Studios. . . . At Redding’s urging, Conley signed to Atco-distributed Fame Records for his next single . . . “I Can’t Stop (No, No, No).” Though his strongest, most incendiary record to date, it met the same commercial indifference that greeted his previous efforts. Likewise, the follow-up “Take Me (Just as I Am)” fell on deaf ears . . . . At that point Redding took an even greater role in Conley’s career, encouraging his songwriting and advising him in business decisions; while jamming on a cover of Cooke’s “Yeah Man,” the pair began tinkering with [it], creating . . . “Sweet Soul Music.” . . . [which] reaching number two on both the Billboard pop and R&B charts . . . . [When] Redding [was] killed in a Wisconsin plane crash . . . the singer’s career threatened to revert back to its rudderless beginnings, but in early 1968 Conley righted the ship . . . . [producing] . . . some of [his] finest material, including . . . “People Sure Act Funny[]” . . . . [and, of course,] “Funky Street,” which hit number five on the Billboard R&B chart and number 14 on its pop counterpart. . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/arthur-conley-mn0000604924/biography

Red Kelly adds that:

When Otis Redding died in December of 1967, Arthur Conley not only lost his best friend, but his producer as well. Once things had calmed down a bit, Atlantic teamed him up with their most empathetic and sensitive producer, and booked him into American in Memphis to record material for a new album . . . . The music Tom Dowd and Arthur came up with there in early 1968 is simply amazing, yet often overlooked in favor of Conley’s Fame sides.
http://redkelly.blogspot.com/2007/11/arthur-conley-burning-fire-atco-6588.html

As to Conley’s later life, Tate Dunbar writes that:

After four unsuccessful songs over a three-year period, Conley in 1975 moved to England and then to the Netherlands in 1977. In 1980 he legally changed his name to Lee Roberts, adopting his middle name and his mother’s maiden name. He also formed a new group and toured Europe as Lee Roberts and the Sweaters. By the end of 1980 he settled permanently in the Dutch town of Ruurlo. From there he operated Art-Con Production company and promoted the heavy metal band from The Hague, Netherlands, Shockwave. Conley was gay and some observers claimed that as one of the reasons for his move to Europe and his name change. He believed that his sexual orientation held back his career as an R&B singer in the United States.
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/conley-arthur-1946-1988/

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Hedgehoppers Anonymous — “Daytime”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 19, 2022

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

523) Hedgehoppers Anonymous — “Daytime”

How was this snarling bit of freakbeat not a huge hit, at least in the UK? Its expression of sexual frustration is even more potent than the Stones’ “Satisfaction” because directed at one person. Nick Warburton nails the ’66 A-side by then current/former Royal Air Force service members as “arguably their finest outing on disc – [a] mod/freakbeat classic” that is “[d]riven by [a] buzz-saw lead guitar and psychedelic undertones [and] should have been the hit single to put Hedgehoppers Anonymous back in the UK charts.” (https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/interviews/hedgehoppers-anonymous-1/)

Believe it or not, “Daytime” is actually a French tune! —

“As American rock music journalist and webmaster at the Garage Hangover website Chris Bishop explains: “[The song was] an adaption of Les 5 Gentleman’s ‘Dis-Nous Dylan’ (originally co-written by Jean Fredenucci of Les 5 Gentlemen and T Saunders) with English lyrics by [the Hedgehoppers’] John Stewart.” Les 5 Gentlemen, incidentally, also recorded “Daytime” with Stewart’s lyrics for a release on the Major Minor label as Darwin’s Theory.
Nick Warburton, https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/interviews/hedgehoppers-anonymous-1/); Mikey Dread, https://www.45cat.com/record/f12479

The Gentlemen “overdubbed this lyric over their original backing track”. (CorporalClegg, https://www.45cat.com/record/f12479) I should say that the HA version is far superior to the original — snoozebeat transformed into freakbeat.

Nick Warburton dives deep:

Royal Air Force ground crew . . . . [were c]aptivated by the beat scene exploding in the UK [and] decide to form a band [in ‘63], The Trendsetters. The quintet performs initially in the officers’ mess [and] then ventures out . . . . [and in ‘64] changes its name to The Hedgehoppers; a nickname for the “V” bombers, which can fly a few hundred feet above the ground, under enemy radar to avoid detection and ground-to-air missiles. A local agent spots [them] playing the local pub scene and arranges live gigs to showcase the band . . . . [Soon, they] have opened for Unit Four Plus Two, The Hollies and The Kinks among others. . . . The Hedgehoppers . . . are spotted by Trinity College student Kenneth King (aka Jonathan King), who is working as a producer for Decca Records . . . . [and who] approaches [the band] to see if they will record [one] of his songs – “It’s Good News Week”. King, who is keener on becoming a producer than a singer, suggests that they add the Anonymous tag so that they can keep their fan base but protect their anonymity from the RAF, which is unaware of the recording. . . . King’s tongue-in-cheek protest song[‘] . . . . success generates a huge amount of publicity but also creates problems with the RAF, which has not given the musicians the proper authority to find employment outside the Armed Forces. Hedgehoppers Anonymous make their debut TV appearance on ITV’s Ready Steady Go! [and] appear on BBC TV’s Top of The Pops . . . . [The song] peaks at UK #5 and also reaches #48 in the US Billboard chart. . . . Decca rush releases a second single to capitalise on the [song’s] success . . . but . . . “Don’t Push Me” . . . sells poorly. . . . [They release a] third single, “Baby (You’re My Everything)” [but t]he band’s poppy sound . . . increasingly sounds dated, and [it] does not chart. . . . The band moves towards a more harder-edge rock sound, which culminates in . . . “Daytime” . . . . [which] is not a chart success.

. . . .

[When “Good News Week” came out,] most of the band were still members of the RAF and had not obtained the proper authority to find employment outside the Armed Forces. [S]inger [Mike Tinsley] recalls: “We were starting to get into deep water over recording a song while still serving in the RAF without proper authority. The record was released on Decca and started bringing newspaper reporters and photographers to the base along with young girls seeking autographs! That got us even more into deep water!” As the single stormed up the UK charts that October, the four RAF members applied for a discharge from the service but had an uncomfortable wait while the authorities considered each musician’s case. By late November, Tinsley and [guitarist John] Stewart had managed to secure a successful discharge but [two] were turned down, forcing the band’s manager . . . to find replacements to promote “It’s Good News Week” on the road and for TV appearances. . . . Dissatisfaction over the direction that Decca was pushing them prompted the musicians to take over creative control for . . . “Daytime” . . . . Despite charting in the Scandinavian market, the single failed to breakthrough in the UK on its release in August 1966 and Decca began to lose interest.
https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/interviews/hedgehoppers-anonymous-1/; https://garagehangover.com/hedgehoppers-anonymou

But, oh, what could have been! —

In April 1966, the [band] discovered a demo recording of Chip Taylor’s “Wild Thing” . . . and, realising it had hit potential, decided to record a version. “We did a very lush recording [and] I remember the solo in the middle,” says [drummer Glenn] Martin. “What we did was John Stewart played the chords on the guitar and I drummed up and down the strings. It was very dramatic. We did a beautiful big arrangement [and] we had strings coming in.” A release date was set for Hedgehoppers Anonymous’ version of “Wild Thing” but the day before the single was shipped, King called the band into Decca’s offices for a meeting with the head of the A&R department. Neither was that keen on releasing the track and convinced the musicians to record King’s ballad, “Baby (You’re My Everything)” . . . instead. “The demo of ‘Wild Thing’ was first played to me by the publishers,” says King. “I loved the song and allowed the guys to play on it but their version wasn’t even as good as the demo so I passed . . . . Tinsley, however, has his own take on events: “I’m quite sure our version with more work in the studio to please all concerned would have produced a number one. . . .” For Tinsley and Martin it was the defining moment in Hedgehoppers Anonymous’ career. While King’s ballad stalled in the charts, The Troggs’ own version of “Wild Thing”, released only a short while later, topped the UK charts. “They chose [our demo] out of [Decca’s] basement unknowing and went into the studio and recorded it in 20 minutes and next week I turn the radio on and I heard The Troggs with ‘Wild Thing’ at number one,” remembers Martin. . . . “If Decca had let us release that record the next day, there’s no doubt in my mind whatsoever it would have been just as big if not bigger than it was for The Troggs.”
https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/interviews/hedgehoppers-anonymous-1/

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Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written By Lennon and/or McCartney #1: The Beatles — “Bad to Me”, The Beatles — “Goodbye”, John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 18, 2022

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

Someone once quipped that many bands could have made their careers off of Lennon and McCartney throwaways. Well, in some cases, they actually did . . . .

520) The Beatles — “Bad to Me”

The best thing that Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas ever recorded was “Bad to Me”, their winsome #1 UK hit in 1963. It was written as a favor by John Lennon:

In 1980 Lennon claimed to have written ‘Bad To Me’ while on holiday in Barcelona, Spain, in April 1963. “I was on holiday with Brian Epstein in Spain, where the rumours went around that he and I were having a love affair. Well, it was almost a love affair, but not quite. It was never consummated. But it was a pretty intense relationship. It was my first experience with a homosexual that I was conscious was homosexual. He had admitted it to me. We had this holiday together because Cyn was pregnant . . . . We used to sit in a cafe in Torremolinos looking at all the boys and I’d say, ‘Do you like that one, do you like this one?’ I was rather enjoying the experience, thinking like a writer all the time: I am experiencing this, you know. And while he was out on the tiles one night, or lying asleep with a hangover one afternoon, I remember playing him the song ‘Bad To Me’. That was a commissioned song, done for Billy J Kramer, who was another of Brian’s singers. . . .”
All We Are Saying, David Sheff, https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/bad-to-me/

The song would have fit perfectly on one of the Beatles’ first few albums. Luckily for us, we can listen to their take and just imagine. The Beatlesbible notes that” [t]he ‘Bad To Me’ demo was recorded in either May or June 1963. . . . The purpose of the demo is unclear, since Kramer later recalled Lennon teaching him the song at a piano. It was quite possibly for publishing purposes . . . . Kramer’s version was recorded at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, on 26 June 1963. . . . The single was released on 26 July 1963 . . . . The single was released in the US in 1964, and reached number nine in the charts. (https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/bad-to-me/)

521) The Beatles — “Goodbye”

“Goodbye” is one of Paul McCartney’s seemingly throwaway trifles that grows and grows on you until you realize that only a true genius could come up with such a song, one that in a brief moment perfectly captures innocence and yearning and love.

Richie Unterberger tells us that:

It was the British supermodel Twiggy who alerted Paul McCartney to the Welsh singer Mary Hopkin when Apple Records was looking for talent in 1968. The waifish soprano scored a huge worldwide smash with her first Apple single, the melancholy but rabble-rousing ballad “Those Were the Days,” in late 1968; it actually knocked the Beatles’ own “Hey Jude” out of the number one position in the U.K. Paul McCartney lent Hopkin a further hand by producing her first album and writing her second single, “Goodbye,” which was also a hit. More comfortable with refined, precious ballads and folky pop than rock, Hopkin scored several more hit singles in the U.K. . . .

Mary . . . suffered the fate too common among teenage performers to have a worldwide #1: she tends to be only remembered for that one song, 1968’s “Those Were the Days.” It gets somewhat forgotten that she did have one more fairly big hit, “Goodbye,” which made #13 in 1969 (and did quite a bit better in the UK, where it went all the way to #2). . . . [I]t has the kind of light, chipper, sentimentally romantic vibe that McCartney could exude on his most lightweight compositions . . . . Like other Lennon-McCartney songs in the sugary pop romantic mold (such as “Step Inside Love,” covered by Cilla Black), it was probably given to Hopkin in the thought that it was just too lightweight to be suitable for the Beatles. “Goodbye” might be a rather trifling song in comparison with most of the Lennon-McCartney catalog, but it’s still a fairly pleasant and catchy romp, rather like a Continental European folk love ballad in tone, with a dash of music hall. That’s particularly true of the chorus, which consists largely of the word “Goodbye,” sung with a variety-show like tone. Hopkin’s high, trilling voice was thus well-suited for the number; you could imagine it growing out of McCartney or Hopkin singing it on ukulele to their families.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mary-hopkin-mn0000316096, https://www.allmusic.com/song/goodbye-mt0039580387

Rob Sheffield wrote not too long ago in Rolling Stone that: “Paul shines in his demo of ‘Goodbye,’ a fetchingly flirty ditty he gave away as a hit to his protege Mary Hopkins. . . . It’s Paul in his most coquettish upper-register voice, reminiscent of how he sang ‘Can you take me back where I came from?’ on the White Album.” (https://web.archive.org/web/20190930001945/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/beatles-abbey-road-890229/)

The Beatlesbible notes that “[o]n ‘Goodbye’ Hopkin sang and performed acoustic guitar, while McCartney played bass guitar, an acoustic guitar introduction and solo, thigh-slapping percussion, ukulele and drums.” (https://www.beatlesbible.com/1969/03/01/paul-mccartney-produces-mary-hopkin-goodbye/)

Paul McCartney later recalled that:

“I didn’t have in mind any more Russian folk songs so I just wrote one for her. I thought it fit the bill. It wasn’t as successful as the first one but it did all right. My main memory of it is from years later, going on a boat trip from the north of Scotland to the Orkney Islands. The skipper of the boat was called George, and he told me it was his favourite song. And if you think of it from a sailor’s point of view, it’s very much a leaving-the-port song. . . . He was quite proud of the fact that that was his favourite song.”
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles, https://www.beatlesbible.com/1969/03/01/paul-mccartney-produces-mary-hopkin-goodbye/

Mary Hopkin later mused that: “Although I’m flattered that Paul wrote ‘Goodbye’ especially for me, it was, I believe, a step in the wrong direction for me. I’m so grateful that he chose ‘Those Were The Days’ as my first single. . . . being originally a Ukrainian folk song, has a timeless quality, but ‘Goodbye’ is set firmly in the sixties pop era.” (Goldmine Magazine. https://www.beatlesbible.com/1969/03/01/paul-mccartney-produces-mary-hopkin-goodbye/) As if that is a crime. Ah, gratitude . . . .

522) John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest“

It was a joke, guys, a joke, as Paul Zollo relates:

Inspired by the line spoken often by Muhammad Ali, [John Lennon] wrote “I’m The Greatest” [in 1970] as a joke. [But t]he man who sang “I’m A Loser” to the world, would not sing “I’m The Greatest.” “I couldn’t sing it,” John said in 1980. “But it was perfect for Ringo. He could say, ‘I’m the greatest’ and people wouldn’t get upset. Whereas if I said `I’m the greatest,’ they’d all take it so seriously.” “It’s very tongue in cheek,” said Ringo. ” Only [John] could have written it and only I could have sung it.” . . . Richard Perry produced the sessions, the first being the basic tracking session for the song with Ringo on drums, Lennon on piano and scratch vocal, George [Harrison] on electric guitar and their old pal Klaus Voorman on bass.

Although the common assumption was that Ringo and/or John invited [George] to participate, they did not. George had heard that John and Ringo were recording together, and called up Perry to ask if he could join the party. Perry asked John if that was okay. John was delighted. “Hell, yes!” he answered.” Tell him to get down here right away and help me finish this bridge!” In subsequent sessions came many overdubs, including George Harrison adding several layers of electric guitars—including rhythm, arpeggios and slide. Many writers have suggested that it’s his playing that makes this the most Beatlesque record made since the breakup. Ringo recorded his lead vocal, replacing some but not all of Lennon’s singing. And “fifth Beatle” Billy Preston played organ. Perry added applause to the track, a connection to the first appearance of Ringo as Billy Shears, on Lennon’s “With a Little Help from My Friends” on Sgt. Pepper.
https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-song-im-the-greatest-by-lennon/

The Beatles Bible adds that:

Lennon recorded a home demo containing two takes of “I’m The Greatest” in late 1970 . . . . The 1970 recordings showed how Lennon originally conceived the song with a jazz-style piano backing. At this stage the lyrics were largely unwritten, and lacked much of the final version’s self-deprecating humour. . . . In February 1971 . . . Lennon tried out the song in the studio for the first time. This time his band included Klaus Voormann on bass guitar and Jim Gordon on drums. Although he later claimed he’d never considered recording his own version, this studio attempt featured a telling line: “Yoko told me I was great.” . . . Early in 1973 Lennon was invited by Starr to . . . help contribute to Ringo . . . . Starr had sent requests to each of the former Beatles for new material, and Lennon revived “I’m The Greatest”. He rewrote several of the lines to make them relevant to Starr . . . . From behind the piano Lennon led a version with Starr on drums, Harrison on electric guitar and Voormann on bass. They recorded 12 takes, four of which were complete, with Lennon singing guide vocals. . . . The best attempt formed the basis for the album version, which had lead and backing vocals, lead guitar by Harrison and an organ part by Bully Preston overdubbed at a later date.
https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/john-lennon/songs/im-the-greatest/

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The Endless — “Tomorrow’s Song”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 17, 2022

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

519) The Endless — “Tomorrow’s Song”

Riveting ‘66 A-side by the Endless, an Ohio garage band formed by two brothers. Sadly, the song talks of not-so-endless love.

Buckeyebeat says:

The Endless were formed by brothers Jack and Patrick McAfee, who were school students. In October of 1966 they recorded 5 excellent original songs . . . . All five were played over the radio and the audience called in to choose the winners (even though some of the band members disagreed with the choices!). They hooked up with Frank Keffer from Cardinal records in Columbus, who released “Prevailing Darkness” and “Tomorrow’s Song”. The 45 sides were re-recorded . . . in December of ’66.
http://buckeyebeat.com/endless.html

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Thor’s Hammer — “My Life”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 16, 2022

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

518) Thor’s Hammer — “My Life”

“My Life” by Iceland’s Thor’s Hammer entered Valhalla upon placement in the underground garage/freakbeat/psych canon by Nuggets II, which calls it a “wild yet melodic rocker, bursting with harmonies and some crackling fuzz guitar work.” (Mike Stax’s liner notes to Nuggets II) Richie Unterberger says it’s a “[b]rash mod stomper[] . . . with snarling vocals, Keith Moon-like drumming, and fuzz guitar” and an “engaging, tough mod rocker[]”. (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thors-hammer-mn0000584715; https://www.allmusic.com/album/from-keflavik-with-love-mw0000211096)

Then Anorak Thing opines that:

“My Life” . . . [has] more restrained “beat group” style vocals but [an] insane barrage of fuzz and distortion that only comes from places where the climate is harsh or the people are backward like some of the best 60’s sides from rural America or Australia.
(http://anorakthing.blogspot.com/2010/11/icelandic-freakbeat-mayhem.html)

Now, I am not sure whether AT is saying that Iceland has a harsh climate or that Icelanders are backward, but I can attest to the insane barrage of fuzz and distortion!

As to Thor’s Hammer — who went by the name of Hljómar in Iceland — Richie Unterberger recites their saga:

Thor’s Hammer was the most notable ’60s Icelandic rock band . . . . In part that’s because they were able to record in London for Parlophone, and even get a solitary 45 released in America in 1967. . . . In the mid- to late ’60s, they made quite a few recordings, the best of them in a ferocious mod, British Invasion style reminiscent of the early Who and sub-Who groups like the Eyes. . . . Thor’s Hammer formed as Hlijomar (in English, the Sounds or the Chords) in Keflavik, Iceland, in 1963. In a small, isolated country that didn’t even have television in 1963, a rock band of any kind was a novelty. They became extremely popular [there] and began recording for the Icelandic market in 1965, also supporting some visiting British acts on their Icelandic tours. They named themselves Thor’s Hammer for English-sung recordings made in London and released on the Parlophone label.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thors-hammer-mn0000584715

Mike Stax says:

Their initial releases were sung in their native tongue, but the group and their record company quickly realized that to export the group’s popularity, they would need to sing in English and adjust the band’s name accordingly. . . . In late 1965 Thor’s Hammer traveled to England for recording sessions which included ones for tracks that were to be used in an upcoming movie starring the band, called Umbarumbamba. Among the songs recorded was “My Life[.]” . . . The song was released on an EP, issued in conjunction with the movie in the fall of 1966. The film was something of a flop, however, and the record consequently sold poorly. Though the band’s popularity was fading in their home country, they pursued their international ambitions with a 1967 single for Columbia Records. However, the single — cut by U.S. session men, with the band’s vocals added later– sank without a trace. In Iceland, the group’s career . . . eventually recovered and they thrived in a more progressive vein until their final split in 1969.
liner notes to the CD comp Nuggets II (Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969)

Now, Umbarumbamba wasn’t a feature — only 15 minutes long, it is a “stylized account of an Icelandic country dance.” (https://www.icelandicfilms.info/films/nr/783) Supposedly, the film has never been screened since. Well, I want to see it! If anyone who reads this blog has done so, let us all know!

I am not sure what Umbarumbamba means — Google Translate tells me that it’s English equivalent is Umbarumbamba. Maybe one problem here is that Iceland don’t have the best international marketers — naming their country Iceland when it is so beautiful while Greenland gets to call itself Greenland (what a joke)! Maybe if they had named it Ummagumma, it would have been a blockbuster.

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The Gordian Knot — “The Broken Down Ole Merry-Go-Round”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 15, 2022

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

517) The Gordian Knot — “The Broken Down Ole Merry-Go-Round”

What do a star college quarterback, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Norman Fell (“Mr. Roper”), Senator Robert Kennedy and Nancy Sinatra all have in common? — the Gordian Knot and a wondrous pop psych B-side/album track from the Knot’s only album. “Merry-Go-Round” constitutes one third of the great ‘60’s triumvirate of bittersweet meditations on childhood from the perspective of the things that growing children leave behind — along with “Puff the Magic Dragon” and Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree.”

From whence the degrees of separation? Bryan Thomas:

[The] Gordian Knot was a short-lived band from southern California by way of Mississippi. They released only one album, a terrific soft rock/harmony pop effort . . . . The group formed at the University of Mississippi and was led by ex-Mississippi all-American quarterback/guitarist/lead vocalist Jim Weatherly . . . . The group caught their biggest break after they appeared at a party thrown by Nancy Sinatra, who apparently liked them so much that she asked them to accompany her on a USO trip to Vietnam. According to their liner notes, they were “one of the few groups since the Beatles to possess genuine charm . . . not a phony show biz glucose charm, but the real thing.” The bandmembers also appeared as themselves in a 1968 MGM teensploitation flick called Young Runaways, performing an original entitled “Ophelia’s Dream.”

A few years after the release of this album, Weatherly moved to Nashville and became a country singer/songwriter, penning a handful of hits. [His] biggest success as a songsmith came in 1973, however, when he wrote five of the nine songs on Top Ten album Imagination, including the soulful “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me” and “Midnight Train to Georgia” (“Midnight Plane to Houston” was the original title), a pop and R&B number one smash in September 1973. . . . Weatherly recorded several albums . . . in the mid-’70s . . . . He has since co-written with younger country acts and provided Vince Gill, Bryan White, and others with hit songs.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-gordian-knot-mn0002483256

Chris Bishop adds some:

[J.D.] Lobue [who wrote “Merry-Go-Round”] and [Leland] Russell had a band with Jim since their days at the University of Mississippi, where Jim Weatherly was a star quarterback. After college they moved to Los Angeles to try to succeed in the music business. On March 5, 1965, Cash Box announced “The grid star kicks off his disk career with a driving rocker”. It would be three years before any further releases, or any press would mention Jim Weatherly or his group, who would eventually be named the Gordian Knot. In February, 1968, Cash Box reported the[y] had signed to Verve for four singles and an album.
https://garagehangover.com/jim-weatherly-im-gonna-make-it/

And Record World from April 20, 1968:

Performing for the key-holding crowds of Pierre Salinger’s ultra private club the Factory, they have acquired a rooting section which includes Nancy Sinatra and Tommy Smothers. Recently, they entertained Senator Robert Kennedy who thanked them in his speech for performing . . . . [M]illions of TV viewers familiarized themselves with the group when they tuned in the Fred Astaire special a while back. Viewers caught the quintet scintillate through the old Irving Berlin number, “Top Hat.”
https://garagehangover.com/jim-weatherly-im-gonna-make-it/

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Here is the short version:

Here is “Orphilia’s Dream” — and, yes, the dad is Norman Fell from Three’s Company!!!

Here is a trailer from The Young Runaways:

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” that are available on Spotify. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

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