I may be skirting the outer limits of “obscure” here, but “Shangri-La” is one of my favorite Kinks songs (see #100, 381, 417), from the ’69 concept album Arthur (Or the Decline of the British Empire), and as my daughter says, “I [meaning she] make the rules.”
David Levesley tells us:
The[ Kinks’] focus on microscopic analyses of our nation’s best and worst qualities doesn’t make for stadium anthems and immortal singalongs, but it does make for work that deserves to be held next to Rudyard Kipling or John Betjeman and “Shangri La” is one of the songs that deserves that comparison most. Inspired by Ray and Dave visiting their sister, Rose, after she moved with her husband to a designed community in Adelaide, it does what The Kinks do . . . best. It takes the idea of a particular idyll, the “Shangri La” of the comfortable atomic family in a comfortable house, and explodes it for the hypocrisy and insecurity at its core. . . . such a perfect description of suburban mundanity that it beggars belief.
“Shangri-La” is one of The Kinks’ finest moments, with a gorgeous melody and ambiguous lyrics which deploy empathy and satire in equal measure. Davies’ vengeful instincts are present, but it’s a mistake to imagine that the writer’s anger is directed at the little man whose reward for a lifetime of toil is a rocking chair and a pair of slippers. It’s the modesty of reward Davies is angry about, not the desire to overcome insecurity.
Yeah, I’m not sure that Sting could ever have written “Synchronicity II” had it not been for “Shangri-La”.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine adds regarding Arthur:
Arthur . . . . tell[s] 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 [The] Village Green [Preservation Society], Arthur is as multi-layered musically as it is lyrically. “Shangri-La” evolves from English folk to hard rock . . . . 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.
Here is a wonderful later-in-life acoustic performance (with a chorus!) by Ray prefaced with an equally wonderful interview about the song and the times: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RrmakJHnyfw.
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“Animal Man” is the opening track of Fowley’s outrageous ’68 album Outrageous. As to Fowley (see #89) and the album, Rob Fitzpatrick tells truth to puker:
LA-born legend Kim Fowley was already 30 when this album came out in 1969 and had lived about eight lifetimes’ worth of debauchery and insanity. . . . Fowley was brought up amongst the pimps, whores, mafia men and chorus girls that populated his opium-using dad’s world. . . . [As to Outrageous, t]he album sounds like Fowley himself was off his chump on weapons-grade pharmaceuticals – he rants, raves, seethes, spits, burps, curses, declaims, screams and hollers his way across a heavily psychedelic set of knuckle-scraping rock-outs that recall a post-lobotomy Doors attempting an MC5 b-side while piled in the back of a inexpertly driven truck. On ice. And drugs. On the moon. . . . Recorded in one single six hour session, Fowley improvised every snarling, proto-punk word. Generally sounding either on the point of orgasm or vomiting his guts up, there are few – if any – records that sound like Outrageous . . . .
[I]t wasn’t the music on OUTRAGEOUS which still leaves 21st Century listeners gasping. No no no, the genius of this 1968 album is all contained in the dizzyingly portentous and truly whacked-out vocal delivery which Fowley chooses to foist upon us. . . .
OUTRAGEOUS opens with the brief Gatlin gun drumming and lightweight Hendrix-ish psychedelia of “Animal Man”. . . . Cue verse three:
“I’m a love addict. . . Public enemy number one, I’m gonna butcher all the girls on my loving room floor.” A Suzy Creamcheese-type voice announces: “Oh animal man, you’re so rough and so . . . big.” Seven seconds of grunting (count ‘em) and Fowley comes like a 16-year-old. “It’s too dirty, it’ll be banned,” he chuckles, and that’s where you start liking the guy.
Fowley, larger than life. Where did he come from? As Jason Ankeny explains:
One of the most colorful characters in the annals of rock & roll, Kim Fowley was, over the course of his decades-long career, a true jack-of-all-trades: singer, songwriter, producer, manager, disc jockey, promoter, and published poet. He was also the catalyst behind much of the pop music to emerge from the Los Angeles area during the 1960s and ’70s, guiding several of his associates and protégés to fame and fortune, while remaining himself a shadowy cult figure . . . . Fowley found his first taste of success by producing the Top 20 hit “Cherry Pie” for schoolmates Gary S. Paxton and Skip Battin, who performed under the name Skip & Flip. With Battin, Fowley next created the group the Hollywood Argyles, who topped the charts in 1960 with the novelty smash “Alley Oop.” The duo subsequently masterminded Paul Revere & the Raiders’ first hit, “Like Long Hair,” and in 1962 helped launch the Rivingtons, scoring with the classic “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow.” Another novelty hit, B. Bumble & the Stingers’ “Nut Rocker,” reached number one in the U.K. . . . [I]n 1964[, he] . . . produced the girl group smash “Popsicles and Icicles” by the Murmaids. In the mid-’60s, Fowley became immersed in the Los Angeles counterculture, befriending Frank Zappa . . . and later appearing on . . . the[] Freak Out! LP. [He was a] prolific songwriter . . . . [and f]inally, in 1967 . . . issued his own solo debut, Love Is Alive and Well, a record that found him closely aligned with the flower power movement. (Fowley also claimed to have staged the first “love-in” in Los Angeles.) A series of solo records followed, including 1968’s suitably titled Outrageous . . . but none garnered the commercial success of so many of his other projects. . . . [In] 1975 . . . [he] returned to his Svengali role by assembling the notorious Runaways . . . .
From ’68, listen to Kim explain the (Laurel) Canyon people to a gullible reporter:
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By all accounts, Earth Island must have been Curt Boettcher moonlighting. Dr. Schluss says:
We Must Surivive . . . . seems to date a little past the expiry date of the genre, but the sounds are definitely the real deal and recall the better moments of Curt Boettcher’s and/or Gary Usher’s love fest freak outs. There’s a slight nod to prog here with some of the meatier instrumental parts, and I can’t help but note the strong environmental awareness aspect that crops up here the very same year as the first Earth Day (I think). . . . Forsaking straight up lead vocals, most of the songs rely on a weave of harmonies that compare favorably with just about anyone else. . . . Earth Island manages that tinge of melancholy that really takes the music to a higher level.
And Superbillie1 calls the album “[v]ery good Psych-lite with tinges of Pop and prog. [The] music [is[ on the same wavelength as The Millennium; light ‘airy’ sort of super-produced pop with (often) positive messages. For a few tracks I could’ve sworn the lead singer was Curt Boettcher . . . .” (http://poprunners.blogspot.com/2019/02/psychedelic-pop-earth-island-we-must.html)
And, finally, Adamus67:
Originally issued in June 1970 . . . at a time when rock music was beginning to embrace ecological themes, [the Earth Island’s] sole album was produced by Kim Fowley [see #89]. Touching on rock, psychedelia and sunshine pop, it boasts fine vocal harmonies throughout . . . clearly bring to mind the best moments of creative collaboration such classics as Curt Boettcher psychedelia . . . and Gary Usher.
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2) Vernon Joynson calls it “quite an interesting debut of flowery psychedelia”. (Tapestry of Delights Revisited).
3) Bruce Eder says it’s the Fairytale’s “magnum opus, a trippy piece of psychedelia that’s pop-ish without being wimpy, with a great beat and some weird guitar sounds from John Weston, who probably didn’t deserve the obscurity that he achieved in music.” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/fairytale-mn0000632040) Probably? Is this Richie Unterberger impersonating Bruce Eder?
4) Derek See says the song “is one of those cuts where the stars line up for absolute magic. . . . from the early psychedelic days that distills the strong r&b influence into music that was somehow able to be wispy, propelling, danceable and mind blowing all at the same time”. (http://dereksdaily45.blogspot.com/2011/05/fairytale-guess-i-was-dreaming.html)
I’m with Derek all the way. He also relates that:
Allegedly, Don Arden (UK music bigwig who managed the early career of the Small Faces and others), asked the group if they had any songs with psychedelic imagery, and this song (allegedly about a bad acid trip) was what they presented. Arden may have practiced questionable business tactics, but the man certainly knew a great song and with his help this was the debut release from the group.
As to Fairytale, Vernon Joynson says that it was “[a] short-lived Lancastrian outfit who formed in Warrington [near Manchester] in March 1967 and tended to blend pop psychedelia with a taint of punk-rock . . . . When neither of their 45s ‘happened’ Fairytale had called it a day by 1968.” Oh, and 23 Daves adds that “[t]he band’s line-up was John Weston on guitar, Mally Rabbit on organ, Billy Fagg on drums and Chaddy Penketh on bass guitar. With names like that, one wonders if any pseudonyms were being used, or if it’s perfectly possible for several people with such insane birthnames to join the same band at the same time. What a strange old era it was.” Yes, it was.
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Years before the Wailers recorded LOUIE LOUIE with Rockin’ Robin Roberts, they were considered one of the hottest rock bands to emerge from the Pacific Northwest. In 1959, when they were still in high school, they were signed to Golden Crest Records, their song “Tall Cool One” peaked the national charts at #36, and they appeared on such television shows as the Alan Freed Show and Dick Clark‘s American Bandstand. For many people in the Pacific Northwest during the late 50’s, the Wailers were THE ROCK BAND to watch.
At the time, John Greek was considered the[ir] leader . . . having founded the band in 1957 with a few other kids whose parents were stationed at the McCord Air Force base in Tacoma, Washington. One year later in 1960, some tension grew to an ugly head within the band, and John Greek left the Wailers. Taking his place was Buck Ormsby . . . . Together with Kent Morrill, these two Wailers created Etiquette Records as a means to release their own material. Their very first record was a 45 single of “LOUIE LOUIE” by Rockin’ Robin Roberts, another member of the Wailers . . . . [which] was considered the archetypal recording that inspired the Kingsmen, Paul Revere & the Raiders, and hundreds, if not thousands of other rock bands from the Pacific Northwest to perform the iconic song . . . .
John Greek . . . was for the most part forgotten by the music industry. . . .
John passed away in 2006. But his music lives on. He “recorded with . . . The Beautiful Daze; played guitar on The Seeds’ 45 “Wind Blows Your Hair;” and played on four cuts on the [Lollipop Shoppe’s] LP.” (https://fakebands.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_Sacred_Cows)
John’s sister Marsha remembers him:
[John] started playing the trumpet in the 5th grade because he had [rheumatic] fever and was bedridden for a year. The trumpet helped him to strengthen his lungs. That was the beginning of John’s passion and lifelong career in music. He was voted class president at . . . high [school] . . . and the administrators had a fit. Here was the kid who defied authority at every turn. When my parents wouldn’t let me go out at night, John would take me to dances and ditch me at the door. . . . He burned his candle at both ends….. Rock on, John, Rock on.
He was a very good soul but alcohol was a problem. He didn’t trust music companies at all or recording labels. [L]ots of bad feelings about what happened with the [W]ailers.
This ‘67 A-side left me dazed, confused and bemused. It is an utterly fantastical “fuzzadelic rave-up” (https://cosmicmindatplay.wordpress.com/2013/07/) and, per Dave Furgess, an “acid-fueled masterpiece” full of “sonic dementia” with “lyrics of confusion and disorientation.” (https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/1736/) Of course John Greek was charting the course. As Axel Björnsson comments, the Daze was “one of his projects” and the “song is so before it’s time.. Genius this man. GENIUS! r.i.p.” (http://www.louielouie.net/blog/?p=240)
Cosmic Mind at Play gives some more detail:
This single appeared on no less than three different labels in 1968: RPR, Spread City, and Alpha . . . . [It was] edited into two parts for the single. ‘Part 1’ is the vocal side, with a melody that shows a strong pop sensibility, albeit accompanied by full-on fuzz and punctuated by frenzied raga-like breaks. ‘Part 2’ is the instrumental side, and as the track fades in we are in the middle of a wigged out section that breaks down into feedback before it develops into a mind frying twin-guitar assault on the senses that eventually ends with what sounds like an imitation of police sirens. The City Jungle indeed. Joyous!
Dave Furgess continues to put the addled into the adulation:
The subject matter is probably a bad acid trip. The guitars . . . are overloaded with effects to the point of delerium, they just hammer away at you until you just can’t take it anymore. Yet despite the song’s sonic dementia, there is a neat little pop song buried inside the wall of fuzz, replete with L.A. sunshine pop harmonies. Side B is entirely instrumental, it basically carries on the acid mayhem at the end of side A, it actually turns up the knobs even further into the red and collapses under it’s own weight, leaving the listener dazed and emotionally spent. . . . [I]t is certainly one of the high points of the very fertile mid-60’s L.A. garage/psych. underground.
[The Sacred Cows] were the “[h]ottest rock and roll group in the country” from the “Groovy Guru” episode (01/13/1968) of . . . Get Smart. This drummerless “rock” trio were part of the evil Groovy Guru’s (Larry Storch [F-Troop]) plot to cause the youth of America to run wild, looting and killing. . . . The band was played by session musicians (l-r) Jerry Scheff (bass) John Greek (guitar) and Ben Benay (guitar) They both played the band and recorded the music.
I think the Cows were the hottest band. Man, John missed it by that much!
446) The Seeds — “The Wind Blows Your Hair”
“The Wind”, a non-album ’67 A-side, is my favorite Seeds song — half psych/half garage — all Sky! Yellow Paper Suns agrees, calling it “a scintillating and spooky 1967 psychedelic non-album single . . . and it is the best song they achieved.” (https://yellowpapersuns.com/2022/04/24/listen-in-7/)
YPS goes on:
”The Wind Blows Your Hair” achieves its odd and unsettling feel by mixing upbeat lyrics about a wedding celebration with a snaky, descending keyboard riff (and Sky Saxon’s provocative vocals) that gives the merry tale a darker and queasier aspect. This is partially explained by the fact that it’s original lyrics were also dark — a sneering put-down in the vein of 1965-era Dylan, with ”Prince Satan” in a starring role. Recording of the song was attempted four separate times by The Seeds. The first was during a January 1966 session, and the other three times were during 1967. For the latter two sessions, ”The Wind Blows Your Hair” had its lyrics re-written (from Satan to wedding), and the sessions were booked specifically to record this song as a single. Three separate recordings have been released officially: the original GNP Crescendo single from October 1967 (with the wedding lyrics), and two of the Satan versions — the January 1966 run-through and a mid-1967 take (in both mono and stereo mixes). . . .
Of the Seeds, Stephen Thomas Erlewine says:
Best known for their rock & roll standard “Pushin’ Too Hard,” [see #116] the Seeds combined the raw, Stonesy appeal of garage rock with a fondness for ragged, trashy psychedelia. And though they never quite matched the commercial peak of their first two singles, “Pushin’ Too Hard” and “Can’t Seem to Make You Mine,” the band continued to record for the remainder of the ’60s, eventually delving deep into post-Sgt. Pepper’s psychedelia and art rock. None of their new musical directions resulted in another hit single, and the group disbanded at the turn of the decade. Sky Saxon (. . . vocals) and guitarist Jan Savage formed the [band] . . . in Los Angeles in 1965. By the end of 1966, they had secured a contract with GNP Crescendo, releasing “Pushin’ Too Hard” [which] climbed into the Top 40 early in 1967 . . . . While their singles were garage punk, the Seeds . . . branch[ed] out into improvisational blues-rock and psychedelia on their first two albums . . . . With their third album . . . the band attempted a psychedelic concept album . . . .
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This song is a sure thing. Bell co-wrote it with Booker T. Jones. Ollie and the Nightingales first released it in ‘68, and reached #73 (#16 R&B). Bell’s version is so much better in my mind . . . it’s so smmmmooooooth, it’s criminal! The lyrics might be a bit dated. 😆
Jason Ankeny:
[Bell was a] principal architect of the Stax/Volt sound. . . . After joining the Stax staff as a writer, Bell made his solo debut in 1961 with the self-penned “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” an archetypal slice of country-soul and one of the label’s first big hits. A two-year Armed Forces stint effectively derailed his career, however, and he did not release his first full-length album . . . until 1967 . . . . That same year, Albert King also scored with another classic Bell [and Jones] composition, the oft-covered “Born Under a Bad Sign.”
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OK, I couldn’t resist, another classic by Sharon Tandy (see #371, 441). This “very Sandy Shaw-like” song (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/you-gotta-believe-its-mw0000741620 ) is “upbeat and undeniably commercial . . . squarely in the vogue of 1968 British pop and thus once again its total lack of chart action begs explanation.” (Alec Palao’s liner notes to her You Gotta Believe It’s . . . Sharon Tandy comp) Yes, this is one of the greatest exuberant Swinging London tracks that I have heard. How could it not have been a hit? The song was written by her husband Frank “Fenter’s in house writing team Brian Potter and Graham Dee”, of whom Sharon said “Graham Dee and Brian Potter, they could write!” (liner notes to You Gotta Believe It’s . . . Sharon Tandy)
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An unissued at the time (’66) Isaac Hayes-David Porter composition by the great Sharon Tandy (see #371, including for more on Tandy). It was later released by the Goodees (a white girl group on Stax?!), but Sharon’s version is a gazillion times better. Let’s say she adds some lines to put her (rather than her man) in control and just generally makes the song more, uh, lascivious, a little less goodee goodee. Man, I can only think that this recording put a smile on Moses’ face. Why it wasn’t released, why it wasn’t a huge hit . . . I cannot fathom.
Check out the site’s new page: Stick It to the (Fish)Man:Feedback — the coolest comments I have received!
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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! (“relating 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 entertainment” — dictionary.com).
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.
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Exquisite B-side and title track from Harvey’s ‘69 solo album, with lyrics courtesy of W.H. Auden. Yes, a sonnet by W.H. Auden about a Roman soldier! Why didn’t Pink Floyd ever give this a spin? All in all you’re just another brick in the Roman wall blues. Or Dylan? Stuck inside of Jerusalem with the Roman wall blues again.
William Ruhlmann:
Alex Harvey was a British journeyman rocker who enjoyed a brief period of widespread popularity in the mid-’70s after decades of struggle. Growing up in [Glasgow,] Scotland, he turned to music in his late teens . . . . In 1969, he released Roman Wall Blues, his first solo effort in five years. Up to this point, none of his musical efforts had attracted much attention. But in the early ’70s, he recruited the Scottish band Tear Gas . . . christening the resulting quintet the Sensational Alex Harvey Band.
Roman Wall Blues was an awkward though intermittently interesting effort that still found Harvey in the midst of his long, halting transition from soul-blues artist to a more original songwriter who fused satire and hard rock with R&B. . . . [On] the uncommonly grim title track . . . Harvey plays the part of an actual Roman soldier on patrol.
Harvey recorded a starkly different, but equally stunning, version of the song in the early 1980’s, shortly before his death. As Dave Thompson relates:
Completed just a month before [his] death in February 1982, Soldier on the Wall is generally regarded as little more than a career afterthought, the last sad recordings of a man whose golden years were now seven or eight years behind him. Part of that, of course, was due to the circumstances of its posthumous release, a barely publicized appearance on a tiny northern England indie label that went out of business within the year; but it also reflects upon the distinctly underwhelming nature of Harvey’s own last two albums . . . . Yet [it] is actually one of Harvey’s most fulfilling albums ever. . . . [T]he somewhat low-budget feel . . . perfectly matches the deliciously downtrodden glamour of both its maker and its contents. . . . [Songs including] . . . the late-’60s “Roman Wall Blues” epic[] have a dynamic sheen that catapults matters straight back to [his] glory days . . . .
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Matt Collar writes that “[t]he Bee Gees’ tempestuous personal relationships led to their 1969 breakup, and when the band members stopped working together, Barry turned to thoughts of a solo career [as did Robin and Maurice (see #353, 354)]. He began recording an album, which was supposed to be called The Kid’s No Good, but he only got as far as releasing one single, ‘I’ll Kiss Your Memory’ (1970), before returning to work with his brothers.” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/barry-gibb-mn0000659118/biography) Joseph Brennan believes that the brothers’s shelving of their solo albums was an aspect of their reconciliation. (http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beegees/70.html)
“This Time” is the B-side to “I’ll Kiss Your Memory” (which wasn’t released as a single in the U.S.). It is a lovely country-pop song.
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“Trip on Out” is the A-side of the Riot’s only single (’68), an “ear scorcher” and an “[e]xtra strength fuzz overload from an Enid, OK sextet of teenage misfits.” (The 30 Seconds Before the Calico Wall! garage comp), and an “absolute monster[].” (Vol. 6 of the Pebbles garage comp series) Gilesi says that:
Trip On Out’ starts confidently with brash, fuzzed out guitar chords, then the rhythm guitar and (buried in the mix) keyboards join in and we are in classic punkadelic territory. . . . [T]he guitar break is indeed a thing of wonder as it moves from fuzzily confident to almost falling apart as the guitarist just about makes it back to the main riff. A complete stormer!
I have this to add: did Nirvana perform this song? It sounds just like Nirvana! This was 1968! Did Nirvana ever play Enid?
Gilesi has this to say about the Riot:
There were bands in the 1960s called Haymarket Riot from Michigan, California, and Minnesota but this particular outfit were based in Enid, Oklahoma. All these acts presumably took their name from the riot (aka the Haymarket Affair) that took place in Haymarket Square in Chicago in May 1886, after an initially peaceful demonstration by workers for an eight-hour day was disrupted by a bomb thrown by an anarchist at the police as they tried to disperse the rally. . . . The Enid, OK Haymarket Riot were apparently a six-piece and their lone single was cut in Oklahoma City and released in August 1968 . . . . ‘
Check out the site’s new page: Stick It to the (Fish)Man:Feedback — the coolest comments I have received!
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Here is a soothing UK Renaissance folk-prog charmer. Jazz Rock Soul says “’And Smile Again’ is folksy and plaintive; [Geoff] Brown, affecting an Ian-Anderson-like tone, wraps vocal melodies around the accordion-laden, acoustic-plucked arrangement”. https://jazzrocksoul.com/artists/galliard/. Renaissance Festival anyone?!
As to Galliard, LPCDReissues tells us
Formed in the Midlands in 1969 . . . this innovative group recorded their second album for Decca’s Deram imprint in 1970. . . . Galliard failed to achieve the commercial success they deserved. Both “New Dawn” and their previous release “Strange Pleasure” . . . are among the most collectable and valuable records of the Progressive Rock genre.”
Along with Colosseum . . . and the Keef Hartley Band, Galliard represented a UK wing of the brass-laden jazz-rock-soul sound, reflecting stateside contemporaries Blood Sweat & Tears, Chicago . . . . Galliard evolved from soul-rockers Immediate Pleasure, formed in mid-1968 by singer/guitarist Geoff Brown and guitarist/singer Richard Pannell [who had been members of] Craig, which issued two 1966 Fontana singles, including the psych-stormer “I Must Be Mad” [see #141] with lightning drumrolls by a young Carl Palmer . . . . After Craig folded, Brown and Pannell played in an Irish showband . . . . With a repertoire of Stax/Volt covers, they formed Immediate Pleasure and stabilized as a sextet . . . . [T]wo foreign influences informed their aesthetic: the burgeoning stateside brass-rock sound of Blood Sweat & Tears and Chicago Transit Authority; and the obscure, eclectic chamber-psych of Ars Nova. The latter group’s synthesis of Renaissance-like folk with brass arrangements inspired Brown to rename his band Galliard, the name of a 16th century folk dance. . . .
Much more adventurous than its predecessor, [it] has a schizophrenic quality as half the tracks are pure brass-rock, but the other half is completely eclectic, and thankfully so. This second album is much worth the proghead’s investigation and investment.”
‘New Dawn’ was recorded in the Beatles’ legendary Abbey Road Number 2 studio. Surrounded by an array of extra instruments (including the famous Mellotron from Strawberry Fields), the band included supplemented brass sections, sitars, keyboards, sine-wave generators, accordion, harpsichord and other creative inputs . . . . The album . . . was far more ambitious and polished than the first album and the band had finally found its own sound.
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436) The Hardy Boys — “Long, Long Way to Nashville”
“Nashville” is no bubblegum thing, it’s actually a really cool and sophisticated country/sunshine pop track from Wheels, the ’70 sophomore album by the Hardy Boys. Yes, the Hardy Boys! Greg Ehrbar writes that:
Everyone connected with Saturday morning television and the recording industry sat up and took notice when almost half the nation watched The Archie Show when it premiered in 1968 and the studio band fronted by Ron Dante as The Archies [had] albums and singles flying off the shelves. [T]he next task was to find ways to duplicate this astonishing success. For ABC, Filmation zeroed in on the popular Hardy Boys book series. . . . [and] came up with a solution to The Archies one business setback: since they were animated, they couldn’t tour. . . . At the time Ron Dante himself was forbidden to reveal his identity as the real-life singing voice of Archie. In the case of The Hardy Boys mystery-solving gang . . . there would be flesh-and-blood counterparts . . . that appeared in live-action music segments in conjunction with the cartoon versions. Problem solved! [T]he songs are catchy and entertaining, not at all a bland attempt to rip off the sound of The Archies. . . . [N]either [Wheels] nor the debut album were very successful. . . . The music is first-rate sunshine rock . . . . The main reason Filmations Hardy Boys series didn’t catch on . . . Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
Due in part to the fact that The Monkees . . . rebelled and eventually took over their own career, producers began turning to actual cartoons when manufacturing new rock groups . . . . [with] usually uncredited studio singers and musicians. . . . While the real [Hardy Boys] band is pictured on the album covers . . , the fictional names were given credit. However, Frank and Joe Hardy were actually . . . Reed Kailing . . . and Jeff Taylor . . . . The rest of the lineup was put together by . . . Dunwich, legendary for excellent garage punk records during the company’s brief run as a record label. Though it’s likely the albums are largely performed by studio players, the assembled band were all musicians, and did do the singing and perform some live shows . . . . [O]verall the discs aren’t quite the strictly formulaic bubblegum as they’re usually tagged as. Many tracks were provided by the songwriting team of Ed Fournier and Ricky Sheldon, remembered best today for the “Fat Albert Theme[.]” Other songs are courtesy of writers such as Ellie Greenwich and Gary Loizzo of The American Breed. . . . The Wheels LP includes the classic b-gum sound . . . . [b]ut it also includes country tinged songs like . . . “Long, Long Way to Nashville” . . . .
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’68 A-side from the only single by the uber-mysterious band — not to be confused with the Canadian Plague (see #248). 23 Daves writes:
“Looking for the Sun” [is] chiming and subtle [with an] eerie and doomed feel. . . . By the time Decca launched this on to the public the summer of love had come and gone, and psychedelic pop was beginning to seem a bit like yesterday’s news. Had this been issued earlier I’m tempted to argue that it might have been a hit, but sadly it’s hard to imagine it being a jolly daytime radio staple – it was always going to achieve cult status at best, and that’s exactly what happened. . . . Rumours abound that The Plague were actually a studio-bound record label project rather than proper hippies, which (if true) just goes to show that The Man can disguise himself very well when he wants to.
The rumours are fake news! The band was a mystery to most — Vernon Joynson writes that “[t]he band’s personnel isn’t known and this seems to have been their only release.” (The Tapestry of Delights Revisited). However, after 23 Dave’s 2009 post, dr. charlie commented in 2010 that:
Hi, What a shock! I was the lead guitarist/second vocalist with Plague. We recorded about 20 tracks at the Decca studios in 68. This included original and obscure covers. Our manager of the time rejected Decca’s contract terms and we never signed with Decca. I and (I am almost certain) the rest of the band were unaware of this release. The tracks have definatley been re- recorded or alterd and added to (for instance the keyboard intro). Plague were a touring band and performed hundreds of times between 66 and 70. Today I know of only two venues web sites that were going to “list” us; Chiselhurst Caves, Kent (where we were supported by Pink Floyed in 66) and California Ballrooms, Dunstable (where we opened for Peter Frampton;-Herd, and Tony Rivers and The Casteaways in 67 or 68?) Myself and at least one other former member still perform today. Plague folded in 70
Then, another comment:
hi i am the second member of the plague that was refered to by dr charlie. we have just recently made contact after all these years. it is true we were unaware that this single had been released by decca and it came as a big suprise when i was told only 2 days ago. i am still playing to this day.
Then, another comment:
Somebody has a very bad memory. I was the singer and part composer of “here today gone tomorrow” [the B-side]. The Plague were a four piece band the members were Bill Dale bass + vocal, Russ Harness Keyboard + vocal, Ken Ali guitar + vocal and John Truelove drums. We only recorded one single for Decca, afterwards we changed our name to “The Explosive”, and recorded on President records with the same line up. Two of our most succesfull records were ” Cities makes the country colder ” and ” who planted thorns in miss Alices garden” [see #421]. The band broke up in 1971 after a ture of Israel. I have now lived in Denmark for nearly 40 years and i am stil playing. Hope this information helps, I dont know what band dr charlie played in, but it wasen’t the same band that recorded this record. All the best Bill Dale
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Another glorious track from the glorious Honeybus (see #6, 52, 207) — from the ’70 album Story. Sooty Chimney calls it “McCartney worship at its finest” (https://www.dreamchimney.com/tracks/12420) and Kingsley Abbott says “I Remember Caroline recalls the Fab Four’s hit sounds and feel”. (https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/story) All true. As to the album, the reissue label says:
Blending the kind of pure, crystalline folk-tinged baroque pop that had characterised most of their singles with flashes of psychedelia, country and bubblegum, the twelve songs that make up Story are uniformly stunning creations, played with skill and confidence, arranged for strings and woodwind and blessed with a sympathetic, understated production.”
That is not merely advertising puffery — that is the stone cold truth.
Oh, and how did they come up with the name Honeybus? Colin Hare says that “Pete Dello liked the idea of honey as he wanted his music to be sweet sounding. He was sitting with Ray [Cane] in a cafe, a bus passed by and Ray exclaimed “Honeybus”!” (https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2022/03/honeybus-interview-colin-hare.html)
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Sean Trane calls “Spine Cop” a “steamy instrumental . . . where the horns offer a Chicago-highway to [the] wailing guitar. Enthralling and exciting stuff.” (https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/artist/rock-workshop). Rock Workshop’s first album (’70-’71) was “a bold attempt at fusing what would be termed rock jazz as opposed to jazz rock.”(https://www.allmusic.com/artist/rock-workshop-mn0000831923) Whatever you call it, it is a balls to the wall (can I still say that?) instrumental driven by supercharged horns.
Who was Rock Workshop? Sean Trane tells us:
Behind this bizarre . . . name (for a jazz act) stands one of the largest amalgam of British jazzers, but if anyone remembers it, it’s probably because of Alex Harvey’s . . . stance behind the microphone. But in reality, this was guitarist Ray Russell’s vehicle for some high-energy brass-rock that can be often likened to Chicago Transit Authority . . . . [I]f RW’s main claim to fame is their singer . . . I’m not far from thinking that the band is better off when Alex shuts up . . . .
There might be some truth to that!
Angel Air, the label that put out the CD reissue, states that:
Lead Guitarist and principal songwriter Ray Russell had been gigging with Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames when he met Alex Harvey (later of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band) with his younger brother Lesley Harvey (lead guitarist with Stone The Crows) both of whom were playing in the musical “Hair” in London. Out of this meeting of likeminded musicians came the collaborative free-basing British band Rock Workshop – a very Chicago/Blood Sweat & Tears first-album brass-driven 11-man fusion outfit . . . . Both of these platters sank without a trace . . . .
The collective’s first album was issued . . . to great critical acclaim. However, due to their record company wanting to market them as an English ‘Blood Sweat And Tears’, they never achieved great commercial success. . . .
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George Starostin calls this killer track from Carla’s ‘69 album Memphis Queen a “funk-pop anthem.” He goes on:
[T]he gentle and romantic Carla Thomas is beginning to learn the basics of lusty, carnal music — still not quite up to the standards of Bessie Smith, but she does make the transition to a deeper, rougher range in order to explain how her man keeps her satisfied. It’s fun, but, unfortunately, not very believable from a performer whose brightest moment still remains ʽGee Whizʼ, a starry-eyed and purely innocent account of teenage love — the teenager may have grown up, but not into a sex-crazed lady who’d be ready to eat you alive at a moment’s notice. Nice try, though.
In the glorious decade and a half of sound that was Stax in the ’60s and early ’70s, Carla Thomas was the Queen of Memphis Soul. [S]he recorded a duet with her father Rufus Thomas, giving the fledgling Satellite label its first taste of success with the regional hit “Cause I Love You.” [S]he cut her first solo single, the teen ballad “Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)[,” which] gave Satellite its first national hit, breaking the Top Ten mark on both the R&B and pop charts. Shortly thereafter Satellite became Stax, and Carla proceeded to claw her way onto the national charts another 22 times with such immortal slices of soul as her answer song to Sam Cooke, “I’ll Bring It on Home to You,” as well as “Let Me Be Good to You,” “B-A-B-Y,” “Tramp” (with Otis Redding), and “I Like What You’re Doing to Me.” Carla released six solo albums and, with Redding, one duet album on Stax between 1961 and 1971.
The [album] represent[ed an] effort[] to expand [her] appeal . . . into the pop arena. Stax Records executive Al Bell felt that the sexy singer, then in her mid-twenties, could become another Diana Ross and recruited Detroit producer Don Davis to come up with a cross between the Motown and Memphis sounds. Thomas’s honey-toned pipes and lilting turns of phrase proved ideally suited to the project, titled Memphis Queen . . . .
Oh, and when asked by NPR’s Peter Sagal what defined soul music, Carla responded “Well, soul is this expressive thing. You know, it comes from the spirit. And you can’t sing soul music unless you have a spiritual feeling for the music, you know.” Sagal came back with: “Right, so it’s sort of like gospel music, but instead of Jesus, you’re singing about sex. That’s just my theory.” To which Carla pondered “Or hey, the lack of it or whatever.” https://www.npr.org/2013/12/20/255731431/queen-of-memphis-soul-carla-thomas-plays-not-my-job
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As Clark Besch notes, “with 1967’s [A-side] “My Foolish Pride,” we get the first taste of the layered horn sound to become the [IOM’s] trademark in a few short years.” (http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-ides-of-march-part-2.html?m=1) The culmination of that sound was, of course, “Vehicle”, the band’s #2 hit in 1970. Anyway, “Pride” is a remarkably sophisticated garage rock tune, especially considering it was written and performed by teenagers from Berwyn, Illinois.
As to IOM’s origins, Mark Deming explains:
The [band is] best-known for the tough, “hard rock with horns” sound of their 1970 hit “Vehicle,” but that’s just one facet of the group’s body of work. In the mid-’60s, they played British Invasion-influenced garage rock with a dash of folk on a handful of singles . . . . The story of the Ides of March began in 1964, when four friends who went to school together in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, Illinois decided to form a band. With Jim Peterik [yes, the “Eye of the Tiger” Jim Peterik] on vocals and guitar . . . the group adopted the name the Shon Dels . . . . and in 1966, they changed their name to the Ides of March, after [a band member] had read Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in English class. . . . [After] Parrot signed the band . . . . “You Wouldn’t Listen” rose to number five on the Chicago singles charts, and . . . [#]42 [nationwide].
Although they recorded a number of singles throughout the rest of the 1960s . . . and had another sizable local hit with “Roller Coaster,” the Ides never did break nationally at this stage, or manage to get an LP out. They continued to work as a popular regional live act, however, in the process expanding into harder, heavier, more soulful sounds from their original British Invasion-inspired style. They . . . add[ed] a horn section along the way and ke[pt] their multi-part vocal harmonies. “We started as a British Invasion wanna-be band, really, kind of Curtis Mayfield-meets-the-Hollies,” remarks . . . Peterik . . . . “We loved that sound, but as the band wore on, we started wanting to do songs with brass, like the James Brown stuff and Arthur Conley’s ‘Sweet Soul Music.’ We got a trumpet, and that was seductive; then we got another. It was kind of a gradual process . . . . But then we started injecting some of the brass in even one of the Parrot singles, ‘My Foolish Pride.'”
Peterik explained in an interview that “My Foolish Pride was very Rubber Soul inspired (reference Girl). I wrote it on this cheap little Performachord organ . . . and in fact that sound made it on to the record and contributed to its unique character. Steve Daniels had just joined the band on trumpet and I wrote a cool line for him to play.” (http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-ides-of-march-part-2.html?m=1) The interviewer, Kent Kotal, said that “It is, without question, one of my all-time favorite Ides Of March tracks. This song should have been a monster hit. Was this an attempt to take the band in another direction?” Peterik responded “[t]o an extent, since this was really the first use of horns on an Ides record.” Kotal then observed that: “Honestly in hindsight it sounds a little Tijuana Brassy … but it has SUCH a great feel to it . . . there isn’t another Ides record that I can think of that captures so many different moods in under three minutes!” Peterik concluded that: “It’s a really bittersweet ode. Many moods as you say. And that cheesy Performachord organ really makes it. Yes, Tijuana Brassy for sure.”
Kent, it is also one of my all-time favorite IOM tracks. Oh, and Kent, I think you’re on to something:
[C]heck out that opening note pattern . . . listening to it again, I am now convinced that Jimi Hendrix took that very same patten and was inspired to create . . . “Purple Haze” a year later . . . seriously . . . just listen to this intro . . . .
Yes, Jimi Hendrix stole “Purple Haze” from the IOM!
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! (“relating 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 entertainment” — dictionary.com).
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.
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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430) Marianne Faithfull — “In the Night Time”dd Dr
What more can be written about Marianne Faithfull? The last song of her’s that I featured was the B-side of her last big hit (’65) (see #111). “In the Night Time” is a gorgeous, haunting rendition of a song by Donovan (that he would release as “Hampstead Incident” on Mellow Yellow) — it appeared on her final 60’s album — Love in the Mist. This seems to be a developing theme . . . .
Richie Unterberger savages the album:
Faithfull’s final album of the 1960s . . . was a confused, patchy effort that seemed indicative of musical directionless. . . . This would have been categorized as “eclectic” rather than “directionless” if the material had been better, the arrangements more inspired, and the singing more commanding, but that wasn’t the case on any of those counts. There are still some enjoyable bits . . . .
Putting aside Marianne’s unnecessary version of “Yesterday,” I think Love in the Mist is a wonderful album, and no track is better than “In the Night Time.” OK, the lyrics are a bit much:
Standing by the Everyman, digging the rigging on my sail. Rain to the sound of harpsichords, to the spell of fairy tale. The heath was hung in magic mist, enchanted dripping glades, I’ll taste a taste until my mind drifts from this scene and fades in the night time. Crystals sparkles in the grass, I polish them with thought. On my lash there in my eye a star of light is caught. Fortunes told in grains of sand, here I am is all I know. Candy stuck in children’s hair, everywhere I go in the night time. . . .
Now, Marianne singing “digging the rigging on my sail” takes on a whole different connotation than when Donovan sings the line.
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! (“relating 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 entertainment” — dictionary.com).
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.
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.
Let me repeat my–, er, let Matt Collar repeat himself (see #393):
The term “lost classic” is applied liberally and often erroneously to unreleased recordings that resurface years later in a maelstrom of hype. However, for . . . the Action, the term is not only justified, it is painfully bittersweet. . . . [This] goes beyond “lost classic” — it is the influential masterpiece no one was ever allowed to hear. . . . By the time they recorded [Rolled Gold‘s] demo tracks in 1967, the band had grown weary of the musically limited mod scene, which was on its last legs. . . . Prefiguring the coming psychedelic movement, the songs were epic, heartfelt, melodic socks to the gut . . . think The Who’s Tommy meets The Byrds’ Fifth Dimension. Unbelievably, EMI — AIR’s distributor — was not interested, and the tracks were shelved. . . . Playing like the brilliant missing link between mod and psychedelic rock, [it] is experimental without being silly or twee and emotionally mature without being pompous and boring. . . . [Some t]racks . . . are as good, if not better, than anything that charted during the late ’60s . . . .
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! (“relating 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 entertainment” — dictionary.com).
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.
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 Revelations😊 