428) Billy Nicholls — “Life Is Short”

It has been too long since I’ve featured a cut from one of, if not the, greatest
“lost” albums of the ’60’s — Billy Nicholls’ Would You Believe (see #2, 64, 144). As David Wells says, “lost classic is a much abused term amongst pop historians, but it’s difficult to know how else to describe Would You Believe.” (Record Collector: 100 Greatest Psychedelic Records: High Times and Strange Tales from Rock’s Most Mind-Blowing Era) Euphorik6 is spot on in observing that the “album is a distillation of a time – whatever made swinging London swing is captured in these tracks”, https://johnkatsmc5.tumblr.com/post/180490928324/billy-nicholls-would-you-believe-1968-mega-rare/amp, as is Rising Storm in observing that “the album is still the epitome of sixties Britsike, a bunch of fine acid-pop songs rendered with glorious harmonies and superb lysergic arrangements that wouldn’t have disgraced George Martin.” https://johnkatsmc5.tumblr.com/post/180490928324/billy-nicholls-would-you-believe-1968-mega-rare/amp As Graham Reid notes, “[t]he album . . . reminds again of how much British psychedelic music was driven by different traditions (brass bands, pastoral classical music, music hall singalongs, strings . . .) than electric guitars which were so prominent in America at the time.” (https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/weneedtotalkabout/8107/we-need-to-talk-about-billy-nicholls-would-you-believe-care-for-pet-sounds-inna-english-accent-g)

Rising Storm explains that:

When [Andrew Loog] Oldham fell out with the Stones in 1967 he redirected all his resources into making the youthful Nicholls a star of the psychedelic pop scene. The results were the single “Would You Believe”, which hit the racks in January 1968, and the like-titled album that followed in short order. The single has been described as “the most over-produced record of the sixties”, and with reason; a modest psych-pop love song, it’s swathed in overblown orchestration including baroque strings, harpsichord, banjo (!), tuba (!!), and demented answer-back vocals from Steve Marriott. A trifle late for the high tide of UK psych, it failed to trouble the charts. Unfazed, Oldham and Nicholls pressed on with the album, Nicholls providing a steady stream of similarly well-crafted ditties and a bevy of top-rated London sessionmen providing the backings . . . . The album was ready for pressing just as the revelation of Oldham’s reckless financial overstretch brought about Immediate’s overnight demise, and only about a hundred copies ever made it to wax . . . .

https://johnkatsmc5.tumblr.com/post/180490928324/billy-nicholls-would-you-believe-1968-mega-rare/amp

In words that I could have written myself, John Katsmc5 notes that “[i]t’s an absolute tragedy that this never got released, as it would DEFINITELY be hailed now as a solid gold true 60’s classic right up there with Pet Sounds, Blonde On Blonde . . . .”

It all come back to Pet Sounds. Oldham himself explains:

Pet Sounds changed my life for the better. It enhanced the drugs I was taking and made life eloquent and bearable during those times I set down in London and realised I was barely on speaking terms with those who lived in my home and understood them even less when they spoke – that’s when Brian Wilson spoke for me. My internal weather had been made better for the costs of two sides of vinyl.

2Stoned

David Wells explains that:

[Oldham] was desperate to create a British corollary to the American harmony pop sound of the Beach Boys and the Mamas & Papas, and his nurturing of many Immediate acts only makes sense when considered from this perspective. But many of the label’s early signings . . . were merely pale imitations of the American model, copycat acts rather than originators who were further hamstrung by a lack of songwriting talent. And then along comes Billy Nicholls — a superb singer, gifted songwriter and as green as the Mendip hills. Oldham . . . quickly latched onto the manipulative possibilities. [H]e could turn his back on cutting unconvincing facsimiles of Brian Wilson tunes in order to mastermind his own three-minute pocket symphonies. Fired up by this grand conceit, Oldham commandeered the Nicholls sessions, recreating the American harmony pop sound in a resolutely English setting courtesy of a string of virtuosos production techniques, multi-layered harmonies and plenty of Wilsonesque baroque instrumentation. . . . [The album] can be see both as a magnificent achievement and an outrageous folly — how . . . Oldham thought he could recoup the budget that he’d bestown on the album is anyone’s guess.

liner notes to the CD “re”-issue of Would You Believe

Nicholls himself observed that “Andrew had a great belief in the songs I was writing . . . and fortunately we had Andrew’s money to spend fortunes on the orchestration.” (liner notes to the CD reissue)

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427) The Lewis & Clarke Expedition — “Blue Revelations”

The rousing flip side to the LCE’s ’67 “hit” (reaching #64) “I Feel Good (I Feel Bad).” Richie Unterberger calls “Blue Revelations” a “gorgeous folk-psych rocker . . . with . . . enchanting reverbed guitar and harmonies”. (https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-lewis-clarke-expedition-mw0000842184) Richie wasn’t so kind about the rest of the band’s sole album, saying that “[o]ften the group plumb for a happy, good-time pop/rock sound, but their material in that vein isn’t so strong; the production is cluttered with too many gimmicky period flourishes, most disagreeably when vaudevillian touches are used, and the attempts at wry, humorous social observation . . . are almost painfully strained.”

Peter Marston writes that “[n]ot unlike Paul Revere and the Raiders, they were a bit of a costume band, with all the members donning buckskin and fringe.” (https://www.popgeekheaven.com/music-discovery/lost-treasures-lewis-clark-expedition) The band’s name? As the original LP’s liner notes explain: “Travis Lewis and Boomer Clarke are explorers in the field of songwriting and, like the original Lewis and Clarke, they guide the expedition. . . . Their songs are a way of sharing a few moments with you in the midst of the joyful and bewildering experience of being young and very much alive.” Ah, OK.

John Bush give some background:

The [LCE] evolved out of several folk bands operating around Los Angeles during the mid-’60s. [The band was f]ormed by Dallas songwriter Michael Martin Murphey (under the guise of Travis Lewis) with Owen Castleman (performing as Boomer Clarke), [who, along with] bassist John London were all old friends of country-minded Monkee Michael Nesmith . . . . Well before Nesmith was hired to the Monkees . . . London performed with him in San Antonio as a folk duo, and after moving to California, all four native Texans appeared in a large folk group called the Survivors. Nesmith dropped out because of a commitment to the Air Force, and the remaining trio added guitarist Ken Bloom and drummer John Raines, coming together in 1966 as the Lewis & Clarke Expedition. . . . The band was hyped not only to young girls as another version of the Monkees, but also to older rock fans as a cutting-edge country-rock band that played up their association with Native American[s].

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lewis-clarke-expedition-mn0001537456

Thus, in the October ’67 issue of 16 magazine appeared Monkees Pick for Stardom — Lewis & Clarke Expedition, announcing that:

Not so long ago Boomer Clarke, Travis Lewis and Monkee buddy John London got together and decided to form a group . . . and soon they were belting out such a groovy sound that the Monkees themselves became the number one fans of the group . . . . [W]e hope you dug their first release I Feel Good, I Feel Bad backed by Blue Revelation. Hang loose now, luvvies—Davy, Mike, Micky and Peter introduce you to America’s fastest-rising new group!

https://monkees.coolcherrycream.com/articles/1967/10/16/monkees-pick-for-stardom-lewis-and-clarke-expedition

As to Boomer Clarke, the article says:

Lead singer and second lead guitar player for the group is adorable Boomer Clarke. He has just turned 20, is an inch under six feet tall and has ash blond hair and blue eyes. Boomer spent his childhood in Texas, and he now lives in a bachelor apartment in Hollywood. He’s very single—as are all the guys in the group—and likes tall girls who are natural, friendly and who have a streak of the “pioneer woman” in them. On a date, Boomer likes to visit jazz clubs, go to concerts and have dinner at his favorite restaurant—Player’s Choice on the Sunset Strip (where Southern-fried chicken and down-home cookin’ are the specialty).

Peter Marston adds that:

Two singles were released from the album, “I Feel Good (I Feel Bad)” b/w “Blue Revelations” and “Freedom Bird” b/w “Destination Unknown.” Neither single hit and shortly following the release of the album, the band members went their separate ways. Murphey, of course, went on to a very successful solo career, first as an outlaw cosmic cowboy and then as a mainstream pop and country artist.

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426) The Peppermint Trolley Co. — “Pat’s Song”

A beautiful baroque break-up song from the incomparable PTC (see #54, 136, 318). Taken from their sole album, which Beverly Paterson aptly describes as:

[T]he self-titled platter was padded to the ceiling with layers of sweet soaring harmonies stacked neatly atop pastoral textures, glistening melodies and exotic interludes. The band’s attention to detail and their ability to deliver the songs in such a natural manner remains flawless. A spiffy paisley pop vibe, akin to that of the Poor, the Left Banke, and the Strawberry Alarm Clock, hugs the tunes. Challenging and ambitious, but highly accessible,  Beautiful Sun is one of the greatest overlooked efforts of the era.

https://somethingelsereviews.com/2011/12/06/forgotten-series-the-peppermint-trolley-company-beautiful-sun-1968/

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OK, get your mind out of the gutter — I am referring to George as a triple threat: performer, songwriter, and producer!

423) George Harrison — “Beautiful Girl”

George demo’d this beautiful song for his All Things Must Pass triple-album magnum opus, but didn’t finish/release it until ’76’s 33 & 1/3. I find his haunting demo from ’70 infinitely superior to the too slick album track. Rob Sheffield writes of the demo that:

[“Beautiful Girl” is a] disarmingly romantic folk tune, with a touch of Smokey Robinson in the melody and the intricate touch of his own songs from Rubber Soul. It’s still a work in progress, which is probably why he salted it away for his 1976 solo album Thirty Three and a Third—it took his wife Olivia to inspire him to finish it.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/george-harrisons-new-all-things-must-pass-box-set-an-exclusive-guide-1203846/amp/

Back before the release of the 50th Anniversary edition of All Things Must Pass, Richie Unterberger wrote of the bootlegged demo that:

Some of the[ All Things Must Pass demos] were obviously too weak for inclusion on the final album, but others are good, or would have been strong contenders for the LP with more polishing of the songwriting and production ([songs including] “Beautiful Girl[“] . . . are standouts). One regrets that Harrison didn’t take the time to work these into shape for the third disc . . . instead of filling out the triple album with half-baked jams.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/beware-of-abkco%21-mw0000942420

Here is the 33 & 1/3 version:

424) Doris Troy — “Gonna Get My Baby Back”

George produced, co-wrote (along with Troy, Ringo and Stephen Stills) and maybe played guitar on this smokin’ track from Doris Troy’s ’70 album on Apple Records. Joe Marchese writes that “Troy jams with two Beatles (Harrison and Starkey) and Stills for a track that would make a great sing-along, if only one could possibly keep up with Doris’ insistent vocals! (https://theseconddisc.com/2010/11/18/review-the-apple-records-remasters-part-4-harrisons-soulful-trio/)

Of Troy, Richie Unterberger relates that:

Surely one of the most talented one-hit wonders of the rock era, Doris Troy hit the Top Ten with “Just One Look” in 1963, but also recorded many other fine pop-soul sides for Atlantic between 1963 and 1965. Unlike many soul performers of the time, Troy wrote most of her own material . . . . [H]er Atlantic sides blend elements of gospel, girl group, blues, and pop into a rich New York soul sound. Troy never reached the charts again . . . but was more appreciated in England, where she toured occasionally and where the Hollies covered her “What’cha Gonna Do About It” on their first album.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/doris-troy-mn0000801573/biography

Wikipedia, citing a bunch of books, says that:

[Troy] increasingly looked to Britain for continued success as a solo artist. Her brand of soul music was revered there throughout the 1960s . . . . Troy settled in London in 1969 and became a sought-after vocal arranger, most notably contributing the gospel-inflected chorus to the Rolling Stones’ song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. In the early summer of 1969 . . . Troy attended the overdub sessions for Bully Preston’s first album on Apple Records . . . . On meeting Preston’s producer, George Harrison, Troy was surprised to learn that he was a fan of her work, and following the sessions, Harrison offered her a recording contract with Apple. . . .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Troy_(album)

Joe Marchese adds that “by 1970, [Troy had] established herself as a grande dame of background singing (you can hear her on “You’re So Vain,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and Dark Side of the Moon, to name just a few) . . . .

Unterberger continues the story:

An all-star cast supported Troy on her lone Apple effort: George Harrison, Billy Preston, Peter Frampton, Stephen Stills, Klaus Voormann, Jackie Lomax, Eric Clapton, Leon Russell, and Delaney & Bonnie all contributed, and Harrison, Stills, Lomax, Preston, Voormann, and Ringo Starr pitched in on the songwriting, though Troy wrote or co-wrote most of the songs.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/doris-troy-mw0000677070

Wikipedia adds that: “Harrison co-produced all of Troy’s Apple sessions [and] other associates of Harrison offered to contribute to Troy’s album, which [according to Harrison biographer Simon Leng] soon “[mutated] into an all-star affair” with an emphasis on spontaneous collaboration.”

425) Jackie Lomax — “The Eagle Laughs at You”

“The Eagle”, the B-side to “Sour Milk Sea” (see #164), the first single from Lomax’s ’68 Apple Records album Is This What You Want “featured Harrison and Clapton playing rhythm and lead guitar alongside Lomax”. (https://www.beatlesbible.com/1968/06/24/george-harrison-produces-jackie-lomax-sour-milk-sea/) Derek See says that “‘Sour Milk Sea’ is stellar, but the b side is a CRACKING piece of psychedelic English soul. (Sounds like Eric Clapton blazing away on guitar, too (caught at a precious time before he became a big bore.)” (http://dereksdaily45.blogspot.com/2008/12/jackie-lomax-sour-milk-sea-bw-eagle.html) Without commenting on God, the song is indeed a cracking piece of psychedelic English soul, in my mind the best song on the album. 00individual calls it a “raucous Heavy-Metal-tinged Rocker” and “an uptempo barnstormer” and quotes Lomax as noting that “[i]n the middle of it, there was some guy who was sweeping up the studio who played the cornet, so we got him on it and overloaded it so that it sounds like a bloody elephant screaming through the place.” (https://00individual.wordpress.com/2013/09/20/1960%E2%80%B2s-1970%E2%80%B2s-album-track-gems-jackie-lomax-home-is-in-my-head-1971/)

As to Lomax’s back story, Bruce Eder explains that:

Lomax should have been one of Liverpool’s homegrown rock & roll stars — that’s what the Beatles believed . . . . [He was first in the Undertakers,] who occupied the front rank of Liverpool bands . . . both the Undertakers and the Beatles worked behind [the Liverpool vocal group the Chants], and it was through those alternate gigs, as well as crisscrossing each other’s paths on the Liverpool and Hamburg scenes, that the two groups got to know each other. . . . Lomax . . . began working with an R&B band that evolved into the quartet Lomax Alliance . . . [which was then] signed by Brian Epstein . . . . . The quartet only ever put out one single, “Try as You May,” in May of 1967, but Epstein’s death late in August of that year ended whatever interest [CBS] had in the group . . . . [W]ith the founding of Apple Records . . . . George Harrison  remembered [him] well . . . and recorded Lomax on a pair of songs, “Little Yellow Pills” and “Won’t You Come Back.” He was happy enough with the session to have Lomax . . . record . . . “Sour Milk Sea[” b]acked with Lomax’s “The Eagle Laughs at You[.]” Buoyed by positive reviews and an enthusiastic response on the radio . . . Harrison recorded . . . additional songs with him . . . . result[ing in] Is This What You Want . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jackie-lomax-mn0000130486/biography

Unfortunately, the album didn’t chart.

live

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422) The Beatles — “Lucille”

John Lennon famously almost blew out his vocal chords belting “Twist and Shout” on the Beatles’ debut album. As Ultimate Classic Rock recounts:

“Twist and Shout” is beloved for its blemishes: John Lennon’s voice is moments away from disintegration — a raw snapshot of a singer wrestling a rock song in real time. And while Lennon eventually came to admire that take himself, those imperfections originally made him squirm. That mythical performance took place in February 1963, closing out a marathon, half-day recording session for the Beatles’ debut LP, Please Please Me. . . . George Martin suggested they save “Twist and Shout” for the final song — fully aware it could wreck Lennon’s voice. “I knew that ‘Twist and Shout’ was a real larynx-tearer, and I said, ‘We’re not going to record that until the end of the day, because if we record it early on, you’re not going to have any voice left,'” the producer recalled in the 2000 Beatles Anthology book.” So that was the last thing we did that night. We did two takes, and after that, John didn’t have any voice left at all. It was good enough for the record, and it needed that linen-ripping sound.”

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-lennon-beatles-twist-and-shout/

Well, Paul’s vocals on the Beatles’ live at the BBC performance of Little Richard’s “Lucille” on October 5, 1963 prove that he too was up to the task of a linen-ripping, voice wrecking performance. It was officially released in ’94 on the first volume of the Beatles’ Live at the BBC comps. Richie Unterberger says:

From 1962 to 1965, the Beatles made 52 appearances on the BBC, recording live-in-the-studio performances of both their official releases and several dozen songs that they never issued on disc. . . . These performances are nothing less than electrifying, especially the previously unavailable covers, which feature quite a few versions of classics by Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley. 

https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-the-bbc-mw0000207540

“Lucille” was a favorite of Paul’s. He sang it multiple times with the Beatles (including during the Get Back sessions) and following the Beatles (in the USSR, at the Concert for Kampuchea, etc.) — check ’em out on YouTube.

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Here is the first time the Beatles performed “Lucille” live at the BBC:

And here is Little Richard’s original:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0Ujb6lJ_mM

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I couldn’t decide which version of this rare gem I love better — the original by Canadian Tom Northcott or the cover version by the Explosive from the UK — so I am featuring them both. So sue me. I’ll hire Tom Northcott to defend me (pro bono, I hope) — he became a lawyer!

420) Tom Northcott — “Who Planted Thorns (in Miss Alice’s Garden)”

“Thorns” is the self-written B-side of Tom Northcott’s biggest U.S. “hit” (reaching #123 in July ’67) — his cover of Donovan’s Sunny Goodge Street (see #20). Northcott calls the song “a personal favorite” that “is nominally about my first wife . . . and our broken family. But it’s really about me and the human condition. Forty years later I still don’t understand the rules of the game (culture) . . . .” (liner notes to his Sunny Goodge Street: The Warner Bros Recordings comp) John Bush calls it a “sunshine pop nugget.” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tom-northcott-mn0000611200/biography)

Tom Northcott? He is regarded with reverence, as “[b]lessed with one of the most distinctive voices of the ’60s — a folky flutter sure to carry listeners on a magical ride of winsome wonder . . . .” (Andrew Sandoval’s liner notes to Sunny Goodge Street: The Warner Bros Recordings) Joe Marchese ponders that “had things turned out a little differently, he might be remembered in the same breath as Joni Mitchell or Gordon Lightfoot, fellow Canadian troubadours.” (https://theseconddisc.com/2012/04/02/review-tom-northcott-sunny-goodge-street-the-warner-bros-recordings/)

As to his story, Ray McGinnis tells us that:

Tom Northcott is a Vancouver folk-rock singer with hits on the local pop charts from the mid-60s into the early 70s. He became known to a Canadian audience by his regular appearances on CBC Television’s Let’s Go music program in 1964-68. He was nominated as best male vocalist for a Juno Award in 1971. . . . [I]n his teens [he] was gaining a reputation performing on the Vancouver coffeehouse circuit in the early ’60s. In particular, he was a regular in the Kitsilano neighborhood, the nexus of the hippie scene north of San Francisco. In 1965, Northcott took over . . . as the lead singer for the Vancouver Playboys . . . . [H]e [then] formed The Tom Northcott Trio . . . . [who] were soon regulars on . . . Let’s Go . . . . Meanwhile they were selling out the top clubs in the area . . . . The Tom Northcott Trio traveled to California and played gigs in San Fransisco and Los Angeles. This exposure got them further performances . . . and they opened for The Who, The Doors and Jefferson Airplane. . . .

https://vancouversignaturesounds.com/hits/1941-tom-northcott/

Joe Marchese adds that:

[Northcott] gained solid regional airplay and a minor chart entry in the U.S., but his music never struck the same chord in America as in his native Canada. . . . Is it sunshine folk? Is it baroque coffeehouse? This genre-defying and blissfully offbeat music speaks for itself. Northcott was supported by a virtual “Who’s Who” of the L.A. scene, including Harry Nilsson, Leon Russell, Randy Newman and Jack Nitzsche, all under the watchful eye of Warner Bros.’ supreme A&R man, Lenny Waronker. He stood apart from many of his contemporaries, though, by his reliance on material from outside songwriters. Though an accomplished composer and lyricist . . . Northcott was launched by Warner Bros. as an interpretive singer . . . .

McGinnis adds a footnote:

[Northcott] changed careers in the early 1970s and got a license to become a commercial fisherman in British Columbia. At the end of the decade Northcott ran for public office under the banner of the Social Credit Party of British Columbia in the New Democratic Party stronghold of East Vancouver. He lost the campaign. Once again he switched careers and, after studying law at university, he specialized in maritime and admiralty law.

421) The Explosive — “Who Planted Thorns (in Miss Alice’s Garden)”

The Explosive issued “Thorns” as a ’69 A-side. 23 Daves tells us:

The Explosive were simply Decca group The Plague (of “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” and “Looking For The Sun” fame) operating under another moniker. No line-up changes, no mess, no fuss, just a simple alteration of the band name, perhaps to shake off the curse of “psychedelic flop single” that might have clung to them at that point. . . . Signing to President, they fared a little bit better, but not so much that they ever managed a bona-fide hit single. However, a string of 45s emerged on that label of which this is probably the finest. The A-side is a slightly more bizarre version of Tom Northcott’s cult . . . single . . . . [T]he band go to town on the original track and, in my opinion, improve it with their splashes of wah-wah guitar, eccentric reggae-tinged rhythms and quirky vocals. Somewhere amidst the racket, the sound of the art school seventies is being created.

http://left-and-to-the-back.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-explosive-who-planted-thorns-in.html

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Well, you decide which version you like better:

Here is Tom Northcott’s original:

Here is the single version, which was actually the demo. Tom says it “is bouncy, syncopated, and has the required psychedelic free-form freak-out ending.” (liner notes to Sunny Goodge Street: The Warner Bros Recordings):

Here is the Explosive:

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419) Bobby Christian — “Boogaloo”

This song is shagadelic, baby! If you loved Quincy Jones’ “Soul Bossa Nova”, you’ll love Bobby Christian’s “Boogaloo.”

Jason Ankeny tells us:

Bobby Christian quit school at 14 to join Chicago bandleader Louie Panico . . . . [and] rose to national prominence in 1938 after joining the famed Paul Whiteman band as a drummer and arranger. [He] played with [the] NBC radio orchestra . . . . the Chicago Symphony Orchestra . . . . [and] Arturo Toscannini’s NBC Symphony of the Air . . . . In addition to leading his own dance band, Christian joined Schory’s Percussion Pops Orchestra, a showcase for his unique one-man-band abilities . . . . [and] earn[ed] the nickname “Mr. Percussion” for his virtuosity. . . . . [His LP] Strings for a Space Age [was] a classic of the outer space exotica subgenre. . . . [and he followed it with] a series of LPs including Percussion in Velvet, Vibe-Brations [from which “Boogaloo” comes] and In Action . . . .

[Vibe-Brations, a] slight but charming date captures . . . Christian eschewing the space-age arrangements of his previous LPs in favor of a lightly funky soul-jazz sensibility that showcases his mastery of the vibes. Blessed with all the rhythmic finesse and complexity of past Christian LPs, Vibe-Brations also reaffirms his skills as an arranger. The songs are warm but insistent, drawing judiciously on contemporary pop and soul idioms . . . to create a sound that’s squarely of its time yet not at all dated. Original instrumentals like “Boogaloo” . . . underscore the album’s lighthearted approach. Style certainly trumps substance here, but there’s no denying [the album’s] considerable appeal.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bobby-christian-mn0000864553; https://www.allmusic.com/album/vibe-brations-mw0001446740

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418) The Nerve — “Magic Spectacles”

Magical ’68 pop psych A-side from a Hampshire band discovered by Reg Presley. Acolytes of the Troggs? Trogg-lod-ytes!

Discogs tells us:

F[irst] Mark Faine And The Fontains, the[n] . . . The Children . . . . In 1967 they signed to Page One Records. Label owner Larry Page insisted on a name change and liked The Lovin’. Under this name they made their record debut with “Keep on Believin'”. One other record followed before they changed their name again, this time to The Nerve. Three records were released as The Nerve with “Piece By Piece” their best known. The songs were produced by Reg Presley from The Troggs, after seeing them in action in a hotel where the Troggs stayed. He became their manager in 1968. Finally they issued their last single “You Wrecked My Life” as Duffy Taylor Blues, before returning home as virtual unknowns.

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417) The Kinks — “The Way Love Used to Be”

David Levesley rightly calls “The Way Love Used to Be” “one of the[ Kinks’] most beautiful songs . . . . The[y] loved songs about dreams of a better place and this is a perfect example.”  (https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/the-kinks-songs) As Barry Lenser describes:

[The song] is a ghost classic mainly due to its . . . appearing first on the soundtrack to Percy . . . and then two years later on The Great Lost Kinks Album, an odds-and-ends collection that was discontinued in 1975 after Ray Davies initiated legal measures against Reprise Records. What circumstance (or otherwise) has cheated listeners of is a gorgeous chrome-hued elegy from one of pop music’s high priests of nostalgia. Against a plaintive guitar, downcast piano, and swelling strings, Davies delicately articulates a vision of innocence: escaping the bustle of modern city life . . . to a misty locale where he and his companion can merely discuss how love was once understood and practiced. The whole affair is steeped in dignified melancholy and romanticism. In other words, “The Way Love Used to Be” is a very British creation, but it ain’t rock ‘n’ roll. . . . Here and elsewhere, the Kinks defied the tastes and tendencies of the counterculture and the mainstream orthodoxy that followed.

https://www.popmatters.com/182927-the-way-love-used-to-be-the-kinks-2495648685.html

And Holly Hughes captures it perfectly:

“The Way Love Used to Be” may not sound like a Kinks song, but it’s still simply gorgeous. It isn’t just the orchestral arrangement that’s unusual (the Kinks never got hooked on string quartets like some bands did); its tender quality is something Ray Davies rarely employed on Kinks records. . . . [It[ has all the hallmarks of a Ray Davies song — the secret handshake, if you will. There’s the yearning to escape . . . the nostalgia for times past . . . the horror of modern civilization . . . . Although Ray sings it with a tremulous flutter, for once it doesn’t sound campy to me — no, it’s wistful and yearning, not hiding behind a scrim of irony. Yes, the arrangement is old-fashioned, like something from the 1940s or early 1950s, with a pillow of strings and delicate classical accents. It’s movie music, pure and simple . . . . But I get the idea that Ray loves old movies . . . . So what was a song like this doing in a movie about the comic adventures of a man with a penis transplant? I swear, it would almost be worth watching Percy to find out. Almost.

https://thesonginmyheadtoday.blogspot.com/2009/11/way-love-used-to-be-kinks-well-i-had-to.html?m=1

I think I’m gonna have to watch Percy!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2QyTUD7BwY

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416) The Bar-Kays — “Street Walker”

Ah, the Bar-Kays, like a phoenix rising.

Jason Ankeny calls Gotta Groove, the reconstituted band’s first album after the tragic plane crash that took the lives of Otis Redding, four members of the Bar-Kays, and two others “a celebration of life and music that ranks among the funkiest, hardest-driving LPs ever released under the Stax aegis”, and he calls the album’s track “Street Walker” “[e]ven further out . . . blistering . . . with its shrieking guitar licks and organ fills.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/gotta-groove-mw0000674644). Nathan Bush calls “Street Walker” “tough, lunging funk with wailing harmonica, screaming guitar, and organ stabs.” (https://www.qobuz.com/no-en/album/black-rock-gotta-groove-the-bar-kays/0002521888182) In the words of Buster Poindexter, I call it Hot, Hot, Hot.

Steve Huey:

The Bar-Kays were formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1966, growing out of a local group dubbed the Imperials [and m]odeled on classic Memphis soul instrumental outfits like the Mar-Keys and Booker T. & the MG’s, the Bar-Kays . . . . [T]he band . . . caught the attention of Stax/Volt, which signed the sextet in early 1967. [T]he label began grooming [them] as a second studio backing group that would spell Booker R. & the MG’s on occasion. . . . “Soul Finger,” a playful, party-hearty instrumental punctuated by a group of neighborhood children shouting the title[,] reached the pop Top 20 and went all the way to number three on the R&B chart, establishing the Bar-Kays in the public eye . . . . Otis Redding chose them as his regular backing band that summer.

[D]isaster struck on December 10, 1967. En route to a gig in Madison, Wisconsin, Redding’s plane crashed into frozen Lake Monona. He, his road manager and four members of the Bar-Kay’s were killed. Trumpeter Ben Cayley survived the crash, and bassist James Alexander had not been on the flight; they soon assumed the heavy task of rebuilding the group. . . . [T]hey were used as the house band on numerous Stax/Volt recording sessions; they also backed Isaac Hayes on his groundbreaking 1969 opus Hot Buttered Soul. Still, they were unable to land a hit of their own [until the ’70’s, when they took off].

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bar-kays-mn0000048300/biography

Paul Sexton writes that:

[T]he Bar-Kays entered the US R&B chart [in ’69] with . . . Gotta Groove, the sound of which was very much up the same soul-rock alley as that of Sly and the Family Stone. It provided a taster for the burgeoning funk sound, but retained elements of . . . psychedelia on tracks such as ‘Street Walker.’ Gotta Groove failed to cross over to the pop album chart, but spent four weeks on the R&B list and reached No. 40. It would be more than two years further down the line before the latter-day Bar-Kays established themselves as a chart force to be reckoned with, hitting the R&B top ten with ‘Son Of Shaft,’ and then another long gap before they emerged once again with the disco-funk of their most consistently successful sales period of the mid-1970s to the mid-’80s.

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/bar-kays-back-in-the-groove-in-69/

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415) The Collage — “My Mind’s at Ease”

Super-cool and soothing “electric-piano driven gem” from the Collage’s sole album (‘68) (liner notes to the Soft Sounds for Gentle People 2 comp (“far-out and beautiful tracks from California and beyond”).

Per Richie Unterberger:

Part of the idea behind the formation of the Collage was to emulate the Mamas and the Papas’ lineup with a two-man, two-woman quartet of harmonizing singers. The group’s sole . . . album . . . has a yet more pronounced sunshine pop feel, as well as yet lusher production . . . . The songs have a sweeter tone, almost as if elements of the Mamas and the Papas and the 5th Dimension have been layered with production and songwriting a little more oriented toward an adult pop/variety entertainment audience. . . . There are some mild psychedelic touches, but also some hammy vaudevillian ones, and . . . the original songs had showtune-style melodies.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-collage-mw0002103702

When Ron met Jerry, according to Jerry Careaga:

[Ron Joelson] was a hippie poet, smoked grass, and, as a teenager, was friends with Bob Dylan. I was his polar opposite — with a short-haired, clean-shaven look courtesy of the Air Force — and was fascinated with his lifestyle and what he wrote. Ron’s poems were unstructured and freeform, with unusual metaphors. My songs were structured and commercial-sounding. I had begun writing in the mid-’50s as a teenager, but as a result of my military upbringing, I never ventured into the subversive culture of the beat generation. I didn’t smoke dope either. Ron’s lifestyle was all new to me, and it was fun.

liner notes to the CD reissue of The Collage

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414) The Y’Alls — “Please Come Back”

“Please Come Back” is a ’66 fuzz guitar drenched B-side by the Y’Alls (backing a cover of the Beatles’ “Run for Your Life”), formerly the Illusions, to become the Kitchen Cinq. As Lenny Helsing says:

[The single is] a tremendous piece of teen punk on 45 for the Ruff label as The Y’Alls, coupling a sonic, fuzz-driven take of The Beatles’ “Run For Your Life” with their own exquisite “Please Come Back”.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2016/05/the-kitchen-cinq.html%3famp=1

The band would redo the song a year later as the Kitchen Cinq, but I think the latter version pales by comparison.

Who were these guys? Per Peter Marsyon:

The story of the Kitchen Cinq begins in the early ’60s in Amarillo, Texas, when Mark Creamer asked Jim Parker to replace a recently departed rhythm guitarist in his band, The Illusions. . . . In search of a more memorable name and one more in line with group’s regional sense of humor, the Illusions became the Y’Alls. Another single, a cover of the Beatles’ “Run for Your Life” was released in 1966 on Ruff, shortly before the band relocated to Los Angeles and began work with legendary producer/songwriter Lee Hazelwood. Once signed to LHI (Lee Hazelwood Industries), Hazelwood and then girlfriend and record producer Suzi Jane Hokom insisted the band change their name once more, hopefully to something a little hipper. Thus, the Kitchen Cinq. The personnel for all three groups, however, remained the same . . . .

http://www.popgeekheaven.com/music-discovery/lost-treasures-the-kitchen-cinq

Bryan Thomas adds:

The Kitchen Cinq were a folk beat group from Amarillo, TX, who were heavily influenced by the British Invasion bands (the Dave Clark Five in particular) and West Coast folk-rock (Beau Brummels, etc.).

https://www.allmusic.com/album/everything-butthe-kitchen-cinq-mw0000841707

Joseph Neff believes that:

[T]he crummiest moniker these gents were ever briefly saddled with, courtesy of Amarillo R&R mover and shaker Ray Ruff, was The Y’alls, the group issuing one 45 under the unfortunate handle. . . .

https://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/2015/09/graded-on-a-curve-the-kitchen-cinq-when-the-rainbow-disappears-an-anthology-1965-1968/

I sort of like the name, y’all!

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The Kitchen Cinq’s version:

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413) The Buckinghams — “I Know I Think”

“I Know I Think” is a track from the Buckinghams’ underappreciated In One Ear and Gone Forever (’68). It is a “hazy, contemplative” pop psych song with ingenious, enchanting lyrics. (https://jhendrix110.tripod.com/Buckinghams.html)

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412) The Dave Clark Five — “Maze of Love”

This ‘68 B-side and album track is a psychedelic romp by a band not known for their plunges into altered states. But they pull it off like the true professionals they were (see #208, 320, 411). Beverly Paterson raves that:

Although the Dave Clark Five never crafted a Revolver or Their Satanic Majesties Request, they did have a brief fling with psychedelic music. Built around a trippy chorus, flashes of spiky guitar riffs and a twitchy break, “Maze Of Love” is a particularly fine expression of the band’s foray into the genre.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/somethingelsereviews.com/2013/02/19/the-dave-clark-five-the-history-of-the-dave-clark-five-1993/%3famp=1

Derek See concurs:

“Maze of Love” is easily one of the hottest grooves ever laid down by these purveyors of the Tottenham sound. With relentless drumming wicked fuzz guitar and lyrics that epitomize the tail end of the mod era, this is freakbeat at its finest!

http://dereksdaily45.blogspot.com/2010/05/dave-clark-five-maze-of-love.html?m=1

Serene Dominic, not so much:

Everybody who made a record before 1967 has a bad psychedelic moment. . . . Remember the fuzzy lead guitar riff from Sgt. Pepper’s title track? The DC5 copy that and spread it across two songs: “Inside and Out”and “Maze of Love.” . . . As “Sgt. Pepper” zeroxes, [it] at least contain[s] a kern[e]l of originality (see “the egg and not the shell” bit).

https://psychedelicscene.com/2021/06/28/psychedelic-skeletons-in-the-closet-dave-clark-five/

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411) Dave Clark Five — “Your Turn to Cry”

“Your Turn to Cry” is a ’65 B-side and album track on two albums. I love the Dave Clark Five, for their glorious hits and underappreciated ballads (see #208, 320), like today’s song. It appears that at least at one time, the band had a more devoted following in the U.S. than in the UK. Gary Howman wrote in 2008 that:

The recent induction of the Dave Clark Five into the US Rock’n’Roll Hall Of Fame demonstrated how the group is more valued abroad than in their homeland. Although they enjoyed commercial success throughout the 60s in Britain, their chart career was uneven, their concert appearances few and their legacy overlooked. . . . Overseas it was always a different story . . . . In America, their reputation is especially high and their songs still feature on the radio, TV adverts and in occasional movies (Garfield 2, anyone?). Tom Hanks enthusiastically introduced them at the Hall Of Fame induction ceremony and Bruce Springsteen has often referred to their impact on him. In the USA they enjoyed 17 Top 40 hits in just over two years, made six coast to coast tours and appeared a record 18 times on the top-rated Ed Sullivan TV show. In 1964, they were the main rivals to The Beatles . . . . It was estimated that through 1964 and 1965 The Dave Clark Five were selling a million records a month in America.

https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/catch-us-if-you-can-463

Was that really the case? If so, is it still the case? In either case, a shame.

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410) New Colony Six — “Love You So Much”

Another Chicago classic, this cute/sweet romantic A-side with “jangly proto-power pop guitar and . . . helium-enriched [and possibly-sped up] vocals” (Jeff Jarema’s liner notes to the The New Colony Six at the River’s Edge comp) was released at the end of ’66. It reached #2 on WLS in Chicago in January ’67 and #61 nationwide in February.

Question #1: But who were the New Colony Six?

In 1964, a sextet of teenagers [from St. Patrick High School] set out to bring the British Invasion to Chicago, establishing their own “Colony” on the northwest side . . . . After a year of relentless gigging through the suburbs, the NC6 released their first single, “I Confess,” on their own Centa[u]r imprint which was collectively funded by the bandmates’ parents.  The up-and-coming group caught the attention of Peter Wright, a Chicago music industry titan . . . . Wright stepped in to manage the group and pushed “I Confess,” on the airwaves earning it a spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

https://numerogroup.com/products/new-colony-six-breakthrough

Richie Unterberger adds:

Chicago’s New Colony Six originally emerged as a tough, British Invasion-styled outfit prominently featuring Farfisa organ and a novel (at the time) Leslie guitar. Scoring a huge local hit with “I Confess,” their early recordings . . . featured first-class original material that gave the sound of Them and the Yardbirds a more commercial, American garage-based, vocal harmony approach. The rest of the ’60s saw the band gradually abandoning its roots for middle-of-the-road pop with horns and strings[ and they c]ontinu[ed] to rack up major local hits and minor national ones . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-colony-six-mn0000388416/biography

Question #2: Why did they dress in colonial costumes? [When asked “w]ere you aware at the time that on the West coast a group called Paul Revere And The Raiders were doing the same thing?”, band member Bruce Mattey answered:

Originally, no. It was kind of an odd thing that early on when the Colony was trying to make it and get a record contract, we went to California. At the same time there was a group in the same complex staying there unbeknownst to us called Paul Revere And The Raiders. We were trying out for Where The Action Is to get a spot on the show . . . . Here we come in, in colonial outfits and naturally coming in the opposite direction is Paul Revere almost dressed in an identical get-up. Just because the name itself I suppose, naturally Paul Revere, well there you go. So, they were colonial and New Colony actually picked up that name being the answer to the British Invasion, thus the New Colony. So, there was a purpose behind the name. But at the time we didn’t realize that The Raiders and Colony were very similar from that look.

http://www.classicbands.com/NewColonySixInterview.html

Question #3: Why are these Chicago boys in the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Association Hall of Fame?

Bruce Mattey explains: “You know something? That’s a good question. . . . We did a lot of jobs in Iowa, Ohio, Indiana. I have a feeling they kind of took us on as their own. Quite a few of the Colony songs were really big hits there.” http://www.classicbands.com/NewColonySixInterview.html

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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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409) The Buckinghams — “Song of the Breeze”

Wonderful, wistful ‘68 B-side and album track by Chicago legends the Buckinghams. A song of the breeze for the Windy City.

Bull Dahl writes that:

Backing Dennis Tufano’s buoyant lead vocals with prominent harmonies and punchy soul-styled brass, the group came across the wistful “Kind of a Drag,” and in short order, [they] had a million-selling pop chart-topper on their hands. They quickly graduated to recording for Columbia. . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-buckinghams-mn0000628981

Rick Simmons adds that:

In 1967, Billboard magazine declared the Buckinghams to be “the most listened to band in America[.]” . . . As 1967 began, their first release, “Kind of a Drag,” was racing up the charts and would reach the #1 position by February . . . . [T]he group would have one, two, and sometimes three songs in the Top 100 almost every week that year as they passed each other on the way up and down the charts . . . .

http://www.rebeatmag.com/dennis-tufano-the-buckinghams-and-rocks-greatest-disappearing-act-part-1/

As Tufano recalls:

[T]he Pulsations . . . was a good name considering how often we played at drag strips and car shows and things like that. We got on a “Battle of the Bands” competition on a Chicago television station and won, and so we became the house band on a TV show called All Time Hits. They asked us to change our name to something more English because the British Invasion was in full swing at the time, and we were fine with that . . . . A security guard at the station heard the request and he gave us a list with eight or 10 names on it, and the Buckinghams stood out not only because it sounded British, but also because there’s a beautiful fountain in Chicago called Buckingham Fountain. This way, we didn’t feel like we were selling out Chicago to take a British-sounding name.

http://www.rebeatmag.com/dennis-tufano-the-buckinghams-and-rocks-greatest-disappearing-act-part-1/

But, then came ’68. Per Rick Simmons:

[T]he subsequent year would hold nothing but disappointment: in 1968 they had just one release that charted, and it wouldn’t even break into the Top 40. Then they were done. It was one of the most perplexing falls in rock ‘n’ roll history.

http://www.rebeatmag.com/dennis-tufano-the-buckinghams-and-rocks-greatest-disappearing-act-part-1/

Richie Unterberger says of In One Ear and Gone Tomorrow, from which today’s song is taken, that “the band wrote most of the songs . . . and proved that they simply weren’t up to making memorable album-oriented rock. It’s obvious at points that they’re straining to be heavier and more relevant in the psychedelic rock scene of 1968.”  (https://www.allmusic.com/album/in-one-ear-gone-tomorrow-mw0000241431) Well, Richie, I still love their ’68 music, especially the lovely “The Song of the Breeze.”

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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.

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408) Hat & Tie — “Finding It Rough”

This ’67 B then A-side is an “absolutely classic fuzz guitar driven slice of British psychedelia from 1967 [and a]stoundingly obscure”(https://bestmusicofalltime.wordpress.com/2020/08/02/hat-and-tie-finding-it-rough-1967/) Another sad song with a buoyant melody — I’m finding it irresistible.

David Wells’s* liner notes to the Let’s Go Down and Blow Our Minds comp of ’67 UK psych tell us that:

Patrick Campbell-Lyons and Chris Thomas had been lead singer and bassist respectively with [the] R&B band The Second Thoughts, but in the summer of 1966 they signed a songwriting deal . . . that saw them cut two singles for [the President label] as Hat & Tie. . . . “Finding It Rough” . . . . failed to register, but . . . was picked up by a slightly more famous duo — The Everly Brothers, who included it on their August 1967 album The Everly Brothers Sing. By then, Campbell-Lyons had [become] one half of a new duo, Nirvana [see #287 and 391]. Chris Thomas would go on to be a highly successful producer, working with everyone from The Beatles (as George Martin’s assistant, he oversaw much of The White Album, even playing on four tracks) to The Sex Pistols.

* What a cool life David Wells has, getting to compile fabulous compilations of 60’s music!

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The Everly Brothers:

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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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407) The Sorrows — “Take a Heart”

Primal freakbeat — as the Nuggets II comp says:

“Compelling. Unusual. There was no precedent for [it] when . . . released in August 1965. The throbbing bass-and-drum pattern pulsates with sexual tension, egged on by spiky guitar outbursts, while [the] vocals drip with menace and foreboding. . . . hypnotic heat”.

The Coventry Music Museum says it was “an original piece of blues with a foreboding quality, focused superbly by [the] brooding vocals.” http://www.covmm.co.uk/2016/2020/07/07/the-sorrows/ The Coventry Music Museum? Let it explain:

[E]ntrepreneur Larry Page[‘s] bid to see the ‘Coventry Sound’ rival Liverpool’s Mersey Beat . . . was sadly a non-starter. It was looking a tad unlikely that a band from Coventry would chart in the sixties [until] The Sorrows became the first . . . Cov’s fave freakbeat band were formed in the early 60’s. . . . They tended to dress in black and played the blues like they meant it, with [Don] Maughn’s raw vocals setting the local audiences alight. . . . They were eventually . . . signed [by the Piccadilly label] and were allowed to release their self penned song I Don’t Want To Be Free . . . . They played Ready Steady Go, but the single failed to make a dent in the charts. . . . The second single Baby went the way of the first, there were talks of splitting then up came single number three Take A Heart. Originally written by Miki Dallon . . . for a band called The Boys Blue . . . . An appearance on TV’s Ready Steady Go saw the single rise to number 21 in the UK charts. It was also proved a smash as they say in mainland Europe, especially Italy and Germany where foreign language version were recorded . . . . After various attempts to match Take A Heart failed . . . Don Maughn (now reverting to his real name [Don] Fardon), left for a successful solo career.

http://www.covmm.co.uk/2016/2020/07/07/the-sorrows/

Yes, that Don Fardon, the “Indian Reservation” Don Fardon. In fact, the CMM says that that song’s “tribal drum sound . . . was closely modeled on ‘Take a Heart.’” Oh, and the CMM offers this tidbit: one of the Sorrows’s mothers called them “a sorrowful lot when practising – hence the name “Sorrows”.”

Mark Deming provides some more band history:

The Sorrows started out playing tough, moody rock & roll with an R&B accent, and like many bands of the Beat era, elements of freakbeat and psychedelia would find their way into their music as the decade wore on . . . . After making a name on the local club circuit, in time-honored fashion [they] honed their skills playing a month-long engagement in Germany, where the punishing schedule of playing as long as ten hours a night made them an estimable live act. . . . “Take a Heart” . . . became a chart hit, in large part thanks to extensive pirate radio airplay . . . . The success of “Take a Heart” led to Piccadilly releasing an album . . . . [which] stiffed on the charts, and after another two singles came and went without notice, bassist Philip Packham resigned, and vocalist Don Fardon soon followed. The rest of the group soldiered on . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-sorrows-mn0000429259/biography

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The Sorrows performing on Beat Club:

The Boys Blue:

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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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406) The Perth County Conspiracy — “Lace and Cobwebs”

CitizenFreak: The PCC was “[a] true legend of . . . psych-folk rock”. http://www.citizenfreak.com/titles/295575?fbclid=IwAR1i6ppj2qI_l68lfBp0bqNSFUFwxlN3qmVROJO_bf0J0OaKd36s55xzi_k. And its “Lace and Cobwebs” is as beautiful as can be.

But where did the PCC come from? Michelle Dionne, Dawn Edwards and Jaimie Vernon write that:

Taking their name from the Stratford, Ontario region of the same name, Perth County Conspiracy was centred around British immigrant Cedric Smith and American draft dodger Richard Keelan (ex of Spikedrivers). They gigged up and down the Toronto strip in the late ’60s and released their debut album . . . in ’69. A healthy dose of trippy acid/folk rock was served up, and thanks to the [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation] CBC, it was followed in the spring of 1970 with a self-titled promotional only album.

http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2018/12/perth-county-conspiracy-perth-county.html

As to that album, from which “Lace and Cobwebs” was taken:

In the late 1960s, CBC augmented its commitment to Canadian artists by producing original albums by home-grown talent and distributing them on vinyl solely to its broadcast affiliates, both in Canada and across North America, in runs of just 250 copies. These discs have become holy-grail items for collectors . . . . Original copies of this record have traded hands for upwards of $1500.00! . . . [T]he . . album was conceived, recorded and designed to look and sound like the product of a commercial record label. But with only 250 copies produced the record quickly reached mythic status as the band went on to begin a commercial career with Columbia Records. . . . Pure commune folk music and one of Canada’s most intriguing psychedelic artifacts.

http://www.citizenfreak.com/titles/295575?fbclid=IwAR1i6ppj2qI_l68lfBp0bqNSFUFwxlN3qmVROJO_bf0J0OaKd36s55xzi_k

ThePoodleBites, in a fascinating story that I highly recommend everyone read in full, gives a history of the lives and times of the PCC:

Cedric Smith had dropped out of high school to pursue a career as a folk singer, and began performing at local coffeehouses . . . in Stratford . . . the home to a prominent and renowned annual Shakespeare Festival [I’ve been there and seen a performance!]. . . [In 1964, a]lthough he had never taken any acting lessons, [he was asked] to audition for the Stratford company . . . . It ended as a quite successful season, but Smith’s commitment to acting was sporadic . . . . [He] began to focus on working with . . . Richard Keelan. Together, the[y] formed . . . The Perth County Conspiracy.

https://upvhq.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-perth-county-conspiracy-does-not.html

Ah, that name. ThePoodleBites informs us that:

The “Conspiracy” moniker was inspired by the Chicago Seven trial’s controversial definition of a conspiracy as “two or more people in the same place breathing together”; void of defined structure, a spokesman, or any other concrete form.

Anyway, ThePoodleBites tells us what the commune was like:

[The PCC was m]ore than just a performing act; at the heart of the coalition was a “rural way of life”: a spontaneous happening and loosely-knit community between seven farms of around thirty permanent residents, and many more who were constantly in flux, who met together at the local coffeehouses, talked, discussed, and shared vegetables, bread, nuts, toys, and similar necessities in a communal setting. Keelan explains . . . how dynamic the group was: “People are always asking us how many people are in this group. . . . We don’t know. It just happens. You may be here two hours or you may be here two years. . . . We have more of a commune of the mind than a physical thing.” [But] there was indeed at least one communal farmhouse extant, nicknamed “Puddlewalk,” where draft dodgers, artists, actors, musicians, intellectuals, and local hippies would all live, work, and craft under the same roof. . . .

The[ PCC] became known for mixing theatrics into their musical performances; Smith, with his affinity for acting, would integrate readings of Dylan Thomas, Shakespeare, or “scenarios from his latest two drug arrests” mid-song, while Keelan, a “refugee from the glitter trail, keeps up the rhythm with his tapping bare toes.”

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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.

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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