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

732) Joe Tex — “Looking for My Pig”

“Where you at, Rufus?” JT’s ’64 novelty homage to Rufus Thomas’s big novelty hit “Walking the Dog” is a hoot, coming months before “Hold What You’ve Got”, his big pop hit breakthrough single.

As Richie Unterberger says, in the early ’60’s Joe (see #42, 455, 609) “as was the case in the pre-fame recordings of numerous ’60s soul stars — was still searching for a style to some degree”. (https://www.allmusic.com/album/first-on-the-dial-early-singles-and-rare-gems-mw0000791159) Michael Jack Kirby gives a fabulous introduction to Joseph Arrington, Jr.:

In 1965 . . . [he] had his first big hit, “Hold What You’ve Got.”  Perseverance got him to that point as he’d been making records for almost ten years. [Joe Tex] . . . . had advice for everyone, especially when it came to romance and moral behavior. The long road to stardom got under way in 1955 when he made the journey from the Lone Star State to New York City’s Apollo Theater, taking control of the crowds and coming in first place on more than one “Amateur Night.” Syd Nathan, owner of King records, offered him a chance to record . . . . After several releases but no breakthrough hit, King cut him loose and he headed back to Texas, where he served as a minister . . . . Tex joined the Ace [Records] roster in 1958 and waxed several singles . . . but . . . none were hits. . . . He [did] perfect[] some mean dance moves, including an impressive microphone stand gimmick by letting the stand fall to the floor as he grabs it with his foot just in time, proceeding to kick it around while dancing and singing, never missing a beat of the song. Those kinds of stage moves . . . would later get him into a skirmish with a certain “Mr. Dynamite.” Joe had . . . a few singles for the Anna label . . . “Baby You’re Right,” was interpreted with minor changes by James Brown . . . and hit the pop charts, and R&B top ten . . . the first major hit with Joe’s name attached. Any good feelings Joe had towards James was short-lived, though, when the latter made claims that the former had copied his moves onstage. Joe’s reply was to make fun of JB’s cape-wearing “Please, Please, Please” routine at a concert, and when James began dating Joe’s ex-wife . . . the two cut ties permanently.

The break of a lifetime came when Joe met William “Buddy” Killen. . . . Buddy worked for Big Tree Publishing . . . . Tex and Killen clicked when they first met and a deal was struck . . . . T en singles came out . . . between 1961 and 1964 . . . . with the same frustrating results [as before]. Joe was ready to call it quits and move on . . . [but] Killen convinced him to hang in there a little longer. [The ’64 single] “Hold What You’ve Got[]” . . . went top ten on the pop charts and number one R&B in January 1965. . . . The Tex-Killen team was a well-oiled machine in those hitmaking years of the mid-to-late 1960s and the two became very close friends. Buddy produced and Joe continued doing all the songwriting himself . . . . [H]e caught a hot groove in 1967 with “Show Me,” . . [and] “Skinny Legs and All[]“ . . was a smash hit beyond all expectations; top ten, a million seller and Grammy nominee to boot. . . .

https://www.waybackattack.com/texjoe.html

Dave Marsh adds that:

Joe Tex made the first Southern soul record that also hit on the pop charts . . . . His raspy-voiced, jackleg preacher style also laid some of the most important parts of rap’s foundation. He is, arguably, the most underrated of all the ’60s soul performers associated with Atlantic Records . . . . Tex made his mark by preaching over tough hard soul tracks, clowning at some points, swooping into a croon at others. He was perhaps the most rustic and back-country of the soul stars, a role he played to the hilt . . . . His biggest hit was “Skinny Legs and All,” from a 1967 live album, his rapping pure hokum over deeply funky riffs. “Skinny Legs” might have served as a template for all the raucous, ribald hip-hop hits of pop’s future.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-tex-mn0000210323

As to why Joe Tex is not in the Rock & Hall of Fame, Roy laments:

Of all of the 60’s soul kingdom in rock Tex is the one name who was as consistent, popular and innovative as virtually any, yet who’s been left behind in recognition ever since. His track record more than holds up against most from that era who are already in, with more than two dozen hits to his name over 15 years, including 6 that went to either #1 or #2 on the R&B Charts, spanning southern soul to pure funk. A prolific writer and extremely influential performer with the oft-imitated microphone trick as his lasting legacy. . . . he remains one of the Hall’s most inexplicable omissions. . . . His influence is vast, as he invented the famed microphone trick on stage that many have imitated, was one of the originators of the country-soul style that was among the 60’s most enduring sounds, and as shown with his nickname, The Dapper Rapper, his vocal style was one of the prototypes for rap with his semi-spoken delivery in many songs. In addition, he wrote all of his own material, which was renown for its smart, humorous, down-home advice and storytelling ability. His candidacy would seem to be bolstered by the fact that many of his contemporaries with appreciably less success than Tex have already gotten in. . . . His early death in 1982 meant that he was not around long enough to become a well-respected elder statesman, and his lack of one massive universally known song to keep his name in the casual listener’s mind relegated him to a second tier act historically when in fact he was on par with almost any of his competitors and made the transition from soul to funk that defined black rock ‘n’ roll in the 60’s and 70’s better than most.

https://futurerocklegends.com/Artist/Joe_Tex/

Amen!

733) Ray Hoff and the Offbeats — “Lookin’ for My Pigs”

Aussie Ray Hoff and the Off Beats give “Pig” “a proper mauling”. (liner notes to Keep Lookin’: 80 More Mod, Soul & Freakbeat Nuggets)

Glenn Baker tells us about Ray:

From the rock’n’roll cauldron of the late 1950s and throughout the beat and soul-funk era of the 1960s and beyond, [Ray Hoff’s] was a name that commanded respect in Australian musical circles even if it was not always familiar in the nation’s households. Kept from a level of prominence . . . by the lack of a signature hit or a solid body of recorded work, Hoff’s fame, as it was, centred around his gruff, powerful, soul voice. . . . In 1958 he fell in with two seminal Australian rock’n’rollers, drummer Leon Isackson and flamboyant pianist Jimmy Taylor, who saw him take the stage . . . and were impressed as much by the frantic femme response he occasioned as by his pipes. A few band competitions later . . . he and his Offbeats were setting Sydney alight with rock’n’roll . . . . It was a heady environment for a time but without a record deal (Teen Records promised but withdrew) and with fairly formidable competition from what mostly became multiple-hit acts, Hoff moved to Adelaide, then Perth, where he was warmly embraced. But it was not until he returned to Sydney in 1965 and put together a new line-up of the Offbeats that things began to fall into some sort of place. Signed to RCA Records, the group recorded four tracks for the label, one of which, a thumping version of Chuck Berry’s Little Queenie, became as close to a hit as he would have. It could have strongly established the act had not Billy Thorpe spirited away two of his Offbeats to form a new Aztecs, leaving Hoff floundering and losing momentum. Despondent, he made his way back to Perth, where he assembled an eight-piece horn-dominated R&B powerhouse version of the Offbeats, which was signed by Clarion Records for an album [that includes “Pigs”] – the only LP he would record until the last decade of his life. During eastern visits this commanding unit was known to give the reigning likes of Jeff St John & the Id [see #470] a bit of a scare. Hoff was one of the most active Australian performers in Vietnam during the war, although due to his soul leanings, he was heard far more by American than Australian servicemen. During one tour of duty he met a go-go dancer called Kay, who became his wife of 25 years.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/earthy-voice-that-never-failed-to-excite-20100402-rjpy.html

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

731) The Electric Banana — “Eagle’s Son”

This is classic stuff. Don’t take my word for it — Tim Sendra calls “Son” “ferocious post-psych meets hard rock” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-complete-de-wolfe-sessions-mw0003305801), David Wells calls it “awesome” and “simply irresistible” (liner notes to The Electric Banana: The Complete DeWolfe Sessions), Mr. Eliminator says it’s “KILLER ace psych stuff” (https://surfadelic2.wordpress.com/2019/10/02/the-pretty-things-the-electric-banana-blows-your-mind-defecting-grey-talkin-about-the-good-times/), Jack Rabid says it “match[es] S.F. Sorrow’s biggest achievements”, is “dazzling”, “swanky and mesmerizing” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-electric-banana-blows-your-mind-mw0000943952), and Martin Ruddock says it’s “among[] some of the fiercest acid rock cuts of the era” (https://wearecult.rocks/electric-banana-the-complete-de-wolfe-sessions-reviewed)! Whew!

The Banana (see #94, 251) was the Pretty Things (see #82, 153, 572) in disguise, making some much needed money by providing songs for films trying to be hip. David Wells explains that:

[The] Swinging London phenomenon had led to a profusion of groovy movies chronicling life [there] that, naturally enough, required an appropriately switched-on soundtrack for added verisimilitude. However, film companies soon discovered that the cost of licensing bona fide hit singles was prohibitively high [so, the music library de Wolfe] started searching for a young, vibrant pop group who were capable fo providing an authentic but relatively inexpensive sound.

liner notes to The Complete De Wolfe Sessions comp

“Son” ended up in the classic Swinging London comedy What’s Good for the Goose, in which a “middle aged banker picks up two young free minded women on his way to a banker’s convention and falls head over heels for one of them.” (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065205/plotsummary/?ref_=tt_stry_pl)

Here is the Banana in the movie! —

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

730) The Buckinghams — “It’s a Beautiful Day (For Lovin’)”

As we approach Valentine’s Day, let me play one of the Buckinghams’ (see #409, 413, 632) greatest love songs/their last charting single (albeit #126 in Sept. ’69). Jim Newsom calls it a “pleasant, optimistic-sounding pop confection[]” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/mercy-mercy-mercy-a-collection-mw0000264592) and Ben McLane calls it a “fine example[] of late 1960s polished pop” (https://www.benmclane.com/bucking.htm). I call it beautiful — it deserved better than #126! Maybe if the lyrics has included a classic Chicago expression of love, Al Bundy style, it might have done better, like when Peg asked him “Al why don’t you have any pictures of me at your work?” and Al responded “Cause Peg, that would defeat the purpose of going there.”

As to the Buckinghams, Bill 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/

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

729) The Nuchez — “Open Up Your Mind Now”

Mike Dugo calls this ’66 Chicago Rembrandt Records A-side a “classic psychedelic opus with a nice organ base and free flowing fuzz”. (liner notes to Garage Beat ’66: Vol. 5: Readin’ Your Will!) Dave Furgess says it uses “every psychedelic trick in the book, a stinging fuzztone guitar, gruff UK style vocals, charging organ flashes and typical Keith Moon/Mitch Mitchell style out of control drumming.” (https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/1731/). Bruce Eder calls its “main virtue . . . Erickson’s hot lead guitar, a psychedelic workout built on surf guitar riffs”. (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-nuchez-mn0000486059)

Eder further tells us that:

The Nuchez were a relatively short-lived band signed to Illinois-based Rembrandt Records label in 1966. The band was known locally for having been the opening act for Paul Revere & the Raiders and other major national acts playing Chicago, and built a great reputation in the process. Rembrandt co-founder Reggie Weiss signed them up as soon as he found out they weren’t under contract to anyone; they were only the second group on the label . . . . The band [was] led by guitarist Ricky Erickson [no relation to Roky.]. . . . “Open Up Your Mind” b/w “B.G.’s One Eye” was well reviewed in Cashbox, and it got airplay locally but never moved nationally, mostly owing to Rembrandt’s lack of distribution beyond the local level. . . . The Nuchez broke up in the spring of 1967 when Erickson exited to join the Lemon Drops [featuring Reggie’s brothers Gary and Eddie] after sitting in with the latter group on their first recording session, for “I Live in the Springtime.” [see #143]

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-nuchez-mn0000486059

It was once widely assumed that the Nuchez was a UK Band, since “Open Up Your Mind” showed up on a UK psych comp. In any event, Dave Furgess says it had “all the hallmarks of the best of UK freakbeat groups such as One In A Million, The Open Mind and Wimple Winch. In fact this 45 is as good as any of the more celebrated UK psych acts such as The Creation, Poets, Birds etc.” (https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/1731/)

About Rembrandt, Forced Exposure says:

Rembrandt Records[‘] first release in March 1966 was a bluesy garage-band novelty record titled ‘Boots Are Made For Talkin’ ‘. It was a parody of Nancy Sinatra’s smash hit at the time, ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’. When the single failed to chart Rembrandt Records’ owner Reggie Weiss moved in a different direction, merging pop with psychedelic music, for the next single, ‘Open Up Your Mind’. He wrote the song based on a LSD trip and response to the single was positive. Soon other psych-pop singles were issued featuring The Circus, The Nickel Bag, and Monday’s Children. Cash Box magazine began plugging Rembrandt Records during the fall of 1966. However, Weiss was unable to secure solid distribution and could not compete with the larger Chicago based record labels such as Dunwich, USA, and Destination. By 1967, Weiss devoted all of his time promoting a high-school band called The Lemon Drops. He wrote another LSD-inspired song titled ‘I Live In The Springtime’ for the band. Unfortunately, the single was unable to chart, even regionally.

https://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/va-open-up-your-mind-cd/CIC.983CD.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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THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

728) Jack Grunsky — “Catherine”

This unforgettable ’68 folk pop A-side (well, in Austria, Germany, Denmark and Spain) is an irresistible portrait of Catherine. Was the enigmatic woman a prostitute, a pin-up girl, a seductress, a siren? Only Jack Grunsky (see #566) knows. Just listen to the rapturous comments on Youtube:

@sindi06411: “Ich liebe diesen Song! Super”, @dasgellendehorn: “wunderbar, ich danke dir!” (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RjMCbKSoNp4)

@alfredhuber8278: “Sehr schöner Song aus schönen Jugendtagen..!”, @davidb4782: “Ein sehr schönes Lied!! Und eine einzigartige stimme” (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5GS0ABN4q-E)

Jack was famous at the time — well, in Austria. Most people know him now as a children’s music superstar.Austria’s City Magazin says (courtesy of Google Translate):

Born in Austria, [Jack Grunsky] crossed the Atlantic as a small child on the Queen Elizabeth II with his parents, both musicians. The family emigrated to Canada [and] little Jack spent his childhood in Toronto. . . . Somehow he was drawn back to Europe. After graduating from high school, Jack . . . went to Vienna in 1964 and studied painting at the art academy. . . . For ten years he was in the top of the European charts as a singer and songwriter, some of them with Jack’s Angels. He had his own weekly radio show “Folk with Jack” on ORF [Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, Austria’s PBS]. In 1974, Jack Grunsky crossed the Atlantic again towards Canada. . . . and discovered his love for music for children. . . .

https://web.archive.org/web/20070928121943/http://www.city-magazin.at/storysundevents/szeneundleute/grunsky.html

Grunsky recounts his career:

After finishing high school in Toronto in 1964, I moved to Austria to study at the Academy of Arts in Vienna. At the same time I formed a folk singing group called ‘Jack’s Angels’ and we were signed to Amadeo Records, touring and recording 4 albums. Within the span of two years we gained considerable popularity before disbanding in 1968. The record label kept me on for two more albums after which I was brought on board the progressive German ‘Kuckuck’ label in Munich. I pursued a solo singer-songwriter career for the next 8 years, touring extensively throughout Europe and recording 5 more albums of original material. My ‘Toronto’ LP was recorded in London and was produced by Alexis Korner with various tracks featuring Mick Taylor (of the Stones) on slide guitar. In Vienna I composed music for 3 television children’s musicals . . . . With a few hits on the charts . . . and also hosting my own radio show ‘Folk mit Jack’ for ORF Austria, my following continued to grow in the Euro Pop Music scene of that time. . . . In 1974, together with my family, I returned to Canada. In spite of European success highlights, a shift in the Euro music industry took place and I found myself in fringe territory. I was seeking closer connection with the folk/rock music scene happening in North America. . . . [I released] my album ‘The Patience Of A Sailor’ and . . . reboot[ed] my singing career . . . . We performed as a band in clubs and festivals and returned to tour in Europe several times allowing me to stay in touch with my fans. In the early 80’s however, pointers and signs were guiding me in a new direction. Our daughter’s teacher invited me into the classroom to sing with the students. This led to offers to be a freelance music teacher at various Montessori schools around greater Toronto. . . . I became passionate about quality children’s music and discovered a market in need of it. Building a repertoire of original children’s songs and drawing on my concert performance experiences, I soon found a manager, a concert agent and eventually was signed up to the BMG Kidz Music label. . . . I have presented my children’s performances and workshops for over 30 years. This led to countless . . . teacher workshop opportunities across Canada and the US . . . . TV and radio appearances; major concert tours and international children’s festivals followed plus a number of symphony shows for family audiences. To date I’ve released 16 CD’s for children garnering a number of awards including 3 JUNO’s [Canada’s Grammys].

https://www.jackgrunsky.net/bio

While that was a bit self-promotional (I guess to get bookings), here is a part of a quite enlightening and appealing interview that Jack Grunksy had with TV Ontario in 1997:

Richard Ouzounian: I KNOW YOU FORMED A GROUP AT ONE POINT, JACK’S ANGELS, RIGHT?

Jack Grunsky: YES.

Richard: I HAVE VISIONS OFCHARLIE’S ANGELS. IT WASN’T THE SAME THING. IT WASN’T YOU AND THREE —

Jack: IT WAS A TERRIBLE NAME.

Richard: NO. IT WASN’T THREE BODACIOUS LADIES BEHIND YOU WHILE YOU SANG UP FRONT, NO.

Jack: THE NAME JACK’S ANGELS WAS NOT MY DOING.

Richard: OKAY.

Jack: WHEN I LIVED IN VIENNA, WHENI WAS TAKING THE COURSE AT THE ACADEMY OF ARTS, I FORMED THIS GROUP. AND WE PERFORMED OUR REPERTOIRE OF FOLK SONGS, NORTH AMERICAN, BRITISH FOLK SONGS. AND I HAD ALREADY STARTED TO WRITE SONGS WITH THE GUITAR. AND MY FASCINATION WITH THE NORTH AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC SCENE, AT THAT TIME, THE KIND OF MUSIC I WAS LISTENING TO DURING HIGH SCHOOL, SUCH AS PETER, PAUL AND MARY, THE KINGSTON TRIO, BOB DYLAN,THOSE KIND OF PEOPLE,THEY WERE MY ROLE MODELS. SO WITH THIS ENTHUSIASM OF WANTING TO EMULATE BEING A SONGWRITER AND SINGER AND GUITARIST, I SHARED THIS WITH SOME STUDENT FRIENDS OF MINE IN VIENNA. AND WE FORMED THE GROUP AND PERFORMED IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS IN THE AREA. AND A FRIEND OF OURS CONTACTED A RECORD LABEL, AND THEY WERE QUITE INTERESTED IN WHAT WE WERE DOING. SO THEY CAME TO ONE OF OUR CONCERTS, AND WITHIN TWO WEEKS, SIGNED US UP FOR A TWO YEAR CONTRACT, DURING THE TIME OF WHICH WE RECORDED FOUR ALBUMS, AND A NUMBER OF SINGLES, AND STARTED TO TOUR QUITE EXTENSIVELY. I HAVE TO TELL YOU, AT THAT TIME, IN AUSTRIA AND CENTRAL EUROPE, THE NORTH AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC DID NOT YET CATCH ON. SO WHAT I WAS DOING, IN AWAY, WAS NEW TO EUROPEANS. AND THERE WAS A CERTAIN ENTHUSIASM THAT WE COMMUNICATED SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THE JOY THAT WE HAD IN SINGING TOGETHER IN HARMONY AND PLAYING TOGETHER. AND I THINK THIS SPARKED THE INTEREST AND CAUGHT THE PEOPLE’S IMAGINATION.

Richard: NOW, WHAT YEARS ARE WE TALKING HERE, ROUGHLY?

Jack: THIS WAS ’66, ’67. AND WE CONNECTED WITH JOAN BAEZ WHEN SHE CAME. AND SHE BROUGHT US UP ON STAGE AFTER HER PERFORMANCE. SO THERE WAS CONNECTION TO THE FOLK MUSIC SCENE, WHICH, IN AUSTRIA, THEY LABELLED THE GREEN WAVE. . . . AFTER THE GROUP JACK’S ANGELS DISBANDED BECAUSE SOME OF THE MEMBERS DID NOT WANT TO PURSUE MUSIC AS A CAREER, AND WE WERE GETTING SO BUSY TOURING AND RECORDING THAT IT WAS JUST TOO MUCH FOR THEM. SO WE HAD INTERNAL PROBLEMS. AND THE RECORD LABEL AGREED TO THE SPLIT OF THE GROUP, AS LONG AS I WOULD REMAIN WITH THEM, BEING THE LEADER AND THE SONGWRITER. SO AFTERWARDS, I CONTINUED ON MY OWN AS A SOLO PERFORMER . . . .

Richard: I REMEMBER YOU SAID SOMETHING ONCE ABOUT, YOU SAID THAT A SONG WAS LIKE A LITTLE WINDOW A CHILD COULD LOOK THROUGH. AND YOU SHOW THEM THE WHOLE WORLD.

Jack: WELL, IT’S THE WINDOW OF YOUR IMAGINATION. SO SOUNDS AND SONGS CAN TRIGGER A LOT OF THINGS IN A VERY CONSTRUCTIVE AND POSITIVE WAY.

https://www.tvo.org/transcript/632935

‘70 album version:

Live ’18:

In German:

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https://www.allmusic.com/album/chariot-rising-mw0000378044

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

727) Dantalian’s Chariot — “Sun Came Bursting Through My Cloud”

After featuring Zoot Money (see #726), I had to play his glorious nine-month ’67 psychedelic world detour with Dantalian’s Chariot. Here comes the beautiful “Sun Came Bursting Through My Cloud”! What, you thought I’d play “Madman Running”?! Richie Unterberger says that “[t]he wistfully ebullient “Sun Came Bursting Through My Clouds” (yes, the B-side of “Madman”) is probably their best . . . effort [not named “Madman Running Through the Fields”]”. (https://www.allmusic.com/album/chariot-rising-mw0000378044) David Wells calls it “a genuinely classy Tony Colton/Ray Smith song that boasted a deliciously lugubrious vocal from Zoot, but musically it occupied . . . post-R&B/pre-psych transitory territory”. (liner notes to the Dantalian’s Chariot: Chariot Rising CD comp)

How did this all come about? Well, it was the Summer of Love. David Wells explains:

Zoot and Andy [Summers] were becoming increasingly immersed in the psychedelic experience, regularly attending . . . various subterranean love-ins and happenings . . . . Increasingly weary of being promoted by EMI as the white James Brown, Zoot announced in late July 1967 that the Big Roll Band were not more. “We had been working very hard for a long time and felt we were getting stale”, Zoot told reporters.

liner notes to Dantalian’s Chariot

Zoot notes “We just wanted to do something new. It was a chance to be more creative, to move on to writing our own material and try out new things.” (Record Collector: 100 Greatest Psychedelic Records: High Times and Strange Tales from Rock’s Most Mind-Blowing Era)

Richie Unterberger adds:

[“Madman”/”Sun”] was the debut single by a group of veteran musicians who, just a few months earlier, had been playing jazz/R&B fusion as Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band. . . . Such was the impact of psychedelic music in 1967, however, that by the middle of the year, Money had decided to totally revamp his sound. R&B/jazz/soul had become passe; now it was important to write your own material, and reflect the mind-expanding experience. With [Andy] Summers still in tow, [the band] became Dantalian’s Chariot. The music, written primarily by Money and Summers, changed as radically as the name, with airy melodies, spacy lyrics, and guitar/organ-driven arrangements. The band hit the London underground circuit inhabited by such acts as Pink Floyd and Soft Machine, and made their debut recording as Dantalian’s Chariot . . . in the summer of 1967. The single, innovative as it was, didn’t make any commercial waves. Although they were a respected live act, their new direction wasn’t supported by EMI, which dropped the band. A psychedelic-minded LP was worked on, but not released. Some of the material appeared on an early 1968 record, which the Direction label assembled from various tunes cut over the past year. . . . Dantalian’s Chariot came to an end in the spring of 1968, with Summers joining the Soft Machine (and subsequently Eric Burdon’s Animals); Money would also join Eric Burdon’s Animals around the same time.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dantalians-chariot-mn0000679042

But what a trip it was. David Wells notes that DC became “the darlings of the London underground set” and “one of the most fondly remembered British Psychedelic groups”. (liner notes to Dantalian’s Chariot) Vernon Joynson says that:

[They] performed frequently at London’s Middle Earth and UFO clubs. . . . Their live appearances were amazing. They took to the stage in white robes and had what was generally regarded as the best light show in town. The only problem was this ensured they made heavy financial losses with every appearance.

(The Tapestry of Delights Revisited)

https://www.allmusic.com/album/chariot-rising-mw0000378044

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

726) Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band — “Big Time Operator”

Zoot Money was “quite simply the biggest character on the British rhythm and blues scene since the early 1960s” (http://zootmoney.org/bio/), but this 45 was his only one to hit the money (#25 in the UK). It is a joyous R&B/jazz powerhouse, “custom-composed . . . by the team of Tony Colton and Ray Smith”. (https://www.jazzwise.com/review/zoot-moneys-big-roll-band-big-time-operator)

Let’s listen to Zoot’s website:

B]oth his parents were Italian immigrants, although his father’s family (really called Money) were originally English. . . . In 1961 Zoot formed the first incarnation of the Big Roll band . . . . Before long [it] alongside those other luminaries of the Soho blues scene of the time, Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames and The Animals, had become permanent fixtures at the Flamingo Club . . . the epicentre of the Swinging Sixties. Zoot’s shows were famed far and wide for his combination of outrageous antics (including ‘shocking’ trouser activity . . . ) tight musicianship and passionate vocal delivery. . . . In the late 1960s, after scoring a hit with ‘Big Time Operator’, the Big Roll Band metamorphosed for a while into the prototype psychedelia outfit Dantalian’s Chariot. Sharing bills with the likes of Pink Floyd . . . Soft Machine and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, there were a lot of goings-on with white khaftans, lava lamps and sweet-smelling incense at the most underground of clubs . . . .

http://zootmoney.org/bio/

Bruce Eder adds that:

Zoot Money was one of British rock & roll’s homebound heroes — admired, respected, and sought after by his colleagues, and able to fill halls in England nightly, he never managed to sell lots of records, even in England. . . . During the mid-’50s, he discovered rhythm & blues and its younger offshoot, rock & roll, which quickly consumed his interest in music — he switched to the keyboard under the inspiration of Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, and by the beginning of the ’60s was developing a distinctive technique on the Hammond organ. He’d also picked up the nickname by which he’d be known for most of his career after attending a concert by Zoot Sims. . . . He passed through the lineups of a few groups as a keyboard player . . . . [Then] classic version of the Big Roll Band . . . . took root in London, consisting of Money on vocals, piano, and organ, [and including] Andy Somers [yes, the Police’s Andy Summers] on guitar . . . . They quickly became a popular attraction on London’s burgeoning R&B and jazz scene, partly owing to Money’s impassioned interpretations of American R&B standards and his wild sense of showmanship, coupled with the band’s overall excellence . . . . They were good enough to attract the attention of England’s Decca Records . . . . [and by] the following year, they’d moved over to EMI’s Columbia Records imprint . . . . [An album was released, but] neither it nor the accompanying 45s captured the excitement or appeal that the group or its leader exhibited on-stage. . . . [By] late 1966. . . . the audience for American-style R&B and soul was already giving way to a growing listenership for psychedelic sounds, and the name “Big Roll Band” sounded like something just a little bit too far from the wafts of incense . . . . [I]n 1967, they transmuted, almost Doctor Who-style, into Dantalion’s Chariot. . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/zoot-money-mn0000229289

Here they are live:

Here is a killer version by Aussies ID with Jeff St. John:

Here are Tommy James and the Shondells:

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

725) The Merseybeats — “Don’t Turn Around”

This delightful Mersey ballad reached #13 in the UK in ’64 but is pretty unknown in the U.S. Richie Unterberger calls “much of the [their] best stuff [including “Don’t Turn Around”] among the better unknown (in the U.S., anyway) Merseybeat.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/i-think-of-you-the-complete-recordings-mw0000661178)

Vernon Joynson note that “[t]hey had a softer image than most of the Merseybeat bands, sporting frilly shirts, bolero jackets and lots of rings on their fingers. They were masters of the tearjerking ballad and this, plus their good looks and fancy clothes, guaranteed them a strong female following.” (The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) The Merseybeats’ website agrees, saying that they “adopted their own distinctive style of fashion . . . . [that] saw them credited as the ‘Best Looking Group’ dressed in tight fitting suits with bolero jackets and frilly shirts, their outfits complete with high heeled zip boots provoked hysteria from their female fans. ” (https://www.themerseybeats.co.uk/)

Mark Deming gives us some history:

One of the strongest and more versatile groups to emerge from the Merseyside beat music scene in the 1960s . . . . [they] excelled at ballads while also playing energetic rock & roll and rhythm & blues with equal skill, and [their] harmonies were a standout regardless of the tempo. Unlike their friends the Beatles, the Merseybeats never enjoyed success in the United States, but they had their share of hits in England . . . . The[y] began in Liverpool, England in 1961, when fifteen-year-old Tony Crane was introduced to fourteen-year-old Billy Kinsley by a mutual friend. They shared a love of beat music, and . . . they quickly discovered they could do Everly-Brothers-style harmonies with ease. Eager to form a group, Kinsley learned to play bass guitar . . . . First dubbing themselves the Mavericks and then the Pacifics, they caught the attention of Bob Wooler, the booking agent at . . . the Cavern Club. Wooler liked the band but didn’t care for the name . . . [and took] it upon himself to change their name to the Merseybeats, after the local music paper Mersey Beat. . . . [T]hey became one of the most popular groups in the area, often playing alongside the Beatles, who befriended the younger band . . . . In June of 1963, the Merseybeats laned a record deal with Fontana Records, and their debut single, “It’s Love That Really Counts[” hit] Number 24 on the British Pop chart. Their second disc, “I Think of You,” was plugged by their old pals the Beatles on the pop music show Juke Box Jury, and . . . it ma[d]e the Top Five in February 1964. . . . [I]n 1965, Fontana’s American branch issued “I Think Of You” in the United States, their first Stateside release. The label flew the band to the United States for a brief East Coast promotional tour, but none of their American releases clicked . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-merseybeats-mn0000477494

Bill Harry notes that the Merseybeats made one of the most questionable ever Beatles-related business decisions (not made by the Beatles themselves) when they fired Brian Epstein out of jealousy for not buying them suits like he did the Beatles:

At the beginning of 1963 they became the third group to be signed by Brian Epstein, in the wake of The Beatles and Gerry & The Pacemakers, but their association was short-lived as they had a dispute with him and left after only a few months. The dispute was a trivial matter, as Kinsley recalls: “We left him because he didn’t buy us suits. He bought The Beatles suits and we were jealous.” Naturally, they were later to regret that decision.

https://sixtiescity.net/Mbeat/mbfilms113.htm

Oh, and Tony Crane notes that:

The Beatles were still close friends of ours and they were such nice people. It’s like when people used to say to me that John Lennon was a terrible person. He was the nicest person I’d ever met in my life. . . . Some people are supposed to be very nice but they have two faces, and John Lennon just said it as it was . . . .

(https://the-shortlisted.co.uk/the-merseybeats-tony-crane-interview/)

Live:

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

724) Les 5 Gentlemen – “LSD 25 Ou Les Metamorphoses De Margaret Steinway”

Can you guess what “LSD 25” is about? Here’s a clue: Fou de Rock says this psych/garagey number from “the best French band of the mid-60s” has “fuzz guitars and references to the hallucinogenic journey”. (http://www.fouderock.com/rock_fr/five-gentlemen.html)

Mark Deming contends that:

[C]onventional wisdom has it that the French are not all that great at rock & roll — pop music, yes indeed, but not rock & roll . . . . But apparently there was a glorious window of time in the mid-’60s when France had a pretty lively rock scene . . . . there was a lot more going on in France during the garage era than most American fans ever knew.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/psychegaelic-french-freakbeat-mw0002603305

Fou de Rock tells us about the Gentlemen:*

What if the best French rock band of the mid-60s was from Marseille? . . . [They] began under the surname of Ambitieux and released their first EP in 1965 . . . . These 5 Gentlemen (name they adopted in 1966) are of Corsican origin but established in Marseilles from where they will try to conquer the planet. Their models are the English mods for both dress and music. They play regularly in a club in the Old Port of Marseille, Arsenal des Galères, which is always full when they perform there. And this is all the more remarkable as Marseille, unlike Nice or Toulouse, is not a rock city. . . . Their third EP (1966) is a masterstroke which unfortunately will not reach the peaks of the charts. However, we can consider that it is one of the best French psychedelic discs of the period [with LSD 25] . . . . [T]he 5 Gentlemen don’t only have good intentions, they also have the technique that goes with it and the combination of their voices with the organ and the fuzz guitar is quite convincing and effective.

http://www.fouderock.com/rock_fr/five-gentlemen.html

Rock Made in France* adds:

[A]t their beginning, it was in the medical, pharmacy and dental faculties of the region that they essentially toured with a repertoire of covers. Indeed, apart from Michel Donnat, fishmonger, they are all children of the local bourgeoisie and for the most part in medicine. Gérard Perrier . . . who will come to lend them a hand for a time, isn’t he the son of the director of Provençal? He introduced them to Claude Olmos who joined the group in 1965. After a competition for young rock talents in Rennes, they went to Paris to record their first 45 for EMI under the name of… Ambitieux. For the occasion, the rhythms are performed by bassist Papillon (future Triangle), guitarist Mick Jones (future Foreigner) [what?!] and drummer Tommy Brown. Only Claude Olmos and Guy Matteoni performing their parts. After a summer scouring the Corsican nightclubs, the group had its first glory with “Tell us Dylan” in 1966, which sold nearly 80,000 copies. The operation will not be repeated with the following EPs.

https://www.rockmadeinfrance.com/encyclo/les-5-gentlemen/10244/

* Translation by Google Translate

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

723) Parliament — “Red Hot Mama”

Red hot ‘71 Parliament A-side that, as Ned Raggett says, has “an explosive Eddie Hazel solo, turning into a slow monster riff that rivals whatever Jimmy Page and Tony Iommi were coming up with in 1970.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/first-thangs-mw0000092023) Later redone to much acclaim by Funkadelic.

Derek See gives some history:

George Clinton began his group of slick doo wop vocalists as the Parliaments in the late ’50’s, eventually morphing into an incredible Detroit soul band that hit big with “Testify” in 1967, and released some other incredible singles along the way . . . . Around 1968, Clinton somehow lost rights to the the name “Parliaments”, just around the time things were getting very FREAKY and hence the birth of Funkadelic (the same singers and more or less the same musicians who played in the latter day Parliaments). In 1970, George somehow got the rights to the name back, and released an LP (Osmium) [see #249, 308] as Parliament (no “s” this time) and a few singles. This track (later recut by Funkadelic) features some of the most raw vocals and ripping fuzz guitar (genius guitarist Eddie Hazel) every cut by the P Funk gang (and that’s quite a feat!). The single and album didn’t sell, and the Parliament name was retired until 1974, where George used the Parliament moniker to explore a more commercial (but never boring) brand of sci-fi funk.

http://dereksdaily45.blogspot.com/2009/05/parliament-red-hot-mama.html?m=1

The single:

Long version:

Here is Funkadelic:

Here is Funkadelic live in ’78:

Here is George Clinton on Letterman! —

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

722) Michael Polnareff — “Qui A Tué Grand’ Maman”

A stunning and achingly beautiful song that Michel (see #120, 157) wrote in reaction to the suicide of his mentor and friend.

Lauren Fay Levy writes:

Nudge your Serge Gainsbourg record over a smidge to make room for another fabulous, eccentric Frenchman in your collection: Michel Polnareff. . . . the many sounds of the wonderful world of Polnareff: baroque/pop/jazz/funk/psychedelic, executed with impeccable orchestration, arrangement, and production. Whether it’s schizophrenic cycling of contrasting personalities within the same song, or silly lyrics about ice cream, Polnareff has a gift for bringing humor to his music without making it over-the-top kitschy or ridiculous. Polnareff’s catches the man himself at an interesting point in his life, at once riding the high of major commercial success in France and yet recovering from a deep, isolated depression following the recent suicide of his dear friend and music mentor, Lucien Morisse, a prominent radio director responsible for signing Polnareff, and the subject of the album’s beautiful number “Qui a tué grand’maman?”. . . . Polnareff was daring and inventive, both in terms of music and his public image. He was boldly androgynous and glamorous, sporting wild platinum Bolan-esque hair and permanently donning futuristic white sunglasses, which, despite being the purposes of a degenerative eye condition, were still completely fashion-forward. And he teased the boundaries of sex in the mainstream, writing what were then considered pornographic lyrics, and flaunting his bare butt cheeks on a promotional poster at the cost of lawsuits. Put on your feather boa, and dance around the house to this one – it is pure joy the whole way through.

https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/album/michel-polnareff-polnareffs/

Thom Jurek adds:

Michel Polnareff’s self-titled psychedelic pop masterpiece from 1971 is composed and recorded as all of a piece. The lushly layered textures bring in everyone from Serge Gainsbourg and Burt Bacharach to funky discotheque . . . . Polnareff would err on packing his tracks with everything he could fit into his grandly baroque, kitschy schema, rather than have left anything to chance. It’s overblown and excessive to be sure . . . but it is also so bloody well-executed and produced, it cannot be anything but brilliant. This is pretentious French psychedelic soul at its most garish and essential.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/polnareffs-mw0000467739

John Lichfield gives us some history:

In the 1960s and early 1970s, Polnareff, the son of a Russian songwriter, was one of the most successful musicians in France. He became a Gallic version of the Bee Gees or Simon and Garfunkel, singing poetic lyrics in an angelic voice. In the early 1970s, he posed with his bottom bare and refused to comment on rumours that he was homosexual. He was attacked on stage by a homophobe . . . . After being swindled by his financial advisers, he discovered in 1973 that he owed a fortune in unpaid taxes and left France for California. . . . In an interview with the newspaper Le Parisien, Polnareff said that he “hated” France when he left the country 34 years ago. “I was swindled and then I was accused of non-payment of taxes. I had to prove that I was innocent when it was me that had been cheated. It took 18 years for the tax authorities to decide that I was not to blame.” Asked what he thought of France after such a long exile, Polnareff said . . . . “I now realise how magnificent France is. The French don’t realise it because they live here all the time.”

https://web.archive.org/web/20090905010231/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/frances-ageing-pop-fans-reunited-with-their-exiled-hero-438603.html

Live in Tokyo ’72:

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

721) Georgie Fame — “Fully Booked”

This song is one of Georgie’s (see #103, 169, 634, 695) hilariously randy classics, like Dr. Kitch. I count 23 woman who have got him all booked up: Milly, Molly, Mona, Molene, Mandy, Cindy, Shelia, Sally, Cherene, Sandy, Lily, Linda, Laura, Lucille, Lisa, Cora, Rhonda, Rita, Rhona, Rosanne, Ricky, Catherine, and Kitty. Whew!

I like to think I was named in honor of Georgie Fame. Hey, my mother used to call me Georgie, and we share the same initials (along with gluten-free items!). If only I were so cool! As Oregano Rathbone has said, “[i]t’s imperative not to trust anyone who doesn’t love Georgie Fame, though we can’t begin to imagine what kind of monster such a person would have to be.” (https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/whole-worlds-shaking-complete-recordings-1963-66)

Here are the Jo Boxers! —

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

720) Mojo — “Beside Me”

An utterly gorgeous ballad from San Francisco’s Mojo (formerly the Mojo Men). As Matthew Greenwald writes:

A fine, elegant pop statement, “Beside Me” crosses sunny Southern California pop with a strong, East Coast urban “city” feel. Extremely well-written and musically ambitious, the song crawls along at a tender pace and is brilliantly colored by a gorgeous . . . string arrangement. Lyrically, the pain of romantic separation is told in an aching, literate fashion. In this respect, the song is a world away from the Mojo Men’s other (excellent) lighter pop/rock statements.

https://www.allmusic.com/song/beside-me-mt0007326376

The Mojo Men were certainly fluid. They were great when they were all men (see #140). They were even better when singer/drummer Jan Errico joined from the Vejtables (see #84) (and they eventually dropped the “Men” to become simply “Mojo”). They were best (see #275) on their and Jan’s first and only album — ‘69’s Mojo Magic. Unfortunately, Jud Cost’s liner notes to the Mojo Men comp Sit Down . . . It’s The Mojo Men states, the album was “[s]addled with one of the most hideous album covers in music history — colored blossoms layered over a group mug shot [and it] sank without a trace.” The group folded soon after. A shame, because Mojo Magic is one of the most glorious sunshine pop albums ever released.

Richie Unterberger tells us that:

One of the earliest San Francisco rock bands, the Mojo Men had local hits on the Autumn label with “Dance With Me,” “She’s My Baby,” and a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Off the Hook” in the mid-’60s. Their early sides displayed a raunchy but thin approach taken from the mold of British Invasion groups . . . . In 1966, after female drummer Jan Errico joined from the San Francisco folk-rock group the Vejtables, they moved to Reprise and pursued folky psychedelic pop directions, and had a Top 40 hit with a Baroque arrangement of Buffalo Springfield’s “Sit Down I Think I Love You” in 1967. In their later days, they developed more intricate arrangements and harmonies that reflected the influence of the Mamas & the Papas and Jefferson Airplane . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-mojo-men-mn0000891338/biography

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

719) Kaplan — “I Like”

This ultra-cool and hypnotic ’68 B-side by a British character (and character actor) bears an affinity to the Kinks’ and Dave Berry’s “This Strange Effect” (see #606), and its refrain “and I like it”. I most definitely like it.

Who is Kaplan “Kap” Kaye? Quite the Renaissance Man! Wikipedia tells us that:

[T]he son of actor and entertainer Davy Kaye, Kaplan ‘Kap’ Kaye[‘s] . . . . television debut was as Young Scrooge in an adaptation of A Christmas Carol (1958), part of the Tales from Dickens series. Other television appearances include roles in The Charlie Drake Show (1961), Henry in six episodes of William (1963), Eagle Rock (1964), The Saint (1964), the mini-series The Three Musketeers (1966), Armchair Theatre (1967), Z-Cars (1968), The First Lady (1968), and Journey to the Unknown (1968). Film roles include Corridors of Blood (1958), Passionate Summer (1958), Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1959), Charles in Night Train for Inverness (1960), and Jimmie Noonan in The Whisperers (1967). Theatre appearances include Oliver! (1960), Siddy Blitztein in the original production of Blitz! (1962) . . . and ‘Puck’ . . . in . . . A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1966). . . . In 1994 Kaye won the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) award for ‘Best British Song’ at the Cavan International Song Festival with his song “You Will Find Me There”. Kaye co-wrote the song “If I Was President”, which was recorded by Wyclef Jean, and also worked on the song “Take Me With You”, which was recorded by L.L. Cool J and featured 50 Cent in 2009. With Bill Dare he is half of the ukulele duo ‘The Ukaye Ukes’. Kaye was King Rat of the British show-business charity the Grand Order of Water Rats from 2006 to 2008, and was ‘Rat of the Year’ in 2004.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaplan_Kaye

The icing on the cake for Kaplan is his ’82 song that reached #19 in the UK by mocking John McEnroe’s temper tantrums! The Guardian writes (in a story about one-hit wonders) that:

The Brat
Chalk Dust: The Umpire Strikes Back
No 19, July 1982
Line-up: Kaplan Kaye and Roger Kitter (vocals and commentary)

Kaplan Kaye: McEnroe hated it! It was the year McEnroe was headlining the news with his tantrums and he said we were jumping on the bandwagon, which was quite true. He wasn’t impressed when we sneaked into his press party in Kensington, London. Roger went to the loo, quickly got changed and came out in his McEnroe headband. He stormed the photo shoot and started singing “You cannot be serious!” while I shouted “The ball was OUT!” We got so much press coverage the record took off and stayed in the charts for eight weeks. It was even number one in Belgium. We didn’t make a follow-up. I now run Kaplan Kaye Enterprises, a theatrical agency, management, music publishing and recording company. Roger tours with Jim Davidson doing stand-up comedy and he also has a leading role in the new film Suzie Gold.

https://www.theguardian.com/arts/page/0,,1074166,00.html

Here is the Brat:

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

718) The Knickerbockers — “High on Love”

The Knickerbockers were more than a one-hit wonder — no Lies! This awesome power poppy number reached #94. Andrew Sandoval tells us that:

“In the ’60s it was all about being high,” says songwriter Keith Colley, “so I thought I’d write something about being high on love, instead of drugs.” Though the single was stacked with wild guitars, soaring vocals, and some provocative lyrics, The Knickerbockers’ indie label was, as it name implies, challenged. Ultimately, its limited resources and poor distribution contributed to the band’s demise.

liner notes to Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968

Sandoval also notes that they were brought to L.A. in 1965 and performed nightly at the Red Velvet Club on Sunset, developing “quite a following”.

Mark Deming gives us some history:

In the wake of the British Invasion, plenty of American bands wished they could make like the Beatles, at least in terms of record sales. But from a musical standpoint, no one sounded quite so much like the Fab Four as the Knickerbockers on their biggest hit, 1965’s “Lies,” which brilliantly captured the sound of the Beatles’ early period with its enthusiastic harmonies and tough but melodic guitar lines. While the band never quite repeated the feat, for years pranksters passed “Lies” off as a rare Beatles track to unsuspecting music buffs, and the group earned a cult following from fans of first-era garage rock. Hailing from Bergenfield, New Jersey, the Knickerbockers were formed in 1962 . . . The band landed a record deal with Challenge Records . . . . In late 1965, “Lies” b/w “The Coming Generation” changed the game for the band; between the forceful tune and [the] Lennon-esque vocals, “Lies” was eagerly embraced by radio and rose to number 20 on the singles charts . . . . Several months later, the Knickerbockers dropped another great single, “One Track Mind” b/w “I Must Be Doing Something Right,” which topped out at number 46 . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-knickerbockers-mn0000099888

Stephen Thomas Erlewine adds that:

During their brief time at Challenge — a stint that essentially amounts to all of 1965 and 1966 . . . the band touched upon every mainstream rock or pop sound of the pre-psychedelic ’60s, starting as a fratty combo grinding out party covers of R&B and British Invasion hits — not to mention a version of “The Jolly Green Giant” by early ’60s rock & roll kingpins the Kingsmen — and quickly touching upon surf and the limbo, folk-rock, and swinging pop, coming across like an AM pop station condensed into one quartet. After the hit, the productions got grander — they were slathered in strings and horns that placed them somewhere between B.J. Thomas and Glen Campbell — but they also had an eye for snazzy covers of crossover standards (“Harlem Nocturne,” “The Girl from Ipanema”) and they were hip enough to spin “King of the Road” into a groover in the style of the Sire Douglas Quintet . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-challenge-recordings-mw0002886557

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

717) The Bee Gees — “Melody Fair”

The Bee Gees (see # 291, 353, 354, 439, 466, 484, 497, 570, 594) outdid themselves with this Beatlesque and “ethereal ballad[]”. (Bruce Eder, https://www.allmusic.com/album/odessa-mw0000192945) Uncut says that it is “perhaps the most fetching cut in The Bee Gees’ entire catalogue, glid[ing] on a subtle but sweeping string arrangement intertwined with cascading vocals.” (http://www.1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie.net/bee-gees-odessa) The Guardian calls it the Bee Gees’ 24th greatest song, “encapsulat[ing] the two competing impulses within the 60s Bee Gees. . . . start[ing] out as parent-friendly MOR pop, then suddenly, thrillingly, dives into a heavy-lidded, stoned-sounding, Lennon-y chorus.” (https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/19/the-bee-gees-40-greatest-songs-ranked)

And Donald Guarisco says:

[“Melody Fair”’s] graceful melody . . . . [is] carried even further . . . [by a] sumptuous orchestral arrangement . . . . The crowning touch is provided by the Gibb brothers’ vocal harmonies, which live up to the song’s instrumental splendor by giving it heart to match its beauty: their vocals build from gentle yearning on the verse to full-throated, richly harmonized heartache on the chorus.

(https://www.allmusic.com/song/melody-fair-mt0006759552)

As to Odessa, the Bee Gees’ ‘69 double album from which “Melody Fair” comes, Maurice Gibb noted that “a lot of people regard it as our Sgt Pepper.” (https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/albumconsidered/9321/the-bee-gees-odessa-considered-1969-all-at-sea-in-separate-lifeboats/) Bruce Eder explains that:

Odessa is easily the best and most enduring of the Bee Gees’ albums of the 1960s. It was also their most improbable success, owing to the conflicts behind its making. The project started out as a concept album to be called “Masterpeace” and then “The American Opera,” but musical differences between Barry and Robin Gibb that would split the trio in two also forced the abandonment of the underlying concept. Instead, it became a double LP — largely at the behest of their manager and the record labels; oddly enough, given that the group didn’t plan on doing something that ambitious, Odessa is one of perhaps three double albums of the entire decade (the others being Blonde on Blonde and The Beatles) that don’t seem stretched, and it also served as the group’s most densely orchestrated album. . . . The myriad sounds and textures made Odessa the most complex and challenging album in the group’s history . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/album/odessa-mw0000192945

Here, from the movie Melody, in which it was featured:

Here is the demo, which sounds even more Beatlesque than the finished song:

Here’s Lulu’s (married to Maurice at the time) version:

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

716) Dave Clark Five — “19 Days”

I love the Dave Clark Five (see #208, 320, 411, 412, 565) for their glorious hits and underappreciated ballads. Richie Unterberger says that “Nineteen Days” “was the only hit [’66] single [from their ’67 U.S. album 5X5] and not [a] big one, falling a little short of the Top 40), and saw them trying on a slightly more aggressive guitar sound and histrionic vocal delivery.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/5-x-5-us–mw0001738894). Man, how the DC5 crammed so much cool rock ‘n’ roll into 1:51 is beyond me. I guess Einstein would say . . .

The song was released as an A-side in the UK, but didn’t chart, except for pirate radio: Roger Foster says that it “spent five weeks on Radio London’s Fab 40, peaking at Number 5 on 20th November 1966.” (https://www.45cat.com/record/db8028). That brings me to the point that 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?). T om Hanks enthusiastically introduced them at the Hall Of Fame induction ceremony and Bruce Springsteen has often referred to their impact on him. I n 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.

Here it is from a Royal performance:

Here with better video:

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

715) Cavaliers — “Seven Days of Crying”

Blistering ’66 garage track from Lynwood, in L.A. County, California. When love turns to hate . . .

Back from the Grave says:

[T]he group of high school pals began in 1964 as a surf instro[mental] group dubbed The Bremen Band, then changed it a bit later to The Surf Age. By the end of ‘64, the group began to work on vocals, and [became] the Cavaliers. They got a reputation for being able to play the current “hits” of the day just like the actual records. The Cavaliers won three straight “Battle of the Bands” competitions at the Palladium. They had a pretty large fan club following . . . . [T]he drummer’s dad put up the bucks to subsidize a recording session. . . . [The single] sout of a 1,000 copy pressing. The Cavaliers continued to play together for a few more years [as] Crystal Fog”.

liner notes to the CD comp Back from the Grave, Vol. 4: Raw ‘N’ Crude Mid-60s Garage Punk

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

714) Andwella — “Four Days in September”

Grand Irish ballad from People’s People, Andwella’s third and last album. It sounds so ahead of its time — it would have been a hit ten for twenty years later. Radio stations would play it so often that I’d start to hate it!

Andwella’s — then Andwella’s Dream — first album is their most “famous” (among collectors). The “stunning debut LP ‘Love & Poetry’ . . . captures the moment when psychedelia was at the point of splintering into progressive and acid folk.” (https://www.irishrock.org/irodb/bands/andwella.html) Eell, Philip Chevron — yes, of the Pogues — says that the People’s People is “even better . . . . By th[is] time . . . [David Lewis] was at the top of his game, with a new maturity to his voice which gave added conviction to the material.” (liner notes to cd reissue of Love and Poetry). I agree!

Of the album, the Numero Group says:

People’s People finds David Lewis and his band of freewheelers stripping their sound down to the essentials. Emerging from the psychedelic haze, the trio find themselves at a crossroads of American southern rock and a pastoral English countryside and deliver an album with booming harmonies and transcendental hooks that could go head-to-head with The Band or The Allman Brothers. The final chapter in the Andwella story has all the makings of a classic LP, and if not for the Reflection label’s own chaotic dissolution around the time of the release, it probably would have been.

https://numerogroup.com/products/andwella-peoples-people

David Wells gives us some context:

[Andwella was] primarily a vehicle for the varied talents of pianist, guitarist, songwriter and singer David Lewis. . . . Something of a child prodigy, Belfast-born Lewis had been writing songs since he was eight yers old . . . by the age of 12 he was performing as a singer on various Northern Ireland TV shows. However, the Andwella’s Dream story really starts when he formed a Cream-style blues group, the Method . . . . [which] built up a bit of a following, and by March 1968 their leader was named alongside the likes of Rory Gallagher . . . in a Top 20 popularity poll of Ireland’s favorite rock and pop musicians. Flushed with such attention, the Method decided to move to London and try their luck . . . . Changing their name to Andwella’s Dream, they began to make the transition from covers to original material . . . .

Record Collector: 100 Greatest Psychedelic Records: High Times and Strange Tales from Rock’s Most Mind-Blowing Era

Philip Chevron adds that:

Irish radio in the 60s . . . took money — in the legitimate enough form of sponsored programming — to play cover version records by Irish showbands, a handful of them sublime, the rest truly awful. The showbands were a genuine phenomenon. In a rural culture which was still hooking itself up the the electrical grid in that era and in which not even television had yet made a major impact, the better showbands could draw three to five thousand people every day of the week, in enormous dancehalls . . . . In this climate, it took guts for a musician not to be in a showband. Van Morrison and Rory Gallagher were the two most celebrated defectors but there were dozens more . . . . Britain and America aspired to an underground a counter-culture, but Irish blues and rock was so involuntarily underground it was positively subterranean. . . . The more significant bands made this transition well. One such was Dave Lewis’s group The Method who . . . came out of the hub of the Maritime Hotel in Belfast . . . .

liner notes to cd reissue of Love and Poetry

Unfortunately, as 23 Daves says, “People’s People . . . sold slightly better than their debut but only by incremental levels. They split not long after the failure of People’s People“. http://left-and-to-the-back.blogspot.com/2020/04/andwella-are-you-ready-peoples-people.html)

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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.

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

713) The Beau Brummells — “Two Days to Tomorrow”

Coming after their commercial prime, this warm and wonderful ’67 A-side by the Beau Brummells is, as Alex Palao says, “a “glorious single, perhaps their finest hour in the studio.” (liner notes to Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets: 1965-1970) Supposedly, the song was unofficially blacklisted by radio stations because of a certain interpretation of the refrain. You decide!

Alec Palao:

Even though the touring version of the group had disbanded in October 1966, mainstays Sal Valentino and Ron Elliott continued releasing essential records as the Brummels through to the end of the decade, including . . . . Producer Lenny Waronker, sensing the rich cinematic panorama innate to Elliott’s compositions, indulged the duo with arrangers, session musicians, and seemingly unlimited studio time but could not garner them a hit. In the case of [the song], the unfortunate refrain “She’s coming” helped unofficially drop the record from playlists.

liner notes to Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets: 1965-1970

You know, after reading that, and then listening to the lyrics, it seems pretty blatant. Maybe I should rewrite the first sentence of today’s blog!

Timothy Monger gives us some history:

Often credited as early architects of the San Francisco sound, the Beau Brummels found success right out of the gate with their 1964 debut single, “Laugh, Laugh.” With its autumnal folk-pop jangle and moody melodic hooks, the song bore enough resemblance to the burgeoning British Invasion that many fans mistook these young Americans for Brits. Defined by the partnership of singer Sal Valentino and guitarist/singer Ron Elliott, the influential group went on to notch a small clutch of mid-’60s hits . . . while anticipating both the folk-rock and country-rock genres ahead of better-known bands like the Byrds. By the late ’60s, the Brummels’ mainstream popularity had all but died, and yet they went on to release their two best albums . . . . Friends since childhood, [they] formed the band in early 1964 . . . . Spotted by local DJ Tom Donahue . . . the Brummels were quickly signed to [his] small San Francisco-based label, Autumn Records. . . . Autumn just couldn’t muster enough promotional muscle, and in 1966 the label was, along with its roster, sold to Warner Bros.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-beau-brummels-mn0000135032

Here is the single version (though the song wasn’t included on an album):

longer version:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

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.