79) Manfred Mann, “Snakeskin Garter”

From “Vicar Sweet” to “Snakeskin” slinky, quite an evolution! Manfred Mann Chapter Three, the Mann’s experimental jazz-rock incarnation, didn’t last long (two albums), but it was extraordinary and unlike anything they had done before. “Snakeskin Garter” comes from the first album (in ’69), which wasn’t released in U.S. — the band had split by the time it came out.

80) Elvis Presley, “Change of Habit”

Yes, you heard right.  This is the title song of his last movie (in ’69). As Rotten Tomatoes describes the plot, Elvis plays a doctor who “takes the job of running a health center in a low-income district. He enlists three women to help out who — unbeknownst to him — are actually nuns in street clothes. . . . Unaware of her unavailability, John falls for Sister Michelle (Mary Tyler Moore), serenading her with his guitar . . . .” (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/change_of_habit)

81) The Hassles, “Every Step I Take”

With Billy Joel.  Yes, that’s right, a teenage Billy Joel. From the first (’68) of two album by the popular in Lon Giland band. Joel is supposedly embarrassed by the effort, but I love this song.

“Every step I take, every move I make, I’m trying to scare my life without you.” I think he stole that line from the Police. Oh, wait a second . . . .

76) Tompall & the Glaser Brothers, “Set Yourself Free”

Wonderful song from the 1970 movie “. . . Tick . . . Tick . . . Tick . . .” — “Racial tensions threaten to explode when a black man [Jim Brown] is elected sheriff of a small, racially divided town in the Deep South.” (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065360/) The song was written by Hoover and appeared on his eponymous ‘69 album as “Theme from Tick Tick Tick.” The version in the movie (released in early ‘70) is performed by Tompall & the Glaser Brothers. It reached #42 in May of ‘70.

James Christopher Monger writes that:

In 1969 [they] fulfilled their contract with MGM, and as an incentive to re-sign offered to score [the film. The song] was written by fellow country outlaw and frequent Tompall collaborator Hoover. . . . [I]t manages to mix country, soul, and a gospel-tinged chorus into a sepia-toned snapshot of the ’60s that is genuinely moving.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/tickticktick-mw0000971050

Here, as sung by Hoover:

77) The (Four) Kinsmen, “Glasshouse Green, Splinter Red”

‘68 A-side by this Aussie band.

78) Manfred Mann, “The Vicar’s Daughter”

A beautiful song about a boy’s first love, it appeared on The Mighty Garvey album in ‘68.

73) The Carrie Nations (Lynn Carey), “Come with the Gentle People”

Another beguiling song from the Meyer/Ebert cult classic film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

74) Jose Feliciano, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

Feliciano’s version of “Light My Fire” became a #3 hit, but his “Satisfaction” (from ‘70’s Fireworks album) was even better.

75) David Bowie & the Lower Third, “Can’t Stop Thinking About Me”

1966, and indelibly Bowie.

70) Headstone Circus, “Healer”

Best song from a wonderful blues/folk/psych album recorded in ‘68-‘70 but inexplicably not released until decades later.

According to Lost.FM, the band describes its naming as follows:

“On Halloween night we went to an old cemetery, dropped acid, and spent a very strange night . . . . The tombstones appeared to be melting and taking on animal shapes. . . . Afterwards, we referred to that night as the ‘Headstone Circus.”

https://www.last.fm/music/Headstone+Circus/+wiki

71) O.V. Wright, “You’re Gonna Make Me Cry”

Incendiary. The start of the legendary Memphis soul career of former gospel singer Overton Vertis Wright. Bill Dahl calls it “spine-chilling .” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ov-wright-mn0000457807/biography) Yup. It reached #86 in the summer of ‘65 (#6 R&B).

72) Tomorrow, “Revolution”

Before Yes, there was this September ‘67 “infectious hippy anthem” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/tomorrow-mw0000247533) by the London Underground stalwarts Tomorrow.

67) The Fugs, “CIA Man”

From the classic ‘66 Virgin Fugs album by the adorable Greenwich Village degenerates. If you are expecting “Secret Agent Man,” please do not listen to this song!

68) McGough and McGear, “So Much in Love”

Paul McCartney’s brother Mike gets his psych on, with a little help from his brother’s friends Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell, Spencer Davis; Graham Nash, and Jane Asher.

69) Wichita Fall, “Ornamental Sideshow”

Let’s bring in the LA Philharmonic! I find the results, at least on this song, charming, but some commentators find the band’s songs overwhelmed by the orchestrations, and the band’s drummer supposedly quit rather than participate in the creation of the ‘68 album.

64) Billy Nicholls, “Girl from New York”

Another selection from one of the two greatest “lost” albums of the 1960’s.

65) Nick Garrie, “Can I Stay With You”

Another selection from the other towering lost classic of the 1960’s — Nick Garrie’s The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas.

66) The Tokens, “She Lets Her Hair Down (Early in the Morning)”

Before the era of bands “selling out” and letting their songs be used in commercials, a dreamy Clairol folk-rock jingle was expanded into a proper song oft recorded by artists including the Tokens (yes, of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” fame). Their single reached #61 in December of ‘69.

61) Roberta Flack, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”

No, you have not heard this! Three years before her ‘72 mega-hit, she recorded this lovely version in ‘69. The song was actually written in ‘57 by radical Scottish folk singer Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, with whom he was having an affair.

62) The Aquarian Age, “10,000 Words in a Cardboard Box”

This magnificent one-off psych single in ‘68 was apparently meant to trash Keith West for leaving Tomorrow (and now Aquarian members Twink and John Wood) for a solo career.

63) The Golden Earrings, “Baby Don’t Make Me Nervous”

Before “Radar Love,” the Dutch band often sounded more like the Beatles than the Beatles, as it did on this track from their second album in ‘67.

58) The Artwoods, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”

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

“Brother” was a Depression-era classic made famous by Bing Crosby in 1932. Art Wood explains their ‘67 A-side cover version:

[Fontana Records] wanted the band to cash in on the ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ movie. . . . They suggested it would be a great idea if we all dressed up as gangsters . . . . [W]e had a press reception . . . where stuntmen fired blanks from real machine guns. . . . It was exactly the same lineup as the Artwoods, but called the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre!

Alas, the 45 was only successful in Denmark.

Bing Crosby’s version:

59) The What Four, “I’m Gonna Destroy that Boy”

Sizzling ‘66 single by this Manhattan all-girl garage band.

The song was not the anti-male manifesto the title implies.

60) Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, “The L.S. Bumble Bee”

The legendary British comedy team of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore released this classic psychedelic parody in January of ‘67. It was so spot-on that many believed it to have actually been recorded by the Beatles. Moore later explained that:

“Peter Cook and I recorded that song about the time when there was so much fuss about L.S.D. . . . . I wrote the music to, in some ways, satirize the Beach Boys rather than the Beatles. But I’m grateful if some small part of the world thinks that it may have been them, rather than us!”

55) Joe Bataan, “Uptown”

Richard Pierson says that “[n]o recording artist has more impeccable street credentials” than Bataan, who “grew up in Spanish Harlem, where he ran with Puerto Rican gangs and absorbed R&B, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Rican musical influences.” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-bataan-mn0000117990/biography)

56) It’s a Beautiful Day, “White Bird”

This San Francisco psychedelic folk-rock band was led by violinist David LaFlamme (who had earlier been a member of the Utah Symphony). “White Bird” did well on FM radio and hit #58 in the UK in May ’70.

57) The Mike Curb Congregation, “Sweet Gingerbread Man”

Jason Ankeny says that the Congregation was a “harmony pop chorale” formed in 1969 “around the time Curb became president of MGM Records” and that, apparently, his “tenure with the label included a controversial roster shake-up that favored family singing acts like the Osmonds and the Cowsills over bands like the Velvet Underground . . . and what he had termed ‘hard drug groups'”. (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-mike-curb-congregation-mn0000477163/biography). Well, say what you will, but the Congregation turned this horrible Bobby Sherman song into a wonderful confection.

Bobby Sherman’s version:

52) The Honeybus, “Story”

’70 single and title song of the album released after Honeybus had already split up. Haunting song.

53) Merry Clayton, “Gimme Shelter”

Formerly a member of Ray Charles’s Raelettes, Merry’s voice backed the Stones on the iconic “Gimme Shelter.” She then released her own version. I’m not going to say hers is the better version, but I’m not going to say it ain’t . . . . It hit #73 in July of 1970.

54) The Peppermint Trolley, “Baby You Come Rolling ‘Cross My Mind”

The Trolley (from Redlands, CA) sang the theme songs for Love American Style and the first season of The Brady Bunch. Even more impressive was this wonderful song, written by Jesse Lee Kincaid and reaching #59 in June ’68. “

The original:

49) Wimple Winch, “Save My Soul”

Stone cold classic. Nuggets says this June ’66 single “is a record of such stunning power and velocity it’s practically impossible to resist” and Vernon Joynson calls it “a wild rave-up” that is “one of the most exciting singles ever recorded in the UK.” (The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) Of course, it sold very poorly, per Joynson because 1966 ears were not remotely ready for it.

50) The Merry-Go-Round, “Listen, Listen!”

’68 single by the great Emitt Rhodes’s LA band.

51) Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, “Daytime, Nighttime”

OK, I admit there was no Simon Dupree — a promoter convinced the Portsmouth soul band that they would get gigs if they adopted the last name of local dignitaries. And I admit this song was popular, at least on the pirate radio stations Radio London and Radio Caroline. And I admit that it was actually a super-charged cover version of Manfred Mann’s “Each and Every Day.” So, sue me.

Manfred Mann’s version:

46) Norman Greenbaum, “Good Lookin’ Woman”

Norman Greenbaum was no one-hit wonder!  This is just one of his other cool songs. The title says it all.

47) The Poets, “Wooden Spoon”

First, let me say that I love Andrew Loog Oldham. I loved his two memoirs — Stoned and 2Stoned. I loved his DJ stint on Little Steven’s Underground Garage. I thought Mick Jagger was a total jerk to him. However, ALO is also undeniably responsible for the shattered dreams of some of the most promising British bands of the 60’s — either because he lost interest (read: what are Mick and Keith having for breakfast?) or because Immediate Records kept getting into financial trouble. Let me just mention Billy Nicholls and . . . the Poets, Scotland’s greatest band (sorry Bay City Rollers).

The fabulous “Wooden Spoon” paired with the equally monumental “In Your Tower” to constitute the Poets’s last and last gasp single (in ’67). No silver spoon in their mouths.

48) Lee Hazlewood and Nina Lizell, “Hey Cowboy”

The legendary Lee Hazlewood went to Sweden in 1970 to make a TV show, with this duet with Nina Lizell pulled from the soundtrack. Hazlewood gave them both such great lines.

43) Focal Point, “Sycamore Sid”

This was the B-side of Focal Point’s only single (’68). You can learn the most revealing and interesting things from a band’s liner note comments, such as: Sycamore Sid “is now considered a psychedelic classic, much to our surprise!” and that the song was an ode to John Mayall’s tree house.

The unfulfilled promise of Focal Point showed that even the enthusiastic support of one or more Beatles didn’t ensure that a group would get a decent shot at success, even in the UK (file under the Aerovons).

44) Robert Charlebois and Louise Forestier, “La Marche du President”

Francoise Couture calls “La Marche” a “mind-expanding” and “revolutionary” rock song. She writes that his “previous album was a collection of acoustic folk songs . . . . In 1967, [he] went to California [and] came back a rock & roll dynamo . . . . A Québec artist, used to the severeness of Québec culture, had seen San Francisco and simply couldn’t do things the right way anymore. ” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/robert-charlebois-louise-forestier-mw0000335102) Essentially, this album was Quebec’s Sgt. Pepper’s.

45) David Peel & the Lower East Side, “I Like Marijuana”

Steve Kurutz in All Music Guide writes that:

[S]treet musician and John Lennon protégé David Peel seems pretty ridiculous. . . . [His] lyrics . . . are juvenile [and] dated . . . . But . . . Peel and his merry band of misfits begin to grow on you. . . . When he sings about smoking some grass and getting harassed by lame cops . . . you tend to believe him.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/have-a-marijuana-mw0000272623

40) The New York Rock and Roll Ensemble, “Mr. Tree”

If you look up the definition of “twee,” any decent dictionary will cite this song. Twee in a good way — delicate and heart-breaking. Three students at Juilliard formed the band, including Marty Fulterman — who as Mark Snow would compose the X-Files theme!

41) Nick Garrie, “St. Tropez Whore”

This song didn’t make the cut of the justly legendary “lost” Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas album. Nick recorded it for release in 2009.

42) Joe Tex, “Buying a Book”

Dave Marsh says that 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 . . . .” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-tex-mn0000210323/biography) In this story song, which reached #47 in May ’69 (#10 on Billboard’s R&B chart), a man of a certain age patiently answers the concerned but impertinent query of a youngster.

37) Turquoise, “Woodstock”

The band came from the Kinks’s neighborhood of Muswell Hill and the Who’s Keith Moon and John Entwistle loved them, but to no avail. This single had nothing to do with the Woodstock Festival — it was issued in late ’68. But it did include a killer Dylan impersonation.

38) Pink Floyd, “Summer ‘68”

’70 album Atom Heart Mother was named after a woman with an atomic pacemaker. Paul Matt’s writes that:

Summer ’68” was written by Rick Wright, reminiscing about the band’s time on tour in America. Wrights sings of emptiness following an encounter with a fan. “In the summer of ’68, there were groupies everywhere,” Wright said in Barry Miles’ Pink Floyd: The Early Years. “They’d come and look after you like a personal maid, do your washing and sleep with you and leave you with a dose of the clap.” You get the picture. The sound has West Coast vocal elements, as well as a return of the brass section, creating a huge sound at times.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/somethingelsereviews.com/2020/03/30/pink-floyd-atom-heart-mother/%3famp=1

39) Jacqueline Taieb, “7h du Matin”/“7 a.m.”

’67 single by wonderful French ye-ye singer. Schoolgirl wakes up on Monday morning . . .

34) The Pozo-Seco Singers, “Time”

You know the phrase “achingly beautiful”? It perfectly describes this April 1966 #47 “hit” by the Corpus Christi pop/folk group.

35) Tintern Abbey, “Vacuum Cleaner”

The B-side to the December ’67 A-side titled “Bee Side.” Is that clear? “In any event, A + B were “arguably the finest one-off UK psychedelic 45 of all.” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited).

36) France Gall, “Laisse Tomber les Filles”/“Forget About the Girls”

A big star in France, the standout “ye-ye” girl (derived from the Beatles’s “yeah, yeah, yeah” refrain) sings a “brilliant rocker” that is “easily as good as any pop single produced in the U.S. or Great Britain at the time.” (Thom Jurek, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/france-gall-mn0000799466/biography).

31) The Ferris Wheel, “Can’t Break the Habit”

Per Jim Dunn, the psych-tinged soul band was “one of England’s great lost musical treasures of the mid- to late ’60s — immensely popular among club audiences [but] never able to translate their ability to win over crowds into chart success . . . .” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-ferris-wheel-mn0000763177) This ’67 single deserved so much better.

32) The Fleur De Lys, “Mud in Your Eye”

Nuggets II calls this ’66 single “milestone U.K. freakbeat.” Yup.

33) The Birds, “You’re on My Mind”

Blame the Byrds for their clipped wings, and see Ron Wood (writer of this ’64 single) soar with the Faces and the Stones.

28) Paul McCartney, “Love In the Open Air”

The lovely theme song for The Family Way, a ’66 UK comedy-drama about newlyweds. Paul and George (Martin) wrote the film’s score with time on their hands after the Beatles stopped touring and John went off to film How I Won the War.  

29) John Lennon, “Child of Nature”

Of course it sounds familiar — think “Jealous Guy” on the Imagine album, but John actually wrote the music on the Beatles’s trek to India.

30) The Idle Race, “Days of Broken Arrows”

This May ’69 single flopped. Jeff Lynne went on to dominate the 70’s.

25) The Lollipops, “Naked When You Come”

Brooding ’66 single by a Danish band led by two teenage brothers. Get your mind out of the gutter.

26) The Lemon Fog, “Summer”

’68 pop-psych single by this Houston band who were really big in . . . Houston. In praise of . . . summer.

27) The King Biscuit Entertainers, “Priscilla Brown”

The B-side of one of three ’68 singles by this Pacific Northwest band. Wonderful pop-psych that sounds like it came straight outta England.

22) The 23rd Turnoff, “Michael Angelo”

This was the B-side of the Liverpool band’s (named after an English highway exit to Liverpool) October ’67 single. One of the most gorgeous songs I have ever heard.

23) Minnie Riperton, “Les Fleurs”

The song is from her first solo album, before she became famous in the 70’s and died tragically at 31. Jason Ankeny calls the album “chamber soul” and the song as “embracing both intimacy and majesty to haunting effect.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/come-to-my-garden-mw0000220490) Yup.

24) The Holy Mackerel, “Wildflowers”

The group was notable for being led by 70’s uber-presence Paul Williams, but this song was written by former Jefferson Airplane bassist Bob Harvey (who left the band before the associated album was completed).