Category Archives: Uncategorized

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,087) The Beatles — “Ooh! My Soul” Ooh, in the blink of an eye, the Beatles do Little Richard proud with one of Paul McCartney’s “all-time greatest rock ‘n’ roll vocal performances”. (The Beatles Bible, https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/ooh-my-soul/) The Good Book goes on: The BeatlesContinue reading “The Beatles — “Ooh! My Soul”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 21, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,086) Murray Head — “She Was Perfection” Forget a night in Bangkok — I’ll take one in Swinging London anytime! ”Perfection” is perfection, a head-on “gorgeous collision of baroque strings and fey harmonies” (David Wells, liner notes to the CD comp Let’s Go DownContinue reading “Murray Head — “She Was Perfection”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 20, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,085) Billy Nicholls — “Being Happy” Billy Nicholls gave us one of, if not the, greatest “lost” albums of the ’60’s — Would You Believe (see #2, 64, 144, 428, 757, 964). As David Wells says, “lost classic is a much abused term amongst pop historians,Continue reading “Billy Nicholls — “Being Happy”Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 19, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,084) Willie Cobbs — “You Don’t Love Me” There have been some pretty celebrated covers of this R&B classic — Gary Walker & the Rain (#26 in the UK), the Allman Brothers live, Dawn Penn (#3 in the UK, #58 in the U.S.Continue reading “Willie Cobbs — “You Don’t Love Me”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 18, 2024″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,082) Chris Farlowe & the Thunderbirds — “Dawn” Who else can sing like Chris Farlowe (see #473), “widely regarded as Britain’s finest ever blues and soul singer”? (Merseysider Magazine, https://vancouversignaturesounds.com/hits/time-chris-farlowe/). Don’t know? You’re out of time! The answer is absolutely no one! SayContinue reading “Chris Farlowe — “Dawn”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 17, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,081) Kindred Spirit — “Peaceful Man” Talk about the Johnstown flood! This dam-bursting ‘70 A-side from Johnstown, PA, is a “driving psych fuzz rocker with added brass blasts.” (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PRLphPTacw). I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock!Continue reading “Kindred Spirit — “Peaceful Man”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 16, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,080) Parliament — “The Silent Boatman” This “beautiful dirge” (Mark Montgomery French, https://www.uppitymusic.com/2005/06/parliament-osmium-1970.html) at the end of Parliament’s (see #249, 308, 723) first album is one of the uber funk band’s most atyptical and heartfelt songs. It originated as a Gaelic folk song hundredsContinue reading ““The Silent Boatman” Special Edition: Parliament — “The Silent Boatman”, Ruth Copeland — “The Silent Boatman”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 15, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,079) The Buckinghams — “Can’t Find the Words” (see #409, 413, 632, 730) This great unstoppable ’68 album track and ’69 B-side sees the Buckinghams “flex [their] muscles creatively” (RoyFIve, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjyqKPrazlM) with “a good sing-along chorus”. (https://jhendrix110.tripod.com/Buckinghams.html) It was self-written by lead singer Dennis Tufano andContinue reading “The Buckinghams — “Can’t Find the Words”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 14, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD Two delightful “slightlydelic” ‘68 UK pop rock songs — the first of which started out as a jingle for a cider commerical, the second (bearing more than a slight resemblance) written about a friend who wanted to get enough from a pawnbroker toContinue reading ““Woodpecker, Yes I Would”! Special Edition: Calum Bryce — “Love-Maker”, Barbara Ruskin — “Pawnbroker, Pawnbroker”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 13, 2024″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,076) Aorta — “Strange” I don’t know whether to think of Aorta as a Chicago or Rockford band, but its members later stocked many notable Chicago bands (including, yes, Chicago). The song is a propulsive psych rocker — “You’re acting oh so strange!”– fromContinue reading “Aorta — “Strange”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 12, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,075) The Shadows of Knight — “I’m Gonna Make You Mine” Enshrined in the Nuggets CD collection, this Chicago garage classic by the Shadows of Knight (see #184) is “devastating”, “60’s punk at its sexually charged, aggressive best” with a “searing guitar break”,Continue reading “The Shadows of Knight — “I’m Gonna Make You Mine”Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 11, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,074) James Brown — “Out of the Blue” Well, this June 1964 Smash B-side (https://www.45cat.com/record/s1908) came out of the blue — it’s not your typical James Brown. The “twisting original . . . backtracked on the evolutionary steps Brown’s music had been making”.Continue reading “James Brown — “Out of the Blue”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 10, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,073) H.P. Lovecraft — “That’s How Much I Love You, Baby (More or Less)” This Chicago band (see #829) truly put the LSD in Lake Shore Drive. As to the song, it is “Dean Martin on acid lounge” (Prog Sothoth, https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2273), “[a] jazzy thingContinue reading “H.P. Lovecraft — “That’s How Much I Love You, Baby (More or Less)”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 9, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,072) The Pride and Joy (The Del-Vetts) — “If You’re Ready” This ’67 B-side is the band’s “crowning moment” (Office Naps, http://officenaps.com/?p=32), “Incendiary guitar rock. Chicago fire. Smokin” psych.” (thomassmith8721, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLlFktZ0JAY), “the Fuzzed Guitar work is downright awesome”. (joegongora2200, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLlFktZ0JAY) The song has “the same bite, the sameContinue reading “The Pride and Joy (The Del-Vetts) — “If You’re Ready”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 8, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,071) New Colony Six — “Can’t You See Me Cry” “A soulful and emotionally charged ballad, “Can’t You See Me Cry” showcases [Chicago’s own’s] The New Colony Six’s (see #410) ability to convey heartache and vulnerability through their music. The haunting melodies andContinue reading “New Colony Six — “Can’t You See Me Cry”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 7, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,070) The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen” Warning: Do not read any further if you are from Chicago — this lovely and surprisingly sophisticated song launched the Ides of March’s (see #431) career and reached #7 in Chicagoland! It was the firstContinue reading “The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 6, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,069) Katch-22 — “Don’t Listen” Here is an exquisite, ebullient and endearing early British Invasion number. What’s the catch? It was a ‘68 album track by Katch-22! It coulda been a huge hit — four years earlier! Who were Katch-22? Well, let’s have the band’sContinue reading “Katch-22 — “Don’t Listen”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 5, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,068)  Fresh Air — “Stop Look Listen” A captivating and upbeat UK pop rock confection with a bouncy Al Kooper-like organ accompaniment. ”No problems facing us that we cannot work out” Who were Fresh Air? ”Nothing is known of this four-piece group” (Vernon Joynson, TheContinue reading ” Fresh Air — “Stop Look Listen”: (Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 4, 2024″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,067) The Fairytale — “Listen to Mary Cry” “Superb [’67 UK] popsike” (MushroomMachineClub, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGTe7hwO4LI) from a “short-lived Lancastrian outfit who formed in . . . in March 1967 and tended to blend pop psychedelia with a taint of punk-rock on their two 45s”. (VernonContinue reading “The Fairytale  — “Listen to Mary Cry”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 3, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,066)  Sands — “Listen to the Sky” ’67 Brit psych B-side is the band’s “finest moment”, “[m]indblowing stuff” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited), “a pretty far-out creation, starting as a nice Carnaby Street pop sike excursion before distorting into sirens, explosions,Continue reading ” Sands — “Listen to the Sky”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 2, 2024″