Category Archives: Uncategorized

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,021) Sonny Bono — “I Told My Girl to Go Away” Sonny’s sole solo album, his late ’67 psychedelic opus Inner Views (see #281) is not well known — Bruce Eder notes that it “disappeared without a trace of its passing.” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sonny-bono-mn0000036402/biography) “My Girl”Continue reading “Sonny Bono — “I Told My Girl to Go Away”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 20, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,020) Blue Cheer — “Pilot” From the “louder than God” Blue Cheer, comes a song that “is innovative, cosmic, intellectual — just well-threaded rock ‘n’ roll. . . . If the lyrics . . . are deficient, the music is distinct and original”.Continue reading “Blue Cheer — “Pilot”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 19, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,019) The Folklords — “Jennifer Lee” A haunting song from a rare “Canadian folk/psych classic” album (Light in the Attic Records, https://lightintheattic.net/products/release-the-sunshine) filled with “[d]reamy sunshine-infused-yet-with-clouds-passing-by pop psychedelia with a folk bent and a futuristic sound”. (Return to Analog, https://returntoanalogrecords.com/products/copy-of-love-cry-want-s-t-lp) Transparent Radiation enthuses:Continue reading “The Folklords — “Jennifer Lee”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 18, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,018) Hayden Wood — “The House Beside the Mine” New Zealand’s Hayden Wood gives us “a brilliant psych ballad” (barrympls, https://www.45cat.com/record/564499), “a wonderful mid-tempo ballad with a fuzz-raga lead guitar and really cool phasing effects”. (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited). TheContinue reading “Hayden Wood — “The House Beside the Mine”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 17, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,017) The High — “Begger Man Dan” Here is a boisterous, high-spirited ’69 UK B-side about Beggar Man Dan. This is no “Streets of London”! As to the High, Vernon Joynson writes that “[t]his long forgotten pop combo produced a cheery sound onContinue reading “The High — “Begger Man Dan”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 16, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,016) Maitreya Kali — “One Last Farewell” The strange, sad tale of a budding pop wunderkind who travelled down the hippie trail* and ended up an acid casualty in an Afghan insane asylum. He left us an album that is “[t]he psychedelic masterpieceContinue reading “Maitreya Kali — “One Last Farewell”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 15, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,015) Ray Brown and the Whispers — “Go to Him” This ’65 B-side is one of Brown’s crowning achievements and “one of the great hidden classics of ’60s Aussie pop” — “an incredible chunk of driving proto-garage-psych that stands out like the proverbialContinue reading “Ray Brown and the Whispers — “Go to Him”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 14, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,014) Ray Columbus and the Art Collection — “Kick Me (I Think I’m Dreaming)” From New Zealand with a stopover in San Francisco, comes “a classic piece of heavy psychedelic punk rock . . . with . . . monstrous fuzz guitars andContinue reading “Ray Columbus and the Art Collection — “Kick Me (I Think I’m Dreaming)”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 13, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,013) Billy Preston — “Encouraging Words” Grand gospel funk from the Fifth Beatle/Beatle Whisperer #1’s (see #368) second Apple album, produced by George Harrison and with Eric Clapton and Delaney Bramlett on guitar and Ringo Starr on drums. About the album, Bruce EderContinue reading “Billy Preston — “Encouraging Words”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 12, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,012) Portobello Explosion — “We Can Fly” A “Wonderful Piece of Beatles like [UK] Psychedelic Pop” (German68, https://www.45cat.com/record/cns4001), a “charming slice of light psych from this one-off band, who developed from the ashes of Mirage. . . . [and] featured Elton John’s futureContinue reading “Portobello Explosion — “We Can Fly”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 11, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,011) Renato E Seus Blue Caps — “Sem Suzana”/“Without Suzana” This Brazilian “Young Guard” group specializing in Portuguese versions of Beatles songs gives us an utterly gorgeous and magical original ballad that John and Paul could have proudly called their own. Yet, “RenatoContinue reading “Renato E Seus Blue Caps — “Sem Suzana”/”Without Suzana”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 10, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,010) The Dave Miller Set — “Mr. Guy Fawkes” This New Zealand-moved to Australia band’s “psychedelic masterpiece”, a “tour de force” that “continued the great tradition of Aussie bands covering obscure overseas tracks and coming up with versions that far surpassed the originals”, isContinue reading “The Dave Miller Set — “Mr. Guy Fawkes”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 9, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,009) Scorpion — “Hey la, la, la” Good time rock n’ roll, straight outta Sweden? Yeah, and this “freakbeat rumbler”(SwedishProggBlog, http://swedishprogg.blogspot.com/2013/07/scorpion-i-am-scorpion-mnw-1970.html) really hits the spot. I’m not saying that it inspired Outkast’s “Hey Ya!”, but I’m not saying it didn’t! Of the albumContinue reading “Scorpion — “Hey la, la, la”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 8, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,009) The Koobas — “Gypsy Fred” “Great [whimsical] UK 1967 Psych [that] should be mentioned with Pink Floyd[‘s] “Arnold Layne’”& the two Pretty Things Psych 45s”. (Vintage Vinyl Via Valves, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6l2SNjmYVc) “[T]he Koobas [see #178] gr[ew] their hair out, donn[ed] hippy garb andContinue reading “The Koobas — “Gypsy Fred”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 7, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,007) Les Problèmes — “Je Ne Vois Rien”/”I See Nothing” An “[a]bsolutely incredible . . . fuzz garage song[]. . . . one of the best sixties french [45’s]”. (vinylomania, https://www.discogs.com/release/7215663-Les-Probl%C3%A8mes-Je-Ne-Vois-Rien-Passe-Ton-Chemin) France? Absolument! “The Fuzz guitar intro is awesome!! [T]he good times whereContinue reading “Les Problèmes — “Je Ne Vois Rien”/”I See Nothing”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 6, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,006) Tony Colton — “I’ve Laid Some Down in My Time” This self-penned (along with Ray Smith) ’66 A-side dishes some “[e]pic monster freakbeat Modness!” (Narindude, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QU6ggR9Stg) “Amazing how this disc managed to slip past the censorship of the day”. (liner notes toContinue reading “Tony Colton — “I’ve Laid Some Down in My Time”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 5, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,005) The Vejtables — “I Still Love You” Wait, is it a Byrd (song)? Is it a Beatle (song)? No, it’s the first A-side by the San Francisco Bay area band (reaching # 84), “a jangly synthesis of the Beatles and the Byrds”Continue reading “The Vejtables — “I Still Love You”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 4, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,004) Bettye Swann — Don’t You Ever Get Tired (of Hurting Me)?” The real Queen of Country Soul reached #102 in ’69 with this killer soulified version of the Hank Cochran song first recorded by George Jones (’65) (and also done country styleContinue reading “Bettye Swann — “Don’t You Ever Get Tired (of Hurting Me)?”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 3, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,003) Fortes Mentum* — “Green Mello Hill” A delicious UK pop psych confection by Danny Beckerman, a “mercurial producer/arranger/writer/musician . . . an archetypically precocious studio whizzkid who was one of [the] Morgan [Blue Town label] owner Monty Babson’s favoured lieutenants”. (David Wells,Continue reading “I Shall Be Released; Fortes Mentum — “Green Mello Hill”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 2, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD I’m not sure I would have believed when I started this blog in July of 2021 that I would hit the 1000 non-hit (in the U.S.) song mark in a little over two years. But here I am. I just hope you haveContinue reading “#1,000 Special Edition!: The Namelosers/The Electric Banana/Millennium: The Namelosers — “Land of 1,000 Dances”; The Electric Banana — “A Thousand Ages from the Sun”; The Millennium — “There Is Nothing More to Say”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — November 1, 2023″