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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)Continue reading “The New York Rock and Roll Ensemble — “Mr. Tree”, Nick Garrie — “St. Tropez Whore”, Joe Tex — “Buying a Book”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 12, 2021”

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,Continue reading “Turquoise — “Woodstock”, Pink Floyd — “Summer ‘68”, Jacqueline Taieb — “7h du Matin”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 11, 2021”

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 UKContinue reading “The Pozo-Seco Singers — “Time”, Tintern Abbey — “Vacuum Cleaner”, France Gall — “Laisse Tomber les Filles”: Brace for the Obscure (60’s rock)! — August 10, 2021”

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) ThisContinue reading “The Ferris Wheel — “Can’t Break the Habit”, The Fleur De Lys — “Mud in Your Eye”, The Birds — “You’re on My Mind”: Brace for the Obscure (60’s rock)! — August 8, 2021”

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,Continue reading “Paul McCartney — “Love In the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature”, The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrows”: Brace for the Obscure (60’s rock)! — August 7, 2021”

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)Continue reading “The Lollipops — “Naked When You Come”, The Lemon Fog — “Summer”, The King Biscuit Entertainers — “Priscilla Brown”: Brace for the Obscure (60’s rock)! — August 6, 2021”

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’sContinue reading “The 23rd Turnoff — “Michael Angelo”, Minnie Riperton — “Les Fleurs”, The Holy Mackerel — “Wildflowers”: Brace for the Obscure (60’s rock)! — August 5, 2021”

19) Nick Garrie, “Deeper Tones of Blue” 20) Tom Northcott, “Sunny Goodge Street” Northcott’s cover of Donovan’s song reached #20 on the Canadian charts. Donovan’s version: 21) Gil-Scott Heron, “Whitey on the Moon” A new black poet indeed. Is this song satire or straight on? Well, Gil-Scott was born on April Fool’s Day.

16) The Aerovons, “World of You” A young band from St. Louis writes a wonderful and haunting song, gets signed by EMI and gets to record the song (and an entire album’s worth of material) in England at the Abbey Road studios . . . the single is released to little attention and the albumContinue reading “The Aerovons — “World of You”, Jotta Herre, “Penina” — Lee Mallory — “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be”: Brace for the Obscure (60’s rock)! — August 3, 2021”

13) Pink Floyd, “Paintbox” This was the glorious B-side of the November ’67 “Apples and Oranges” single, written not by Syd Barrett but by Richard Wright. 14) The Carrie Nations (Lynn Carey), “In the Long Run” Surprisingly great song from Roger Ebert and Russ Meyer’s camp classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, “performed” onContinue reading “Pink Floyd — “Paintbox”, The Carrie Nations (Lynn Carey) — “In the Long Run”, Chris Britton — “Fly with Me”: Brace for the Obscure (60’s rock)! — July 31, 2021”

10) Merrell Fankhauser and H.M.S. Bounty “Girl (I’m Waiting for You)” Of the West Coast pop-psych album from which I drew this song, Fankhauser himself says that it is “one of the rare lost psychedelic gems of the late 60’s.” Presumptuous, but I agree! 11) Dana Gillespie, “You Just Gotta Know My Mind” Dana Gillespie,Continue reading “Merrell Fankhauser and H.M.S. Bounty — “Girl (I’m Waiting for You)”, Dana Gillespie — “You Just Gotta Know My Mind”, Los Mad’s — “I’ve Got that Feeling”: Brace for the Obscure (60;s rock)! — July 30, 2021”

7) Richard Barnes, “Take to the Mountains” It did hit #35 in the UK in May ’70. 8) Jackson Frank, “Blues Run the Game” Bruce Eder calls Frank’s 1965 folk-rock album, from which I picked this song, “a lost classic, daringly complex and honest”. (https://www.allmusic.com/album/jackson-c-frank-mw0000084294) Yup.  9) Davy Jones, “You’ve Got a Habit of Leaving”Continue reading “Richard Barnes — “Take to the Mountains”, Jackson Frank — “Blues Run the Game”, Davy Jones — “You’ve Got a Habit of Leaving”: Brace for the Obscure (60;s rock)! — July 29, 2021″

4) Focal Point, “Miss Sinclair” Brian Epstein picked their name . . . John Lennon loved them . . . but they only released one single (and this song wasn’t on it). Apple lost interest . . . what a shame. 5) Factory, “Path Through the Forest” The Nuggets liner notes proclaim this October ’68Continue reading “Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair”, Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go”: Brace for the Obscure (60’s rock)! — July 28, 2021″