Playlist 7/9-11/10

This week we go off the deep end, with more than the usual number of obscure tracks from obscure artists. Also, you may have noticed that the title has expanded to three days. This is because WITT-FM 91.9 in Zionsville-Indianapolis is running the show Fridays nights from 10 to Midnight . On with the show!

Artist: THEM
Song Title: "Square Room"
Source: LP: NOW AND THEM (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
With new lead vocalist Kenny McDowell replacing the departed Van Morrison, Them relocated to the US West Coast and cut the first of two LPs for Tower, Now and Them. The longest track on the album is "Square Room," with songwriting credits being given to the band itself (a practice that the Doors also used on their first few albums.) My copy of Now and Them is the relatively rare mono pressing, so if there were any fancy stereo effects on the song, you won't hear them here.

Artist: CANNED HEAT
Song Title: "Going Up the Country"
Source: CD: WOODSTOCK: 40 YEARS ON: BACK TO YASGUR'S FARM
Release Year: 2009 (recorded 1969)
Toward the beginning of the Woodstock movie, you hear a bit of stage banter from Robert (the Bear) Hite, lead vocalist of Canned Heat, followed by a somewhat enhanced version of their studio recording of "Going Up the Country." When the movie soundtrack album was released, the actual performance of the song was included, but not Hite's spoken intro. Finally, with the release of the Rhino box set, we get to hear it as the audience heard it, intro and all. I wonder if he ever found a place?

Artist: ZOMBIES
Song Title: "Tell Her No"
Source: 45 RPM Vinyl (stereo reissue)
Release Year: 1965
Rod Argent was responsible for writing four well-known hit songs, which were spread out over a period of eight years (and two bands). The second of these was "Tell Her No," a fairly innocuous tune from 1965.

Artist: KNICKERBOCKERS
Song Title: "High On Love"
Source: CD: WHERE THE ACTION IS: LA NUGGETS 1965-68 (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1966
Originally from New Jersey, the Knickerbockers scored big with the 1965 hit "Lies," which many people at the time believed to be the Beatles recording under a different name. After moving to LA, the band released two more singles, the last of which was "High On Love," but was not able to duplicate the success of their debut record. Maybe there were just too many other things to get high on at the time.

Artist: DOORS
Song Title: "Not To Touch The Earth"
Source: CD: WAITING FOR THE SUN (reissue of original LP)
Release Year: 1968
Waiting For the Sun was the first Doors album to feature a gatefold cover (imagine a 12"x12" greeting card with a record in it), and the Doors used half of the inside portion to print the entire text of "Celebration of the Lizard," which was a bit confusing, since no such track appeared on the album itself. They had made several attempts to record "Celebration", but were not entirely satisfied with any of them. They did, however, manage to salvage this short section from the middle of the piece for inclusion on the album.

Artist: LOVE
Song Title: "7 & 7 Is"
Source: CD: COMES IN COLOURS (Australian import anthology) (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl and included on the album De Capo).
Release Year: 1966
The first rock band signed to Elektra Records was Love, a popular L.A. club band that boasted two talented songwriters, Arthur Lee and Bryan MacLean. On the heels of their first album, which included the single "My Little Red Book" and one of the first recordings of the fast version of "Hey Joe", came their most successful single, released in July of 1966. This stereo mix is taken from the album De Capo.

By the end of 1965, the Beatles had become thoroughly disenchanted with performing live in front of thousands of screaming fans (and being unable to hear themselves), and were instead focusing most of their attention on the recording studio. The albums Rubber Soul (released in December of 1965) and Revolver (summer of 1966) are among the finest recordings made by a rock band using 4-track equipment. The following four songs (two from John and one each from Paul and George) represent just one-seventh of those recordings.

Artist: BEATLES
Song Title: "For No One"
Source: CD: REVOLVER (reissue of British version of LP)
Release Year: 1966
With the predominance of the keyboard and french horn in the mix, Paul's essentially-solo number "For No One" shows just how far the group was willing to move away from its original image as a "guitar band."

Artist: BEATLES
Song Title: "Girl"
Source: LP: RUBBER SOUL (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1965
Some people think this is one of those John Lennon drug songs. I see it as one of those John Lennon observing what's really going on beneath the civilized veneer of western society songs myself.

Artist: BEATLES
Song Title: "Love You To"
Source: CD: REVOLVER (reissue of British version of LP)
Release Year: 1966
George's first sitar song, and the one track on the album that might even be more of a departure from the "old" Beatles sound than "For No One."

Artist: BEATLES
Song Title: "Run For Your Life"
Source: LP: RUBBER SOUL (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1965
And to round out the set, we have John being politically incorrect. I suspect that Yoko was never too fond of this one.

Artist: JANIS JOPLIN
Song Title: "Mercedes Benz"
Source: CD: LOVE IS THE SONG WE SING: SAN FRANCISCO NUGGETS 1965-1970 (Originally released on LP: Pearl)
Release Year: 1971 (recorded Oct 1970)
To put it bluntly, Janis recorded this song, then went home and ODed on herion. End of story (and of Janis).

Artist: STEPPENWOLF
Song Title: "Magic Carpet Ride"
Source: CD: STEPPENWOLF THE SECOND (reissue of original LP)
Release Year: 1968
Steppenwolf's second LP actually charted higher than the first one, despite "Born To Be Wild" being a bigger hit. I usually play this song from one of the Nuggets albums, but since I just this past week acquired the CD of Steppenwolf the Second (after realizing the LP from the WEOS lost archives was hopelessly thrashed due to water damage), I figured I'd use it instead.

Artist: MITCH RYDER AND THE DETROIT WHEELS
Song Title: "Sock It To Me - Baby!"
Source: 45 RPM vinyl
Release Year: 1967
It's unclear whether this song or Aretha Franklin's recording of "Respect" came out first. Regardless, both of them were being heard on top 40 radio long before Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In made its TV debut.

Artist: BLUES MAGOOS
Song Title: "There's A Chance We Can Make It"
Source: LP: ELECTRIC COMIC BOOK (also released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
Following up on their biggest hit, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," the Blues Magoos released this song and "Pipe Dream" on their next single. Unfortunately for both songs, some stations elected to play "There's A Chance We Can Make It" while others preferred "Pipe Dream." The result was that neither song charted as high as it could have had it been released with a weaker B side. This had the ripple effect of causing the album both songs appeared on to not chart as well as its predecessor Psychedelic Lollipop had. This in turn caused Mercury Records to lose faith in the Blues Magoos and not give them the kind of promotion that could have kept the band in the public eye beyond its 15 minutes of fame. The ultimate result was that for many years, there were an excessive number of busboys and cab drivers claiming to have once been members of the Blues Magoos and not many ways to disprove their claims, at least until the internet made information about the group's actual membership more accessible.

Artist: CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND
Song Title: "Milk Cow Blues"
Source: CD: NO WAY OUT (bonus track)
Release Year: late 90s (recorded in 1966)
Not a whole lot is known about this tune, other than it sounds more like the Chocolate Watchband than most of what appeared on their albums (much of which wasn't actually recorded by the band at all).

Artist: BLUE CHEER
Song Title: "Summertime Blues"
Source: LP: NUGGETS, VOL 1: THE HITS (originally appeared on LP: VINCEBUS ERUPTUM and on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
Often considered the founding fathers of Heavy Metal, Blue Cheer was a power trio that was known as the loudest band in the world (until Grand Funk Railroad a few years later). Their cover of this Eddie Cochrane classic was their only charted single. Guitarist Leigh Stephens would leave the band for a solo career after their second album, and the rest of the band, despite an influx of new talent, was never able to duplicate the success of "Summertime Blues."

Artist: SEEDS
Song Title: "Pushin' Too Hard"
Source: LP: THE SEEDS (also released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1966
The Seeds were at the forefront of the first wave of psychedelic bands. "Pushin' Too Hard" was their signature song, charting nationally in the fall of 1966.

Artist: ELECTRIC PRUNES
Song Title: "Hideaway"
Source: WHERE THE ACTION IS: L.A. NUGGETS 1965-68 (originally released on LP: UNDERGROUND and on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
A couple weeks ago I played the track "Dr. Do-Good" as an illustration of why record company executives should not be allowed to make creative decisions such as which song on an album to release as a single. On the other hand, "Hideaway," a song written by members of the band and being much more representative of the band's actual sound, would have made a much better choice. Instead this mono mix of the song was released as the B side to "Dr. Do-Good."

Artist: BYRDS
Song Title: "It Happens Every Day"
Source: CD: YOUNGER THAN YESTERDAY (bonus track)
Release Year: Early 21st century (recorded in 1966)
The Byrds had a unique problem in early 1967: they were writing and recording more quality material than they could fit on an album. As a result some truly worthy songs like "It Happens Every Day" got left off Younger Than Yesterday. It's possible that the song would have been included on the next Byrds album, but with David Crosby no longer a member of the band by the time The Notorious Byrd Brothers came out, it was probably deemed inappropriate to include it there. Ironically, it was revealed years later that an uncredited Crosby did play on several tracks on the Notorious Byrd Brothers, despite having left the band before its release.

At the beginning of this post I said we were going off the deep end this week, and it doesn't get much more obscure than this band, who, despite having never charted a single or even cracked the LP charts, managed to put out no less than six albums over a period of about four years.

Artist: WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND
Song Title: "Ritual #1"
Source: LP: VOLUME 3: A CHILD'S GUIDE TO GOOD AND EVIL (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
Technically, Volume 3 is actually the fourth album by the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band (I'll explain that in a minute). "Ritual #1 is fairly typical of the band's sound at this point.

Artist: WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND
Song Title: "Help, I'm A Rock"
Source: CD: PART 1 (reissue of original LP)(song also released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
Ya gotta hand it to these guys. It takes cojones to record a cover of a Frank Zappa tune, especially within a year of the original Mothers of Invention version coming out. To top it off, the W.C.P.A.E.B. even released it as a single.

Artist: WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND
Song Title: "A Child of a Few Hours Is Burning To Death"
Source: LP: VOLUME 3: A CHILD'S GUIDE TO GOOD AND EVIL (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
Bob Markley was a somewhat unique character on the LA scene. An heir from the Midwest and a moderately successful TV personality in Oklahoma, Markley had not been able to make a dent in tinsel town until he offered to finance the Harris brothers and become their lead singer and lyricist. Although he is often accused of buying his way into rock and roll, he did have a certain gift for irony in his lyrics, as evidenced by this track.

Artist: WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND
Song Title: "Leiyla"
Source: CD: PART 1 (reissue of original LP)
Release Year: 1967
This is actually the second album recorded by the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. The first one was an early example of a practice that would become almost mandatory for a new band in the 1990s. Volume 1 was recorded at a home studio and issued independently by the Harris brothers. Many of the same songs would be re-recorded for their first album for a major label (Reprise Records). Because of this, they decided to title that second LP Part One. To my knowledge Volume 1 has never been reissued on CD.

Artist: WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND
Song Title: "As Kind As Summer"
Source: LP: VOLUME 3: A CHILD'S GUIDE TO GOOD AND EVIL (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
The first time I heard this I jumped up to see what was wrong with my turntable. A real gotcha moment.

Artist: CIRCUS MAXIMUS
Song Title: "Lost Sea Chanty"
Source: LP: CIRCUS MAXIMUS (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
Long before he became famous for writing "Mr. Bojangles," Jerry Jeff Walker was hanging out in Greenwich Village, where he met Bob Bruno. The two of them formed the psychedelic-jazz-folk-rock band Circus Maximus in 1967, recording two albums before parting company over musical differences (Bruno favored the jazz element while Walker was more into folk). "Lost Sea Shanty" is the first Jerry Jeff song (he wrote and sang it) on side one of the first album. Could it be his first recorded work? Possibly.

Artist: TRADE WINDS
Song Title: "Mind Excursion"
Source: CD: PSYCHEDELIC POP
Release Year: 1966
The Trade Winds were a semi-studio band from New York that first scored in 1965 with the song "New York is a Lonely Town (When You're the Only Surfer Boy Around). A year later, they had their second and last hit, "Mind Excursion," which holds up as one of the best examples of "flower power" pop ever recorded. Psychedelic Pop, incidentally, was a CD released in the 90s celebrating the early days of Buddah Records, back before the brand became synonymous with "bubble gum" pop.

Artist: ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS
Song Title: "Ain't That So"
Source: CD: WINDS OF CHANGE (bonus track)(originally released in Britain on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
In 1967 Eric Burdon and the Animals scored back to back hits with "Good Times" and "San Francisco Nights," with the first being the bigger hit of the two. At least that's the way it happened in their native England. In the US it was an entirely different matter. "Good Times" was not even released as a single until it appeared as the B side of "San Franciscan Nights," which understandably was a bigger hit in the US than overseas. Because of this difference, the song "Ain't That So," which appeared as the B side of "Good Times," was never released in the US, at least not until the Winds of Change album was reissued with bonus tracks. As for the British B side of "San Franciscan Nights".....well, I have to save something for a future show, right?

Artist: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND
Song Title: "Zig Zag Wanderer"
Source: CD: WHERE THE ACTION IS: LA NUGGETS 1965-68 (originally released on LP: SAFE AS MILK)
Release Year: 1967
Don Van Vliet made his first recordings as Captain Beefheart in 1965, covering artists like Bo Diddley in a style that could best be described as "punk blues." Upon hearing those recordings A&M Records, despite its growing reputation as a hot (fairly) new label, promptly cancelled the project. Flash forward a year or so. Another hot new label, Buddah Records, an outgrowth of Kama Sutra Records that had somehow ended up being the parent rather than the subsidiary, was busy signing new acts like Johnny Winter, and ended up releasing the LP Safe As Milk in 1967. The good captain would next appear on his old high school acquaintance Frank Zappa's Bizarre Records, and the world would never be quite the same.

Artist: TURTLES
Song Title: "The Owl"
Source: 45 RPM 12" EP: TURTLES 68
Release Year: 1978
In 1968 the Turtles decided to make their first attempt at producing themselves. White Whale Records rejected all but one of the four tracks they recorded. Ten years later Rhino rectified that error in judgment by putting the four tunes on a 12" 45 RPM picture disc.

Artist: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Song Title: "Where is Yesterday/Coming Down/Love Song For the Dead Che"
Source: CD: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Release Year: 1968
In the late sixties, Columbia Records president Clive Davis made an effort to corner the market on unsigned artists associated with the counter-culture. His successes were many, including Big Brother and the Holding Company, Santana, Chicago, Moby Grape and others. Some acts, however, were not really a good fit with the parent company, CBS, at that time one of the two most powerful media companies in the world. Such was the situation with the United States of America, an outgrowth of LA's avant garde art scene and, in their own way just as radical as the Velvet Underground (band leader and primary songwriter Joseph Byrd being a member of the Communist Party and all). This, by the way, is a good example of why I encourage audience feedback. I would never have even heard of this band if it hadn't been for a listener recommending them to me.