https://exchange.prx.org/p/542866
The emphasis is on the British Invasion this week on Stuck in the Psychedelic Era, with no less than three artists' sets from the UK, including a re-imagining of a well-known Beatles medley to include a contribution from George Harrison. It's not all British, however, as we have contributions from people like Neil Young (as a member of Buffalo Springfield), Kenny Loggins (as a teenager with his band Second Helping) and, to start off the show, some guy named Zimmerman (with a whole lot of talented studio musicians).
Artist: Bob Dylan
Title: Highway 61 Revisited
Source: CD: Highway 61 Revisited
Writer(s): Bob Dylan
Label: Columbia
Year: 1965
US Highway 61 is part of the original US Federal highway system that was developed in the 1920s and 30s and has since been largely supplanted by the Interstate highway system. It was at a crossroads along this route that legendary bluesman Robert Johnson is said to sold his soul to the devil in exchange for a successful career. In 1965 Bob Dylan decided to revisit the legend and add to it for his landmark album on which he invented an electrified version of the folk music he had become famous for. His backup musicians included some of the top talent in the New York area, including guitarist Michael Bloomfield of the Butterfield Blues Band and organist Al Kooper, who also plays the police whistle heard at strategic points in the title track of Highway 61 Revisited.
Artist: Kinks
Title: Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Ray Davies
Label: Reprise
Year: 1966
By 1966 Ray Davies's songwriting had taken a satirical turn with songs like Dedicated Follower Of Fashion, which lampooned the flamboyant lifestyle embraced by the Mods, a group of young fashionable Londoners who seem to have bought all their clothes on Carnaby Street. The Kinks, at this point, were having greater success in the UK than in the US, where they had been denied visas and were thus unable to tour to promote their records. That condition would only worsen until 1970, when the song Lola became an international smash, reviving the band's flagging fortunes.
Artist: Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title: Manic Depression
Source: CD: Are You Experienced?
Writer(s): Jimi Hendrix
Label: MCA (original label: Reprise)
Year: 1967
On February 22, 1967 the Jimi Hendrix Experience played what was possibly their worst gig, which culminated in Hendrix's white Stratocaster being stolen before it was fully paid for. Later that night the band made an appearance at a press reception at which Hendrix, in the words of manager/producer Chas Chandler, sounded like a manic depressive. Inspired by Chandler's observation, Hendrix wrote a song on the subject, which he taught to the band and recorded the next day. Hendrix later referred to Manic Depression as "ugly times music", calling it a "today's type of blues."
Artist: Pretty Things
Title: Talkin' About The Good Times
Source: Mono British import CD: Psychedelia At Abbey Road (originally released in UK as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): May/Taylor/Waller
Label: EMI (original label: Columbia)
Year: 1968
Although the Pretty Things, co-founded by guitarist Dick Taylor and vocalist Phil May, had started off doing R&B cover tunes (as did their London contemporaries the Who and the Rolling Stones), by late 1967 they had moved into psychedelic territory, with Taylor and May developing their songwriting skills at the same time. Working with producer Norman Smith (who had just finished engineering Pink Floyd's debut LP), the band recorded a pair of sides for EMI's flagship Columbia label at Abbey Road studios in November. The resulting single, Talkin' About The Good Times, was successful enough to give the band the opportunity to record an entire album, the legendary S.F. Sorrow.
Artist: Jethro Tull
Title: We Used To Know
Source: CD: Stand Up
Writer(s): Ian Anderson
Label: Chrysalis/Capitol (original US label: Reprise)
Year: 1969
The first of many personnel changes for Jethro Tull came with the departure of guitarist Mick Abrahams in late 1968. His replacement was Tony Iommi from the band Earth, who joined just in time to make an appearance miming the guitar parts to A Song For Jeffrey on the Rolling Stones' Rock And Roll Circus, a TV special slated for a December airing on British TV, but pulled from the schedule at the last minute by the Stones themselves, who were not satisfied with their own performances on the show. The following month Iommi went back to Earth (who eventually changed their name to Black Sabbath) and Jethro Tull found a new guitarist, Martin Barre, in time to begin work on their second LP, Stand Up. Barre's guitar work is featured prominently on several tracks on Stand Up, including We Used To Know, a song that starts quietly and slowly builds to a wah-wah pedal dominated instrumental finale.
Artist: Spencer Davis Group
Title: I Can't Get Enough Of It
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Miller/Winwood
Label: United Artists
Year: 1967
One listen to the B side of the Spencer Davis Group's1967 hit I'm A Man and it's easy to see why the young Stevie Winwood was often compared to Ray Charles by the British music press. I Can't Get Enough Of It, co-written by producer Jimmy Miller, features Winwood on both lead vocal and piano. Winwood would leave the group shortly after the release of this single and resurface with the less R&B flavored Traffic later the same year.
Artist: Spencer Davis Group
Title: Gimme Some Lovin'
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Winwood/Winwood/Davis
Label: United Artists
Year: 1966
By mid-1966 the Spencer Davis Group had already racked up an impressive number of British hit singles, but had yet to crack the US top 40. This changed when the band released Gimme Some Lovin', an original composition that had taken the band about an hour to develop in the studio. The single, released on Oct 28, went to the #2 spot on the British charts. Although producer Jimmy Miller knew he had a hit on his hands, he decided to do a complete remix of the song, including a brand new lead vocal track, added backup vocals and percussion and plenty of reverb, for the song's US release. His strategy was successful; Gimme Some Lovin', released in December of 1966, hit the US charts in early 1967, eventually reaching the #7 spot. The US remix has since become the standard version of the song, and has appeared on countless compilations over the years.
Artist: Spencer Davis Group
Title: I'm A Man
Source: Mono LP: Progressive Heavies (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Winwood/Miller
Label: United Artists
Year: 1967
The Spencer Davis Group, featuring Steve and Muff Winwood, was one of the UK's most successful white R&B bands of the sixties, cranking out a steady stream of hit singles. Two of them, the iconic Gimme Some Lovin' and I'm A Man, were also major hits in the US, the latter being the last song to feature the Winwood brothers. Muff Winwood became a successful record producer, while his brother Steve went on to co-found the band Traffic. Then Blind Faith. Then Traffic again. And then a successful solo career. Meanwhile, the Spencer Davis Group continued on for several years with a series of replacement vocalists, but were never able to duplicate their earlier successes with the Winwoods.
Artist: Traffic
Title: Dear Mr. Fantasy
Source: LP: Best Of Traffic (originally released on LP: Heaven Is In Your Mind)
Writer(s): Capaldi/Winwood/Wood
Label: United Artists
Year: 1967
Steve Winwood is one of those artists that has multiple signature songs, having a career that has spanned decades (so far). Still, if there is any one song that is most closely associated with the guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist, it's the title track of Traffic's 1967 album Mr. Fantasy.
Artist: Evil
Title: Whatcha Gonna Do About It
Source: Mono LP: Nuggets Vol. 2 (originally released as 45 RPM single_
Writer(s): Samwell/Potter
Label: Elektra (original labels: Living Legend/Capitol)
Year: 1967
In 1965 Miami guitarist Stan Kinchen formed a band that was heavily influenced by the "darker" British invasion bands such as the Yardbirds and Pretty Things, with a touch of rockabilly and blues thrown into the mix. He didn't have a name for the band, however, until joined by vocalist John Doyle. As all the band members were fans of Edgar Allan Poe they considered using that as a band name, but instead went with one of his best known works, Raven, before finally deciding to take it to the limit and call the band Evil. After winning a battle of the bands in 1966 they got to do a marathon one-day session at a local Miami studio, recording several original compositions. After going through a series of personnel changes, Evil recorded a cover of the Small Faces' Whatcha Gonna Do About It, which they released locally on the Living Legend label in April of 1967. Seven months later Capitol picked up the single for national distribution, editing it slightly to make it more radio friendly. The single went nowhere, however, and by the end of the year the band had called it quits.
Artist: Pink Floyd
Title: Lucifer Sam
Source: CD: The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Writer(s): Syd Barrett
Label: Capitol (original label: Tower)
Year: 1967
Beyond a shadow of a doubt the original driving force behind Pink Floyd was the legendary Syd Barrett. Not only did he front the band during their rise to fame, he also wrote their first two singles, Arnold Layne and See Emily Play, as well as most of their first LP, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. In fact it could be argued that one of the songs on that album, Lucifer Sam, could have just as easily been issued as a single, as it is stylistically similar to the first two songs. Sadly, Barrett's mental health deteriorated quickly over the next year and his participation in the making of the band's next LP, A Saucerful Of Secrets, was minimal. He soon left the group altogether, never to return (although several of his former bandmates did participate in the making of his 1970 solo album, The Madcap Laughs).
Artist: Barry McGuire
Title: Eve of Destruction
Source: 45 RPM single (stereo reissue)
Writer: P.F. Sloan
Label: MCA (original label: Dunhill)
Year: 1965
P.F. Sloan had already established a reputation for writing songs that captured the anger of youth by the time he wrote Eve Of Destruction, which Barry McGuire took into the top 10 in 1965. It would be McGuire's only major hit, and represented folk-rock at the peak of its popularity.
Artist: Seeds
Title: Lose Your Mind
Source: LP: The Seeds
Writer(s): Sky Saxon
Label: GNP Crescendo
Year: 1966
If you have a reissued copy of the first Seeds it, you may not have heard the song Lose Your Mind. Being the shortest track on the original LP, it was left off some later versions of The Seeds, especially those that combined the album with the band's second effort, A Web Of Sound, on one compact disc. I guess some songs just don't get any respect.
Artist: Eric Burdon And The Animals
Title: Winds Of Change
Source: CD: The Best Of Eric Burdon And The Animals (original released on LP: Winds Of Change)
Writer(s): Burdon/Briggs/Weider/Jenkins/McCulloch
Label: Polydor (original label: M-G-M)
Year: 1967
The new Animals first album was Winds of Change, an ambitious album that gave writing credit to all five band members for all the tracks on the album (with the exception of a cover version of Paint It Black). The opening track is basically Eric Burdon paying tribute to all his musical heroes, and it's quite an impressive list, including jazz and blues greats as well as some of the most important names in the annals of rock and roll.
Artist: Buffalo Springfield
Title: I Am A Child
Source: LP: Retrospective-The Best Of Buffalo Springfield (originally released on LP: Last Time Around)
Writer(s): Neil Young
Label: Atco
Year: 1968
The final Buffalo Springfield album, Last Time Around, was released after the members of the band had gone their separate ways. Not surprisingly, the album lacks cohesion, sounding more like an anthology of solo efforts (which for the most part is exactly what Last Time Around is). One notable Neil Young tune is I Am A Child, one of the few Buffalo Springfield songs that Young included on his Anthology 3-record set years later.
Artist: Love Sculpture
Title: In The Land Of The Few
Source: CD: Nuggets II-Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969 (originally released on LP: Forms And Feelings)
Writer(s): Edmunds/Findsilver/Ker
Label: Rhino (original label: Parrot)
Year: 1969
Dave Edmunds started off young. At age 10 the Cardiff, Wales native played in the Edmund Bros Duo (a piano duo) with his older brother Geoff. By the time Dave was 13 he and his brother had formed their own rock and roll band, with Dave on lead guitar and Geoff on rhythm. By the mid-1960s Dave Edmunds had switched to blues-rock, fronting a band called the Human Beans. It wasn't long before that group was pared down to a power trio consisting of Edmunds on guitar, John Williams on bass, and Congo Jones on drums calling itself Love Sculpture. The group released their first album, Blues Helping, in 1968, as well as a non-album single, Sabre Dance, that made the British top 10. The band's second, and final, album, Forms And Feelings, expanded beyond the electric blues of the first album to include harder to describe tracks like In The Land Of The Few. Not long after the album was released, Edmunds decided to go it as a solo artist, scoring a huge international hit with a remake of Smiley Lewis's I Hear You Knockin' in late 1970 before forming the band Rockpile with Nick Lowe later in the decade.
Artist: West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band
Title: High Coin
Source: CD: Part One
Writer(s): Van Dyke Parks
Label: Sundazed (original label: Reprise)
Year: 1967
The beginning of the song High Coin starts with a long drum roll followed by the spoken "The West West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band-Part One", which is the name of the album it appears on. Oddly, though, the short instrumental piece (written by Van Dyke Parks) is the last rather than the first track on the album itself.
Artist: Beatles
Title: Abbey Road Medley #1
Source: CD: Abbey Road
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Apple/Parlophone
Year: 1969
Much of the second side of the last album to be recorded by the Beatles, Abbey Road, is taken up by (depending on whose view you take) either one long medley or two not-quite-so-long medleys of songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Personally I take the latter view, as there is just a bit too much quiet space at the end of She Came In Through The Bathroom Window for me to consider it linked to the next song, Golden Slumbers. Regardless, the whole thing starts with You Never Give Me Your Money, a Paul McCartney composition reputed to be a jab at the band's second (and last) manager, Allen Klein. This leads into three John Lennon pieces, Sun King, Mean Mr. Mustard and Polythene Pam, ending finally with another McCartney piece, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, a song with nonsense lyrics and a title inspired by a real life break-in by an overzealous fan.
Artist: Beatles
Title: Blue Jay Way
Source: LP: Magical Mystery Tour
Writer(s): George Harrison
Label: Capitol
Year: 1967
The Beatles' psychedelic period hit its peak with the late 1967 release of the Magical Mystery Tour soundtrack. As originally conceived there were only six songs on the album, too few for a standard LP. The British solution was to present Magical Mystery Tour as two Extended Play (EP) 45 RPM records in a gatefold sleeve with a 23 page booklet featuring lyrics and scenes from the telefilm of the same name (as well as the general storyline in prose form). As EPs were out of vogue in the US, Capitol Records, against the band's wishes, added five songs that had been issued as single A or B sides in 1967 to create a standard LP. The actual Magical Mystery Tour material made up side one of the LP, while the single sides were on side two. The lone George Harrison contribution to the project was Blue Jay Way, named for a street in the Hollywood Hills that Harrison had rented that summer. As all five of the extra tracks were credited to the Lennon/McCartney songwriting team, this meant that each of the band's 1967 albums had only one Harrison composition on them. This became a point of contention within the band, and on the Beatles' next album (the white album), Harrison's share of the songwriting had doubled.
Artist: Beatles
Title: Abbey Road Medley #2
Source: CD: Abbey Road
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Apple/Parlophone
Year: 1969
The Beatles had been experimenting with songs leading into other songs since the Sgt. Pepper's album. With Abbey Road they took it a step further, with side two of the album containing two such medleys (although some rock historians treat it as one long medley). The second one consists of three songs credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney: Golden Slumbers is vintage McCartney, while Carry That Weight has more of a Lennon feel to it. The final section,The End, probably should have been credited to the entire band, as it contains the only Ringo Starr drum solo on (a Beatles) record as well as three sets of alternating lead guitar solos (eight beats each) from Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon (in that order).
Artist: Boots
Title: But You Never Do It Babe
Source: CD: Nuggets II-Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969 (originally released in West Berlin as 45 RPM single and on LP: Here Are The Boots)
Writer(s): Smith/Fox
Label: Rhino (original label: Telefunken)
Year: 1965
Formed in Berlin in 1965, the Boots were one of the more adventurous bands operating on the European mainland. While most bands in Germany tended to emulate the Beatles, the Boots took a more underground approach, growing their hair out just a bit longer than their contemporaries and appealing to a more Bohemian type of crowd. Lead guitarist Jurg "Jockel" Schulte-Eckle was known for doing strange things to his guitar onstage using screwdrivers, beer bottles and the like to create previously unheard of sounds. The band's first single, But You Never Do It Babe, was originally recorded by a British band, Cops 'n' Robbers, but the Boots took the song to its greatest heights. Note to Grammer Police: yeah, the way the song is phrased the correct title should be "But You'll Never Do It, Babe", but the original Telefunken record label reads "But You Never Do It Babe" so I'm going with that.
Artist: Cream
Title: Four Until Late
Source: LP: Fresh Cream
Writer(s): Robert Johnson
Label: Atco
Year: 1966
By the time Cream was formed, Eric Clapton had already established himself as one of the world's premier blues-rock guitarists. He had not, however, done much singing, as the bands he had worked with all had strong vocalists: Keith Relf with the Yardbirds and John Mayall with the Bluesbreakers. With Cream, however, Clapton finally got a chance to do some vocals of his own. Most of these are duets with bassist Jack Bruce, who handled the bulk of Cream's lead vocals. Clapton did get to sing lead on a few Cream songs, however. One of the earliest ones was the band's updated version of Robert Johnson's Four Until Late, from the Fresh Cream album.
Artist: Hollies
Title: Carrie-Anne
Source: 45 RPM single (stereo reissue)
Writer(s): Hicks/Clarke/Nash
Label: Epic
Year: 1967
Released in 1967, Carrie-Anne was the last Hollies song to reach the US top 10 before the departure of Graham Nash the following year. Most of the song, inspired by singer Marianne Faithfull, was written by Tony Hicks and Graham Nash, with additional lyrics supplied by Allan Clarke, and was recorded in just two takes. The song was recorded on May 1, 1967 and released just 25 days later.
Artist: Procol Harum
Title: Skip Softly (My Moonbeams)
Source: CD: Shine On Brightly
Writer(s): Brooker/Reid
Label: A&M/Rebound
Year: 1968
Procol Harum is not generally thought of as a novelty act. The closest they ever came was this track from the Shine On Brightly album that steals shamelessly from a classical piece I really should know the name of but don't. Even then, Skip Softly (My Moonbeams) ends up being as much a showcase for a then-young Robin Trower's guitar work as anything else.
Artist: Procol Harum
Title: Shine On Brightly
Source: LP: The Best Of Procol Harum (originally released on LP: Shine On Brightly)
Writer(s): Brooker/Reid
Label: A&M/Rebound
Year: 1968
Although it was never released as a single, the title track of Procol Harum's second album, Shine On Brightly, is probably their most commercially viable song on the album. Opening with power chords from organist Matthew Fischer and augmented by guitarist Robin Trower, the song quickly moves into psychedelic territory with some of Keith Reid's trippiest lyrics ever, including the refrain "my befuddled brain shines on brightly, quite insane." One of their best tracks ever.
Artist: Procol Harum
Title: Wish Me Well
Source: CD: Shine On Brightly
Writer(s): Brooker/Reid
Label: A&M/Rebound
Year: 1968
The second Procol Harum album, Shine On Brightly, saw the group moving in an increasingly progressive direction, incorporating elements of a variety of styles, including Indian, classical and even gospel music. An example of the latter is Wish Me Well. Gary Brooker's gospel-styled piano work and vocals on the track are enhanced by some tasty fills from guitarist Robin Trower.
Artist: Donovan
Title: Mellow Yellow
Source: Mono CD: Sunshine On The Mountain (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Donovan Leitch
Label: Sony Music (original label: Epic)
Year: 1966
Although the Mellow Yellow album came out in early 1967, the title track had been released several months earlier as a followup to Donovan's breakthrough US hit Sunshine Superman. Ironically, due to a contract dispute with Pye Records during Donovan's period of greatest US success none of his recordings were being released in his native UK at the time.
Artist: Second Helping
Title: Floating Downstream On An Inflatable Rubber Raft
Source: Mono LP: Ain't It Hard (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Kenny Loggins
Label: Sundazed (original label: Viva)
Year: 1968
Among the handful of bands recording for Snuff Garrett's Viva label from 1966-68 was a group called the Second Helping. The band is best remembered as the support group for a teenaged Kenny Loggins, who wrote and sang all of the band's material, including Floating Downstream On An Inflatable Rubber Raft, which was released as a B side in 1967.
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: Jumpin' Jack Flash
Source: 45 RPM single (stereo reissue)
Writer(s): Jagger/Richards
Label: London
Year: 1968
After the negative reaction by both fans and the rock press to their most psychedelic album, Their Satanic Majesties Request in late 1967, the Rolling Stones, who had produced the album themselves, turned to Jimmy Miller, who had made a name for himself working with Steve Winwood on recordings by both the Spencer Davis Group and Traffic. The collaboration resulted in a back-to-basics approach that resulted in the classic single Jumpin' Jack Flash, followed by the Beggar's Banquet album.
Artist: Sons Of Champlain
Title: 1982-A
Source: CD: Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-70 (originally released on LP: Loosen Up Naturally)
Writer(s): Steven Tollestrup
Label: Rhino (original label: Capitol)
Year: 1969
Bill Champlin is probably best known as the lead guitarist for Chicago from 1981 to 2008 (more or less). Before and after that period, however, he fronted his own band, the Sons Of Champlin. Like Chicago, the Sons were distinguished by the presence of a horn section, a trend that was just getting underway in 1969. Unlike most other bands of their type, however, the Sons Of Champlin were a San Francisco band, and one of the more popular local acts of their time. They did not show much of an interest in touring outside the Bay Area, however, and as a result got limited national exposure. The first single from the first of two albums they recorded for the Capitol label was a tune called 1982-A. I really can't say what the title has to do with the lyrics of the song, but it is a catchy little number nonetheless that, oddly enough, sounds like the kind of song Chicago would be releasing in the early 1980s.
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