https://exchange.prx.org/p/544513
This is going to be another one of those "this and that" shows, as we have an artists' set, a couple of progressions through the years and several sets from specific years, including our opening set from 1967.
Artist: Scott McKenzie
Title: San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): John Phillips
Label: Ode
Year: 1967
Some people are of the opinion that Scott McKenzie's 1967 hit San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair was one of the primary factors that led to the decline of the San Francisco counter-culture, thanks to a massive influx of people into the area inspired by the song. I wasn't there, so I really can't say how much truth there is to it.
Artist: Human Expression
Title: Optical Sound
Source: Mono CD: Nuggets-Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Quarles/Foster
Label: Rhino (original label: Accent)
Year: 1967
One thing Los Angeles had become known for by the mid-1960s was its urban sprawl. Made possible by one of the world's most extensive regional freeway systems, the city had become surrounded by suburbs on all sides (except for the oceanfront). Many of these suburbs were (and are) in Orange County, home to Anaheim stadium, Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm. The O.C. was also home to the Human Expression, a band that recorded a trio of well-regarded singles for the Accent label. The second of these was Optical Sound. True to its name, the song utilized the latest technology available to achieve a decidedly psychedelic sound.
Artist: Sparkles
Title: No Friend of Mine
Source: Mono CD: Nuggets-Original Artyfacts from the Psychedelic Era (originally released as a 45 RPM single)
Writer(s) Turnbow/Parks
Label: Rhino (original label: Hickory)
Year: 1967
It shouldn't come as a surprise that the state of Texas would produce its share of garage/psychedelic bands. After all, the place used to be a medium-sized country. In fact, one of the first bands to actually use the word psychedelic in an album title was the 13th Floor Elevators out of Austin. The Sparkles hailed from a different part of the state, one known for its high school football teams as much as anything else: West Texas. Recorded in Big Spring, No Friend of Mine was one of a series of regional hits for the Sparkles that got significant airplay in cities like Midland, Odessa and Monahans.
Artist: Bob Dylan
Title: Just Like A Woman
Source: Mono CD: The Best Of The Original Mono Recordings (originally released on LP: Blonde On Blonde)
Writer(s): Bob Dylan
Label: Columbia
Year: 1966
By late 1966 the shock of Bob Dylan's going electric had long since worn off and Dylan was enjoying a string of top 40 hits in the wake of the success of Like A Rolling Stone. One of the last hits of the streak was Just Like A Woman, a track taken from his Blonde On Blonde album. This was actually the first Bob Dylan song I heard on top 40 radio. As a 13-year-old kid I didn't know quite what to make of it.
Artist: Doors
Title: The Crystal Ship
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer: The Doors
Label: Elektra
Year: 1967
One of the most popular B sides ever released, The Crystal Ship is a slow moody piece with vivid lyrical images. The mono mix of the song sounds a bit different from the more commonly-heard stereo version. Not only is the mix itself a bit hotter, it is also a touch faster. This is due to an error in the mastering of the stereo version of the first Doors LP that resulted in the entire album running at a 3.5% slower speed than it was originally recorded. This discrepancy went unnoticed for over 40 years, until a college professor pointed out that every recorded live performance of Light My Fire was in a key that was about half a step higher than the stereo studio version.
Artist: Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys
Title: Bad News
Source: LP: The Street Giveth…and the Street Taketh Away
Writer: Equine/Chin
Label: Polydor
Year: 1968
When the Jimi Hendrix Experience toured promoting the Electric Ladyland album their opening act was Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys. Cat Mother was actually one of the earliest country-rock groups, with ties to Buffalo Springfield, Poco and the post-David Crosby Byrds, among others. Hendrix himself was so impressed with the band that he co-produced their first album, The Street Giveth…and the Street Taketh Away, one of the first albums to be released in the US by the British Polydor label. All the band members contributed to the songwriting on the album, including guitarist/vocalist William David "Charlie" Chin and drummer/guitarist Michael Equine, who wrote Bad News.
Artist: Seatrain
Title: Pudding Street
Source: LP: Sea Train
Writer(s): Andy Kulberg
Label: A&M
Year: 1969
Very few bands can claim to have gone through the kind of total changes that Seatrain experienced in their relatively short existence. Formed in Marin County, California by former members of the Blues Project, Mystery Trend and Jim Kweskin's Jug Band, Seatrain's first LP was released as a Blues Project album called Planned Obsolescence, in order to fulfill contractual obligations incurred by two of its members, Andy Kulberg and Roy Blumenthal. The official debut of Seatrain came in 1969 with the album Sea Train, released on the A&M label. Most of the songwriting came from guitarist John Gregory and vocalist Jim Roberts. The band's sound on this album might be best described as progressive folk music, with a touch of jazz provided mostly by Kulberg on tunes like the instrumental Pudding Street. By the time Seatrain released its final album in 1973 only Kulberg remained from the band's original lineup, the group had relocated to Marblehead, Massachusetts and, most importantly, had completely changed its style to what would now be considered Americana, but at the time had people scratching their heads trying to figure out what to call it.
Artist: Beach Boys
Title: You Still Believe In Me
Source: CD: Pet Sounds
Writer(s): Wilson/Asher
Label: Capitol/EMI
Year: 1966
Although they were one of the first self-contained US rock bands, by 1966 the Beach Boys were using studio musicians almost exclusively on their recordings. At the same time Brian Wilson, who by then was writing all the band's music, had retired from performing with the band onstage. These factors combined to give Wilson the freedom to create the album that is often considered his and the band's artistic peak, Pet Sounds. Much of the material on the album, such as You Still Believe In Me, was written with the help of lyricist Tony Asher. Like many of the songs on Pet Sounds, You Still Believe In Me, heard here in a recently created stereo mix, includes unusual instrumentation such as a theramin and even a bicycle bell.
Artist: West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band
Title: Ritual #1
Source: CD: Volume III-A Child's Guide To Good And Evil
Writer(s): Markley/Harris
Label: Sundazed (original label: Reprise)
Year: 1968
Technically, Volume III is actually the fourth album 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. The LP, titled Volume 1, was recorded at a home studio and issued on the tiny Fifa label. Many of the songs on that LP ended up being re-recorded for their major label debut, which they called Part One. That album was followed by Volume II, released in late 1967. The following year they released their final album for Reprise, which in addition to being called Volume III was subtitled A Child's Guide To Good And Evil. Included on that album were Ritual #1 and Ritual #2, neither of which sounds anything like the other.
Artist: Beacon Street Union
Title: Green Destroys The Gold
Source: LP: The Eyes Of The Beacon Street Union
Writer(s): Wayne Ulaky
Label: M-G-M
Year: 1968
The Beacon Street Union found itself handicapped by being signed to M-G-M and being promoted as part of the "boss-town sound." The problem was that there was no "boss-town sound", any more than there was a San Francisco sound or an L.A sound (there is a Long Island Sound, but that has nothing to do with music). In fact, the only legitimate "sound" of the time was the "Motown Sound", and that was confined to a single record company that achieved a consistent sound through the use of the same studio musicians and a proprietary production process on virtually every recording. What made the situation even more ironic for the BSU was that by the time their first LP came out they had relocated to New York City anyway. If there is a New York sound, it has to include sirens.
Artist: Koobas
Title: First Cut Is The Deepest
Source: Mono LP: Also Dug-Its (originally released in UK as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Cat Stevens
Label: Elektra (original UK label: Columbia)
Year: 1968
Formed in Liverpool in 1962, the Koobas (after an obligatory stay in Hamburg) landed their first record contract after filming a segment for a movie called Ferry Cross The Mersey that ended up on the cutting room floor. They released several singles from 1965-1968, but none of them were successful in their native land, although their final single, a psychedelicized (think Vanilla Fudge) version of Cat Stevens's First Cut Is The Deepest, did fairly well in Germany, France and the Netherlands.
Artist: Traffic
Title: You Can All Join In
Source: CD: Traffic
Writer(s): Dave Mason
Label: Island (original label: United Artists)
Year: 1968
Dave Mason was the first member of Traffic to leave the band due to creative differences with the rest of the group. He rejoined the band, however, in time to help record the group's self-titled second LP. As a general rule, Mason's songs tended to be a bit more psychedelic than the rest of Traffic's material (Feelin' Alright being the obvious exception). Mason's songs also were more popular in Europe than in North America. In fact, when it came time to release a single from the album, it was a Mason song, You Can All Join In, that appeared as the A side on the European continent. The song was also used as the title track for a popular Island Records sampler LP in the UK.
Artist: Who
Title: Mary-Anne With The Shaky Hands (US single version)
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Pete Townshend
Label: Decca
Year: 1967
There are at least three versions of Mary-Anne With The Shaky Hands. The first was a monoraul-only electric version of the song released in the US on September 18, 1967 as the B side to I Can See For Miles. Two months later a second, slightly slower stereo version of the tune appeared under the title Mary-Anne With The Shaky Hand (singular) on The Who Sell Out. This more acoustic version of the song, which has a kind of calypso flavor to it, is the best known of the three, due to the album staying in circulation far longer than the 45. A third version of the song, also recorded in 1967 and featuring Al Kooper on organ, appeared as a bonus track on the 1995 CD release of Sell Out. The liner notes on the CD, however, erroneously state that it is the US single version, when in fact it is an entirely different recording (although it is entirely possible that Kooper played on the first version heard here).
Artist: Orange Bicycle
Title: Amy Peate
Source: British import CD: Lets Take A Trip On An Orange Bicycle (The Anthology) originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Wilson Malone
Label: Morgan Blue Town (original label: Columbia)
Year: 1969
The Orange Bicycle were a somewhat obscure British group led by drummer/vocalist Wil Malone. The band had one successful single, Hyacinth Threads, which topped the French charts in the summer of 1967. Amy Peate was the B side of that first single.
Artist: Pink Floyd
Title: Green Is The Colour
Source: British import LP: More
Writer(s): Roger Waters
Label: Columbia
Year: 1969
Even before releasing their second LP, the members of Pink Floyd were showing an interest in combining music and film. The played along to a light show in late 1967 on Tomorrow's World, a British TV series about cutting edge technology and in 1968 recorded several tunes for an independent film called The Committee. Not long after Pink Floyd's second LP, A Saucerful Of Secrets, was released, the band was contacted by film director Barbet Schroeder, who was a fan of the group, with a rough cut of More, the film that would mark his directorial debut. The band worked quickly, turning out songs like Roger Waters's acoustic Green Is The Colour, which also features Nick Mason's wife Lindy playing penny whistle. The song ended up as part of the band's live repertoire, often paired with Careful With That Axe, Eugene as part of a live suite called The Journey.
Artist: J.K. & Co.
Title: Fly
Source: CD: A Heavy Dose Of Lyte Psych (originally released on LP: Suddenly One Summer)
Writer(s): Jay Kaye
Label: Arf! Arf! (original label: White Whale)
Year: 1969
By 1969, some of the glamor had worn off the drug scene, with Pot and LSD giving way to amphetamines and cocaine as the drug of choice among many users. Jay Kaye, an expatriate Canadian fronting his own band in Los Angeles, recorded the album Suddenly One Summer, including the song Fly, as a way of documenting the horrors of hard drug use. Although Suddenly One Summer was not a commercial success, J.K. & Co. deserve props for daring to go against the grain long before it became fashionable to eschew drug use.
Artist: Them
Title: Baby, Please Don't Go
Source: Mono 12" single (reissue)
Writer: Joe Williams
Label: A&M
Year: 1964
Belfast, Northern Ireland was home to one of the first bands that could be legitimately described as punk rock. Led by Van Morrison, the band quickly got a reputation for being rude and obnoxious, particularly to members of the English press (although it was actually a fellow Irishman who first labeled them as "boorish"). Their first single was what has come to be considered the definitive rock and roll version of the 1923 Joe Williams tune Baby, Please Don't Go. Despite its UK success, the single did not chart in the US, although its B side, Gloria, did get some airplay before being banned on most US radio stations due to its suggestive lyrics. Them's recording of Baby, Please Don't Go gained renewed popularity in the 1980s when it was used in the film Good Morning Vietnam and reissued as a 12' promotional single in 1988. One side of that record is the song "in the clear", while the other (heard here) includes an introduction by Robin Williams in his film role as US Air Force disc jockey Adrian Cronauer.
Artist: Animals
Title: It's My Life
Source: Mono CD: The Best Of The Animals (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Atkins/D'Errico
Label: Abkco (original label: M-G-M)
Year: 1965
The Animals had a string of solid hits throughout the mid-60s, many of which were written by professional songwriters working out of Don Kirschner's Brill Building in New York. Although vocalist Eric Burdon expressed disdain for most of these songs at the time (preferring to perform the blues/R&B covers that the group had built up its following with), he now sings every one of them, including It's My Life, on the oldies circuit.
Artist: Animals
Title: She'll Return It
Source: Simulated stereo LP: Animalization
Writer(s): Rowberry/Burdon
Label: M-G-M
Year: 1966
As a general rule the Animals, in their original incarnation, recorded two kinds of songs: hit singles from professional songwriters such as Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and covers of blues and R&B tunes, the more obscure the better. What they did not record a lot of was original tunes from the band members themselves. This started to change in 1966 when the band began to experience a series of personnel changes that would ultimately lead to what amounted to an entirely new group, Eric Burdon And The Animals, in 1967. One of the earliest songs to be credited to band members was She'll Return It, released as the B side of See See Rider in August of 1966 and included on the Animalization album. Mistakenly credited to the entire band, the song was actually written by vocalist Eric Burdon and keyboardist Dave Rowberry.
Artist: Animals
Title: I'm Crying
Source: Mono LP: The Best Of The Animals (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Price/Burdon
Label: M-G-M
Year: 1964
Like most groups in the early 1960s, the Animals started their studio career by recording a mixture of songs provided to their producer by professional songwriters and covers of tunes previously recorded by other artists. Their first self-penned single was I'm Crying, a tune by vocalist Eric Burdon and organist Alan Price that was released in September of 1964. The song made the top 10 in Canada and the UK, but stalled out in the lower reaches of the top 40 in the US, falling far short of their previous international hit, House Of The Rising Sun. Producer Mickie Most decided from then on that songs written by the band itself would only be released as album tracks and B sides, a policy that stayed in effect until the Animals changed producers in 1966.
Artist: Cream
Title: Tales Of Brave Ulysses
Source: LP: Disraeli Gears
Writer(s): Clapton/Sharp
Label: RSO (original label: Atco)
Year: 1967
Cream was one of the first bands to break British tradition and release singles that were also available as album cuts. This tradition likely came about because 45 RPM records (both singles and extended play 45s) tended to stay in print indefinitely in the UK, unlike in the US, where a hit single usually had a shelf life of around 4-6 months then disappeared forever. When the Disraeli Gears album was released, however, the song Strange Brew, which leads off the LP, was released in Europe as a single. The B side of that single was Tales Of Brave Ulysses, which opens side two of the album. The track is notable for being the first song on which Eric Clapton uses a wah-wah pedal.
Artist: Jelly Bean Bandits
Title: Neon River
Source: British import CD: All Kinds Of Highs (originally released on LP: Jelly Bean Bandits)
Writer(s): Buck/Donald/Dougherty/Raab/Scalfari
Label: Big Beat (original label: Mainstream)
Year: 1968
Some bands focus on their live performances, while others tend to put more energy into their studio work. The Jelly Bean Bandits, from Newburgh, NY, were definitely in the second category. According to organist Mike Rabb, the band did most of its gigging at two clubs, one in Newburgh and one in nearby Poughkeepsie, with regular bookings in Vermont and a couple of gigs in New Jersey. They were able to put together a fairly decent demo tape, which they presented to Bob Shad, president of Mainstream Records. Shad immediately signed up the Bandits for three albums, although only one actually got released. The band itself, however, had a clear vision of what they wanted to record, as can be heard on Neon River.
Artist: Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title: You Got Me Floatin'
Source: CD: Axis: Bold As Love
Writer(s): Jimi Hendrix
Label: MCA (original label: Reprise)
Year: 1967
The Jimi Hendrix Experience took four-track recording technology to new levels with their second LP, Axis: Bold As Love on songs like You Got Me Floatin'. The track opens with backwards guitar followed by a memorable riff that continues throughout the song. The entire instrumental break also uses backward-masked guitar, making a somewhat simplistic song into a track that bears further listens.
Artist: Deep Purple
Title: Hey Joe
Source: LP: Purple Passages (originally released on LP: Shades Of Deep Purple)
Writer(s): Billy Roberts
Label: Tetragrammaton
Year: 1968
My first impression of Deep Purple was that they were Britain's answer to the Vanilla Fudge. After all, both bands had a big hit in 1968 with a rearranged version of someone else's song from 1967 (Vanilla Fudge with the Supremes' You Keep Me Hangin' On and Deep Purple with Billy Joe Royal's Hush). Additionally, both groups included a Beatles cover on their debut LP (Fudge: Ticket To Ride, Purple: Help). Finally, both albums included a depressing Cher cover song. In the Vanilla Fudge case it was one of her biggest hits, Bang Bang. Deep Purple, on the other hand, went with a song that was actually more closely associated with the Jimi Hendrix Experience (although Cher did record it as well): Hey Joe. The Deep Purple version of the Billy Roberts classic (originally credited on the label to the band itself), is probably the most elaborate of the dozens of recorded versions of the song (which is up there with Louie Louie in terms of quantity), incorporating sections of the Miller's Dance (by Italian classical composer Manuel de Falla), as well as an extended instrumental section, making the finished track over seven and a half minutes long.
Artist: Family
Title: Hey Mr. Policeman/See Through Windows/Variations On A Theme Of Me My Friend
Source: British import CD: Music In A Doll's House
Writer(s): Whitney/Grech/Chapman
Label: See For Miles (original label: Reprise)
Year: 1968
The second single released by Family was a tune called See My Friends. The B side was a song called Hey Mr. Policeman. Both songs were taken from the group's debut LP, Music In A Doll's House, which was released two weeks after the single. The versions of both songs are slightly different from the single in that each one leads into another track that is actually a variation on a theme from the other side of the single. In the case of Hey Mr. Policeman there is actually a third unrelated song that separates the two, a softer tune called See Through Windows. The band followed up Music In A Doll's House with a second LP, Family Entertainment, before losing one of its key members, bassist/violinist Rich Grech, who left to join Blind Faith in 1969.
Artist: Donovan
Title: Get Thy Bearings
Source: British import CD: The Hurdy Gurdy Man
Writer(s): Donovan Leitch
Label: EMI (original US label: Epic)
Year: 1968
Donovan's 1968 album, The Hurdy Gurdy Man, saw the Scottish singer/songwriter stretching further from his folk roots with tracks like Get Thy Bearings, which uses 50s style jazz instrumentation to create a Beatnik atmosphere.
Artist: Beatles
Title: Why Don't We Do It In The Road?
Source: CD: The Beatles
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Parlophone (original label: Apple)
Year: 1968
Paul McCartney wrote Why Don't We Do It In The Road while the band was in India meditating. Just in case you're one of those people who ask authors and composers "where do you get your ideas?", McCartney later said he was inspired to write the song after seeing a pair of monkeys doing it in the road.
Artist: Premiers
Title: Duffy's Blues
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Joe Witeman, Jr.
Label: Warner Brothers (original label: Faro)
Year: 1964
Borrowing from a tradition established by such luminaries as Chuck Berry, the Premiers, after completing what would be their biggest hit, Farmer John, quickly dashed off a blues jam for the B side. Duffy's Blues ain't half bad, either.
Artist: Seeds
Title: Pushin' Too Hard
Source: CD: Nuggets-Classics From The Psychedelic 60s (originally released as 45 RPM single and included on LP: The Seeds)
Writer(s): Sky Saxon
Label: Rhino (original label: GNP Crescendo)
Year: 1965
Pushin' Too Hard is generally included on every collection of psychedelic hits ever compiled. And for good reason. The song is an undisputed classic, although it took the better part of two years to catch on. Originally released in 1965 as Your Pushin' Too Hard, the song was virtually ignored by local Los Angeles radio stations until a second single, Can't Seem To Make You Mine, started getting some attention. After being included on the Seeds' debut LP in 1966, Pushin' Too Hard was rereleased and soon was being heard all over the L.A. airwaves. By the end of the year stations in other markets were starting to spin the record, and the song hit its peak of popularity in early 1967.
Artist: Syndicate Of Sound
Title: Rumors
Source: Mono CD: Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-70 (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): John Sharkey
Label: Rhino (original label: Bell)
Year: 1966
The Syndicate Of Sound for formed in San Jose, California in 1964, when two members of a group called Lenny Lee And The Nightmen joined up with another local group called the Pharaohs. Not long after the new band was formed, the Texas band Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs released the song Wooly Bully, prompting San Jose's Pharaohs to change their name to the Syndicate Of Sound. After winning a battle of the bands that featured over 100 groups in 1965 they were awarded a contract with Del-Fi Records (the label that Richie Valens had recorded for) to record a single called Prepare For Love. The single went nowhere, but the following year they came up with Little Girl, releasing it on the local Hush label. After getting extensive airplay on San Jose radio station KLIV, Little Girl was picked up for national release on the Bell label, making it to the #8 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in June of 1966. This led to an album released in July of 1966 that included the song Rumors, written by the band's keyboardist, John Sharkey. In August Rumors was released as a followup single to Little Girl, peaking at #55.
Artist: Small Faces
Title: Itchycoo Park
Source: LP: History Of British Rock (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Marriott/Lane
Label: Sire (original label: Immediate)
Year: 1967
Led by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, the Small Faces got their name from the fact that all the members of the band were somewhat vertically challenged. The group was quite popular with the London mod crowd, and was sometimes referred to as the East End's answer to the Who. Although quite successful in the UK, the group only managed to score one hit in the US, the iconic Itchycoo Park, which was released in late 1967. Following the departure of Marriott the group shortened their name to Faces, and recruited a new lead vocalist named Rod Stewart. Needless to say, the new version of the band did much better in the US than their previous incarnation. Marriott didn't do too badly, either, forming the band Humble Pie with Peter Frampton in 1969.
Artist: Steve Miller Band
Title: My Friend
Source: CD: Sailor
Writer(s): Davis/Scaggs
Label: Capitol
Year: 1968
Drummer Tim Davis takes center stage as lead vocalist on My Friend, from the second Steve Miller Band album, Sailor. The tune, co-written by fellow band member Boz Scaggs, was the first writing credit for Davis, who would remain with the band through their first five LPs before moving on to other things.
Artist: Lovin' Spoonful
Title: Do You Believe In Magic
Source: Mono LP: Nuggets Vol. 2 (originally released as 45 RPM single.
Writer: John Sebastian
Label: Elektra (original label: Kama Sutra)
Year: 1965
Do You Believe In Magic, the debut single by the Lovin' Spoonful, was instrumental in establishing not only the band itself, but the Kama Sutra label as well. Within the next five years, the Spoonful (and later John Sebastian as a solo artist) would crank out a string of hits. Not to be outdone, Kama Sutra would itself morph into a company called Buddah Records and come to dominate the "bubble gum" genre of top 40 music throughout 1968 and well into 1969.
No comments:
Post a Comment