https://exchange.prx.org/p/592606
This time around we have no less than three artists' sets highligting the usual balance between singles, B sides and album tracks from the late 1960s.
Artist: Bob Dylan
Title: Subterranean Homesick Blues
Source: Mono CD: The Best Of The Original Mono Recordings (originally released on LP: Bringing It All Back Home and as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Bob Dylan
Label: Columbia/Legacy
Year: 1965
1965 was the year Bob Dylan went electric, and got his first top 40 hit, Subterranean Homesick Blues, in the process. Although the song, which also led off his Bringing It All Back Home album, stalled out in the lower 30s, it did pave the way for electrified cover versions of Dylan songs by the Byrds and Turtles and Dylan's own Like A Rolling Stone, which would revolutionize top 40 radio itself. A line from the song itself, "you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows", became the inspiration for a radical offshoot of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) that called itself the Weathermen (later the Weather Underground).
Artist: Simon and Garfunkel
Title: A Hazy Shade Of Winter
Source: LP: Bookends
Writer: Paul Simon
Label: Sundazed/Columbia
Year: 1966
Originally released as a single in 1966, A Hazy Shade Of Winter was one of several songs intended for the film The Graduate. The only one of these actually used in the film was Mrs. Robinson. The remaining songs eventually made up side two of the 1968 album Bookends, although several of them were also released as singles throughout 1967. A Hazy Shade Of Winter, being the first of these singles (and the only one released in 1966), was also the highest charting, peaking at # 13 just as the weather was turning cold.
Artist: Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title: Remember
Source: Dutch import LP: The Singles (originally released in the UK and Europe on LP: Are You Experienced)
Writer(s): Jimi Hendrix
Label: Polydor (original UK label: Track)
Year: 1967
It was common in the 1960s for artists to include "filler" material on their albums, with their best stuff being saved for single releases. Although the Jimi Hendrix Experience made making the best albums a priority, there was still material on their first LP that Hendrix himself considered filler. One of these was Remember, which was also one of three tracks deleted from the US version of the LP to make room for three UK singles that were not on the UK version of Are You Experienced. Still, filler for Jimi Hendrix is as good as or better than 99% of many other artists' best material at the time, as can be heard here.
Artist: Steppenwolf
Title: Born To Be Wild
Source: CD: Steppenwolf
Writer(s): Mars Bonfire
Label: MCA (original label: Dunhill)
Year: 1968
Born To Be Wild's status as a counter-cultural anthem was cemented when it was chosen for the soundtrack of the movie Easy Rider. The popularity of both the song and the movie resulted in Steppenwolf becoming the all-time favorite band of bikers all over the world.
Artist: Family
Title: Second Generation Woman
Source: LP: The 1969 Warner/Reprise Songbook (originally released on LP: Family Entertainment)
Writer(s): Rick Grech
Label: Warner Brothers (original label: Reprise)
Year: 1968
Family's original lineup of Roger Chapman, Rick Grech, Jim King, Rob Townsend and John Whitney was still intact for the recording of the band's second LP, Family Entertainment, although Grech soon left to join Blind Faith. Their debut LP had been well-received, but they had already dropped much of their early material from their live sets in favor of newer composition even before Family Entertainment was released. As a result, many of the songs on the new album, including Grech's Second Generation Woman, were already familiar to the band's fans by the time the LP was made available to the public. Grech's departure, though, was only the first in a series of personnel changes throughout Family's existence, and by 1973, when the group officially disbanded, only Chapman, Townsend and Whitney remained from the lineup that had recorded the first two LPs.
Artist: David Bowie (recording as Davy Jones)
Title: You've Got A Habit Of Leaving
Source: Mono CD: Nuggets II-Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969 (originally released in UK as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): David Bowie
Label: Rhino (original label: Parlophone)
Year: 1965
David Bowie scored his first major success at the age of 22 with the release of Space Oddity, a song that went all the way into the top 5 on the British charts in 1969 (it would not be a US hit until nearly five years later). Bowie was already a seasoned veteran in the recording studio by the time Space Oddity hit the charts, however. His first single, Liza Jane, had come out in 1964, credited to Davie Jones with The King Bees. After leaving the King Bees he hooked up with the more versatile Manish Boys for another cover tune, I Pity The Fool, released in 1965. His next single, You've Got A Habit Of Leaving, was credited to Davy Jones as both writer and artist, and used the Who-influenced Lower Third as a backup band. This would be the last time Bowie used his birth name, however, as another Davy Jones was already achieving fame playing the Artful Dodger in the stage production of Oliver, and would go on to even greater fame as a member of the Monkees.
Artist: Shadows Of Knight
Title: Bad Little Woman
Source: LP: Back Door Men
Writer(s): Tinsley/Catling/Demick/Armstrong/Rosbotham
Label: Sundazed (original label: Dunwich)
Year: 1966
For the opening track of the second LP, Back Door Men, Chicago's Shadows Of Knight cranked up the volume on a cover of a little-known tune called Bad Little Woman that had originally been recorded by a Northern Irish band called the Wheels. And when I say cranked up the volume I mean that literally, as the overall level of the recording jumps several decibels following the first verse. As the mono single version of the song does the exact same thing I'm going to assume it was done during the recording process itself.
Artist: Them
Title: Square Room (single version)
Source: Mono British import CD: Time Out! Time In! For Them (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Armstrong/Harley/Henderson/McDowell
Label: Rev-Ola (original label: Sully)
Year: 1967
After Van Morrison left Them to try his luck as a solo artist, the rest of the band returned to their native Ireland to recruit a new vocalist, Kenny McDowell, before relocating to California. Their first record with the new lineup was a single on the Sully label of a song called Dirty Old Man (At The Age Of 16). The B side of the single was a piece called Square Room, that would end up being re-recorded in a much longer arrangement for their LP debut on Tower Records the following year.
Artist: Donovan
Title: Peregrine
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 experimenting with drones (the musical ones...the flying things hadn't been invented yet). This use of a single-note playing constantly through a piece is most noticable on the album's second track, Peregrine, which uses a harmonium and a double bass played with a bow, givng the piece a decidedly hypnotic quality.
Artist: Beach Boys
Title: God Only Knows
Source: CD: Pet Sounds
Writer(s): Wilson/Asher
Label: Capitol/UMe
Year: 1966
Possibly the first time a deity appeared in the title of a pop song was the Beach Boys song God Only Knows on the Pet Sounds album. Both Brian and Carl Wilson were going through a spiritual phase and were in the habit of praying for guidance throughout the making of Pet Sounds. The song was released, along with Wouldn't It Be Nice, as a double A sided single a few weeks after the album came out, and both songs made the top 40, although Wouldn't It Be Nice was the bigger hit in the US. In the UK, where Beatle Paul McCartney was enthusiastic in his support of the tune, God Only Knows went all the way to the # 5 slot, considerably higher than in the US.
Artist: Beach Boys
Title: I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
Source: Mono LP: Pet Sounds
Writer(s): Wilson/Asher
Label: Capitol/EMI
Year: 1966
Early on Brian Wilson recognized that his greatest strength was in writing music, as opposed to performing or even writing lyrics. Being the leader and producer of the most successful recording artists in southern California, Wilson was able to take his pick of the best lyricists available, including Mike Love, Van Dyke Parks, and, on the Pet Sounds album, Tony Asher, whose introspective lyrics complemented Wilson's maturing musical themes perfectly. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times is an excellent example of how well the two worked together to capture a specific mood and theme.
Artist: Beach Boys
Title: Here Today
Source: CD: Pet Sounds: Pet Sounds
Writer(s): Wilson/Asher
Label: Capitol/UMe
Year: 1966
Apparently there is a conversation about cameras going on in the background of the instrumental break of Here Today on the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album. I never noticed it. I guess I'll have to listen more closely next time.
Artist: Electric Prunes
Title: Antique Doll
Source: Mono British import CD: My Mind Goes High (originally released on LP: Underground)
Writer(s): Tucker/Mantz
Label: Warner Strategic Marketing (original label: Reprise)
Year: 1967
Sometimes there is no comprehending what goes on in the mind of record company people. Take the Electric Prunes, for example. Their second single, I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night), put them right at the front of the pack of the psychedelic rock movement in early 1967. Their follow up single, Get Me To The World On Time, was a solid hit as well, which should have guaranteed them a good run. But even with that second single, problems with management's decision making were becoming apparent. For one thing, the song chosen as the second single's B side, Are You Lovin' Me More (But Enjoying It Less), had the potential to be a hit in its own right, but being put on a B side killed that idea entirely. It only got worse from there. The next single chosen was a novelty number from the band's second LP, Underground, called Dr. Do-Good. The tune was written by the same team of Annette Tucker and Nanci Mantz that had come up with both Dream and Lovin' Me More, but was played for laughs by the band. The choice of such a weird track is a complete puzzle, as there were several more commercial tunes on the LP, including one written by Tucker and Mantz themselves called Antique Doll. Unfortunately, the song was not even picked to be a B side, and has remained virtually unknown ever since. Rather than own up to their own mistakes, however, the band's management blamed the musicians themselves for their lack of commercial success, and eventually replaced the entire lineup of the original group (who had signed away the rights to the name Electric Prunes early on). Of course, the new lineups were even less successful than the original crew, but really, what else would you expect?
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: Byrds
Title: Lady Friend (live)
Source: LP: Live At The Monterey International Pop Festival Saturday, June 17, 1967
Writer(s): David Crosby
Label: Monterey International Pop Festival Foundation
Year: Recorded 1967, released 2024
One of the more memorable moments in D.A. Pennebaker's documentary film about the Monterey International Pop Festival is when David Crosby, during a Byrds sound check before the beginning of the festival itself, is heard to say "Finally! A decent sound system." Unfortunately, in the case of the Byrds, a decent sound system didn't translate into a decent performance, as can be heard on this live version of Lady Friend, a song that would be released less than a month later as the only Byrds A side written solely by Crosby. It was also the band's lowest charting single (with the exception of Please Let Me Love You, a 1964 tune credited to the Beefeaters) up to that point in their career and in all liklihood one of the many factors that led to Crosby's dismissal from the group in late 1967. Then again, Crosby expressing his opinion onstage that the US Government was lying about the assassination of John F. Kennedy and then sitting in with Buffalo Springfield at the same festival the next day, as well as vehemently arguing against the release of the band's next single, Goin' Back (which incidentally ended up charting even lower than Lady Friend) may have been contributing factors as well. And then there was the whole flap surrounding the song Triad, which you can read more about by checking the blog entry for show # 2541.
Artist: Kinks
Title: Dandy
Source: Mono British import CD: Face To Face
Writer(s): Ray Davies
Label: Sanctuary (original label: Pye; original US label: Reprise)
Year: 1966
Ray Davies was well into his satirical phase when he wrote and recorded Dandy for the Kinks' 1966 album Face To Face. The song was a top 10 single in the UK, but was only available as an album track in the US. Later that year the song was covered by Herman's Hermits, becoming a hit on the US top 40 charts (but not in England).
Artist: Kinks
Title: I Gotta Move
Source: LP: Kinks-Size (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Ray Davies
Label: Reprise
Year: 1964
Nowhere was the difference between US and UK record company practices more evident than on records by the Kinks in 1965. Pye Records, the band's UK label, released singles, LPs and 45 RPM Extended Play records, all of which contained songs unavailable on either of the other two formats. In the US, however, LPs had a shorter running time, and commonly included songs that were also released as singles. Additionally, Extended Play 45 RPM records were virtually extinct in the US by 1965, leaving the Kinks' US label, Reprise, with a considerable backlog of songs. Because of this, Reprise was able to issue four Kinks albums in 1965, compared with Pye's two for the same year. One of these US-only LPs was Kinks-Size, which included tracks like I Gotta Move, which was originally released in 1964 as the B side of All Day And All Of The Night. Ironically, Kinks-Size was the band's most successful LP of the decade in the US, going to the #13 spot on the Billboard album charts.
Artist: Kinks
Title: I'll Remember
Source: Mono British import CD: Face To Face
Writer(s): Ray Davies
Label: Reprise
Year: 1966
The last track on the Kinks' 1966 LP Face To Face was actually the first to be recorded. I'll Remember was committed to tape during sessions for the group's previous album, the Kinks Kontroversy, in October of 1965, but held back until the release of Face To Face a year later. The album itself was the first to be made up entirely of songs written by Ray Davies, and is considered by some critics to be rock music's first concept album.
Artist: Otis Redding
Title: Sweet Lorene
Source: 45 RPM single B side (originally released on LP: Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul)
Writer(s): Redding/Hayes/Isbell
Label: Volt
Year: 1966
When Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash on December 10, 1967, it had been over a year since his last solo studio album had been released, and he had just finished recording several new tunes that were not ready to be issued without post-production work. So when Stax Records decided to issue (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay as a single in early 1968, they turned to his 1966 LP Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul, for the B side, an original composition called Sweet Lorene that was co-written by Isaac Hayes and Stax co-owner Alvertis Isbell.
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: Complicated
Source: CD: Between The Buttons
Writer(s): Jagger/Richards
Label: Abkco (original label: London)
Year: 1967
The Rolling Stones' 1967 album Between The Buttons was made amidst growing problems for the band, both with their manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, and guitarist Brian Jones, whose heavy drug use was beginning to take its toll. Exascerbating the problem was the band's increasing frustration with the limitations of four-track technology, which often necessitated bouncing tracks from one machine to another to make room for overdubs, resulting in a loss of overall quality. In fact, Mick Jagger has called the entire album "garbage" (with the exception of one song that was only included on the British version of the LP), due to the poor audio quality of the finished product. Still, some of the songs, like Complicated, are good representations of where the band was musically at the time the album was recorded.
Artist: Beatles
Title: Norwegian Wood
Source: CD: Rubber Soul
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Capitol/EMI
Year: 1965
The first Beatles song to feature a sitar, Norwegian Wood, perhaps more than any other song, has come to typify the new direction songwriters John Lennon and Paul McCartney began to take with the release of the Rubber Soul album in December of 1965. Whereas their earlier material was written to be performed as well as recorded, songs like Norwegian Wood were first and foremost studio creations. The song itself was reportedly based on a true story and was no doubt a contributing factor to the disintegration of Lennon's first marraige.
Artist: Beatles
Title: Come Together
Source: CD: Abbey Road
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Apple/Parlophone
Year: 1969
After the Beatles released their 1968 double LP (the so-called White Album), they went to work on their final film project, a documentary about the band making an album. Unfortunately, what the cameras captured was a group on the verge of disintegration, and both the album and the film itself were shelved indefinitely. Instead, the band went to work recording an entirely new group of compositions. Somehow, despite the internal difficulties the band was going through, they managed to turn out a masterpiece: Abbey Road. Before the album itself came out, a single was released. The official A side (green Apple label) was George Harrison's Something, the first Harrison song ever to be released as a Beatle A side. The other A side (Apple core label) was the song that opened the album itself, John Lennon's Come Together. In later years Come Together came to be Lennon's signature song and was a staple of his live performances.
Artist: Beatles
Title: The Word
Source: Mono CD: Rubber Soul
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Capitol/EMI
Year: 1965
The original concept for the album Rubber Soul was to show the group stretching out into R&B territory. The US version of the album, however, deleted several of the more soulful numbers in favor of folk-rock oriented songs. This was done by Capitol records mainly to cash in on the sudden popularity of the genre in 1965. Not all of the more R&B flavored songs were replaced, however. John Lennon's The Word appeared on both US and UK versions of Rubber Soul.
Artist: Yardbirds
Title: Heart Full Of Soul
Source: British import simulated stereo LP: Remember... (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Graham Gouldman
Label: Starline (original US label: Epic)
Year: 1965
The Yardbirds' follow-up single to For Your Love, Heart Full Of Soul, was a huge hit, making the top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic in 1965. The song, the first to feature guitarist Jeff Beck prominently, was written by Graham Gouldman, who also wrote For Your Love. For some odd reason Gouldman's own band, the Mockingbirds, was strangely unable to buy a hit on the charts, despite Gouldman's obvious talents as a songwriter. Gouldman would eventually go on to be a founding member of 10cc, who were quite successful in the 1970s.
Artist: Magic Mushrooms
Title: It's-A-Happening
Source: Mono CD: Nuggets-Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Casella/Rice
Label: Rhino (original label: A&M)
Year: 1966
It's not known whether or not the Magic Mushrooms heard any of the tracks from the Mothers Of Invention album Freak Out when they recorded It's-A-Happening. Still, it's hard to imagine this bit of inspired weirdness being created in a vacuum. Besides this one single, nobody seems to have any knowledge whatsoever of the group known as the Magic Mushrooms, other than the fact that they hailed from Philadelphia, Pa., and, along with Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band, may well have been the reason that A&M Records shied away from signing any more psychedelic rock bands for the next few years. (Well, there were Procol Harum and Joe Cocker, but their stuff was recorded for British labels and reissued in the US by A&M, so I'm not counting them).
Artist: Small Faces
Title: I'm Only Dreaming
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Marriott/Lane
Label: Immediate
Year: 1967
As was the usual custom in the UK, the single Itchycoo Park was not included on any Small Faces albums. In the US, however, both the hit single and its B side, I'm Only Dreaming were included on the LP There Are But Four Small Faces, along with about half the songs from the UK LP Small Faces. As stereo LPs were being phased out in the US by the time the album was released, the mono single version has always been a bit of a rarity, even after being re-released in limited quantity (2500 copies) in 2012 by Charly records.
Artist: Turtles
Title: To See The Sun
Source: Mono CD: The Turtles Present The Battle Of The Bands (bonus track originally released on 12" 45 RPM extended play picture disc: The Turtles-1968)
Writer: The Turtles
Label: Rhino
Year: Recorded 1968, released 1978
In 1968 the Turtles, feeling restricted by the dictates of producers and record company people, decided to rent studio time to produce some tracks of their own. The result was four songs, three of which were rejected outright by their label, White Whale. (The fourth track, Surfer Joe, was included on their Battle of the Bands album). Several years later a new local L.A. record label, Rhino Records, was looking to move beyond the niche it had carved out for itself as a novelty label. The chance to make previously unreleased material such as To See The Sun from a band as well-known as the Turtles was just what the label was looking for, and, along with re-releasing long out-of-print Turtles albums, got the label moving in a whole new direction that they continue to excel at.
Artist: Taste
Title: Born On The Wrong Side Of Time
Source: British import CD: Spirit Of Joy (originally released in UK as 45 RPM single and in US on LP: Taste)
Writer(s): Rory Gallagher
Label: Polydor (original US label: Atco)
Year: 1969
Formed in Cork, Northern Ireland, in 1966, Taste, led by guitarist/vocalist Rory Gallagher, quickly established themselves as the area's premier power trio. By 1967 the group, which by then consisted of Gallagher, drummer John Wilson, and bassist Richard McCracken, was one of the hottest bands in the UK, opening for such bands as Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Cream (including Cream's farewell appearances at Royal Albert Hall in 1968). The group released their debut LP in 1969, supporting the album by opening for Blind Faith on their US tour. The band released one more LP before Gallagher decided to pursue a solo career in the 1970s.
Artist: Other Side
Title: Walking Down The Road
Source: CD: With Love-A Pot Of Flowers (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Al Shackman
Label: Big Beat (original labels: Mainstream/Brent)
Year: 1966
San Jose, California was at the center of the most vibrant and dynamic local music scenes in the country in the mid-1960s. By the end of 1966 both the Syndicate Of Sound and Count Five had cracked the national charts, while bands such as the Chocolate Watch Band were just beginning to make their mark. There was a lot of movement of musicians between bands as well, with groups like the Topsiders counting Sean Tolby (Watchband) and Skip Spence (Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape) among their early members. A move by the Topsiders to recruit Watchband guitarist/organist Ned Torney in 1966 resulted in an entirely new group, the Other Side, being formed. They soon had established enough of a reputation to get the attention of Golden State Recorders, who were auditioning acts for Mainstream Records owner Bob Shad. Shad signed the group immediately to his Brent label, releasing Walking Down The Road in early autumn. The stereo mix of Walking Down The Road was included on the compilation album With Love-A Pot Of Flowers on Shad's Mainstream label in late 1967, but by then the group had morphed into a band called Bogus Thunder, which would eventually become known as Gladstone, releasing a single on the A&M label in 1969.
Artist: Who
Title: Whiskey Man
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer: John Entwhistle
Label: Decca
Year: 1966
Although the Who had previously issued a pair of singles in the US, the first one to make any kind of waves was Happy Jack, released in late 1966 and hitting its peak the following year. The B side of that record was the song Whiskey Man. Like all the Who songs penned by bassist John Entwhistle, this one has an unusual subject: in this case, psychotic alcohol-induced hallucinations that are more enjoyable than reality.
Artist: Blues Project
Title: Caress Me Baby
Source: Mono CD: Projections
Writer: Jimmy Reed
Label: Sundazed (original label: Verve Folkways)
Year: 1966
After deliberately truncating their extended jams for their first LP, Live At The Cafe Au-Go-Go, the Blues Project recorded a second album that was a much more accurate representation of what the band was all about. Mixed in with the group's original material was this outstanding cover of Caress Me Baby, an old Jimmy Reed tune sung by lead guitarist and Blues Project founder Danny Kalb that runs over seven minutes in length. Andy Kuhlberg's memorable walking bass line would be lifted a few year later by Blood, Sweat and Tears bassist Jim Fielder for the track Blues, Part II.
Artist: Chambers Brothers
Title: Time Has Come Today (short single edit)
Source: 45 RPM single (originally released on LP: The Time Has Come)
Writer(s): Joe and Willie Chambers
Label: Columbia
Year: LP released 1967, single edit released 1968
Time Has Come Today has one of the most convoluted histories of any song of the psychedelic era. First recorded in 1966 and released as a two-and-a-half minute single the song flopped. The following year an entirely new eleven minute version of the song was recorded for the album The Time Has Come, featuring an extended pyschedelic section filled with various studio effects. In late 1967 an edited version of the song was released that faded out at the beginning of the psychedelic section of the recording. Soon after that, the single was pulled from the shelf and replaced by a longer edited version that included part of the psychedelic section and an edited version of the original cold ending, making the first edited version of the song pretty much obsolete. Until this week's show, that is.
Artist: Circus Maximus
Title: Short-Haired Fathers
Source: CD: Circus Maximus
Writer(s): Bob Bruno
Label: Vanguard
Year: 1967
Circus Maximus was formed in Greenwich Village by guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Bob Bruno and guitarist Jerry Jeff Walker in 1967. The group originally wanted to call itself the Lost Sea Dreamers, but changed it after the Vanguard Records expressed reservations about signing a group with the initials LSD. Of the eleven tracks on the band's debut LP, only four were written by Walker, and those were in more of a folk-rock vein. Bruno's seven tracks, on the other hand, are true gems of psychedelia, ranging from the jazz-influenced Wind to the proto-punk rocker Short-Haired Fathers. The group fell apart after only two albums, mostly due to the growing musical differences between Walker and Bruno. Walker, of course, went on to become one of the most successful songwriters of the country-rock genre. As for Bruno, he's still in New York City, concentrating more on the visual arts in recent years.
Artist: Left Banke
Title: Barterers And Their Wives
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Brown/Feher
Label: Smash
Year: 1967
The Left Banke made a huge impact with their debut single, Walk Away Renee, in late 1966. All of a sudden the rock press (such as it was in 1966) was all abuzz with talk of "baroque rock" and how it was the latest, greatest thing. The band soon released a follow-up single, Pretty Ballerina, which made the top 10 as well, which led to an album entitled (naturally enough) Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina, which featured several more songs in the same vein, such as Barterers And Their Wives, which was also released as a B side later that year. An unfortunate career misstep by keyboardist Michael Brown, however, led to the Left Banke's early demise, and baroque rock soon went the way of other sixties fads.
Artist: Sagittarius
Title: My World Fell Down
Source: Mono CD: Nuggets-Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Carter/Stephens
Label: Rhino (original label: Columbia)
Year: 1967
The Beach Boys' 1966 masterpiece Good Vibrations sent shock waves reverberating throughout the L.A. studio scene. Among those inspired by Brian Wilson's achievement were Wilson's former collaborator Gary Usher, who formed the studio band Sagittarius to record My World Fell Down in 1967. Among those participating in the project were Glen Campbell, who was the first person to take Wilson's place onstage when Wilson retired from performing to concentrate on his songwriting and record producing; Bruce Johnston, who succeeded Campbell and remains the group's bassist to this day; and Terry Melcher, best known as the producer who helped make Paul Revere and the Raiders a household name in 1965 (he was sometimes referred to as the "fifth Raider"). The rhythm section consisted of two of the top studio musicians in pop music history: bassist Carol Kaye and drummer Hal Blaine. With Campbell on lead vocals, Sagittarius was a critical and commercial success that nonetheless did not last past their first LP (possibly due to the sheer amount of ego in the group).
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