https://exchange.prx.org/p/547062
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Sometimes things don't quite work out as planned, but somehow come out all right regardless. The plan this week was to include several obscure tracks that had never been played on Stuck in the Psychedelic Era in the first hour and then follow it up with a battle of the bands and maybe an artists set. Well, the second hour at least went as planned, but it turned out out that most of those "new" tracks in the first hour actually had been featured on the show several years ago. Our opening song, however, definitely has never been played on Stuck in the Psychedelic Era before.
Artist: Spiders
Title: Why Don't You Love Me
Source: Mono EP: The Spiders (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Dunaway/Furnier
Label: Sundazed (original label: Mascot)
Year: 1965
Most bands hated the idea of miming to a record for shows like American Bandstand or Ready Steady Go. One Phoenix band, however, actually got their start doing just that in a high school talent show. In 1964 16-year-old Vincent Furnier gathered four other members from his high school track team to "perform" songs in a talent show as the Earwigs, changing the words of popular songs as they saw fit, with only guitarists Glen Buxton and John Tatum actually playing their instruments. After winning the talent show they decided to form a real band using instruments bought at a local pawn shop, with Buxton teaching the others how to play. After a few months they tried out for a local club owner, who liked the band but hated the name Earwigs. Two weeks later the band tried out a second time, this time calling themselves the Spiders and performing with a huge black spider web as their backdrop. Within a year they were popular enough to cut their first record, a single called Why Don't You Love Me on the local Mascot label. By 1967 they had renamed themselves the Nazz, after the Yardbirds song and relocated to Los Angeles. They soon found out, however, that there was already a band on the East Coast called Nazz, and so decided to come up with the most wholesome sounding name they could think of to contrast with the band's somewhat ominous musical style and stage image. That new name was Alice Cooper.
Artist: Ken And The Fourth Dimension
Title: See If I Care
Source: Mono CD: Where The Action Is: L.A. Nuggets 1965-68 (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Ken Johnson
Label: Rhino (original label: Star-Burst)
Year: 1966
There was never a band called Ken And The Forth Dimension in Nashville West, aka Bakersfield, California, aka Buck Owens territory. What Bakersfield did have, however, was the Johnson brothers, whose father was involved with the record business in Los Angeles, about two hours south of Bakersfield. Don Johnson was the bass player for a popular Bakersfield band known as the Trippers. When brother Ken talked Dad into getting his friend Gary Paxton to produce a record for him, he used most of brother Don's band, re-naming them the Forth Dimension for just this one project. See If I Care was released in 1966 on the Star-Burst label, one of many small labels operating out of L.A. at the time.
Artist: Jefferson Airplane
Title: Come Back Baby
Source: CD: Surrealistic Pillow (bonus track)
Writer(s): Lightnin' Hopkins
Label: RCA/BMG Heritage
Year: 1967
Many artists end up recording more material than they can fit on an album and end up holding back songs for later release. Sometimes those songs end up on subsequent albums. Sometimes they stay on the shelf indefinitely. Such is the case with Come Back Baby, a rocked-out version of an old Lightnin' Hopkins tune arranged by lead guitarist Jorma Kaukonen that is now available as a bonus track on the CD version of Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow.
Artist: Monkees
Title: Ditty Diego/War Chant/Circle Sky
Source: LP: Head
Writer(s): Nicholson/Rafaelson/Michael Nesmith
Label: Colgems
Year: 1968
A total departure from anything the Monkees had done before, Head, the group's first and only movie, was a commercial flop. The soundtrack album was equally ignored, despite (or maybe because of) the fact that it featured some of the group's most innovative and experimental recordings, such as Michael Nesmith's Circle Sky, a song that defies easy categorization (psychedelic bluegrass???). Also included on the album were bits from the film itself, written by Jack Nicholson and producer Robert Rafaelson, such as Ditty Diego, in which the Monkees themselves skewer their own image.
Artist: Turtles
Title: Come Over
Source: Mono CD: All The Singles (originally released on LP: Turtle Soup and as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Kaylan/Volman/Nichol/Pons/Seiter
Label: Manifesto (original label: White Whale)
Year: 1969
By 1969 the relationship between the Turtles and their label, White Whale, was rapidly deteriorating. The group had attempted to produce their own music the previous year, only to have White Whale refuse to release the recordings (with the exception of a surf parody called Surfer Dan that appeared on the album The Turtles Present The Battle Of The Bands). The band responded by hiring Ray Davies, leader of the Kinks (who were at the time banned from playing in the US) to produce their next (and as it turns out, final) album, Turtle Soup. All the songs on the album, including Come Over, which opens side one of the LP, were written by the band itself, despite White Whale's insistence on the Turtles using outside songwriters. Although there were two singles released from the LP, neither was able to crack the top 40 charts. Things finally got so bad between the Turtles and White Whale that the group refused to complete their next LP and instead disbanded the following year.
Artist: 1910 Fruitgum Company
Title: The Story Of Flipper
Source: LP: Simon Says
Writer: Pat Karwan
Label: Buddah
Year: 1968
All the bubble gum hits to come out of the Kazenatz-Katz stable had catchy melodies, danceable beats, and deliberately juvenile lyrics, generally written by professional songwriters such as Joey Levine. The album tracks, however, were another story. Although the band members were obviously encouraged to be consistent in style with their hits, they were given the freedom to write some of the songs on their albums themselves. One example of this is The Story Of Flipper, written by lead guitarist Pat Karwan.
Artist: Blues Magoos
Title: Rush Hour
Source: CD: Kaleidoscopic Compendium (originally released on LP: Electric Comic Book)
Writer(s): Gilbert/Scala/Daking/Theilhelm/Esposito
Label: Mercury
Year: 1967
One of the best examples of music and subject matter supporting each other ever recorded is the Blues Magoos' Rush Hour from their Electric Comic Book album. From the overdriven opening chord through the crash and burn ending, the track maintains a frantic pace that resembles nothing more than a musical traffic jam. Rush Hour is also the only Blues Magoos track I know of to include writing credits for the entire band, including drummer Geoff Daking's only official songwriting credit.
Artist: Cream
Title: Sweet Wine
Source: LP: Fresh Cream
Writer(s): Godfrey/Baker
Label: Atco
Year: 1966
When Cream was formed, both bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker had new music for the band to record (guitarist Eric Clapton having chosen to shut up and play his guitar for the most part). Most of these new songs, however, did not yet have words to go with the music. To remedy the situation, both musicians brought in outside lyricists. Baker chose poet Pete Brown, while Bruce chose to bring in his wife, Janet Godfrey. After a short time it became apparent that Bruce and Brown had a natural affinity for each other's material, and formed a partnership that would last years. Baker, meanwhile, tried working with Godfrey, but the two only came up with one song together, Sweet Wine, which was included on the band's debut LP, Fresh Cream.
Artist: Pretty Things
Title: Midnight To Six Man
Source: Mono CD: Nuggets II-Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969 (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Taylor/May
Label: Rhino (original label: Fontana)
Year: 1965
Once upon a time in London there was a band called Little Boy Blue And The Blue Boys. Well, it wasn't really so much a band as a bunch of schoolkids jamming in guitarist Dick Taylor's parents' garage on a semi-regular basis. In addition to Taylor, the group included classmate Mick Jagger and eventually another guitarist by the name of Keith Richards. When yet another guitarist, Brian Jones, entered the picture, the band, which was still an amateur outfit, began calling itself the Rollin' Stones. Taylor switched from guitar to bass to accomodate Jones, but when the Stones decided to add a "g" and go pro in late 1962, Taylor opted to stay in school. It wasn't long, however, before Taylor, now back on guitar, showed up on the scene with a new band called the Pretty Things. Fronted by vocalist Phil May, the Things were rock and roll bad boys like the Stones, except more so. Their fifth single, Midnight To Six Man, sums up the band's attitude and habits. Unfortunately, the song barely made the British top 50 and was totally ignored by US radio stations.
Artist: Bob Dylan
Title: Temporarily Like Achilles
Source: Mono LP: Blonde On Blonde
Writer(s): Bob Dylan
Label: Columbia
Year: 1966
"Honey, why are you so hard?" was a line Bob Dylan had been wanting to use in a song for quite some time. He finally got his wish when he recorded Temporarily Like Achilles in Nashville for his Blonde On Blonde album.
Artist: Kinks
Title: Lazy Old Sun (alternate mix)
Source: British import CD: Think I'm Going Weird
Writer: Ray Davies
Label: Grapefruit
Year: 1967
Although the Kinks had major hits on both sides of the ocean from 1964-66, by 1967 their success was limited to the UK, despite fine singles such as Dead End Street and Waterloo Sunset. Their 1967 LP, Something Else By The Kinks, continued the band's expansion into slightly satirical explorations of sociopolitical issues. At the same time, the album also shows a more experimental side musically, as Lazy Old Sun, with its staggered tempo and unusual chord progression, demonstrates. The song also shows a willingness to experiment with studio effects, as Something Else was the first Kinks album to be mixed in stereo.
Artist: Jethro Tull
Title: Sunshine Day
Source: Mono British import CD: Spirit Of Joy
Writer(s): Mick Abrahams
Label: Polydor (original label: MGM)
Year: 1968
Jethro Tull was formed when half the membership of a band called the John Evan Smash decided to call it quits, leaving vocalist Ian Anderson and bassist Glen Cornick looking for two new members. Since one of the departing members was John Evan himself, a new name was also called for. After recruiting guitarist Mick Abrahams and drummer Clive Bunker, the group played a series of gigs under the name Bag Of Blues. Somewhere along the way the band changed its name to Jethro Tull, releasing their first single on the British version of MGM records in early 1968. In addition to the fact that it was the only Tull record ever released on MGM, there are two other oddities about Sunshine Day. The first is that, unlike all future singles and nearly every album track ever recorded by the band, the song was not written by Ian Anderson; Abrahams was the songwriter of record for that first single. The second, and even odder oddity about that record is that the band name on the label was Jethro Toe. No wonder they changed labels.
Artist: Paul Revere And The Raiders
Title: (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone
Source: Mono LP: Midnight Ride
Writer(s): Boyce/Hart
Label: Columbia
Year: 1966
Before the Monkees, there was Paul Revere And The Raiders. Like the latter group, the Raiders found success on TV as well as vinyl, and scored several top 10 hits. Unlike the Monkees, however, Paul Revere And The Raiders had a long history as a performing group that predated their commercial success by several years. One more thing the two groups had in common, however, was a song by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart called (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone. The Raiders recorded the song first (without the parenthesis), including it on their album Midnight Ride, released in May of 1966, and as the B side of their hit version of Kicks. The Monkees included the song on their debut LP later the same year, and released it as the B side of I'm A Believer as well. Although the original Raiders version was not originally included on the band's greatest hits album, it has been added to the CD reissue of Paul Revere And The Raiders' Greatest Hits as a bonus track.
Artist: Walflower Complextion
Title: All It Is
Source: German import CD: The Walflower Complextion (originally released in Colombia)
Writer(s): Fred & Richard Sampson
Label: Shadoks Music/Daro Internacional)
Year: 1967
It should not come as a surprise that there are US Government employees all over the globe, and have been since at least the end of World War II. Some of the government employees, in fact, have families, with children often attending local schools. In 1967 there were enough of these American kids in high school in Bogota, Colombia to form their own rock band, albeit a rather primitive sounding one. That band was the Walflower Complextion, and they even managed to record two albums for the Daro Internacional label. Most of the tracks on these albums were cover songs, although the opening track on the first album, All It Is, was written by band members Fred and Richard Sampson.
Artist: Mad River
Title: Amphetamine Gazelle
Source: CD: Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-70 (originally released as 45 RPM single and on LP: Mad River)
Writer: Lawrence Hammond
Label: Rhino (original label: Capitol)
Year: 1968
By 1968 acid was no longer the drug of choice on the streets of San Francisco. In its place, crystal meth was beginning to dominate the scene, with a corresponding increase in ripoffs and burns. The local musicians often reflected this change, with some, such as Canned Heat, declaring that Speed Kills and moving south to Laurel Canyon. Others, such as Mad River (originally from Yellow Springs, Ohio, but Bay Area residents since early 1967), attempted to use ridicule to combat the problem, but with no appreciable success, speed freaks not being known for their sense of humor (or any other kind of sense for that matter).
Artist: Country Joe McDonald
Title: Donovan's Reef
Source: CD: Woodstock: 40 Years On-Back To Yasgur's Farm
Writer(s): Joe McDonald
Label: Rhino
Year: Recorded 1969, released 2009
A few more people showed up for the Woodstock Music And Arts Fair in 1969 than originally anticipated. This caused a few problems, not the least of which was finding a way to get the members of the bands to the site itself. This led to an unexpected delay in getting the first band to the stage, which in turn led to a series of impromptu performances by various acoustic solo artists, some of whom would end up returning to the stage with their bands later. One of these was Country Joe McDonald, who played, among other things, a song called Donovan's Reef from the then-current Country Joe And The Fish album, Here We Are Again.
Artist: Yardbirds
Title: Evil Hearted You
Source: Simulated stereo British import EP: The Yardbirds (originally released in UK as 45 RPM single and in US on LP: Having A Rave UP)
Writer(s): Graham Gouldman
Label: Charly (original US label: Epic)
Year: 1965
Perhaps more than that of any other British invasion band, the Yardbirds' US and UK catalogs differ wildly. One of their biggest UK hits was Evil Hearted You, a Graham Gouldman song that made it all the way to the # 3 spot in their native land, but was not even released as a single in the US. Instead, the song appeared on the group's most popular US album, Having A Rave Up, which was not released in the UK at all. Confusing stuff, that.
Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Title: Run Through The Jungle
Source: LP: More Creedence Gold (originally released on LP: Cosmos Factory and as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): John Fogerty
Label: Fantasy
Year: 1970
One of the most popular songs on the 1970 Creedence Clearwater Revival album Cosmos Factory was a tune by John Fogerty called Run Through The Jungle. At the time of the album's release, many people assumed the song was about the Viet-Nam war. However, Fogerty, in a 1993 interview with the Los Angeles Times, said,“ I think a lot of people thought that because of the times, but I was talking about America and the proliferation of guns, registered and otherwise. I'm a hunter and I'm not antigun, but I just thought that people were so gun-happy -- and there were so many guns uncontrolled that it really was dangerous, and it's even worse now." As one half of a double-sided single (paired with Up Around The Bend), the song became the sixth single to break into the top 10, and has been covered by several artists over the years. In the late 1980s the song was at the center of a lawsuit brought by the owner of Fantasy Records, Saul Zaentz, claiming that a 1984 Fogerty song, The Old Man Down The Road, was actually Run Through The Jungle with different lyrics. Zaentz had basically screwed Fogerty out of publishing rights for all of CCR's material, resulting in Fogerty being unable to perform any of the band's tunes, and was now suing Fogerty for plagiarizing himself. In a rare victory for common sense Fogerty eventually won the lawsuit (although the judge did grant Zaentz some concessions), but Fogerty had to countersue Zaentz in order to recover the money he had spent on attorneys. Eventually Fogerty won that lawsuit as well, and is happily performing old Creedence songs as well as new material.
Artist: Seeds
Title: Pushin' Too Hard
Source: Simulated stereo CD: Best of 60s Psychedelic Rock (originally released on LP: The Seeds)
Writer: Sky Saxon
Label: Priority (original label: GNP Crescendo)
Year: 1965
Pushin' Too Hard was originally released to the L.A. market as a single in late 1965 and included on side one of the first Seeds album the following year. After being re-released as a single the song did well enough to go national in early 1967, peaking at #36 in February.
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: Jumpin' Jack Flash
Source: LP: Through The Past, Darkly (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Jagger/Richards
Label: London
Year: 1968
After the late 1967 LP Their Satanic Majesties Request was savaged by the critics, the Rolling Stones decided to make a big change, severing ties with their longtime producer Andrew Loog Oldham and replacing him with 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 produced the classic single Jumpin' Jack Flash. The song was actually the second Stones tune produced by MIller, although it was the first to be released. The song revitalized the band's commercial fortunes, and was soon followed by what is generally considered to be one of the Stones' greatest albums, the classic Beggar's Banquet (which included the first Miller-produced song, Street Fighting Man).
Artist: Seeds
Title: The Other Place
Source: Mono British import CD: Singles A's & B's (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Sky Saxon
Label: GNP Crescendo/Big Beat
Year: 1966
The Seeds had already released three singles by the time their debut LP came out in April of 1966. All three of the A sides, but none of the B sides of those singles were included on that album, making those three songs comparitively hard to find until the CD era. The third of those B sides was The Other Place, which was released in February of 1966 backing Try To Understand.
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: High And Dry
Source: CD: Aftermath
Writer(s): Jagger/Richards
Label: Abkco (original label: London)
Year: 1966
High And Dry, from the Rolling Stones' 1966 LP Aftermath, is an early attempt at the sort of twisted country that would reach its peak with the Let It Bleed album in the early 70s.
Artist: Seeds
Title: The Wind Blows Your Hair
Source: Mono British import CD: Singles As & Bs (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Saxon/Bigelow
Label: Big Beat (original label: GNP Crescendo)
Year: 1967
The Wind Blows Your Hair is actually one of the Seeds' better tracks. Unfortunately, by the time it was released as a single in October of 1967 the whole idea of Flower Power (which the Seeds were intimately tied to) had become yesterday's news (at least in ultra-hip L.A.) and the single went nowhere.
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: Lady Jane
Source: CD: Aftermath (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer: Jagger/Richards
Label: Abkco (original US label: London)
Year: 1966
One of the best early Rolling Stones albums is 1966's Aftermath, which included such classics as Under My Thumb, Stupid Girl and the eleven-minute Goin' Home. Both the US and UK versions of the LP included the song Lady Jane, which was also released as the B side to Mother's Little Helper (which had been left off the US version of Aftermath to make room for Paint It, Black). The policy at the time in the US was for B sides that got a significant amount of airplay to be rated separately from the A side of the single, and Lady Jane managed to climb to the # 24 spot on the Hot 100 (Mother's Little Helper peaked at # 8).
Title: Pictures Of Matchstick Men
Source: Mono CD: Psychedelic Pop (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Francis Rossi
Label: BMG/RCA/Buddah (original label: Cadet Concept)
Year: 1967
If you have ever seen the film This Is Spinal Tap, the story of Britain's Status Quo might seem a bit familiar. Signed to Pye Records in 1967 the group scored a huge international hit with their first single, Pictures Of Matchstick Men, but were unable to duplicate that success with subsequent releases. In the early 1970s the band totally reinvented itself as a boogie band and began a run in the UK that resulted in them scoring more charted singles than any other band in history, including the Beatles and Rolling Stones. For all that, however, they never again charted in the US, where they are generally remembered as one-hit wonders. In addition to their UK success, Status Quo remains immensely popular in the Scandanavian countries, where they continue to play to sellout crowds on a regular basis.
Artist: Hearts And Flowers
Title: Rock And Roll Gypsies
Source: LP: Nuggets, vol. 10-Folk Rock (originally released on LP: Of Houses, Kids And Forgotten Women)
Writer(s): Roger Tillison
Label: Rhino (original label: Capitol)
Year: 1968
Led by singer/songwriters Larry Murray and Dave Dawson, Hearts And Flowers is best known for launching the career of guitarist/vocalist Bernie Leadon, who joined the group for their second LP and would later go on to co-found the Eagles. That second album, Of Houses, Kids And Forgotten Women, is generally considered the most accessible of the group's three albums, and included the song Rock And Roll Gypsies.
Artist: Cat Stevens
Title: Matthew And Son
Source: CD: The Very Best Of Cat Stevens (originally released as 45 RPM single and on LP: Matthew And Son)
Writer: Cat Stevens
Label: A&M (original label: Deram)
Year: 1967
Although best known as one of the top singer-songwriters of the early to mid-1970s, Cat Stevens actually began recording in 1967, and charted several hits in the UK before achieving international fame. One of the earliest was the title track to his first LP, Matthew And Son. Although the song was released in the US on the Deram label, it failed to chart.
Artist: Simon and Garfunkel
Title: Scarborough Fair/Canticle
Source: Collected Works (originally released on LP: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme)
Writer(s): Paul Simon
Label: Columbia
Year: 1966
After the reunion of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel following the surprise success of an electrified remix of The Sound Of Silence, the two quickly recorded an album to support the hit single. Sounds Of Silence was, for the most part, a reworking of material that Simon had recorded for 1965 UK LP the Paul Simon Songbook. The pressure for a new album thus (temporarily) relieved, the duo got to work on their first album of all new material since their unsuccessful 1964 effort Wednesday Morning 3AM (which had in fact been re-released and was now doing well on the charts). In October the new album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, hit the stands. The title track was a new arrangement of an old English folk ballad, Scarborough Fair, combined with a reworking of a 1963 Simon tune (The Side Of A Hill,) with all-new lyrics and retitled Canticle. The two melodies and sets of lyrics are set in counterpoint to each other, creating one of the most sophisticated folk song arrangements ever recorded. After being featured in the film The Graduate, Scarborough Fair/Canticle was released as a single in early 1968, going on to become one of the duo's most celebrated songs.
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: Simon and Garfunkel
Title: The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine
Source: CD: Collected Works (originally released on LP: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme)
Writer(s): Paul Simon
Label: Columbia
Year: 1966
After the surprise success of the Sound Of Silence single, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel (who had disbanded their partnership after the seeming failure of their Wednesday Morning 3 AM album in 1964) hastily reunited to record a new LP, Sounds Of Silence. The album, released in early 1966, consisted mostly of electrified versions of songs previously written by Simon, many of which had appeared in the UK in acoustic form on his 1965 solo LP The Paul Simon Songbook. With their newfound success, the duo set about recording an album's worth of new material. This time around, however, Simon had the time (and knowledge of what was working for the duo) to compose songs that would play to both the strengths of himself and Garfunkel as vocalists, as well as take advantage of the additional instrumentation available to him. The result was Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme, featuring tracks such as The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine, an energetic piece satirizing rampant consumerism and the advertising industry in particular.
Artist: Cuby + Blizzards
Title: Your Body Not Your Soul
Source: Dutch import 45 RPM single B side (reissue)
Writer(s): Muskee/Gelling
Label: Universal/Music On Vinyl (original label: Philips)
Year: 1966
In the Netherlands it was a given that if you wanted to hear some live blues you needed to check out Cuby and the Blizzards. Led by vocalist Harry "Cuby" Muskee and lead guitarist Eelco Gelling, C+B, as they were known to their fans, had been in a couple of local bands as early as 1962, but had made a decision to abandon rock 'n' roll for a more blues/R&B approach in 1964. After cutting a single for the small CNR label in 1965, C+B signed a long-term contract with Philips the following year. Your Body Not Your Soul, the B side of their first single for the label, shows the influence of British blues/R&B bands such as the Pretty Things and the Animals. The group hit the Dutch top 40 nine times between 1967 and 1971, and released several well received albums as well.
Artist: Doors
Title: Break On Through (To The Other Side)
Source: CD: The Doors
Writer(s): The Doors
Label: Elektra
Year: 1967
The first Doors song to be released as a single was not, as usually assumed, Light My Fire. Rather, it was Break On Through (To The Other Side), the opening track from the band's debut LP, that was chosen to to introduce the band to top 40 radio. Although the single was not an immediate hit, it did eventually catch on with progressive FM radio listeners and still is heard on classic rock stations from time to time.
Artist: Electric Prunes
Title: You've Never Had It Better
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer: Snagster/Schwartz/Poncher (Lowe/Tulin)
Label: Reprise
Year: 1968
Following the lack of a hit single from their second album, Underground, the Electric Prunes took one last shot at top 40 airplay with a song called Everybody Knows Your Not In Love. The band might have had better luck if they had pushed the flip side of the record, You Never Had It Better, which is a much stronger song. As it is, the record stiffed, and producer David Hassinger reacted by stripping the band of any creative freedom they might have had and made an album called Mass in F Minor using mostly studio musicians. The band, having signed away the rights to the name Electric Prunes to their manager early on, could do nothing but watch helplessly as Hassinger created an album that had little in common with the original band other than their name. Because of this, the original members soon left, and Hassinger brought in a whole new group for two more albums (and several singles) before retiring the Prunes name for good. In recent years several members of the original band, including James Lowe and Mark Tulin, who wrote You've Never Had It Better, reformed the Electric Prunes. Whether they had to get permission to use the name is unknown.
Artist: Albert King
Title: Crosscut Saw
Source: LP: Born Under A Bad Sign
Writer(s): R.G. Ford
Label: Stax
Year: 1967
One of the "three Kings" of electric blues (the others being Freddy and B.B.), Albert King was already in his 40s when he recorded his first album for the Stax label (his second overall), Born Under A Bad Sign, in 1967. The album is considered the beginning of the modern age of blues, with such notables as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan citing King's work on the album as a major influence on their own guitar playing. One of the most notable tracks on the LP was an updated version of Crosscut Blues, a tune that was first recorded by Mississippi bluesman Tommy McClennan in 1941, but that probably dates much further back. King's version, however, has come to be considered the definitive rendition of the song.
Artist: The Mamas & The Papas
Title: Free Advice
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Phillips/Gilliam
Label: Dunhill
Year: 1967
Presented as a public service.
Artist: Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title: The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam's Dice
Source: German import 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Jimi Hendrix
Label: Polydor
Year: 1967
The fourth single released in Europe and the UK by the Jimi Hendrix Experience was 1967's Burning Of The Midnight Lamp, which appeared in stereo the following year on the album Electric Ladyland. The B side of that single was a strange bit of psychedelia called The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam's Dice, which is also known in some circles as STP With LSD. The piece features Hendrix on guitar and vocals, with background sounds provided by a cast of at least dozens. Hendrix's vocals are, throughout much of the track, spoken rather than sung, and resemble nothing more than a cosmic travelogue with Hendrix himself as the tour guide. The original mono mix of the track has never been released in the US, which is a shame, since it is the only version where Jimi's vocals dominate the mix, allowing his somewhat whimsical sense of humor to shine through.
