https://exchange.prx.org/p/633451

    This week we have two artists' sets from British bands and an entire album side from a musical genius from L.A. Lots of other good stuff too, of course.

Artist:    Shadows Of Knight
Title:    Gloria
Source:    CD: Dark Sides (originally released as 45 RPM single and included on LP: Gloria)
Writer(s):    Van Morrison
Label:    Rhino (original label: Dunwich)
Year:    1966
    For some reason I don't quite understand, I never paid much attention to current trends in popular entertainment other than as an outside observer. For example, when everyone else in my generation was tuned into the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, I was happily watching Car 54 Where Are You on a rival network. The same applies to the radio stations I listened to. KIMN was, by far, Denver's most popular top 40 station, yet I always managed to find myself listening to their rivals: first KDAB (until a flood took them off the air permanently), and then KBTR. For a short time in late 1966, however, KIMN had no rivals (KBTR had switched to an all-news format and KLZ-FM was still spending most of its broadcast day simulcasting the programming of its middle-of-the-road AM station). As a result, I found myself following KIMN's New Year's countdown of the year's top songs, which included a handful of tunes that I had never heard before. The highest ranked of these unfamiliar songs was one that immediately grabbed me: Gloria, as recorded by a Chicago area band called the Shadows Of Knight. It would be years before I even knew that this was actually a cover version of a song that had been released by Van Morrison's band, Them, but that had been banned in most US markets the previous year. All I knew is that it was a cool tune that would be one of the first songs I learned to play when I switched from violin to guitar the following summer.

Artist:     Pink Floyd
Title:     Arnold Layne
Source:     CD: Relics (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Writer:     Syd Barrett
Label:     Capitol (original single released in UK on EMI)
Year:     1967
     The very first record released by Pink Floyd was Arnold Layne, a single written by Syd Barrett. The record got no promotion from the band's US label,  the Capitol-ownedTower Records,This could be because of the song's unusual subject matter (based on a true story) about a man who steals women's underwear off a clothesline. The song was not included on the band's first LP but has been featured on several collections since its initial release, including the early 70s anthology Relics.

Artist:    Jeff Beck Group
Title:    Beck's Bolero
Source:    Simulated stereo CD: Truth
Writer(s):    Jimmy Page
Label:    Epic/Legacy
Year:    1968
    The number of recordings made by Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page when they were both members of the Yardbirds can be counted on one hand, and one of those songs wasn't even released as a Yardbirds record! Bolero (later to be known as Beck's Bolero) was recorded in mid-1966, and featured, in addition to Beck and Page, Nicky Hopkins on piano, John Paul Jones on bass and an incognito Keith Moon on drums. It was first released (and credited to Beck as the songwriter) as the B side of Beck's first single as a solo artist in early 1967. The following year the same recording was electronically rechanneled for stereo and included on the album Truth, with the backwards guitar at the end of the song removed altogether. Beck's own liner notes on the album state that "we couldn't improve on" the original recording. Yeah, but rechanneling it into fake stereo tends to have the opposite effect, especially when you're listening to the recombined channels through a single speaker (like a phone).

Artist:    Glass Family
Title:    Born In The USA
Source:    LP: Electric Band
Writer(s):    Ralph Parrett
Label:    Maplewood (original label: Warner Brothers)
Year:    1969
    Founded by guitarist/vocalist Jim Callon (aka Ralph Parrett) in the mid-1960s to raise money for "beer and surfboard wax", the Glass Family soon became known as the "perpetual opening act", sharing a playbill with such groups as the Grateful Dead, Vanilla Fudge and the Doors. They finally scored a contract with Warner Brothers in 1967, but after recording an entire album's worth of material with producer Richie Podolor that was rejected by the label, the Glass Family returned to the studio to cut a whole new batch of tracks, including Born In The USA (nothing to do with either the Bruce Springsteen or Cheech & Chong song). The reworked LP was released in 1969, but by then psychedelic music was on the way out, and the album did not get a whole lot of airplay.

Artist:    Beatles
Title:    Let It Be
Source:    CD: Past Masters (original released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Lennon/McCartney
Label:    Apple/Parlophone
Year:    1970
    Just when you thought you knew what to expect, he comes an unfamiliar guitar break from George Harrison. What gives here? Well, to put it bluntly, different producers coming up with different mixes from the same source tape. By 1970 EMI (Abbey Road) Studios had 8-track recording equipment, allowing Harrison to record two separate and completely different guitar solos. Phil Spector, producing the Let It Be album, chose one, while George Martin, producing the single, chose the other. Personally I prefer this one, but then I always thought George Martin had a better ear for music than Phil Spector ever did.

Artist:    Doors
Title:    Changeling
Source:    Stereo 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s):    The Doors
Label:    Elektra
Year:    1971
    Originally chosen by the band to be the first single released from the L.A. Woman album, Changeling (listed on the album cover as The Changeling) was withdrawn in favor of Love Her Madly at the behest of Jan Holtzman, president of Elektra Records. Changeling later appeared as the B side of the album's next single, Riders On The Storm. 

Artist:     Cream
Title:     N.S.U.
Source:     LP: Fresh Cream
Writer:     Jack Bruce
Label:     Atco
Year:     1966
     The US version of Fresh Cream starts off the with powerful one-two punch of I Feel Free and N.S.U. Although I Feel Free was a purely studio creation that never got performed live, N.S.U. became a staple of the band's concert performances, and was even performed by various other bands that bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce was a member of over the years.

Artist:    Seeds
Title:    Tripmaker
Source:    Mono CD: Where The Action Is: L.A. Nuggets 1965-68 (originally released on LP: A Web Of Sound)
Writer(s):    Tybalt/Hooper
Label:    Rhino (original label: GNP Crescendo)
Year:    1966
     Although the second Seeds album, A Web Of Sound, came out in both stereo and mono versions, there are very few copies of the mono version in existence, let alone in playable condition. Apparently Rhino Records has access to one of them, allowing them to use this mono mix of Tripmaker, showing the advantages of being a record label that started off as a record store. 
 
Artist:    Buffalo Springfield
Title:    Leave
Source:    LP: Buffalo Springfield
Writer(s):    Stephen Stills
Label:    Atco
Year:    1966
    Although Buffalo Springfield are generally acknowldeged to be among the pioneers of a softer rock sound that would gain popularity in the 70s with bands like the Eagles, Poco and Crosby, Stills and Nash, they did occasionally rock out a bit harder. Of particular note is lead guitarist Neil Young doing blues licks on Leave, a Stephen Stills tune from the first Buffalo Springfield album, released in 1966.

Artist:    The Blues Inc.
Title:    7&7 Is
Source:    Mono CD: A Deadly Dose Of Wylde Psych (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s):    Arthur Lee
Label:    Arf! Arf! (original label: United Audio)
Year:    1968
    It's hard to imagine anyone doing an even heavier version of Arthur Lee's 7&7 Is than Love's original, but a band from Warren, Pennsylvania, a small (pop. 1000) city located about fifteen miles south of Jamestown, NY, certainly gave it their best effort on a B side issued on Youngstown, Ohio's United Audio label in 1968. Unlike the 1966 Love version, The Blues Inc.'s rendition of 7&7 Is features organ prominently.

Artist:    Vanilla Fudge
Title:    The Look Of Love
Source:    Mono CD: The Complete Atco Singles (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s):    Bacharach/David
Label:    Rhino (original label: Atco)
Year:    1968
    For a group known as one of the original album-rock bands, Vanilla Fudge had an inordinately high number of tracks that were only released on 45 RPM vinyl. Among these was a Fudged up version of Bert Bacharach and Hal David's The Look Of Love. Dusty Springfield had already made the song famous, and the group decided to put it on the B side of a song they wrote themselves called Where Is My Mind as their second single, released in early 1968.

Artist:    Quicksilver Messenger Service
Title:    Acapulco Gold And Silver
Source:    CD: Quicksilver Messenger Service (bonus track)
Writer(s):    Duncan/Schuster
Label:    Rock Beat (original label: Capitol)
Year:    Recorded 1968, released 2011
    One of the highlights of the first Quicksilver Messenger Service album was Gold And Silver, a six minute long instrumental which has drawn comparisons with Dave Brubeck's Take Five. This shorter version of the tune, entitled Acapulco Gold And Silver, was included on the 2011 CD reissue of the album.

Artist:     Sir Douglas Quintet
Title:     She's About A Mover
Source:     Mono CD: Nuggets-Original Artyfacts from the Psychedelic Era (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer:     Doug Sahm
Label:     Rhino (original label: Tribe)
Year:     1965
     Doug Sahm, of The Sir Douglas Quintet, is considered one of the founders of what come to be called Tex-Mex music. Coming from the San Antonio area, Doug Sahm's outfit scored two big hits in the mid to late 1960s: She's About A Mover and (after relocating to San Francisco) Mendocino.

Artist:    Count Five
Title:    The Morning After
Source:    Mono LP: Psychotic Reaction
Writer(s):    John Byrne
Label:    Bicycle/Concord (original label: Double Shot)
Year:    1966
    Following the success of the single Psychotic Reaction, San Jose, Calfornia's Count Five headed for Los Angeles to record an entire album's worth of material. With the exception of two Who covers, all the songs on the album (also called Psychotic Reaction) were written or co-written by John Byrne, the Irish-born rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist for the band. They were also quite short. The Morning After, for instance, runs less than two minutes total.

Artist:    Tol-Puddle Martyrs
Title:    Time Will Come
Source:    Mono CD: Tol-Pubble Martyrs (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Peter Rechter
Label:    Secret Deals (original labels: Pacific/Spiral)
Year:    1967
    The Tol-Puddle Martyrs' Time Will Come was originally released in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia on the Pacific label, until the owner of the Pacific label was informed that there was already a Pacific label operating in Melbourne. At that time the label was hastily changed to Spiral, with the record having the same catalogue number. Although not a popular release at the time, both Time Will Come and its B side, Social Cell, are now considered classic examples of garage-rock, Australian style.

Artist:    Big Brother And The Holding Company
Title:    Oh, Sweet Mary
Source:    LP: Cheap Thrills
Writer(s):    Albin/Andrew/Getz/Gurley/Joplin
Label:    Columbia
Year:    1968
    The only song credited to the entire membership of Big Brother And The Holding Company on their Cheap Thrills album was Oh, Sweet Mary (although the original label credits Janis Joplin as sole writer and the album cover itself gives only Joplin and Peter Albin credit). The tune bears a strong resemblance to Coo Coo, a non-album single the band had released on the Mainstream label before signing to Columbia. Oh, Sweet Mary, however, has new lyrics and, for a breath of fresh air, a bridge section played at a slower tempo than the rest of the tune.

Artist:    Things To Come
Title:    Come Alive
Source:    Mono CD: Where The Action Is: L.A. Nuggets 1965-68 (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer:    Russ Ward
Label:    Rhino (original label: Warner Brothers)
Year:    1968
    Long Beach, California was home to a band known as Things To Come, which featured drummer Russ Ward, who, as Russ Kunkel, would go on to become one of L.A.'s most in-demand studio drummers. Come Alive is a solid piece of garage rock written by Ward/Kunkel.
 
Artist:    Clear Light
Title:    Street Singer
Source:    LP: Clear Light
Writer(s):    Noonan/Copeland
Label:    Elektra
Year:    1967
    It's pretty well-known (among Stuck in the Psychedelic Era listeners, at any rate) that the first L.A. rock band signed to Elektra Records was Love, followed a few months later by the Doors. But do you know the name of the THIRD band signed to Elektra? Until a couple years ago I had no idea, but then a package arrived from a listener (and record collector) in Bakersfield, California containing a copy of an album called Clear Light. It turns out they were part of the same club scene that included bands like the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and the two previous Elektra signings. In fact, one of the members of Clear Light, drummer Dallas Greene, had been a member of Lowell George's legendary band, the Factory (he would go on to greater fame playing with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, among others). The album itself is a rather psychedelic mix of folk, rock, and even classical. I'm not exactly sure which, if any, of those best describes Street Singer, however. Clear Light's vocalist, Cliff DeYoung, went on to become a successful actor. 

Artist:    Fugs
Title:    Boobs A Lot
Source:    CD: The Fugs First Album (originally released as LP: The Village Fugs Sing Ballads Of Contempory Protest, Point Of Views, And General Dissatisfaction)
Writer(s):    Steve Weber
Label:    Fantasy (original label: Broadside)
Year:    1965
    The Fugs were probably the first underground rock band in existence. The group was formed in 1964 (or 1963; my sources contradict each other on that one) by two self-published beat poets, Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg, who, after writing over 50 songs together, decided to form a band with Ken Weaver. Since none of them actually played an instrument (although Weaver would eventually become the group's drummer), they decided to recruit two guys from the Holy Modal Rounders, guitarist Steve Weber and fiddler Peter Stampfel, for the opening of Sanders' Peace Eye Bookstore in Greenwich Village. Apparently the performance was a success, and the bunch of them (including a couple other poets who dropped out when they realized that they were actually expected to show up for gigs) decided to start rehearsing on a regular basis at the store. By early 1965, the Fugs were officially a band, playing a handful of gigs around the Village and coming to the attention of Moe Asch, owner of Folkways Records. Asch signed the Fugs to his Broadside label, releasing their first album, The Village Fugs Sing Ballads Of Contempory Protest, Point Of Views, And General Dissatisfaction, in 1965. Among the more memorable tunes on that first album was a rather cute song by Weber called Boobs A Lot, that in all likelihood was already in the Holy Modal Rounders' repertoire before Weber hooked up with the Fugs. 

Artist:    Who
Title:    Rael (London version)
Source:    European import LP: The Who Sell Out- Super Deluxe Edition (originally released on CD: The Who Sell Out Deluxe Edition)
Writer(s):    Pete Townshend
Label:    Track/Polydor
Year:    Recorded 1967, released 2009
    The Who Sell Out, released in December 1967, was the last album by the group before their 1969 rock-opera Tommy. The last track on the LP, Rael, is itself a mini-opera that tells the story of a wealthy man who has taken on the role of a crusader, out to free his ancestral homeland from its current occupiers. He tells the captain of his ship to come back for him on Christmas Day to see if he is ready to return. If not, he tells the captain, the boat is yours. Of course the captain has no intention of returning, as he declares soon after putting back out to sea. The piece then goes into an instrumental passage that would be copied pretty much note for note on the Tommy album as part of the Underture. The track ends with a repeat of the owner's instructions to the captain. The events surrounding the recording of Rael have become the stuff of legend. The Who originally recorded Rael in New York, but were not entirely happy with the way it came out, so upon their return to London they started from scratch on a new recording of the piece. They were even less satisfied with this second version, however, and ended up using the original version on The Who Sell Out. The second version went into storage until 2009, when it was included as a bonus track on the two-CD Deluxe Edition of the album and has most recently been included on the 2021 Super Deluxe Edition on both vinyl and CD.

Artist:    Who
Title:    Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
Source:    Mono CD: Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy (originally released in UK as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Townshend/Daltry
Label:    MCA (original label: Brunswick)
Year:    1965
    One of the earliest singles from the Who, Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere, [Wow! That's a lot of commas] is the only known songwriting collaboration between guitarist Pete Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey. According to Townshend, he wrote the first verse himself and Daltrey helped with the rest. The song was released on Britain's Brunswick label in 1965.

Artist:    Who
Title:    Girl's Eyes
Source:    European import LP: The Who Sell Out- Super Deluxe Edition (originally released in CD box set: 30 Years Of Maximum R&B)
Writer(s):    Keith Moon
Label:    Track/Polydor (original label: MCA)
Year:    Recorded 1967, released 1994
    Most of the songs that Keith Moon wrote for the Who were, for lack of a better word, bizarre. The examples that come to mind include Heinz Baked Beans, Tommy's Holiday Camp and Cobwebs And Strange, all of which sound like something you might hear at the circus. Girl's Eyes, on the other hand, is a relatively straightforward, if not particularly spectacular, rock song about a female fan that remained unreleased for many years, finally appearing on the 30 Years Of Maximum R&B box set.

Artist:    Remains
Title:    Why Do I Cry
Source:    Mono CD: Nuggets-Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Barry Tashian
Label:    Rhino (original label: Epic)
Year:    1965
    Predating the "Boss-Town Sound" by nearly three years (and the band Boston by over 10 years), we have the 1965 single Why Do I Cry from Boston garage band the Remains.
        
Artist:    Standells
Title:    Dirty Water
Source:    Mono CD: Dirty Water (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Ed Cobb
Label:    Sundazed/Tower
Year:    1965
    The Standells were not from Boston (they were a Los Angeles club band). Ed Cobb, who wrote and produced Dirty Water, was. The rest is history.

Artist:    Turtles
Title:    Let Me Be
Source:    CD: Songs Of Protest (originally released on LP: It Ain't Me Babe and as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    P.F. Sloan
Label:    Rhino (original label: White Whale)
Year:    1965
    The Turtles were nothing if not able to redefine themselves when the need arose. Originally a surf band known as the Crossfires, the band quickly adopted an "angry young men" stance with their first single, Bob Dylan's It Ain't Me Babe, and the subsequent album of the same name. For the follow-up single the band chose a track from their album, Let Me Be, that, although written by a different writer, had the same general message as It Ain't Me Babe. The band would soon switch over to love songs like Happy Together and She'd Rather Be With Me before taking their whole chameleon bit to its logical extreme with an album called Battle Of The Bands on which each track was meant to sound like it was done by an entirely different group. 

Artist:    Rolling Stones
Title:    I Can't Be Satisfied
Source:    Mono LP: More Hot Rocks (Big Hits And Fazed Cookies) (originally released in UK on LP: Rolling Stones No. 2)
Writer(s):    McKinley Morganfield
Label:    London (original UK label: Decca)
Year:    1965
    The Rolling Stones were in the studio sporadically from June through November of 1964 recording songs for their second LP, including a cover of Muddy Waters' I Can't Be Satisfied. In May of 1965 they recorded a new Mick Jagger/Keith Richards song called (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. Do the math.

Artist:    Rolling Stones
Title:    Let It Bleed
Source:    LP: More Hot Rocks (Big Hits and Fazed Cookies) (originally released on LP: Let It Bleed)
Writer(s):    Jagger/Richards
Label:    London
Year:    1969
    Probably more than any other British Invasion band, the Rolling Stones incorporated elements of American country music into their sound, going all the way back to one of their first releases, a cover of Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away. Although this country sound was for the most part abandoned during their psychedelic period, it returned with a vengeance with their 1968 album Beggar's Banquet with songs like Dear Doctor and No Expectations. Their next album, Let It Bleed, was even more country sounding, from a countrified version of Honky Tonk Women called Country Honk to the title track of the album itself. In most respects, however, the song Let It Bleed was pure Stones, right down to the suggestive lyrics.

Artist:    Frank Zappa
Title:    Lumpy Gravy- Part I
Source:    CD: Lumpy Gravy
Writer(s):    Frank Zappa
Label:    Ryko (original label: Verve)
Year:    1968
    I remember seeing the third Mothers of Invention album, We're Only It In For The Money, on the record racks in 1968, and wondering about the word balloon on the back cover with the words "Is this phase one of Lumpy Gravy?" meant. Although the Base Exchange at Ramstein Air Base had a pretty decent record and tape section, there was no sign of anything called Lumpy Gravy anywhere in the store. It wasn't until years later that I actually saw my first copy of Zappa's official solo album (although actually credited to Francis Vincent Zappa on the cover) and even longer until I actually got to hear the album itself. Unlike We're Only In It For The Money, which is a series of short musical pieces performed by the Mothers of Invention, Lumpy Gravy is an audio collage made up of spoken word segments interspersed with orchestral music that had originally been released the previous year on 4-track cartridge (aka Muntz Stereo Pack) by Capitol Records, and also named Lumpy Gravy. Although the original album listed the two sides as simply Part I and Part II, the 1995 Rykodisc CD includes ten subtitles per side that use the CD index system (that never really caught on). The subtitles for Part I are: 
1.    "The Way I See It, Barry"            0:06
2.    "Duodenum"                1:32
3.    "Oh No"                    2:03
4.    "Bit of Nostalgia"                1:35
5.    "It's from Kansas"                0:30
6.    "Bored Out 90 Over"                0:31
7.    "Almost Chinese"                0:25
8.    "Switching Girls / Oh No Again / At the Gas Station"     4:23
9.    "Another Pickup"                0:54
10.    "I Don't Know If I Can Go Through This Again"    3:49

Artist:    Manfred Mann Chapter Three
Title:    Ain't It Sad
Source:    LP: Manfred Mann Chapter Three
Writer(s):    Mike Hugg
Label:    Polydor
Year:    1969
    After a successful run as a British pop group with a handful of international hits, the original Manfred Mann group disbanded in 1968. Mann himself was far from done, however, and soon had a new band Manfred Mann Chapter Three, centered around Mann's organ playing and longtime collaborator Mike Hugg's piano work. Hugg's playing dominates the album's shortest track, Ain't It Sad, which clocks in at less than two minutes.
 

Rockin' in the Days of Confusion # 2637 (starts 9/7/26)

https://exchange.prx.org/p/633450

    This week, after a visit to Montana, we take a trip backwards in time, starting in 1975 and ending in 1968. And then we stay there for a bit of blues jamming.

Artist:    Mothers
Title:    Montana
Source:    CD: Over-Nite Sensation
Writer(s):    Frank Zappa
Label:    Zappa (original label: Discreet)
Year:    1973
    Montana is quite possibly the most recognizable song Frank Zappa ever wrote. The track first appeared on the Mothers album Over-Nite Sensation and quickly became a concert staple. On the original album version Zappa's guitar solo is followed by a series of vocal gymnastics performed by none other than Tina Turner and the Ikettes, who were recording with Turner's husband Ike in an adjacent studio. According to Zappa it took the singers two days to master the complex melody and timing of the section. Reportedly Tina was so pleased with the result that she invited her husband into the control room to hear the finished section, only to have Ike say "What is this shit?" and walk back out. Did she really expect any other reaction?

Artist:    Queen
Title:    The Prophet's Song/Love Of My Life
Source:    LP: A Night At The Opera
Writer(s):    Brian May
Label:    Elektra
Year:    1975
    When Queen's landmark LP, A Night At The Opera, was released in 1975, much attention was focused on the album's penultimate track, Freddy Mercury's Bohemian Rhapsody, which went all the way to the top of the British top 40 charts and is one of the most recognizable recordings of the 20th century. With all this attention focused on one song (albeit deservedly), several other outstanding tracks on the album have been somewhat neglected. Perhaps the best of these overlooked tracks is The Prophet's Song, a Brian May composition that opens side two of the vinyl LP. At over eight minutes in length, The Prophet's Song is Queen's longest song with vocals, and, like Bohemian Rhapsody, features layered overdubs by Mercury, including a fairly long acappella section in the middle of the track. The song also has powerful dynamics, ranging from the almost inaudible acoustic guitar and toy koto introduction to high volume electric lead guitar work set against a heavy metal background. The song ends with an acoustic guitar solo by May that leads directly into Mercury's piano introduction to his Love Of My Life. The two tracks combined take up about half of an album side.

Artist:    Gentle Giant
Title:    Playing The Game
Source:    CD: The Power And The Glory
Writer(s):    Shulman/Shulman/Minnear
Label:    Alucard (original label: Capitol)
Year:    1974
    Following the departure of founding member Phil Shulman in 1973, the remaining members of Gentle Giant, after a period of soul-searching, decided to carry on as a five-piece group with the album In A Glass House. Their US label however, decided not to release the album. Despite this, In A Glass House sold well in the US as an import, leading to a new contract with a different label. The first Gentle Giant to be released on Capitol was The Power And The Glory, which hit the racks in 1974. One of the tracks that got a lot of airplay on FM rock radio was Playing The Game, which closes out the first side of the original LP. For those who might be interested in such things, a special edition of The Power And The Glory has been released on the Alucard label which features not only the original album remastered (plus bonus tracks), but a DVD containing animated video versions of every track on the album, all of which enhance the album's original concept concerning how power can corrupt even those with the best of intentions. 

Artist:    Focus
Title:    Hocus Pocus II
Source:    45 RPM single B side
Writer(s):    Akkerman/van Leer
Label:    Sire
Year:    1973
    Although it was recorded and originally released in Europe and the UK as a single in 1971, the edited version of Hocus Pocus did not chart outside the Netherlands and was not released at all in the western hemisphere until 1973, when it came out with an entirely different and newly recorded B side called Hocus Pocus II. The new tune starts off with a slower funk beat before breaking into a slightly faster variation on the original theme, returning to the funk beat toward the end of the track. Hocus Pocus II was not released in Europe until 1975, when it appeared on a compilation album called Dutch Masters (1969-1973).

Artist:    Deep Purple
Title:    Space Truckin'
Source:    CD: The Very Best Of Deep Purple (originally released on LP: Machine Head)
Writer(s):    Blackmore/Gillan/Glover/Lord/Paice
Label:    Warner Archives/Rhino
Year:    1972
    Deep Purple hit their commercial peak in 1972 with the release of their sixth studio album, Machine Head. The album was recorded in late 1971 in Montreaux, Switzerland, and contains their most famous song, Smoke On The Water, which tells the story of how the album came to be recorded. But there are plenty of other outstanding tracks on the album as well, including some, such as the science fiction oriented Space Truckin', that have received far less airplay than they deserve. I suppose that's the mark of a great album, though. 

Artist:    Moby Grape
Title:    I'm The Kind Of Man That Baby You Can Trust
Source:    LP: 20 Granite Creek
Writer(s):    Jerry Miller
Label:    Reprise
Year:    1971
    The original five members of Moby Grape reunited in 1971 for their only album to appear on the Reprise label, 20 Granite Creek. All but one of the tracks on the LP came from individual members writing solo. I'm The Kind Of Man That Baby You Can Trust is one of two songs written by guitarist/vocalist Jerry Miller.

Artist:    Beach Boys
Title:    Susie Cincinnatti
Source:    Mono LP: Appetizers (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s):    Al Jardine
Label:    Warner Brothers (original label: Brother)
Year:    1970
    B sides often get the short end of the stick. Consider, for example, the song Susie Cincinnatti. Written by Beach Boys founding member Al Jardine, the song was intended for the album Sunflower, but got squeezed out by other tracks and was instead released as the B side of the album's first single, Add Some Music To Your Day. The single, however, only spent a total of five weeks on the charts, peaking at #64. Since singles in the US tended to be pulled from the racks once they dropped off the charts (often even sooner), Susie Cincinnatti didn't get heard by a whole lot of people. Three years later, Warner Brothers Records decided to give the song a little more exposure by including on Appetizers, part of the Loss Leaders series of low-priced compilation albums available by mail order using forms included on inner sleeves of full-priced albums. Not exactly what you would call a mass marketing campaign.

Artist:    Crosby, Stills and Nash
Title:    Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
Source:    CD: Crosby, Stills and Nash
Writer:    Stephen Stills
Label:    Atlantic
Year:    1969
    After the demise of Buffalo Springfield, Stephen Stills headed for New York, where he worked with Al Kooper on the Super Session album and recorded several demo tapes of his own, including a new song called Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (reportedly written for his then-girlfriend Judy Collins). After his stint in New York he returned to California, where he started hanging out in the Laurel Canyon home of David Crosby, who had been fired from the Byrds in 1967. Crosby's house at that time was generally filled with a variety of people coming and going, and Crosby and Stills soon found themselves doing improvised harmonies on each other's material in front of a friendly, if somewhat stoned, audience. It was not long before they invited Graham Nash, whom they heard had been having problems of his own with his bandmates in the Hollies, to come join them in Laurel Canyon. The three soon began recording together, and in 1969 released the album Crosby, Stills and Nash. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes was chosen as the opening track for the new album and was later released (in severely edited form) as a single.

Artist:     Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title:     Little Miss Strange
Source:     LP: Electric Ladyland
Writer:     Noel Redding
Label:     Reprise
Year:     1968
     When Chas Chandler brought Jimi Hendrix to England in 1966 he introduced him to several local musicians, including drummer Mitch Mitchell and guitarist Noel Redding. Hendrix talked Redding into switching to bass, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience was born. Redding, however, still had aspirations of being a front man and wrote the song She's So Fine for the 1967 album Axis:Bold As Love. He followed it up in 1968 with Little Miss Strange, which appeared on the Electric Ladyland album. Redding sang lead vocals on both songs. After the Experience split up Redding formed Fat Mattress, but that band had little success. 

Artist:    Al Kooper/Mike Bloomfield/Barry Goldberg/Harvey Brooks/Eddie Hoh
Title:    Albert's Shuffle
Source:    LP: Super Session
Writer(s):    Bloomfield/Kooper
Label:    Sundazed/Columbia
Year:    1968
    There is no doubt that one of the most important and influential albums of the late 1960s was the Super Session album. Released in 1968, the album was conceived in part because keyboardist/producer Al Kooper felt that Michael Bloomfield had never been recorded in the right context to truly showcase his prowess as a guitarist. Taking advantage of his position as staff producer for Columbia Records, Kooper enlisted  keyboardist Barry Goldberg and bassist Harvey Brooks (both of which had been Bloomfield's bandmates in the Electric Flag), as well as ace studio drummer Eddie Hoh for a series of taped jam sessions. Although Bloomfield himself went AWOL midway through the sessions, the quintet managed to get several outstanding tracks recorded, including Albert's Shuffle, which opens the LP. 

 

Stuck in the Psychedelic Era # 2636 (starts 8/31/26)

https://exchange.prx.org/p/632556

This week we feature our first (and probably last) battle of the years, as we bounce back and forth between tunes from 1968 and 1969 for the better part of a half hour. Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Also in the show, a set of tunes from the Jimi Hendrix Experience, none of which were written by Jimi himself. We also have some hidden gems, like the very first Rolling Stones single and a track from the first album by Strawbs. 

Artist:    Moby Grape
Title:    Omaha
Source:    LP: Moby Grape
Writer(s):    Skip Spence
Label:    Columbia
Year:    1967
    As an ill-advised promotional gimmick, Columbia Records released five separate singles concurrently with the first Moby Grape album. Of the five singles, only one, Omaha, actually charted, and it only got to the #86 spot. Meanwhile, the heavy promotion by the label led to Moby Grape getting the reputation of being over-hyped, much to the detriment of the band's career.
    
Artist:    Mystery Trend
Title:    Johnny Was A Good Boy
Source:    Mono CD: Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-70 (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Nagle/Cuff
Label:    Rhino (original label: Verve)
Year:    1967
    The Mystery Trend was a bit of an anomaly. Contemporaries of bands such as the Great! Society and the Charlatans, the Trend always stood apart from the rest of the crowd, playing to an audience that was both a bit more affluent and a bit more "adult" (they were reportedly the house band at a Sausalito strip club). Although they played in the city itself as early as 1965, they did not release their first record until early 1967. The song, Johnny Was A Good Boy, tells the story of a seemingly normal middle-class kid who turns out to be a monster (without actually specifying what he did), surprising friends, family and neighbors. Despite being an excellent tune, the song's lyrics were way too dark for top 40 radio in 1967, and the record sank like a stone.

Artist:    "E" Types
Title:    Put The Clock Back On The Wall
Source:    CD: Even More Nuggets (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Bonner/Gordon
Label:    Rhino (original label: Tower)
Year:    1967
    The E-Types were originally from Salinas, California, which at the time was known for it's sulfiric smell experienced by passing motorists travelling along US 101. As many people from Salinas apparently went to "nearby" San Jose (about 60 miles to the north) as often as possible, the E-Types became regulars on the local scene there, eventually landing a contract with Tower Records and Ed Cobb, who also produced the Standells and the Chocolate Watchband. The Bonner/Gordon songwriting team were just a couple months away from getting huge royalty checks from the Turtles' Happy Together when Put The Clock Back On The Wall was released in early 1967. The song takes its title from a popular phrase of the time. After a day or two of losing all awareness of time (and sometimes space) it was time to put the clock back on the wall, or get back to reality if you prefer.

Artist:    The Poor
Title:    She's Got The Time (She's Got The Changes)
Source:    Mono LP: Highs In The Mid 60s Volume 18- Colorado
Writer(s):    Tom Shipley
Label:    AIP (original label: York)
Year:    1967
    Despite certain liner notes to the contrary, there is no actual evidence that singer/songwriter Tom Shipley, an Ohio native, was ever a member of The Poor. Nebraskan Randy Meisner, however, was. The Poor was formed in Denver in 1966 by former members of the Soul Survivors, a popular local club band. They moved to Los Angeles and added Meisner to the group, recording a series of singles before disbanding in 1968. Meisner went on to join Poco and later co-founded the Eagles, while the rest of the group eventually became the Stone Canyon Band, backing up Rick Nelson. The Poor's most successful single was She's Got The Time (She's Got The Changes), written by Tom Shipley shortly before he became half of Brewer And Shipley.

Artist:    Blues Magoos
Title:    Rush Hour
Source:    Mono 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, especially in its mono mix heard here. 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:    Kinks
Title:    Lola
Source:    CD: The Kink Kronikles (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Ray Davies
Label:    Reprise
Year:    1970
    By 1970 the Kinks were all but forgotten in the US and not doing all that much better in their native UK. Then came Lola. I guess I could stop right there. Or I could mention that the song was based on a true story involving the band's manager. I could even say something about Dave Davies' claim that, although his brother Ray is credited as the sole songwriter of Lola, Dave actually came up with the music and Ray added the lyrics. But you've probably heard it all before. This is Lola, the most famous song about cross-dressing in rock history we're talking about, after all.

Artist:    David Bowie
Title:    Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud
Source:    CD: David Bowie (originally released in US as Man Of Words, Man Of Music and reissued as Space Oddity)
Writer(s):    David Bowie
Label:    Parlophone (original label: Mercury)
Year:    1969
    The version of Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud heard on his 1969 LP David Bowie (aka Man Of Words, Man Of Music aka Space Oddity) is not the original version of the song. Originally the tune was minimally instrumentated (is that a real word?), with only an acoustic guitar and bass accompanying Bowie's vocals. The re-recorded album version heard here, however, features full orchestration by producer Tony Visconti, along with the uncredited debut of Mick Ronson on lead guitar. As for the subject matter of the song itself, Bowie had this to say: "It was about the disassociated, the ones who feel as though they're left outside, which was how I felt about me. I always felt I was on the edge of events, the fringe of things, and left out. A lot of my characters in those early years seem to revolve around that feeling. It must have come from my own interior puzzlement at where I was".

Artist:    Quicksilver Messenger Service
Title:    Codine
Source:    LP: Revolution soundtrack
Writer(s):    Buffy St. Marie
Label:    United Artists
Year:    1968
    Buffy St. Marie's Codine was a popular favorite among the club crowd in mid-60s California. In 1967, L.A. band The Leaves included it on their second LP. Around the same time, up the coast in San Francisco, the Charlatans selected it to be their debut single. The suits at Kama-Sutra Records, however, balked at the choice, and instead sold the band's master tapes to Kapp Records, who then released the group's cover of the Coasters' The Shadow Knows (and sped up the master tape in the mastering process). The novelty-flavored record bombed so bad that the label decided not to release any more Charlatans tracks, thus leaving their version of Codine gathering dust in the vaults until the mid 1990s, when the entire Kama-Sutra sessions were released on CD. Meanwhile, back in 1968, fellow San Francisco band Quicksilver Messenger Service was still without a record contract, despite pulling decent crowds at various Bay Area venues, including a credible appearance at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June of 1967. Quicksilver did find their way onto vinyl, however, when the producers of the quasi-documentary film Revolution decided to include footage of the band playing Codine, and commissioned this studio recording of the song for the soundtrack album. 

Artist:    Turtles
Title:    Sound Asleep
Source:    CD: 20 Greatest Hits (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    The Turtles
Label:    Rhino (original label: White Whale)
Year:    1968 
    If the key to success in the real estate business is location location location, then the key to success in top 40 radio is timing timing timing. Even the best of songs can have a difficult time finding an audience if that audience is into something entirely different at the time. Take the Turtles' Sound Asleep. Taken out of context it is a well-crafted pop song with a good beat and a strong melody. Unfortunately it was released in 1968, when top 40 radio was being dominated by mindless bubble gum hits and FM was developing an identity of its own centered on progressive rock. Thus Sound Asleep, despite its obvious quality, went quietly into the cutout bin rather quickly after its release as a single. It wasn't too long after that that the Turtles themselves called it quits.

Artist:     Savoy Brown
Title:     Made Up My Mind
Source:     British import CD: A Step Further
Writer:     Chris Youlden
Label:     Polygram/Deram (original US label: Parrot)
Year:     1969
     To coincide with a US tour, the fourth Savoy Brown album, A Step Further, was actually released in North America several months before it was in the UK, with Made Up My Mind being simultaneously released as a single. Luckily for the band, 1969 was a year that continued the industry-wide trend away from hit singles and toward successful albums instead, at least among the more progressive groups, as the single itself tanked. Aided by a decent amount of airplay on progressive FM radio, however, the album (the last to feature lead vocalist Chris Youlden) peaked comfortably within the top 100.
 
Artist:    Doors
Title:    Love Me Two Times
Source:    45 RPM single
Writer(s):    The Doors
Label:    Elektra
Year:    1967
    Although the second Doors album is sometimes dismissed as being chock full of tracks that didn't make the cut on the debut LP, the fact is that Strange Days contains some of the Doors best-known tunes. One of those is Love Me Two Times, which was the second single released from the album. The song continues to get heavy airplay on classic rock stations.

Artist:    Santana
Title:    Soul Sacrifice
Source:    CD: Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-70 (originally released on LP: Santana)
Writer(s):    Brown/Malone/Rolie/Santana
Label:    Rhino (original label: Columbia)
Year:    1969
    Of all the bands formed in the late 1960s, very few achieved any degree of popularity outside of their local community. Fewer still could be considered an influence on future stars. Most rare of all are those who managed to be both popular and influential while maintaining a degree of artistic integrity. One name that comes immediately to mind is Santana (both the band and the man). It might be surprising, then, to hear that the first Santana album, released in 1969, was savaged by the rock press, particularly the San Francisco based Rolling Stone magazine, who called it boring and repetitious. It wasn't until the band performed Soul Sacrifice (heard here in its original studio version) at Woodstock that Santana became major players on the rock scene. 

Artist:    Steppenwolf
Title:    Magic Carpet Ride
Source:    CD: The Best Of 60s Psychedelic Rock (originally released on LP: Steppenwolf The Second)
Writer(s):    Moreve/Kay
Label:    Priority (original label: Dunhill)
Year:    1968
    Steppenwolf's second top 10 single was Magic Carpet Ride, a song that combines feedback, prominent organ work by Goldy McJohn and an updated Bo Diddly beat with psychedelic lyrics. Along with Born To Be Wild, Magic Carpet Ride (co-written by vocalist John Kay and bassist Rushton Moreve) has become one of the defining songs of both Steppenwolf and the late 60s.

Artist:    Beatles
Title:    Only A Northern Song (alternate version)
Source:    Mono CD: Yellow Submarine (soundtrack)
Writer(s):    George Harrison
Label:    Apple/Capitol
Year:    Recorded 1967, released 1969
    Anyone who thinks that George Harrison was happily oblivious to how badly he was being screwed over as a songwriter during his years as a member of the Beatles need only listen to the lyrics of Only A Northern Song, one of four new tracks submitted by the band for use in the film Yellow Submarine. Although Harrison had actually formed his own publishing company, Harrisongs, in 1964, he was persuaded to stay with the band's own Northern Songs LTD. by his bandmates when the company went public in 1965 in order to get around British tax laws on international sales of Beatles' compositions. The problem was that, as the principle songwriters, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were also the principle stockholders, at 15% each, while Harrison and Ringo Starr each owned only 8%. This meant that Lennon and McCartney were actually making more in royalties on Harrison's compositions than Harrison himself. Harrison later said that the company's manager, Dick James, hadn't told him that he was giving up ownership of his own compositions by signing with Northern Songs. Following the formation of Apple Corp in 1968 Harrison's compositions were no longer published by Northern Songs. 

Artist:    Moody Blues
Title:    Lose Your Money (But Don't Lose Your Mind)
Source:    45 RPM single B side 
Writer(s):    Laine/Pinder
Label:    London
Year:    1964
    Ever wonder how a progressive rock band known for their orchestral arrangements got a name like the Moody Blues? Take a listen to Lose Your Money (But Don't Lose Your Mind), the B side of their first record, (in the US and Canada) and you'll wonder no more.

Artist:    Spencer Davis Group
Title:    Here Right Now
Source:    LP: Gimme Some Lovin' (originally released in UK on LP: Their First LP)
Writer(s):    Steve Winwood    
Label:    United Artists (original UK label: Fontana)
Year:    1965
    The Spencer Davis Group was formed in 1963 by Welsh guitarist Spencer Davis, who recruited the Winwood brothers, Muff (on bass) and Steve (on organ and lead vocals), along with drummer Pete York for his new band. Originally known as the Rhythm And Blues Quartette, the band changed its name in 1964 when they signed with Chris Blackwell's Island Records. Muff Winwood came up with the band's new name, saying "Spencer was the only one who enjoyed doing interviews, so I pointed out that if we called it the Spencer Davis Group, the rest of us could stay in bed and let him do them." The group released their first LP, entitled Their First LP, in 1965. One of the standout tracks on that album was a Steve Winwood tune called Here Right Now that was later chosen for inclusion of their first American LP, Gimme Some Lovin', in 1967. 
        
Artist:    Buckinghams
Title:    Kind Of A Drag
Source:    Billboard Top Rock 'N' Roll Hits-1967 (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer:    Holvay
Label:    Rhino (original label: USA)
Year:    1967
    The Buckinghams were one of the first rock bands with a horn section to come out of the Chicago area in the late 1960s. The song Kind Of A Drag, released in late 1966 on the local USA label, went national in early 1967, hitting the number one spot in February and finishing among the year's top 10 songs. The Buckinghams soon came to the attention of producer James William Guercio, who got them a contract with Columbia that resulted in several more hit singles, although no more number ones. Guercio's interest in Chicago bands with horn sections would eventually lead him to produce both Blood, Sweat & Tears and the Chicago Transit Authority, who soon shortened their name to Chicago.

Artist:    Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title:    Hey Joe (original UK single mix)
Source:    Mono British import LP: Smash Hits (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Jimi Hendrix
Label:    Track (original UK label: Polydor)
Year:    1966
    The first track recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience was Hey Joe, a song that Hendrix had seen Tim Rose perform in Greenwich Village before relocating to London to form his new band. It was released as a single in the UK in late 1966 and went all the way to the # 3 spot on the British top 40. Hendrix's version is a bit heavier than Rose's and leaves off the first verse ("where you going with that money in your hand") entirely. Although Rose always claimed that Hey Joe was a traditional folk song, the song was actually copyrighted in 1962 by California folk singer Billy Roberts. By the time Hendrix recorded Hey Joe several American bands had recorded a fast version of the song, with the Leaves hitting the US top 40 with it in early 1966.

Artist:    Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title:    She's So Fine
Source:    Mono LP: Axis: Bold As Love
Writer(s):    Noel Redding
Label:    Experience Hendrix/Legacy
Year:    1967
    When Jimi Hendrix met Noel Redding at a jam session, the latter was playing guitar. Hendrix, however, convinced him to switch to bass when he invited him to become part of his new band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Although Redding thrived in his new role, he always retained ambitions of writing and playing his own songs, which he would eventually get the chance to do with a band called Fat Mattress. In the meantime, however, he did manage to get a pair of his own songs recorded by the Experience. The first of these was She's So Fine, which was included on the Axis: Bold As Love album. Hendrix of course provided the lead guitar parts on the song, which was sung by Redding. Hendrix also co-produced the song, giving him his first taste of producing a song not written by himself. Hendrix would eventually expand on this concept, producing or co-producing the debut albums of two bands that toured with the Experience in 1969, Eire Apparent and Cat Mother And The All Night Newsboys (and providing some guitar work for the former).
    
Artist:    Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title:    All Along The Watchtower
Source:    LP: Smash Hits (originally released on LP: Electric Ladyland)
Writer(s):    Jimi Hendrix
Label:    Reprise
Year:    1968
    Although there have been countless covers of Bob Dylan songs recorded by a variety of artists, very few of them have become better known than the original Dylan versions. Probably the most notable exception is the Jimi Hendrix Experience version of All Along The Watchtower on the Electric Ladyland album. Hendrix's arrangement of the song has been adopted by several other musicians over the years, including Neil Young (at the massive Bob Dylan tribute concert) and even Dylan himself. 

Artist:    Rolling Stones
Title:    Come On
Source:    Mono CD: Singles Collection-The London Years (originally released in UK as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Chuck Berry
Label:    Abkco (original UK label: Decca)
Year:    1963
    Like many British bands in the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones built up their original fanbase by playing cover versions of popular songs, often by black American artists. In fact, the first Stones single, released in 1963 was Chuck Berry's Come On. They would not release any of their own compositions as A sides in the UK until 1965.

Artist:    Bobby Fuller Four
Title:    Little Annie Lou
Source:    45 RPM single B side
Writer(s):    B&R Fuller
Label:    Mustang
Year:    1965
    Formed in El Paso, Texas in 1962, the Bobby Fuller Four first released their cover of Buddy Holly's I Fought The Law in 1964 on the local Exeter label. Although it was a popular regional hit, the band, consisting of Bobby Fuller on guitar and vocals, his brother Randy on bass, Jim Reese on guitar and Dalton Powell on drums, decided to move to Los Angeles and try to get a deal with a major label. Powell, however, was unable to make the move and was replaced by DeWayne Quirico. They ended up signing with Bob Keane's Del-Fi label. The group, however, had never been able to come up with a permanent name, having recorded as Bobby Fuller and the Fanatics and just Bobby Fuller. It was Keane that suggested the Bobby Fuller Four, although at one point he temporarily tried renaming them the Shindigs to cash in on the popularity of the ABC TV show Shindig. In late 1965, following the release of their first album, KRLA King Of The Wheels (produced under the auspices of a local radio station), the Bobby Fuller Four decided to re-record I Fought The Law. The song became a national top 10 hit in early 1966, with a track from the album called Little Annie Lou on the B side. Less that a year later, Bobby Fuller was found dead in his car outside his Hollywood home, consigning the Bobby Fuller Four to permanent one-hit wonder status.

Artist:    Tomorrow
Title:    My White Bicycle
Source:    Poorly done fake stereo CD: Acid Daze (originally released in UK as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Hopkins/Burgess
Label:    Uncut (original label: Parlophone)
Year:    1967
    One of the most popular bands with the mid-60s London Mods was a group called the In Crowd. In 1967 the band abandoned its R&B/Soul sound for a more psychedelic approach, changing its name to Tomorrow in the process. Their debut single, My White Bicycle, was inspired by the practice in Amsterdam of leaving white bicycles at various stategic points throughout the city for anyone to use (Ithaca, NY currently does the same thing, except theirs are yellow and green). The song sold well and got a lot of play at local discoteques, but did not chart. Soon after the record was released, however, lead vocalist Keith West had a hit of his own, Excerpt From A Teenage Opera, which did not sound at all like the music Tomorrow was making. After a second Tomorrow single failed to chart, the individual members drifted off in different directions, with West concentrating on his solo career, guitarist Steve Howe joining Bodast, and bassist Junior Wood and drummer Twink Alder forming a short-lived group called Aquarian Age. Twink would go on to greater fame as a member of the Pretty Things and a founder of the Pink Fairies, but it was Howe that became an international star in the 70s after replacing Peter Banks in Yes.

Artist:    Jefferson Airplane
Title:    Hey Frederick
Source:    LP: Volunteers
Writer(s):    Grace Slick
Label:    RCA Victor
Year:    1969
    Grace Slick's songwriting continued to move in an avant-garde direction with Hey Frederick, the longest track on the Volunteers album. The song opens with an ominous chord sequence and an exhortation to "either go away or go all the way". From there the lyrics are somewhat free-form, and soon give way to a long improvisational section that showcases the talents of guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady in particular, as well as guest pianist Nicky Hopkins, who would join the band on stage at the Woodstock festival that year.

Artist:    Eric Burdon And War
Title:    They Can't Take Away Our Music
Source:    CD: The Black Man's Burdon
Writer(s):    Goldstein/War
Label:    UMe (original label: M-G-M)
Year:    1970
    A common feature of record stores in the 1970s was something called the cut-out bin. It was basically a place where unsold records ended up after being deleted from the official catalogs of the record labels. Since they would not accept returns of such records, the store owners themselves would sell them at a reduced rate after finding a way to permanently mark each record as being a cut-out. Thi usually involved a hole or a notch in the cover (for LPs) or a small hole through the label of the record itself, in the case of 45 RPM singles. I would occasionally look through these piles of cut-outs to see if there was anything that might be of interest to me. On one of those occasions, around 1973 or so, I ran across a single by Eric Burdon and War called They Can't Take Away Our Music. I, like many others, had lost track of Eric Burdon's career after the Animals disbanded, and was only vaguely aware of the fact that he had made a couple of albums with a band called War. By this time War was becoming pretty popular for hits like All Day Music and Cisco Kid, so I was curious to hear what a collaboration between Eric Burdon and War might sound like. They Can't Take Away Our Music is an inspirational tune, with lead vocals being traded off between Burdon and various members of War leading up to a litany of influential jazz, blues and R&B artists of the previous fifty years, from Bessie Smith to Jimi Hendrix (who was still alive when the song was recorded), all against a backdrop of the song's title being repeatedly sung in a style reminiscent of a gospel choir. I wore that single out rather quickly (M-G-M having switched to notoriously cheap materials for their singles around the time the record had been released), and went without a copy of the song for almost fifty years before finding a copy of the album it was taken from, The Black Man's Burdon. The double-length album was the last collaboration between Eric Burdon and War, with They Can't Take Away Our Music finishing out the album's final side. It was an appropriate way for Burdon to end that chapter in his long career, paving the way for War to come into its own as one of the more popular bands of the 1970s. 

Artist:    Strawbs
Title:    Tell Me What You See In Me (alternate version)
Source:    CD Think I'm Going Weird 
Writer(s):    Dave Cousins
Label:    A&M
Year:    Recorded 1968, released 2021
    One of the hardest bands to wrap one's head around was the British group Strawbs. Formed in 1963 by Dave Cousins (vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin, dulcimer) and Tony Hooper (vocals, guitar), the duo was originally known as the Strawberry Hill Boys and played, believe it or not, bluegrass music. Their early sets were made up of cover versions of songs from people like Flatt & Scruggs and the Stanley Brothers, but over time Cousins began writing original material for them to perform. In their early years they did a lot of work for the BBC as well as live performances, appearing at the same venues as such big name acts as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. After adding bassist Ron Chesterman in 1966 they began gravitating more toward folk and pop music, shortening their name to Strawbs for a 1967 gig where they wanted to display their name on stage. That same year they added vocalist Sandy Denny and recorded several demos with her. This led to an album called All Our Own Work that included the first recorded version of what would become Denny's best known song, Who Knows Where The Time Goes. The band was unable to find a record label to release the album, and Denny left Strawbs to replace Judy Dyble in Fairport Convention (All Our Own Work was eventually released in 1973 on a budget label specializing in re-releasing deleted albums). Strawbs soon got the attention of Dave Hubert, owner of Horizons Records in the US, who convinced his distributor, A&M Records to sign the group. Then things started getting strange. Strawbs went into the studio to record tracks produced by Gus Dudgeon and Tony Visconti, who would soon become closely associated with Elton John and David Bowie, respectively. Among those tracks was Tell Me What You See In Me. The five-minute long piece included a 32-piece orchestra and a group of musicians from London's Omar Khayaam Restaurant, billed as Nosrati And His Arab Friends. The entire album was reported the most expensive British production since Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the people at A&M were not happy with the result. In fact, the band was told to go back into the studio, recording new material as well as a new version of Tell Me What You See In Me. This is the original recording, which remained unreleased until 2021.

Artist:    H.P. Lovecraft
Title:    Electrollentando
Source:    CD: Two Classic Albums from H. P. Lovecraft (originally released on LP: H.P. Lovecraft II)
Writer(s):    George Edwards
Label:    Collector's Choice (original label: Philips)
Year:    1968
    The second album by H.P. Lovecraft (the band, not the author) is sometimes referred to as the ultimate acid rock album. In fact, it has been rumoured to be the first album made entirely under the influence of LSD (although the same has been said of the 1967 Jefferson Airplane LP After Bathing At Baxter's and both albums by the 13th Floor Elevators as well). This may in part because the band had relocated from their native Chicago to Marin County, California, where they shared billing with established Bay Area bands like Big Brother and the Holding Company and the aforementioned Jefferson Airplane. The album also featured more original material than the band's debut LP, including the easier to listen to than pronounce the title of Electrollentando.

Artist:    Van Dyke Parks
Title:    The All Golden
Source:    LP: The 1969 Warner/Reprise Songbook (originally released on LP: Song Cycle)
Writer(s):    Van Dyke Parks
Label:    Warner Brothers
Year:    1967
    In late 1966 Brian Wilson began a collaboration with an unknown lyricist named Van Dyke Parks on an album that, although unreleased at the time, became one of the greatest legends in the history of rock. The album was called Smile, and it ultimately led to Parks signing a contract with Warner Brothers and being given total creative control and nearly unlimited funding by the label. The result was Song Cycle, at the time one of the most expensive albums ever produced (about three quarters of a million in today's dollars). The album, unfortunately, sold poorly, despite getting good reviews from music critics, and Warner Brothers responded by declaring the album a commercial flop and running an ad campaign with that as the theme. Among Parks' closest friends was Steve Young, an aspiring singer/singwriter who was later a key player in the Outlaw Country movement, but at the time was struggling financially. The All Golden references Young's situation.

Artist:    Big Brother And The Holding Company
Title:    Turtle Blues
Source:    CD: Cheap Thrills
Writer(s):    Janis Joplin
Label:    Columbia/Legacy
Year:    1968
    Sometimes I do play favorites. Turtle Blues, from the Big Brother And The Holding Company album Cheap Thrills, is certainly one of them. Besides vocalist Janis Joplin, who wrote the tune, the only other band member heard on the track is guitarist Peter Albin. Legendary producer John Simon provided the piano playing.
    
 

Rockin' in the Days of Confusion # 2636 (starts 8/31/26)

https://exchange.prx.org/p/632555

    This week's show is made up almost entirely of album tracks (with a couple B sides to go with them), starting off with the LP version of a track released (in edited form) as a single in 1972, but that hasn't been heard much anywhere since then.

Artist:    Chicago
Title:    Dialogue
Source:    LP: Chicago V
Writer(s):    Robert Lamm
Label:    Columbia
Year:    1972
    In their early days Chicago was one of the more politically-oriented rock bands around. One of the more notable tracks on their first album (Someday) was built around the crowds in Lincoln Park chanting outside the 1968 Democratic convention. The group continued to make political statements for the next few years, although by the time they released their landmark four-disc live album they were firmly in the camp of advocating working within the system as opposed to overthrowing everything and starting over (sort of an evolution over revolution approach). One of the more interesting songs of this type is a condemnation of socio-political apathy called Dialogue, from the album Chicago V. The structure of the first half of the record is based on Plato's philosophical dialogues, with one vocalist, Robert Lamm, asking disturbing questions and the other, Peter Cetera, giving answers that are on the surface reassuring but in reality bespeak an attitude of burying one's head in the sand and hoping everything will turn out OK. This shifts into a call for everyone to work together to effect needed changes in the world, with the repeated line "We can make it happen" dominating the second half of the piece.

Artist:    Atomic Rooster
Title:    The Price
Source:    British import LP: Assortment (originally released on LP : In Hearing Of)
Writer(s):    Crane/Darnell
Label:    Charisma
Year:    1971
    The cover of In Hearing Of Atomic Rooster depicts an elderly woman using an ear trumpet. Although not the intention of the artist, this is an apt way to describe trying to hear John Cann's guitar parts on songs like the Price, which were deliberately buried in the mix by Vincent Crane after he fired Cann from the band before the album was released. Ironically, the album came out around the same time as the non-LP single Devil's Answer, which was written and sung by Cann (although the US release of the song had overdubbed vocals by new member Pete French). 

Artist:    Focus
Title:    Anonymous II (part 1)
Source:    LP: Focus 3
Writer(s):    van Leer/Akkerman/Ruiter/van der Linden 
Label:    Sire
Year:    1972
    Although Focus would be virtually unknown in the US until Hocus Pocus became a belated hit in 1973, the band was quite successful in Europe and the UK. The album Focus 3, released in 1972, topped the charts in the band's native Netherlands and made the top 10 in the UK. The double LP includes Anonymous II, the longest studio recording ever made by the band. The track contains solos by each of the band members, guitarist Thijs van Leer/Keyboardist Jan Akkerman, bassist Bert Ruiter, and drummer Pierre van der Linden. Unfortunately, the limitations of vinyl forced the band to break the 26 minute long piece into two separate segments, the longest being part one, which takes up the LP's entire third side.

Artist:    Uriah Heep
Title:    July Morning
Source:    European import CD: Look At Yourself
Writer:    Hensley/Byron
Label:    Sanctuary/BMG (original US label: Mercury)
Year:    1971
    Fans of the British rock group Uriah Heep have an ongoing argument over which is the best Heep album; Demons And Wizards, featuring the band's biggest hit single, Easy Livin', or its immediate predecessor, Look At Yourself, which includes the 10 and a half minute long classic July Morning. Both albums feature strong vocals by David Byron and songwriting by keyboardist Ken Hensley, as well as tasty guitar licks from Mick Box. Rather than take sides on this one, I'm just going to keep on playing tracks from all six early Uriah Heep albums. 

Artist:    Jaggerz
Title:    Memoirs Of The Traveler
Source:    Mono 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s):    Rock/Ierace/Faiella
Label:    Kama Sutra
Year:    1970
    First off, the Jaggerz had nothing to do with the Rolling Stones. In fact the name Jaggerz comes from the Western Pennsylvania slang term "jagger bush", which means, literally, thorny bush. This is entirely appropriate, since the Jaggerz were in fact from Pittsburgh, the largest city in Western Pennsylvania. Led by Dominic Ierace (who later would go by the name Donnie Iris), the Jaggerz were formed in 1964, when Ierace joined up with a band that was then known as Gary and the Jewel Tones. Originally calling themselves the Jaggers, the band changed the last letter of their name to a "z" while recording their first album in 1968 after seeing a magazine ad for another band called the Jaggers. The album, released on the Gamble label (later known as Philadephia International) in 1969, got modest airplay in Western Pennsylvania, but did not chart nationally. Later that year the band signed with the Kama Sutra label, releasing their only major hit single, The Rapper, in December. Both The Rapper and its followup single, I Call My Baby Candy, were featured on the band's second LP, We Went To Different Schools Together, but had non-LP B sides. Their third single for Kama Sutra, however, was a non album track called What A Bummer, backed with another song from We Went To Different Schools Together, Memoirs Of The Traveler. Several more singles appeared over the next few years until their third album was released in 1975.

Artist:    Traffic
Title:    Rainmaker
Source:    LP: The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys
Writer(s):    Winwood/Capaldi
Label:    Island
Year:    1971
    Rainmaker, the final tune from Traffic's fifth studio album, The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys, is often overlooked by the critics when they compile "best of" lists. It is, however, a decent track that deserves to be heard much more often than it has been in the past.  

Artist:    Badfinger
Title:    Flying
Source:    45 RPM single B side
Writer(s):    Evans/Molland
Label:    Apple
Year:    1971
    Methinks somebody was trying to sound a bit too much like John Lennon on the first part of Flying, the B side of Badfinger's 1972 single Baby Blue. But the song does get a little better as it goes along.





 

 

Stuck in the Psychedelic Era # 2635 (starts 8/24/26)

https://exchange.prx.org/p/631617

    This week's show includes an artists' set from the Jimi Hendrix Experience in our first hour. Then, in the second hour, the entire first side of  Eric Burdon and the Animals second LP, The Twain Shall Meet, is presented in a monoraul mix originally released only in Europe and the UK. We finish out the show with an all-mono battle of the bands and a handful of mono single mixes. 

Artist:    Steve Miller Band
Title:    Brave New World 
Source:    LP: Homer soundtrack (originally released on LP: Brave New World)
Writer(s):    Steve Miller
Label:    Cotillion (original label: Capitol)
Year:    1969
    It took the Steve Miller Band half a dozen albums (plus appearances on a couple of movie soundtracks) to achieve star status in the early 1970s. Along the way they developed a cult following that added new members with each successive album. The fourth Miller album was Brave New World, the title track of which was used in the film Homer, a 1970 film that is better remembered for its soundtrack than for the movie itself.

Artist:    Them
Title:    Square Room
Source:    British import CD: Now And Them
Writer(s):    Armstrong/Elliot/Harley/Henderson/McDowell
Label:    Rev-Ola (original label: Tower)
Year:    1968
    With new lead vocalist Kenny McDowell replacing the departed Van Morrison, Them relocated to the US and recorded a single for Sully Records, a label based in Amarillo, Texas and co-owned by Ray Ruff. The B side of that single was a three-minute long tune called Square Room. Not long after the single was released Ruff and the band all relocated to Los Angeles, where Ruff produced two Them albums for Capitol's Tower subsidiary. The first of these, Now And Them, features a nearly ten minute long version of Square Room that has come to be regarded as one of the finest examples of raga-rock to come out of the psychedelic era. Jim Armstrong in particular turns in a strong performance on lead guitar. 
        
Artist:    Monkees
Title:    Daily Nightly
Source:    LP: Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn And Jones, LTD.
Writer(s):    Michael Nesmith
Label:    Colgems
Year:    1967
    One of the first rock songs to feature a Moog synthesizer was the Monkees' Daily Nightly from the album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones LTD. Micky Dolenz, who had a reputation for nailing it on the first take but being unable to duplicate his success in subsequent attempts, was at the controls of the new technology for this recording of Michael Nesmith's most psychedelic song (Dolenz also sang lead on the tune). 
        
Artist:    Who
Title:    Whiskey Man
Source:    Simulated Stereo CD: A Quick One (also released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s):    John Entwhistle
Label:    MCA (original 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, Whiskey Man has an unusual (but in real life far too common) subject; in this case, psychotic alcohol-induced hallucinations.

Artist:    Denise
Title:    Boy, What'll You Do Then
Source:    Mono British import CD: It's Bad For You, But Buy It
Writer(s):    Denise Kaufman
Label:    Big Beat (original label: Wee)
Year:    1965
    Somebody needs to write a biography of Denise Kaufman. Seriously. She is an amazing woman. A native San Franciscan, Kaufman was already sneaking into North Beach clubs at the age of 14 and was head of Youth For Kennedy at her junior high school. Already getting known for her prowess as a blues harmonica player, she cut her first record, backed up by a garage band from Berkeley High School known as the Answer, at age 18. The self-penned Boy, What'll You Do Then is basically a breakup song, although, according to Kaufman, the relationship itself never really had time to develop in the first place. Kaufman was also a later member of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, joining the group in time for Kesey's famous walkout of the Beatles' 1965 concert at the Cow Palace. A chance meeting at a party hosted by the members of Blue Cheer with guitarist Mary Ellen Simpson, Kaufman became the principle songwriting member of the Ace Of Cups. But that's another story.

Artist:    Warner Brothers
Title:    Lonely I
Source:    LP: The Dunwich Records Story (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s):    Warner
Label:    Voxx/Tutman
Year:    1966
    Peoria, Ilinois, was home to the Warner Bros. Combo, a group made up of brothers Larry and Al Warner along with Tom Stovall and Ken Elam. They released their first single, a cover of Mairzy Doats backed with Three Little Fishes, on the local Kandy Kane label in 1963. The following year they released four singles on three different labels, including a re-release of their first single on the Hollywood-based Everest label. They released one single a year from 1965 to 1968 on four different Chicago-based labels, including a song called I Won't Be The Same Without Her for the Dunwich label in 1966. The B side of that single was Lonely I (the letter I, not the number 1). Oddly enough the word "lonely" never appears in this otherwise blatant swipe of Clarence "Frogman" Henry's Ain't Got No Home. 

Artist:    Blues Project
Title:    Gentle Dreams
Source:    CD: The Blues Project Anthology (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Katz/Kuhlberg
Label:    Polydor (original label: Verve Forecast)
Year:    1967
    There is no question that the Blues Project was a band ahead of its time. They were the first jam band, touring extensively from coast to coast, influencing countless musicians along the way (including the members of a band called the Warlocks, who would soon change their name to the Grateful Dead) to take a chance on improvisation. Still, they existed at a time when top 40 radio airplay was the measure of success. By this standard, the Blues Project was a dismal failure. Their only charted single, Al Kooper's No Time Like The Right Time, stalled out at #97, spending all of two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, and even that rather excellent track was not representative of the band's live sound. In fact, none of the Blues Project singles (excepting their cover of Back Door Man) sounded much like the Blues Project that so excited audiences on college campuses across America. The problem was, in my opinion, that they were actually trying too hard to have a hit record, rather than playing to their own strengths. This is apparent when listening to the group's final single for the Verve Forecast label, a tune called Gentle Dreams co-written by guitarist Steve Katz (who sings on the track) and flautist/bassist Andy Kuhlberg. Like all of Katz's compositions, Gentle Dreams feels more like a folk song than the rest of the band's material. Unfortunately, Katz's vocals were not yet up to the level of quality he would achieve as a member of Blood, Sweat And Tears a few years later.

Artist:    Jethro Tull
Title:    Love Story
Source:    CD: This Was (bonus track originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Ian Anderson
Label:    Chrysalis/Capitol (original label: Reprise)
Year:    1968 (UK), 1969 (US)
    Love Story was the last studio recording by the original Jethro Tull lineup of Ian Anderson, Mick Abrahams, Clive Bunker and Glenn Cornish. The song was released as a single (Jethro Tull's first in the US) following the band's debut LP, This Was. Shortly after its release Abrahams left the group, citing differences with Anderson over the band's musical direction. Love Story spent eight weeks on the UK singles chart, reaching the #29 spot. In the U.S., Love Story was released in March 1969, with A Song for Jeffrey (an album track from This Was) on the B-side, but did not chart. Like most songs released as singles in the UK, Love Story did not appear on an album until several years later; in this case on the 1973 anthology album Living In The Past. It has most recently been included as a bonus track on the expanded CD version of This Was.

Artist:    Doors
Title:    You're Lost Little Girl
Source:    LP: Strange Days
Writer:    The Doors
Label:    Elektra
Year:    1967
    The Doors second LP, Strange Days, was stylistically similar to the first, and served notice to the world that this band was going to be around for awhile. Songwriting credit for You're Lost Little Girl (a haunting number that's always been a personal favorite of mine) was given to the entire band, a practice that would continue until the release of The Soft Parade in 1969.

Artist:    Love
Title:    Colored Balls Falling
Source:    German import CD: Love
Writer(s):    Arthur Lee
Label:    Elektra
Year:    1966
    The first Love album is rooted solidly in both folk-rock and garage rock. A solid example of this blend is Colored Balls Falling, written by Arthur Lee. To my knowledge, Colored Balls Falling has never been included on any compilations.

Artist:    Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title:    Foxy Lady
Source:    CD: The Ultimate Experience (originally released on LP: Are You Experienced)
Writer(s):    Jimi Hendrix
Label:    MCA (original label: Reprise)
Year:    1967
    The first track on the original UK release of Are You Experienced was Foxy Lady. The British custom of the time was to not include any songs on albums that had been previously released as singles. When Reprise Records got the rights to release the album in the US, it was decided to include three songs that had all been top 40 hits in the UK. One of those songs, Purple Haze, took over the opening spot on the album, and Foxy Lady was moved to the middle of side 2.

Artist:    Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title:    Bold As Love
Source:    CD: Axis: Bold As Love
Writer(s):    Jimi Hendrix
Label:    Experience Hendrix/MCA (original label: Reprise)
Year:    1967
    When working on the song Bold As Love for the second Jimi Hendrix Experience album in 1967, Jimi reportedly asked engineer Eddie Kramer if he could make a guitar sound like it was under water. Kramer's answer was to use a techique called phasing, which is what happens when two identical sound sources are played simultaneously, but slightly (as in microseconds) out of synch with each other. The technique, first used in 1958 but seldom tried in stereo, somewhat resembles the sound of a jet plane flying by. This is not to be confused with chorusing (sometimes called reverse phasing), a technique used often by the Beatles which electronically splits a single signal into two identical signals then delays one to create the illusion of being separate tracks. 

Artist:    Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title:    Hey Joe
Source:    CD: The Ultimate Experience (originally released in UK as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Jimi Hendrix
Label:    MCA (original UK label: Polydor)
Year:    1966
    The first track recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience was Hey Joe, a song that Hendrix had seen Tim Rose perform in Greenwich Village before relocating to London to form his new band. It was released as a single in the UK in late 1966 and went all the way to the # 3 spot on the British top 40. Hendrix's version is a bit heavier than Rose's and leaves off the first verse ("where you going with that money in your hand") entirely. Although Rose always claimed that Hey Joe was a traditional folk song, the song was actually copyrighted in 1962 by California folk singer Billy Roberts. By the time Hendrix recorded Hey Joe several American bands had recorded a fast version of the song, with the Leaves hitting the US top 40 with it in early 1966.
    
Artist:    Paul Revere And The Raiders
Title:    All I Really Need Is You
Source:    Simulated stereo LP: Midnight Ride
Writer(s):    Lindsay/Revere
Label:    Columbia
Year:    1966
    Paul Revere And The Raiders have gotten a bad rap over the years, mostly for dressing funny. During the mid-60s, however, with the British Invasion in full swing, an American band needed every gimmick it could think of, and the Raiders simply took advantage of their band leader's birth name and did the obvious. What's often overlooked, however, is the fact that Paul Revere And The Raiders, co-led by Revere and vocalist/saxophonist Mark Lindsay, were one of the best bands of their time, and the first  band from the Pacific Northwest to achieve continuous national chart success. The band members were prolific songwriters as well. In fact, of the twelve songs on their 1966 album Midnight Ride, ten were originals, including All I Really Need Is You, which leads off side two of the LP.

Artist:    Music Machine
Title:    Talk Talk
Source:    CD: Turn On-The Very Best Of The Music Machine (originally released on LP: Turn On The Music Machine)
Writer:    Sean Bonniwell
Label:    Collectables (original label: Original Sound)
Year:    1966
    When it came time for Sean Bonniwell's band, the Music Machine, to go into the studio, the group decided to go for the best sound possible. This meant signing with tiny Original Sound Records, despite having offers from bigger labels, due to Original Sound having their own state-of-the-art eight-track studios. Unfortunately for the band, they soon discovered that having great equipment did not mean Original Sound made great decisions. One of the first, in fact, was to include a handful of cover songs on the Music Machine's first LP that were recorded for use on a local TV show. Bonniwell was livid when he found out, as he had envisioned an album made up entirely of his own compositions (although he reportedly did plan to use a slowed-down version of Hey Joe that he and singer/songwriter Tim Rose had worked up). From that point on it was only a matter of time until the Music Machine and Original Sound parted company, but not until after they scored a big national hit with Talk Talk (a song that ironically had been recorded on four-track equipment at RCA's Burbank studios prior to the band's signing with Original Sound) in 1966.

Artist:    Beatles
Title:    For No One
Source:    CD: Revolver
Writer(s):    Lennon/McCartney
Label:    Parlophone (original US label: Capitol)
Year:    1966
    With the predominance of the keyboards and french horn (played by Alan Civil) in the mix, For No One (essentially a Paul McCartney solo number) shows just how far the Beatles had moved away from their original image as a "guitar band" by the time they recorded the Revolver album in 1966. John Lennon considered For No One to be one of Paul's best songs.

Artist:    Notes From The Underground
Title:    Where I'm At Today
Source:    Mono British import CD: The Berkeley Years
Writer(s):    Mike O'Connor
Label:    Big Beat 
Year:    Recorded 1967, released 1995
    Prior to signing with Vanguard in late 1967, Berkeley, California's Notes From The Underground tried to follow in the footsteps of fellow Berkeleyites Country Joe And The Fish by recording and releasing a four-song EP of their own. They ended up recording seven songs in April of 1967. Among the three unused songs was the song that most sounded like their mentors, Where I'm At Today. The tune was re-recorded for the Notes' own debut LP the following year.

Artist:    Eric Burdon And The Animals
Title:    The Twain Shall Meet (side one)
Source:    LP: The Twain Shall Meet
Writer(s):    Burdon/Briggs/Weider/Jenkins/McCulloch
Label:    M-G-M
Year:    1968
    Eric Burdon And The Animals were among the many acts that appeared at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967. Although the band did make an impression at the festival, the festival itself made an even bigger impression upon the band. This was demonstrated in the best way possible with the late 1967 release of the band's next single, Monterey, which name-checked many of the other artists on the scene. The group followed that single up with their second LP, The Twain Shall Meet, in 1968. Each side of the LP was a continuous track, with each song fading into the one following it. The album begins with a short sitar introduction with spoken vocals by Burdon that leads into the stereo version of Monterrey, which is missing the first few notes from the single version. As Monterey fades out, it is replaced by the contemplative Just The Thought, sung by bassist Danny McCulloch. Studio effects highlight the blues-based Closer To The Truth, which fades into No Self Pity. Songwriting credits for all of the above are given to the entire group, but the final track on side one, Orange And Red Beams, was both written and sung by McCulloch. 

Artist:    Rolling Stones
Title:    It's All Over Now
Source:    British import 45 RPM single
Writer(s):    Bobby & Shirley Womack
Label:    Decca
Year:    1964
    During a 1964 on-air interview with the Rolling Stones, New York DJ Murray the K played a copy of a song called It's All Over Now by Bobby Womack's band, the Valentinos. The song had been a minor hit earlier in the year, spending two weeks in the top 100, and the Stones were reportedly knocked out by the record, calling it "our kind of song." Less than two weeks later the Stones recorded their own version of the song, which became their first number one hit in the UK. At first, Womack was reportedly against the idea of a British band recording his song, but changed his mind when he saw his first royalty check from the Stones' recording. 

Artist:    Jefferson Airplane
Title:    Let Me In
Source:    45 RPM single B side
Writer(s):    Balin/Kantner
Label:    RCA Victor
Year:    1966
    Marty Balin deserves recognition for his outstanding abilities as a leader. Most people don't even realize he was the founder of Jefferson Airplane, yet it was Balin who brought together the diverse talents of what would become San Francisco's most successful band of the 60s and managed to keep the band together through more than its share of controversies. One indication of his leadership abilities is that he encouraged Paul Kantner to sing lead on Let Me In, a song that the two of them had written together for the band's debut LP, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, despite the fact that Balin himself had no other onstage role than to sing lead vocals.

Artist:     Rolling Stones
Title:     Child Of The Moon
Source:     45 RPM single B side
Writer:     Jagger/Richards
Label:     London
Year:     1968
    Child Of The Moon was, essentially, the last gasp of the Rolling Stones' psychedelic period, and one of the last Stones tracks to feature founder Brian Jones prominently (on saxophone). Following the poor critical response to their self-produced late 1967 LP Their Satanic Majesties Request, the Stones had brought in producer Jimmy Miller for their next album, Beggar's Banquet. Miller, who had previously produced several hit records for Steve Winwood, including Gimme Some Lovin' and I'm A Man (both by the Spencer Davis Group), tended to favor straight-ahead rock and roll with a touch of soul. This was reflected in the first single Miller produced for the Rolling Stones, Jumpin' Jack Flash. Although Miller is also credited as the producer of Child Of The Moon, which appeared as the single's B side, it is more likely that the song was more or less produced by the band itself as Miller was still getting his footing. 

Artist:    Jefferson Airplane
Title:    Somebody To Love
Source:    Mono LP: Surrealistic Pillow
Writer(s):    Darby Slick
Label:    Sundazed (original label: RCA Victor)
Year:    1967
            If not for Somebody To Love, no one would even remember that Grace Slick and her husband Jerry were once in a band with her brother-in-law, Darby, who wrote the song.

Artist:    Rolling Stones
Title:    Good Times, Bad Times
Source:    British import 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s):    Jagger/Richards
Label:    Decca
Year:    1964
    It may be hard to imagine, but the first Rolling Stones US tour was less than a complete success. In order to salvage something positive about the trip abroad, producer Andrew Loog Oldham arranged for the band to book time at Chicago's Chess Records studio, where many of the band's idols had recorded for the past decade. One of the songs from those sessions was Good Times, Bad Times. The song was only the second Jagger/Richards composition to be recorded by the Stones, and the first to be released on 45 RPM vinyl. Since 45s outsold LPs by a factor of at least five to one in 1964 this was an important distinction (especially considering that the writers of B sides were paid royalties at the same rate as the writers of A sides).

Artist:    Jefferson Airplane
Title:    Bringing Me Down
Source:    45 RPM single
Writer(s):    Balin/Kantner
Label:    RCA Victor
Year:    1966
    One of several singles released mainly to San Francisco Bay area radio stations and record stores, Bringing Me Down is an early collaboration between vocalist Marty Balin and guitarist/vocalist Paul Kantner. Balin had invited Kantner into the band without having heard him play a single note. It turned out to be one of many right-on-the-money decisions by the Jefferson Airplane founder.

Artist:    Bubble Puppy
Title:    Lonely
Source:    45 RPM single B side
Writer(s):    Prince/Cox
Label:    International Artists
Year:    1969
    The Bubble Puppy came into existence in 1967, when two former members of the legendary Corpus Christie,Texas garage band the Bad Seeds, guitarist Rod Prince and keyboardist/bassist Roy Cox, relocated to San Antonio, recruiting guitarist Todd Potter and drummer Craig Root to form the new band. Success came quickly in the form of the band's very first gig, opening for the Who at the San Antonio Colosseum. After David Fore replaced Root in the band, the group relocated to Austin, where they got a steady gig at the Vulcan Gas Company. By 1968 the Bubble Puppy was traveling all over Texas for gigs, and late in the year got a contract with Houston-based International Artists, a label that had already gained notoriety by signing the 13th Floor Elevators and Red Crayola. After releasing a surprise top 40 hit, Hot Smoke And Sassafras (with Lonely on the B side) in December of 1968, the band got to work on a full album, A Gathering Of Promises. International Artists failed to get the album out quickly enough to capitilize of the popularity of Hot Smoke And Sassafras, and further hurt the band's chance of success by refusing to grant licensing rights on the single to Apple Records for European release. By 1970 the band and the label had parted company, with the Bubble Puppy relocating to Los Angeles and changing their name to Demian.

Artist:    13th Floor Elevators
Title:    Slide Machine
Source:    Mono British import CD: Easter Everywhere
Writer(s):    R. P. St. John
Label:    Charly (original label: International Artists)
Year:    1967
    Following a successful tour of Southern California in late 1966, the 13th Floor Elevators returned to their native Austin, Texas to begin work on a second LP. Unlike the first album, which (like most debut efforts of the time) was recorded in a matter of days, Easter Anywhere took several months to complete. During that time the band underwent personnel changes and a continuously deteriorating relationship with Internation Artists Records, which kept setting up inappropriate gigs instate when the band would have been better served building up a national following. In addition, some of the band members were exhibiting increasingly bizarre behavior due to excessive drug use, which slowed work on the album down considerably. One more factor contributing to the tardiness of the LP was the band's desire to make an album that would be thematically consistent throughout rather than a random collection of songs like their debut LP had been. The fact that the theme itself was pretty cosmic made it that much harder to capture in the recording studio. Although nearly all the material on the album was written by the band members themselves, one track, Slide Machine, was credited to the mysterious R.P. St. John, who became considerably less mysterious after he moved to San Francisco and, as Powell St. John, co-founded Mother Earth with singer/songwriter Tracy Nelson. 

Artist:    James Brown/Famous Flames
Title:    Night Train
Source:    Mono CD: All-Time 20 Greatest Hits (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s):    Washington/Simpkins/Forrest
Label:    Polydor (original label: Sue)
    James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, got his start with a group called the Gospel Starlighters, which eventually became the Famous Flames. Their first big hit was Please, Please, Please, which went into the top 10 on the R&B charts in 1956. The original group lasted until 1957, but did not have any other hit records. By the end of the decade, however, Brown had re-formed the Flames as his backup vocal group, accompanying the James Brown Orchestra (sometimes called the James Brown Band). A string of hits followed, including his own version of Jimmy Forrest's Night Train. Brown changed the lyrics on the tune to include a list of cities on his current tour (that not so coincidentally had R&B radio stations that might play the record if their home city was mentioned). Brown reportedly played drums on the track as well.