Thursday, July 29, 2010

Playlist 1010

Ever wonder what a "typical" edition of Stuck in the Psychedelic Era sounds like? Well, this week is probably as typical as it gets. We have a couple of sets of songs from specific years, a set of album tracks, an artist-specific set, and something I call a "come up the years" set, plus a few miscellaneous tunes at the end of the show.

This first set is actually two of the above, as it is a set of album tracks from a specific year, in this case 1967 (which regular listeners will recognize as the peak year of the psychedelic era).

Artist: JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE
Song Title: "If 6 Was 9"
Source: CD: AXIS: BOLD AS LOVE (reissue of original LP)
Release Year: 1967
Best listened to with the headphones on. Cranked up.

Artist: DOORS
Song Title: "You're Lost Little Girl"
Source: LP: STRANGE DAYS (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1967
A song that deserves more recognition than it gets.

Artist: KINKS
Song Title: "No Return"
Source: LP: SOMETHING ELSE (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1967
Ray Davies definitely was moving into new territory with this one.

The next pair of album tracks are both from the year 1969, although in this case they are quite different each other.

Artist: LEIGH STEPHENS
Song Title: "Red Weather"
Source: LP: RED WEATHER (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1969

Artist: GUESS WHO
Song Title: "A Wednesday In Your Garden"
Source: CD: WHEATFIELD SOUL (reissue of original LP+ bonus tracks)
Release Year: 1969

The following set is from the year 1965, even though some copies of the songs were actually released the following year.

Artist: WHO
Song Title: "It's Not True"
Source: CD: MY GENERATION (CD reissue of original LP)
Release Year: 1965 (UK) 1966 (US)

Artist: THEM
Song Title: "Baby Please Don't Go"
Source: 12" PROMO VINYL (from soundtrack of "Good Morning Vietnam") (originally issued in UK on 45 RPM vinyl, charted # 10)
Release Year: 1965

Artist: ROMANCERS (aka The Smoke Rings)
Song Title: "Love's the Thing"
Source: CD: WHERE THE ACTION IS-L.A. NUGGETS 1965-68 (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1965/1966
Released three times on three labels under two different band names. Such was the studio scene in East L.A. in the mid-60s. Max Uballez, leader of the Romancers and East L.A.'s answer to Phil Spector, was the driving force behind this tune.

Next up, another set from 1967.

Artist: LOVIN' SPOONFUL
Song Title: "Six O'Clock"
Source: 45 RPM VINYL
Release Year: 1967
The last top 20 single from this iconic band.

Artist: ELASTIK BAND
Song Title: "Spazz"
Source: LP: NUGGETS VOL 9 - ACID ROCK (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
Just plain weird. And probably politically incorrect, as well.

Artist: ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS
Song Title: "A Girl Named Sandoz"
Source: CD: BEST OF ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
The B side of "When I Was Young."

Artist: COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH
Song Title: "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine"
Source: CD: ELECTRIC MUSIC FOR THE MIND AND BODY (reissue of original album)
Release Year: 1967

Here we have a couple of random tracks leading into an artist set.

Artist: BEATLES
Song Title: "Savoy Truffle"
Source: CD: THE BEATLES (aka THE WHITE ALBUM)
Release Year: 1968

Artist: JAMES GANG
Song Title: "Stone Rap"
Source: CD: YER ALBUM (reissue of original LP)
Release Year: 1968

Artist: CANNED HEAT
Song Title: "On the Road Again"
Source: 45 RPM VINYL (Silver Spotlight stereo reissue)
Release Year: 1968

Artist: CANNED HEAT
Song Title: "Future Blues"
Source: CD: BEST OF CANNED HEAT (originally released on LP: FUTURE BLUES)
Release Year: 1970

Artist: CANNED HEAT
Song Title: "Time Was"
Source: 45 RPM VINYL (Silver Spotlight stereo reissue)
Release Year: 1967

The second hour always starts off with a single track. Typically, it's a fairly well-known song like this one.

Artist: JOE COCKER
Song Title: "Feelin' Alright"
Source: CD: WOODSTOCK - 40 YEARS ON: BACK TO YASGUR'S FARM
Release Year: 2009 (recorded 1969)

Occasionally Stuck in the Psychedelic Era has a feature called "Come Up the Years." The idea is to start out with a song from a particular year, then follow it up with a song from the next year, and so on. Generally these sets stop at three songs, although I have been known to do longer ones as well. This week's set starts in 1965 with a band that would become a chart topping band in subsequent years.

Artist: ASSOCIATION
Song Title: "One Too Many Mornings"
Source: CD: WHERE THE ACTION IS-L.A. NUGGETS 1965-68 (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1965

Artist: ROLLING STONES
Song Title: "Let's Spend the Night Together"
Source: LP: BETWEEN THE BUTTONS
Release Year: 1966

Artist: JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
Song Title: "The War Is Over"
Source: LP: AFTER BATHING AT BAXTER'S (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1967
After Bathing At Baxters' had a unique structure. The dozen or so songs were grouped into five suites, three on one side of the album and two on the other. The shortest of these was "The War Is Over," which was comprised of two songs. "Martha" and "Wild Thyme." A short film of "Martha", similar to those accompanying "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" earlier in the year, was shown on a Perry Como special in the fall of '67.

The term singer-songwriter came into common usage in the early 70s. We fill out the first half of the second hour with a couple of the artists who helped polularize the term.

Artist: NEIL YOUNG with CRAZY HORSE
Song Title: "(When You're On) The Losing End"
Source: LP: EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE
Release Year: 1969

Artist: JONI MITCHELL
Song Title: "Morning Morgantown"
Source: LP: LADIES OF THE CANYON
Release Year: 1970

The next two tracks have something in common. Both are from artists who had lost their original focus and were trying desperately to get back on track. The first case is a band that had lost its key members and had deteriorated to the point of actually changing personnel in the middle of not one, but two consecutive albums; the second is a vocalist who had been persuaded that her band was holding her back, only to realize too late that the band itself was an essential element in her own rise to fame.

Artist: BLUE CHEER
Song Title: "Fool"
Source: CD: LOVE IS THE SONG WE SING: SAN FRANCISCO NUGGETS 1965-1970 (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1970
This song actually appeared on the 1969 album Blue Cheer, but with a different vocal track. It sounds nothing like the original lineup. This is the first time I've played this track. In all honesty, I don't plan on playing it again.

Artist: JANIS JOPLIN with the KOZMIC BLUES BAND
Song Title: "Work Me, Lord"
Source: CD: WOODSTOCK - 40 YEARS ON: BACK TO YASGUR'S FARM (previously released on multiple LPs)
Release Year: 1969
I've said this numerous times before. Janis should never have left Big Brother and the Holding Company.

Some songs just naturally flow together. Such is the case with the next two tracks.

Artist: WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND
Song Title: "Unfree Child"
Source: LP: VOLUME 2 (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1967

Artist: MOJO MEN
Song Title: "She's My Baby"
Source: CD: LOVE IS THE SONG WE SING: SAN FRANCISCO NUGGETS 1965-1970 (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1966

And to finish out this week's show, a song selected at random.

Artist: BLUES MAGOOS
Song Title: "Queen Of My Heart"
Source: CD: KALEIDOSCOPIC COMPENDIUM (originally released on LP: PSYCHEDELIC LOLLIPOP)
Release Year: 1966

Friday, July 23, 2010

Playlist 7/23-25/10

This week is sort of a reversed hours edition of Stuck in the Psychedelic Era, in that we have some long jams right at the beginning of the show instead of in the second hour where they usually end up. No particular reason for it. Just thought I'd try something different. If you haven't read the previous post, I'd suggest scrolling down and doing it now, as it was written specifically to lead into this week's playlist.

Artist: AL KOOPER/STEPHEN STILLS
Song Title: "Season of the Witch" (2002 remix without horns)
Source: CD: SUPER SESSION (reissue of original LP with bonus tracks)
Release Year: 1968/2002
In 1968 Al Kooper, former member of the Blues Project, formed a new group he called Blood, Sweat and Tears. Then, after recording one album with the new group, he promptly quit the band. He then booked studio time and called in his friend Michael Bloomfield (who had just left own his new band the Electric Flag) for a recorded jam session. Due to complications caused by a growing heroin addiction (or maybe he was hanging out in San Francisco with Mother Earth---see the last note in this post), Bloomfield was unable to record an entire album's worth of material, and Kooper called in another friend, Stephen Stills (who had recently left the Buffalo Springfield) to complete the project. The result was the Super Session album, which surprisingly (considering that it was the first album of its kind), made the top 10 album chart. One of the most popular tracks on Super Session was an extended version of Donovan's "Season of the Witch." Kooper initially felt that the basic tracks needed some sweetening, so he brought in a horn section to record additional overdubs. In 2003, Kooper revisited the original multi-track master tapes and created a new mix that restored the original performance. This is that mix.

Artist: LOVE
Song Title: "Revelation"
Source: CD: DA CAPO (reissue of original LP)
Release Year: 1967
The 19-minute long "Revelation" is an uneven track, with moments of brilliance interspersed with seemingly aimless musical ramblings and even occasional substandard playing. Nonetheless, Love's front man, Arthur Lee, maintained until his dying day that he originated the idea of an extended onstage jam featuring solos from each member. Of course jazz musicians had been doing the same thing for years, but it is entirely possible that Love was indeed the first rock band to make the plunge. If that is indeed true, then "Revelation," despite its many flaws, deserves a place in rock history as the inspiration for such classic tracks as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," "Light My Fire" and countless others.

One of the bands I get the most requests for is Frank Zappa's original band, the Mothers of Invention (or simply the Mothers). This week I decided it was high time to give them a set of their own, as a highly-structured counterpoint to the extended jams of the first half hour of the show.

Artist: MOTHERS OF INVENTION
Song Title: "I Ain't Got No Heart"
Source: LP: FREAK OUT (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1966
According to the Freak Out liner notes, "I Ain't Got No Heart" was a summation of Zappa's feelings about relationships in general. Maybe so, but I have to point out that Dweezil and Moon Unit Zappa grew up in a two-parent household. So there!

Artist: MOTHERS OF INVENTION
Song Title: "Holiday In Berlin, Full Blown/Aybe Sea"
Source: LP: BURNT WEENY SANDWICH (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1970
This pair of instrumentals is fairly typical of Zappa's work following his move from Verve to Reprise, where he was initially given the freedom to pretty much do whatever he wanted to. Sometimes called avant garde jazz, these compositions probably are more akin to 20th century classical music than anything else, reflecting the influence of Edgard Varese, Zappa's avowed musical hero.

Artist: MOTHERS OF INVENTION
Song Title: "Trouble Comin' Every Day"
Source: LP: FREAK OUT (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1966
Zappa's early signature song was written during the Watts riots, and still resonates over 40 years later. A classic.

Artist: BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY
Song Title: "Turtle Blues"
Source: LP: CHEAP THRILLS (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1968
Janis was at her best when singing the blues, as this cut shows.

Artist: WILSON PICKETT
Song Title: "Stagger Lee"
Source: 45 RPM VINYL (Atlantic Oldies Series reissue)
Release Year: 1967
This week's second hour starts off with a high energy remake of the Lloyd Price classic from one of the masters of Southern Soul.

Artist: SEEDS
Song Title: "A Faded Picture"
Source: LP: A WEB OF SOUND (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1966 or 1967 (sources vary)
The Seeds second LP showed a much greater range than the first. "A Faded Picture" has a slower tempo than most of the other songs in the Seeds repertoire and, at over five minutes, a longer running time as well.

Artist: YARDBIRDS
Song Title: "For Your Love"
Source: 45 RPM VINYL (Epic Gold reissue)
Release Year: 1965
The last Yardbirds song to feature guitarist Eric Clapton, "For Your Love" was the group's fist US hit, peaking at the # 6 slot. The song did even better in the UK, peaking at # 3. Following its release, Clapton left the Yardbirds, citing the band's move toward a more commercial sound and this song in particular as reasons for his departure. (Ironic when you consider songs like his mid-90s hit "Change the World" or his slowed down lounge lizard version of "Layla"). Incidentally, "For Your Love" was written by Graham Gouldman, who would end up as a member of Wayne Fontana's Mindbenders and later 10cc with Kevin Godley and Lol Creme.

Artist: NEIL YOUNG
Song Title: "The Needle and the Damage Done"
Source: 45 RPM VINYL (promo copy) (stereo version appears on album Harvest)
Release Year: 1972
A rare mono release of one of Young's best-known songs. This was the B side of "War Song," a collaboration with Graham Nash that to my knowledge has never been released in stereo.

Artist: THEM
Song Title: "Market Place"
Source: LP: TIME OUT, TIME IN, FOR THEM (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1968
Starting off a set of tunes from 1968, this track from the second LP following the departure of Van Morrison has the boys from Belfast sounding instrumentally a lot like San Francisco's top band of the time. Vocally, however, Kenny McDowell had a sound of his own. Sadly, this version of Them never really caught on, and soon disbanded. The Them name, however, continued to pop up every few years, generally with one or more of the original members in the band, sort of like an Irish version of the Drifters.

Artist: JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
Song Title: "Greasy Heart"
Source: CD: CROWN OF CREATION (reissue of original album) (song also released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
Speaking of the Bay area's top band of the time, the Airplane released their fourth LP, Crown of Creation, in the summer of '68. "Greasy Heart," a Grace Slick composition, was chosen for single release to AM top 40 radio, but by then the group was getting far more airplay on album-oriented FM stations with tunes like "Lather" and "Triad" and the mysteriously named "House at Pooniel Corners."

Artist: BONZO DOG BAND
Song Title: "I'm The Urban Spaceman"
Source: LP: PROGRESSIVE HEAVIES (United Artists compilation album) (song originally released in UK on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
Neil Innes is much better known in his native UK than in the US, thanks in large part to the Bonzo Dog Band. Writing all those Rutles songs didn't hurt either.

Artist: DAVE DAVIES
Song Title: "Suzannah's Still Alive"
Source: CD: KINKS 40 GREATEST (originally released in UK on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
Although Ray Davies was the leader and primary songwriter for the Kinks, it was brother Dave who first recorded as a solo artist, first with "Death of a Clown" (which received extensive airplay on the 100,000 watt English language semi-pirate station Radio Luxembourg in late 1967), then this follow-up single, released in early 1968. After the next two singles flopped, however, Dave returned to the fold and has been a Kink ever since.

Artist: YOUNG RASCALS
Song Title: "It's Wonderful"
Source: LP: NUGGETS-VOL 9 (ACID ROCK) (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
Psychedelic rock is generally considered to have begun on the West Coast (although Austin, Texas has a legitimate claim as well). By the time of the Summer of Love, however, psychedelic rock was a national trend. New York had always been one of the major centers of the music industry, so it's not surprising that on the East Coast 1967 was the year of the psychedelic single. One of the most popular New York bands of the time was the Young Rascals, generally considered to be the greatest blue-eyed soul band of the era, if not of all time. Still, the times being what they were, the Rascals departed from their usual style more than once in '67, first with the smash hit "How Can I Be Sure," and then with this tune, released toward the end of that legendary summer.

Artist: THE LEFT BANKE
Song Title: "Pretty Ballerina"
Source: 45 RPM VINYL (All-Time Smash Hits stereo reissue first appeared on LP: WALK AWAY RENEE/PRETTY BALLERINA)
Release Year: 1967
Vocalist/songwriter Michael Brown was in a unique position among aspiring young musicians when he formed the Left Banke in that his father was employed at one of New York's top recording studios. Michael used that access to great advantage, single-handedly creating the genre known as Baroque Pop with the release of "Walk Away Renee" in 1966. This 1967 follow-up was the group's second consecutive top 10 single. Unfortunately, Brown then made a tactical error by releasing a third single under the Left Banke name without the knowledge, consent or participation of the rest of the band, and the group's mojo was irreparably damaged.

Artist: THIRD RAIL
Song Title: "Run Run Run"
Source: CD: NUGGETS BOX SET (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
The final part of our New York 1967 set is a tune from the husband and wife Brill Building songwriting team of Artie and Kris Resnik in collaboration with Joey Levine, who would soon gain notoriety as the vocalist for Ohio Express. A purely studio creation, "Run Run Run" shows that even the old guard that had dominated the music industry during the pre-Beatle years was willing to jump on the psychedelic bandwagon during the Summer of Love.

Artist: VENTURES
Song Title: "Walk, Don't Run-1964"
Source: 45 RPM VINYL (Silver Spotlight Series reissue)
Release Year: 1964
The Ventures were one of the first regional bands to score nationally with the original version of "Walk Don't Run," released at a time when the Brill Building machine dominated the music industry. In 1964 a major Hollywood movie came out with the same name, and the Ventures were asked to update their earlier hit. The resulting track, adding keyboards and enhancing the song's signature sliding bass line, made the top 10 the same year the Beatles and other British Invasion bands were tearing up the US charts. Quite an accomplishment, really.

Artist: SONICS
Song Title: "The Witch"
Source: CD: NUGGETS BOX SET (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1964
Another regional hit from the West Coast. Unlike the Ventures, though, the Sonics (named for the sonic booms from the nearby Boeing plant) never caught on nationally. In their native territory, though, "The Witch" was a smash, holding the record for top selling single in the state of Washington for several years (presumably until Heart's "Crazy On You" in the mid-70s).

Artist: EDGAR WINTER GROUP
Song Title: "Frankenstein"
Source: CD: ELECTRIC 70s (originally appeared on the LP: THEY ONLY COME OUT AT NIGHT)
Release Year: 1973
Between "The Witch" and this track you'd almost think it was Halloween. Although 1973 is generally considered to be a few years past the end of the psychedelic era, the instrumental break, especially heard late at night in an altered state, certainly sounds psychedelic enough to pass muster.

Artist: JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE
Song Title: "Purple Haze"
Source: CD: ULTIMATE EXPERIENCE (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl in UK and on LP: ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? in US)
Release Year: 1967
Following up on the success of their first UK single "Hey Joe," the Jimi Hendrix Experience released "Purple Haze" in early 1967. The popularity of the two singles (released only in Europe) led to a deal with Reprise Records to start releasing the band's material in the US. By then, however, the Experience had already released Are You Experienced without either of the two hit singles on it. Reprise, hedging their bets, included both singles (but not their B sides), as well as a third UK single "The Wind Cries Mary," deleting several tracks from the original version of Are You Experienced to make room for them.

Artist: MOTHER EARTH
Song Title: "Mother Earth"
Source: LP: LIVING WITH THE ANIMALS (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1968
Tracy Nelson had moved out to the San Francisco Bay area in the early 60s from her native Wisconson, and had had moderate success as a solo artist. It wasn't until she formed Mother Earth, though, that she got her first record contract. This track from the first album, a cover of the blues classic written by Memphis Slim, was probably the inspiration for the band's name. Michael Bloomfield, credited on the album cover as "Mikal Blumfield" due to him being under contract to Columbia Records (Mother Earth recorded for Mercury), is the guest lead guitarist on this track. Makes me wonder if maybe he was hanging out with Tracy when he was supposed to be jamming with Al (see the note on tonight's first track for more on that).

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

We Be Jammin'

The first set on Stuck in the Psychedelic Era this week is just two looooong jams. In fact, one of those is (according to some sources) the original template for all those long album cuts that feature solos by all the band members (think In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida here). To get you in the mood I'm presenting here a brief history of improvisational rock and roll.

The idea of a jam session is as old as music itself. In all likelyhood, Ook, Mog and Ugar found themselves taking turns strutting their stuff on the sticks, bones and skins they used to make their own kind of music as a way to pass the evening while digesting the day's hunt in the warmth of the cave. As music got more sophisticated, musicians became more specialized, and the concept of a composer actually writing a piece before performing it came into being. Over the millenia this would lead to the existence of two distinct musical traditions: one an increasingly complex written form primarily intended for the upper classes, the other more akin to an oral tradition shared by the common folk. In the West, those traditions would come to be called classical and folk music, although over time there would occassionally be instances of written folk songs (Stephen Foster's tunes, for example) and classical variations on folk music (Dvorjak's Slavic Dances, among others). The development of the player piano in the 19th century would further blur the lines, and by the end of the century a sub-genre of composed popular music coming from New York's Tin Pan Alley was flourishing in vaudeville houses across the US.

Then came the 20th century. For the first time in history it was possible to make a recording of music as it was being played. At first this new (and expensive) technology was used purely to record the more highbrow classical music, but as the playback equipment became more affordable, folk songs begin to appear on record as well. Because of time limitations (about three and a half minutes per side of a standard 10" 78 RPM record, even less for the short-lived cylinder recordings that Thomas Edison used) classical music, which tended to favor long complex works, found itself at a distinct disadvantage. In the US a new form of folk music called jazz swept the nation, starting in New Orleans, then spreading to the Northern cities, swallowing up Tin Pan Alley in the process. By the end of the 1920s jazz was the dominant form of recorded music in the US.

As jazz became more popular, it also became more structured, with arrangers taking a more prominent role throughout the 30s and on into the World War II years. This in turn led many of the more creative jazz musicians to start meeting after hours for informal jam sessions, where they could try out new ideas in an unrestricted environment. Many of these jam sessions would go on for hours, and usually would only be heard by a handful of fellow musicians. Actually recording one of these sessions, though, was not technically feasible until the end of WWII, when American GIs taking control of German-held radio stations discovered a new technology that would revolutionize the recording industry: recording tape.

Unlike 78 RPM records, reel-to-reel tapes could hold up to an hour's worth of material and had much higher fidelity. As the technology became better understood, improvements in both equipment and the tape itself would extend the amount of continuous recording time to as much as two hours without having to change reels. At the same time, new competing technologies from the owners of the two leading record labels, RCA and CBS, would soon make the 78 RPM record obsolete: the 7" 45 RPM single song record and the 33 1/3 RPM Long Play (LP) record.

The 45 RPM record was created to replace the 78 RPM records that had been the standard since the early days of recording. Unlike the 78s, which were made of a brittle material known as shellac that would shatter when dropped, 45s were made of vinyl and were unbreakable with normal use. The 45 RPM record, however, had the same time limitations that the 78 did; about 3-4 minutes per side, although eventually that was expanded to about seven minutes for an Extended Play (EP) version. LPs, which were also made of vinyl, played at a slower speed and were larger than 45s, coming in both 10" and 12" sizes. Both formats took advantage of the ability to first record and edit pieces on reel-to-reel tape before committing the final recording to vinyl.

As with the first records, LPs at first were used for classical music, which benefited greatly from the longer playing times (up to 25 minutes per side for a 12" LP) and higher fidelity. Once again, though, as the price of playback equipment came down, more and more popular recordings found their way onto LP vinyl. Naturally, the existing popular music industry favored the 45, as it was essentially in the same format that the industry had built itself around over the years. The more creative jazz musicians, however, saw the LP as a medium that could hold the longer improvisational pieces they were concocting during those late-night jam sessions. This led to the rise of the cool jazz movement of the 1950s, with albums having only two or three tracks per side, averaging anywhere from 6-10 minutes per track.

By 1967, such extended tracks were fairly common on jazz albums, but had only been tried a couple of times by rock bands. One of the best known early examples is a track called "Going Home" by the Rolling Stones, which had appeared on their 1966 album Aftermath. Years later in an interview, Arthur Lee would claim that the Stones were inspired when they caught Love in a club in L.A. playing "Revelation," a piece designed specifically to give individual band members a chance to strut their stuff, but that since Aftermath came out before Da Capo, Love got accused of ripping off the Stones when in reality it was the other way around. Another L.A. band, the Seeds, had a similar extended track featured on their second album, A Web of Sound, which came out either in late 1966 or early 1967, depending on the reference source.

Two bands that were, strictly speaking, electric blues bands rather than rock bands also recorded extended improvisational tracks in 1966: the New York-based Blues Project had "Two Trains Running" and "Flute Thing" on their album Projections, while the Paul Butterfield Blues Band recorded the classic East-West album, featuring both the title track and a long version of Cannonball Adderly's "Work Song."

The one thing that all of these early tracks had in common was that they were recorded by existing bands. The idea of members of different bands coming together to record improvisational pieces would have to wait until 1968. Which is where this week's show begins.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Playlist 7/16-18/10

This week it's the Red Coats vs the Blue Coats, with all but one track in the first hour from British artists, and all but one track in the second hour from American bands. (Yes, I know most of the members of Steppenwolf were from Canada, but the band itself wasn't called Steppenwolf until after they all moved to LA.)

Artist: AMBOY DUKES
Song Title: "Journey To the Center of the Mind"
Source: CD: THE BEST OF 60s PSYCHEDELIC ROCK (Originally released on 45 RPM vinyl and on LP: JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE MIND)
Release Year: 1968
The only track from an American artist in the first hour comes from this Detroit band led by outspoken Second Amendment supporter Ted Nugent. To my knowledge, Nugent is the only rock musician with a hit during the psychedelic era to be featured as a guest on G. Gordon Liddy's radio talk show.

Artist: BLIND FAITH
Song Title: "Do What You Like"
Source: LP: BLIND FAITH (original British import vinyl)
Release Year: 1969
They don't come any more British than drummer Ginger Baker, the writer of record of this 15-minute jam. Have you ever heard this bloke talk? Blimey!

Artist: JETHRO TULL
Song Title: "A New Day Yesterday"
Source: CD: STAND UP (reissue of original LP)
Release Year: 1969
Not only were all of these guys Brits, they even named the band after a British historical figure that nobody outside of Britain had ever heard of!

Artist: WHO
Song Title: "Summertime Blues"
Source: LP: LIVE AT LEEDS
Release Year: 1970
Last week I played Blue Cheer's heavy feedback version of this Eddie Cochrane classic. This time around it's the Who, rockin' it just as hard in their own way. Besides, they're British.

And lest we let the English completely dominate the British half of our show, here's a whole set from one of Britian's most successful singer-songwriters of the 60s, who happens to be a Scotsman:

Artist: DONOVAN
Song Title: "Sand and Foam"
Source: LP: MELLOW YELLOW (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl in 1966 as B side of "Mellow Yellow")
Release Year: 1967
The term singer-songwriter was not yet in common usage in the 60s. Instead, the term "folk singer" was applied to everyone from Joan Baez to Jerry Jeff Walker, however inappropriate the label might be. The song "Sand and Foam" is one of the best examples of Donovan the folk singer. Although sometimes unfairly characterized as a knockoff of Bob Dylan in his early days, here he shows himself to be much more rooted in the British folk tradition.

Artist: DONOVAN
Song Title: "There is a Mountain"
Source: CD: SUNSHINE ON THE MOUNTAIN (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
1967 was a year that saw Donovan continue to shed the "folk singer" image, forcing the media to look for a new term to describe someone like him. As you have already guessed, that term was "singer-songwriter." Here, Donovan applies Eastern philosophy and tonality to pop music, with the result being one of those songs that sticks in your head for days.

Artist: DONOVAN
Song Title: "Young Girl Blues"
Source: LP: MELLOW YELLOW (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1967
In 1966 Donovan got into a prolonged contract dispute with his British record label, Pye Records. As a result, his two most successful albums, Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow, were only released in the US. Eventually the dispute was settled and Pye released a British version of Mellow Yellow that was actually a pastiche of the two US releases. During the dispute, however, Donovan acquired a somewhat jaded view of not only the British music scene, but of British youth culture in general. 'Young Girl Blues" reflects this sort of youthful cynicism.

Artist: DONOVAN
Song Title: "Sunshine Superman"
Source: CD: SUNSHINE ON THE MOUNTAIN (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl and on LP: SUNSHINE SUPERMAN in edited form)
Release Year: 1966
This hugely successful single is sometimes credited as being the tsunami that launched the wave of psychedelic music that washed over the shores of pop musicland in 1967. OK, I made that up, but the song really did change the direction of American pop as well as Donovan's own career. Originally released as a 3:15 single, the full unedited 4:31 stereo mix of the song heard here did not appear on vinyl until the 1969 Greatest Hits album.

Artist: DONOVAN
Song Title: "The Observation"
Source: LP: MELLOW YELLOW (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1967
Until the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, most popular recordings made in the UK (and many in the US) were made with the goal of getting a good monoraul mix. Stereo mixes were often done as an afterthought, if at all. Mellow Yellow was one of the last albums to be mixed only in mono, with the US stereo release actually being electronically rechanneled versions of the mono mixes (aka "fake stereo"). All the tracks from Mellow Yellow used in this set are from the original mono pressing of the LP.

Artist: DONOVAN
Song Title: "Lalena"
Source: CD: SUNSHINE ON THE MOUNTAIN (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
The CD Sunshine On the Mountain was a special promotional disc created for a particular record store chain in the 1990s. Essentially a collection Donovan's hits released in the US, certain songs (such as Mellow Yellow) are conspicously absent from the disc. As all of the songs on the disc are in stereo, I suspect that songs that were mixed only in mono were deliberately left out.

Artist: DONOVAN
Song Title: "Hampstead Incident"
Source: LP: MELLOW YELLOW (original vinyl pressing)
Release Year: 1967
The Beatles started a trend (one of many) when they included a harpsichord on the Rubber Soul album, released in December of 1965. By early 1967 it seemed that just about everyone had a song or two with the antique instrument featured on it. Unlike many of the recordings of the time, "Hampstead Incident" manages to use the harpsichord effectively without overdoing it.

Artist: DONOVAN/JEFF BECK GROUP
Song Title: "Goo Goo Barabajabal (Love Is Hot)"
Source: CD: SUNSHINE ON THE MOUNTAIN (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl and on LP: BARABAJABAL)
Release Year: 1969
Finishing up the British hour we have not only Donovan, but the entire Jeff Beck Group providing the instrumentation for this 1969 classic. The full title of this song is "Goo Goo Barabajabal (Love Is Hot)". Sometimes the song is known simply as "Barabajabal," but this is actually the title of the album the song appeared on, not the song itself.

Artist: HENRY MANCINI
Song Title: "The Pink Panther Theme"
Source: 45 RPM VINYL (reissue)
Release Year: 1964
When it comes to lounge lizard music, nobody did it better than Henry Mancini. His most lasting and endearing work is this classic movie theme. Besides, what better place to start the US hour but Hollywood, ground zero for popular American culture? Although the full stereo version of the song featured on the soundtrack album is close to four minutes long, it was this 2 1/2 minute mono version that was heard on nearly every radio format in 1964.

Artist: FLEETWOOD MAC
Song Title: "Looking For Somebody"
Source: LP: THE ORIGINAL FLEETWOOD MAC (originally released in the UK on the LP: FLEETWOOD MAC on the Blue Horizon label)
Release Year: 1968
The origins of Fleetwood Mac go back to 1966, when Eric Clapton left John Mayall's Bluesbreakers to form Cream with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce. Brought in to replace Clapton in the Bluesbreakers was Peter Green, a young guitarist who more than adequately filled the void. After a year or so, Green convinced Mayall to hire Green's friend Mick Fleetwood as a drummer. In late 1967 Mayall presented Green with a gift of studio time. Green then borrowed Fleetwood and bassist John McVie from the Bluesbreakers and, along with slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer, recorded several tracks, including "Looking For Somebody." Although McVie had lent a hand in the studio, he did not want to give up the steady paycheck that came with working for Mayall, and bassist Bob Brunner was brought in to do a couple live performances with the other three musicians. For those performances that band used the name Fleetwood Mac for the first time, a name chosen by Green as a tactic to get McVie to join up full-time. The new group went over well enough to warrant the release of an album, and once the album starting climbing the British charts (peaking at # 4), McVie did indeed become a full-time member of Fleetwood Mac. Mayall, meanwhile, left without a band, officially disbanded the Bluesbreakers that summer and took a vacation to LA that inspired the suite of songs that became the album Blues From Laurel Canyon.

Our token British tune of the hour leads into a set from a band that started off in Canada as a group called Sparrow, but after moving to L.A. achieved fame as Steppenwolf. Their best known hits, "Born To Be Wild" and "Magic Carpet Ride," were both released in 1968. By 1969, the band was beginning to mature, which is where this week's set picks up.

Artist: STEPPENWOLF
Song Title: "Fag"
Source: LP: MONSTER (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1969
Starting off a set from the two 1969 Steppenwolf albums, we have the only blues instrumental Steppenwolf ever recorded. Thanks to Greg Cotterill for the donation of this LP to the show from his personal collection.

Artist: STEPPENWOLF
Song Title: "Lovely Meter"
Source: LP: AT YOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1969
Steppenwolf's third album showed the band starting to move away from the more experimental sound of Steppenwolf the Second into what would come to be called hard rock. "Lovely Meter" is a softer sounding tune than is usually associated with the band.

Artist: STEPPENWOLF
Song Title: "From Here To There Eventually"
Source: LP: MONSTER (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1969
The final track of Steppenwolf's fourth LP is a perfect example of the band's typical hard-driving beat and John Kay's distinctive vocal style.

Artist: STEPPENWOLF
Song Title: "Cat Killer"
Source: LP: AT YOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1969
This strange little track shows that the band was not quite done with their experimental period at the time "At Your Birthday Party" was recorded.

Artist: STEPPENWOLF
Song Title: "Monster/Suicide/America"
Source: LP: MONSTER (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1969
Steppenwolf always had a social/political side, as evidenced by songs like "The Ostrich" and "Don't Step On the Grass, Sam," but when it comes to pure political songs, the Monster trilogy is usually the first one that comes to mind. Personally, I consider it to be Steppenwolf's artistic peak and the perfect way to cap off the set.

Artist: ULTIMATE SPINACH
Song Title: EGO TRIP
Source: LP: ULTIMATE SPINACH (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
Although the "Bosstown Sound" was basically a promotional gimmick cooked up by M-G-M records, their is a strong stylistic similarity between this song and much of the first Beacon Street Union album.

Artist: TURTLES
Song Title: "Outside Chance"
Source: CD: 20 GREATEST HITS
Release Year: 1966
This song is distinctive for two reasons. First, it was the last single released before "Happy Together," the song that would become their signature song. It was also their first single since "It Ain't Me Babe" not to hit the charts, which is kind of hard to understand, as it really is a well-crafted record with a catchy hook.

Artist: BLUES PROJECT
Song Title: "Cheryl's Going Home"
Source: LP: PROJECTIONS (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1966
It's kind of odd to hear a cover of a Bob Lind B side on an album by a band known for its progressive approach to the blues, but that's exactly what "Cheryl's Going Home" is. They did a pretty nice job with it, too.

Artist: GESTURES
Song Title: "Run Run Run"
Source: CD: NUGGETS BOX SET (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1964
Soma Records was a small regional label based out of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, best known for the Castaways hit "Liar Liar." Soma did not have the resources to properly promote or distribute a national hit, which is a shame, as the Gestures' (originally the Jesters until someone discovered the name was already in use) "Run Run Run" was a fine effort, sounding a lot like the early Who several months before the Who themselves first hit the airwaves.

Artist: JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
Song Title: "We Can Be Together"
Source: CD: VOLUNTEERS (reissue of original LP)
Release Year: 1969
The opening track of the Volunteers album has the distinction of being the first song with one of the seven words you can't say on television to be performed uncut on national television (on the Dick Cavett show). Unlike David Peel, they didn't use the phrase in the song title, though.

Artist: MAX FROST AND THE TROOPERS
Song Title: "Shape of Things To Come"
Source: CD: NUGGETS BOX SET (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl and included on the motion picture soundtrack album Wild in the Streets)
Release Year: 1968
What can I say about this cut that I didn't say last week? Not much, other than to mention that it was written by the Brill Building songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and that it clocks in at under two minutes. That's all folks!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Playlist 7/9-11/10

This week we go off the deep end, with more than the usual number of obscure tracks from obscure artists. Also, you may have noticed that the title has expanded to three days. This is because WITT-FM 91.9 in Zionsville-Indianapolis is running the show Fridays nights from 10 to Midnight . On with the show!

Artist: THEM
Song Title: "Square Room"
Source: LP: NOW AND THEM (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
With new lead vocalist Kenny McDowell replacing the departed Van Morrison, Them relocated to the US West Coast and cut the first of two LPs for Tower, Now and Them. The longest track on the album is "Square Room," with songwriting credits being given to the band itself (a practice that the Doors also used on their first few albums.) My copy of Now and Them is the relatively rare mono pressing, so if there were any fancy stereo effects on the song, you won't hear them here.

Artist: CANNED HEAT
Song Title: "Going Up the Country"
Source: CD: WOODSTOCK: 40 YEARS ON: BACK TO YASGUR'S FARM
Release Year: 2009 (recorded 1969)
Toward the beginning of the Woodstock movie, you hear a bit of stage banter from Robert (the Bear) Hite, lead vocalist of Canned Heat, followed by a somewhat enhanced version of their studio recording of "Going Up the Country." When the movie soundtrack album was released, the actual performance of the song was included, but not Hite's spoken intro. Finally, with the release of the Rhino box set, we get to hear it as the audience heard it, intro and all. I wonder if he ever found a place?

Artist: ZOMBIES
Song Title: "Tell Her No"
Source: 45 RPM Vinyl (stereo reissue)
Release Year: 1965
Rod Argent was responsible for writing four well-known hit songs, which were spread out over a period of eight years (and two bands). The second of these was "Tell Her No," a fairly innocuous tune from 1965.

Artist: KNICKERBOCKERS
Song Title: "High On Love"
Source: CD: WHERE THE ACTION IS: LA NUGGETS 1965-68 (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1966
Originally from New Jersey, the Knickerbockers scored big with the 1965 hit "Lies," which many people at the time believed to be the Beatles recording under a different name. After moving to LA, the band released two more singles, the last of which was "High On Love," but was not able to duplicate the success of their debut record. Maybe there were just too many other things to get high on at the time.

Artist: DOORS
Song Title: "Not To Touch The Earth"
Source: CD: WAITING FOR THE SUN (reissue of original LP)
Release Year: 1968
Waiting For the Sun was the first Doors album to feature a gatefold cover (imagine a 12"x12" greeting card with a record in it), and the Doors used half of the inside portion to print the entire text of "Celebration of the Lizard," which was a bit confusing, since no such track appeared on the album itself. They had made several attempts to record "Celebration", but were not entirely satisfied with any of them. They did, however, manage to salvage this short section from the middle of the piece for inclusion on the album.

Artist: LOVE
Song Title: "7 & 7 Is"
Source: CD: COMES IN COLOURS (Australian import anthology) (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl and included on the album De Capo).
Release Year: 1966
The first rock band signed to Elektra Records was Love, a popular L.A. club band that boasted two talented songwriters, Arthur Lee and Bryan MacLean. On the heels of their first album, which included the single "My Little Red Book" and one of the first recordings of the fast version of "Hey Joe", came their most successful single, released in July of 1966. This stereo mix is taken from the album De Capo.

By the end of 1965, the Beatles had become thoroughly disenchanted with performing live in front of thousands of screaming fans (and being unable to hear themselves), and were instead focusing most of their attention on the recording studio. The albums Rubber Soul (released in December of 1965) and Revolver (summer of 1966) are among the finest recordings made by a rock band using 4-track equipment. The following four songs (two from John and one each from Paul and George) represent just one-seventh of those recordings.

Artist: BEATLES
Song Title: "For No One"
Source: CD: REVOLVER (reissue of British version of LP)
Release Year: 1966
With the predominance of the keyboard and french horn in the mix, Paul's essentially-solo number "For No One" shows just how far the group was willing to move away from its original image as a "guitar band."

Artist: BEATLES
Song Title: "Girl"
Source: LP: RUBBER SOUL (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1965
Some people think this is one of those John Lennon drug songs. I see it as one of those John Lennon observing what's really going on beneath the civilized veneer of western society songs myself.

Artist: BEATLES
Song Title: "Love You To"
Source: CD: REVOLVER (reissue of British version of LP)
Release Year: 1966
George's first sitar song, and the one track on the album that might even be more of a departure from the "old" Beatles sound than "For No One."

Artist: BEATLES
Song Title: "Run For Your Life"
Source: LP: RUBBER SOUL (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1965
And to round out the set, we have John being politically incorrect. I suspect that Yoko was never too fond of this one.

Artist: JANIS JOPLIN
Song Title: "Mercedes Benz"
Source: CD: LOVE IS THE SONG WE SING: SAN FRANCISCO NUGGETS 1965-1970 (Originally released on LP: Pearl)
Release Year: 1971 (recorded Oct 1970)
To put it bluntly, Janis recorded this song, then went home and ODed on herion. End of story (and of Janis).

Artist: STEPPENWOLF
Song Title: "Magic Carpet Ride"
Source: CD: STEPPENWOLF THE SECOND (reissue of original LP)
Release Year: 1968
Steppenwolf's second LP actually charted higher than the first one, despite "Born To Be Wild" being a bigger hit. I usually play this song from one of the Nuggets albums, but since I just this past week acquired the CD of Steppenwolf the Second (after realizing the LP from the WEOS lost archives was hopelessly thrashed due to water damage), I figured I'd use it instead.

Artist: MITCH RYDER AND THE DETROIT WHEELS
Song Title: "Sock It To Me - Baby!"
Source: 45 RPM vinyl
Release Year: 1967
It's unclear whether this song or Aretha Franklin's recording of "Respect" came out first. Regardless, both of them were being heard on top 40 radio long before Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In made its TV debut.

Artist: BLUES MAGOOS
Song Title: "There's A Chance We Can Make It"
Source: LP: ELECTRIC COMIC BOOK (also released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
Following up on their biggest hit, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," the Blues Magoos released this song and "Pipe Dream" on their next single. Unfortunately for both songs, some stations elected to play "There's A Chance We Can Make It" while others preferred "Pipe Dream." The result was that neither song charted as high as it could have had it been released with a weaker B side. This had the ripple effect of causing the album both songs appeared on to not chart as well as its predecessor Psychedelic Lollipop had. This in turn caused Mercury Records to lose faith in the Blues Magoos and not give them the kind of promotion that could have kept the band in the public eye beyond its 15 minutes of fame. The ultimate result was that for many years, there were an excessive number of busboys and cab drivers claiming to have once been members of the Blues Magoos and not many ways to disprove their claims, at least until the internet made information about the group's actual membership more accessible.

Artist: CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND
Song Title: "Milk Cow Blues"
Source: CD: NO WAY OUT (bonus track)
Release Year: late 90s (recorded in 1966)
Not a whole lot is known about this tune, other than it sounds more like the Chocolate Watchband than most of what appeared on their albums (much of which wasn't actually recorded by the band at all).

Artist: BLUE CHEER
Song Title: "Summertime Blues"
Source: LP: NUGGETS, VOL 1: THE HITS (originally appeared on LP: VINCEBUS ERUPTUM and on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
Often considered the founding fathers of Heavy Metal, Blue Cheer was a power trio that was known as the loudest band in the world (until Grand Funk Railroad a few years later). Their cover of this Eddie Cochrane classic was their only charted single. Guitarist Leigh Stephens would leave the band for a solo career after their second album, and the rest of the band, despite an influx of new talent, was never able to duplicate the success of "Summertime Blues."

Artist: SEEDS
Song Title: "Pushin' Too Hard"
Source: LP: THE SEEDS (also released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1966
The Seeds were at the forefront of the first wave of psychedelic bands. "Pushin' Too Hard" was their signature song, charting nationally in the fall of 1966.

Artist: ELECTRIC PRUNES
Song Title: "Hideaway"
Source: WHERE THE ACTION IS: L.A. NUGGETS 1965-68 (originally released on LP: UNDERGROUND and on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
A couple weeks ago I played the track "Dr. Do-Good" as an illustration of why record company executives should not be allowed to make creative decisions such as which song on an album to release as a single. On the other hand, "Hideaway," a song written by members of the band and being much more representative of the band's actual sound, would have made a much better choice. Instead this mono mix of the song was released as the B side to "Dr. Do-Good."

Artist: BYRDS
Song Title: "It Happens Every Day"
Source: CD: YOUNGER THAN YESTERDAY (bonus track)
Release Year: Early 21st century (recorded in 1966)
The Byrds had a unique problem in early 1967: they were writing and recording more quality material than they could fit on an album. As a result some truly worthy songs like "It Happens Every Day" got left off Younger Than Yesterday. It's possible that the song would have been included on the next Byrds album, but with David Crosby no longer a member of the band by the time The Notorious Byrd Brothers came out, it was probably deemed inappropriate to include it there. Ironically, it was revealed years later that an uncredited Crosby did play on several tracks on the Notorious Byrd Brothers, despite having left the band before its release.

At the beginning of this post I said we were going off the deep end this week, and it doesn't get much more obscure than this band, who, despite having never charted a single or even cracked the LP charts, managed to put out no less than six albums over a period of about four years.

Artist: WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND
Song Title: "Ritual #1"
Source: LP: VOLUME 3: A CHILD'S GUIDE TO GOOD AND EVIL (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
Technically, Volume 3 is actually the fourth album by the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band (I'll explain that in a minute). "Ritual #1 is fairly typical of the band's sound at this point.

Artist: WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND
Song Title: "Help, I'm A Rock"
Source: CD: PART 1 (reissue of original LP)(song also released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
Ya gotta hand it to these guys. It takes cojones to record a cover of a Frank Zappa tune, especially within a year of the original Mothers of Invention version coming out. To top it off, the W.C.P.A.E.B. even released it as a single.

Artist: WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND
Song Title: "A Child of a Few Hours Is Burning To Death"
Source: LP: VOLUME 3: A CHILD'S GUIDE TO GOOD AND EVIL (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
Bob Markley was a somewhat unique character on the LA scene. An heir from the Midwest and a moderately successful TV personality in Oklahoma, Markley had not been able to make a dent in tinsel town until he offered to finance the Harris brothers and become their lead singer and lyricist. Although he is often accused of buying his way into rock and roll, he did have a certain gift for irony in his lyrics, as evidenced by this track.

Artist: WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND
Song Title: "Leiyla"
Source: CD: PART 1 (reissue of original LP)
Release Year: 1967
This is actually the second album recorded by the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. The first one was an early example of a practice that would become almost mandatory for a new band in the 1990s. Volume 1 was recorded at a home studio and issued independently by the Harris brothers. Many of the same songs would be re-recorded for their first album for a major label (Reprise Records). Because of this, they decided to title that second LP Part One. To my knowledge Volume 1 has never been reissued on CD.

Artist: WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND
Song Title: "As Kind As Summer"
Source: LP: VOLUME 3: A CHILD'S GUIDE TO GOOD AND EVIL (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
The first time I heard this I jumped up to see what was wrong with my turntable. A real gotcha moment.

Artist: CIRCUS MAXIMUS
Song Title: "Lost Sea Chanty"
Source: LP: CIRCUS MAXIMUS (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
Long before he became famous for writing "Mr. Bojangles," Jerry Jeff Walker was hanging out in Greenwich Village, where he met Bob Bruno. The two of them formed the psychedelic-jazz-folk-rock band Circus Maximus in 1967, recording two albums before parting company over musical differences (Bruno favored the jazz element while Walker was more into folk). "Lost Sea Shanty" is the first Jerry Jeff song (he wrote and sang it) on side one of the first album. Could it be his first recorded work? Possibly.

Artist: TRADE WINDS
Song Title: "Mind Excursion"
Source: CD: PSYCHEDELIC POP
Release Year: 1966
The Trade Winds were a semi-studio band from New York that first scored in 1965 with the song "New York is a Lonely Town (When You're the Only Surfer Boy Around). A year later, they had their second and last hit, "Mind Excursion," which holds up as one of the best examples of "flower power" pop ever recorded. Psychedelic Pop, incidentally, was a CD released in the 90s celebrating the early days of Buddah Records, back before the brand became synonymous with "bubble gum" pop.

Artist: ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS
Song Title: "Ain't That So"
Source: CD: WINDS OF CHANGE (bonus track)(originally released in Britain on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
In 1967 Eric Burdon and the Animals scored back to back hits with "Good Times" and "San Francisco Nights," with the first being the bigger hit of the two. At least that's the way it happened in their native England. In the US it was an entirely different matter. "Good Times" was not even released as a single until it appeared as the B side of "San Franciscan Nights," which understandably was a bigger hit in the US than overseas. Because of this difference, the song "Ain't That So," which appeared as the B side of "Good Times," was never released in the US, at least not until the Winds of Change album was reissued with bonus tracks. As for the British B side of "San Franciscan Nights".....well, I have to save something for a future show, right?

Artist: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND
Song Title: "Zig Zag Wanderer"
Source: CD: WHERE THE ACTION IS: LA NUGGETS 1965-68 (originally released on LP: SAFE AS MILK)
Release Year: 1967
Don Van Vliet made his first recordings as Captain Beefheart in 1965, covering artists like Bo Diddley in a style that could best be described as "punk blues." Upon hearing those recordings A&M Records, despite its growing reputation as a hot (fairly) new label, promptly cancelled the project. Flash forward a year or so. Another hot new label, Buddah Records, an outgrowth of Kama Sutra Records that had somehow ended up being the parent rather than the subsidiary, was busy signing new acts like Johnny Winter, and ended up releasing the LP Safe As Milk in 1967. The good captain would next appear on his old high school acquaintance Frank Zappa's Bizarre Records, and the world would never be quite the same.

Artist: TURTLES
Song Title: "The Owl"
Source: 45 RPM 12" EP: TURTLES 68
Release Year: 1978
In 1968 the Turtles decided to make their first attempt at producing themselves. White Whale Records rejected all but one of the four tracks they recorded. Ten years later Rhino rectified that error in judgment by putting the four tunes on a 12" 45 RPM picture disc.

Artist: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Song Title: "Where is Yesterday/Coming Down/Love Song For the Dead Che"
Source: CD: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Release Year: 1968
In the late sixties, Columbia Records president Clive Davis made an effort to corner the market on unsigned artists associated with the counter-culture. His successes were many, including Big Brother and the Holding Company, Santana, Chicago, Moby Grape and others. Some acts, however, were not really a good fit with the parent company, CBS, at that time one of the two most powerful media companies in the world. Such was the situation with the United States of America, an outgrowth of LA's avant garde art scene and, in their own way just as radical as the Velvet Underground (band leader and primary songwriter Joseph Byrd being a member of the Communist Party and all). This, by the way, is a good example of why I encourage audience feedback. I would never have even heard of this band if it hadn't been for a listener recommending them to me.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

This week on Stuck in the Psychedelic Era be prepared to go off the deep end, especially in hour #2 when you'll hear a set from the most obscure band ever to record six albums, many of them on a major label. Plus a set from an equally obscure band from New York that was led by a card-carrying communist. Lots of other stuff, too. Check it out on whichever station you hear the show on, whenever they carry it.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Playlist 7/3-4/10

Artist: STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK
Song Title: "Incense and Peppermints"
Source: CD: The Best of 60s Psychedelic Rock (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
Starting off this week's show is one of the iconic songs of the summer of love. Interestingly enough, this was supposed to be the B side of "The Birdman of Alkatrash," but somehow ended up getting all the airplay. I haven't bothered to actually count, but I wouldn't be surprised to find I have more copies of this particular song than any other. It appears on just about every collection of psychedelic music ever assembled, it seems. I do have a copy of the original 45, but when I bring that in I generally play...you guessed it, "The Birdman of Alkatrash."

Artist: DOORS
Song Title: "Alabama Song"
Source: CD: BEST OF THE DOORS (originally released on LP: THE DOORS)
Release Year: 1967
Also known as "Whiskey Bar," this track was a favorite among hip underground DJs who needed a fairly short song that could be easily faded out to lead up to news time without offending anybody.

Artist: TURTLES
Song Title: "Can't You Hear the Cows"
Source: 45 RPM vinyl (B side)
Release Year: 1968
By late 1968 the Turtles already had their best times behind them. After a failed attempt at self-production (the record company refused to release all but one of the tracks they had recorded), the band went back into the studio to cut a Harry Nilsson tune, "The Story of Rock and Roll." "Can't You Hear the Cows", sort of a twisted throwback to their days as the surf music band known as the Crossfires and sounding oddly like the mid-80s Beach Boys, appeared on the B side of that single.

Artist: GUESS WHO
Song Title: "Friends of Mine"
Source: CD: WHEATFIELD SOUL (originally released on LP vinyl)
Release Year: 1969
On first listen, this track may appear to be a Doors ripoff, but the band members themselves claim it was inspired more by the Who's first mini-opera, "A Quick One While He's Away." Regardless of the source of inspiration, this was certainly the most pyschedelic track ever released by a band known more for catchy pop ballads like "These Eyes" and "No Sugar Tonight." Interestingly enough, RCA released a 45 RPM stereo promo of the song to radio stations, with the 10+ minute track split across the two sides of the record. I first heard this cut on the American Forces Network (AFN) in Germany on a weekly show called Underground that ran at midnight on Saturday nights. I doubt any Generals were listening.

Artist: CAT STEVENS
Song Title: "Matthew And Son"
Source: CD: THE VERY BEST OF CAT STEVENS (originally appeared on LP: MATTHEW AND SON; also released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
The second single released from Cat's 1967 debut album, this song tore up the UK charts, peaking at #2. In the US, the song bubbled under the hot 100 but never caught on. It would be several years before Stevens would score a string of US hits including "Wild World" "Moonshadow," and "Morning Has Broken."

Artist: YOUNG RASCALS
Song Title: "It's Wonderful"
Source: LP: NUGGETS, VOL 9: ACID ROCK (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
The Rascals are generally acknowledged as the top blue-eyed soul band of the era, if not of all time. What prompted them to release this single, which is a major departure from their usual style, is anyone's guess. Then again, one of their biggest hits, "How Can I Be Sure," was an even bigger departure, so who knows?

Artist: BEATLES
Song Title: "When I'm Sixty-Four"
Source: CD: SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (originally released on LP vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
For some reason I was thinking Paul had not turned 64 yet. Turns out he's actually 68. How did he get that old without me noticing?

Artist: JAGGERZ
Song Title: "The Rapper"
Source: CD: BILLBOARD TOP ROCK & ROLL HITS: 1970 (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1970
This band from Pittsburgh was one of the few acts signed to the Kama Sutra label after the original Kama Sutra had morphed into Buddah Records. Despite the band's name, they sounded nothing like the Rolling Stones.

Artist: CHAMBERS BROTHERS
Song Title: "Time Has Come Today"
Source: CD: THE TIME HAS COME (Originally released on LP vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
The second of this week's trio of 10+ minute songs is the album version of this psychedelic classic. The Chambers Brothers were an eclectic band with a gospel music background that dated back to the mid-50s, when oldest brother George finished his tour of duty with the US Army and settled down in the L.A. area. His three brothers soon followed him out to the coast from their native Mississippi, and began playing the Southern California gospel circuit before going after a more secular audience in the early 60s.

Artist: JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
Song Title: "Chaffeur Blues"
Source: LP: JEFFERSON AIRPLANE TAKES OFF (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1966
The only Jefferson Airplane recording to feature founding member Signey Anderson as solo lead vocalist. Shortly after Jefferson Airplane Takes Off was recorded, Anderson left the band to pursue a career in motherhood, and Grace Slick stepped in as a replacement. Incidentally, I have never seen any kind of proof to the rumour that Anderson's departure was drug-related, so let's not even go there.

Artist: PAUL BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND
Song Title: "I've Got a Mind To Give Up Living"
Source: CD: EAST-WEST (originally released on LP vinyl)
Release Year: 1966
The Butterfield Blues band in 1966 had a lot in common with British blues-rock group the Yardbirds. Both bands were led by harmonica-playing vocalists (Butterfield and Keith Relf), and featured two top-quality lead guitarists (Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page for the Yardbirds, Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop for the Butterfields). Whereas the Yardbirds only managed to record three songs with both Beck and Page, the Butterfield outfit recorded an entire album: the classic East-West.

Artist: ? AND THE MYSTERIANS
Song Title: "96 Tears"
Source: 45 RPM vinyl (re-issue)
Release Year: 1966
Although his birth certificate gives the name Rudy Martinez, the leader of the Mysterians had his name legally changed to "?" several years ago. He asserts that he is actually from the planet Mars and his lived among dinosaurs in a past life. Sometimes I feel like I'm living among dinosaurs in this life, so I guess I can relate a little.

Artist: MAX FROST AND THE TROOPERS
Song Title: "Shape of Things To Come"
Source: CD: NUGGETS (box set) (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl and included on the soundtrack LP: WILD IN THE STREETS credited to The 13th Power)
Release Year: 1968
Max Frost was a politically savvy rock star who rode the youth movement all the way to the White House, first through getting the support of a hip young Senator, then getting the age requirements for holding high political office lowered to 21,and finally lowering the voting age to 14. Everyone over 30 was locked away in internment camps, similar to those used during WWII by various governments to hold those of questionable loyalty to the current regime. What? You don't remember any of that? You say it sounds like the plot of a cheapie late 60s teen exploitation flick? Right on all counts. "Wild in the Streets" starred Christopher Jones as the rock start, Hal Holbrook as the hip young senator, and a Poseidon Adventure-sized Shelly Winter as the rock star's interred mom. Richard Pryor, in his film debut, played the band's drummer/political activist Stanley X. Imagine that.

Artist: DAVE VAN RONK AND THE HUDSON DUSTERS
Song Title: "Cocaine"
Source: LP: DAVE VAN RONK AND THE HUDSON DUSTERS (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
I had a feminist friend that said she found the line "you take Mary, I'll take Sue, ain't much difference between the two" offensive when she heard a more popular version of this song recorded in the 70s. Van Ronk, on the other hand, manages to sound merely eccentric (or maybe just stoned) in his 1967 version.

Artist: ROLLING STONES
Song Title: "Stray Cat Blues"
Source: CD: BEGGARS' BANQUET (originally released on LP vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
As military dependent overseas I had access to the local Base Exchange. The downside of buying albums there was that they were always a month or two behind the official stateside release dates getting albums in stock. The upside is that the BX had a special of the month that was always a new release for sale at something like 40% off the regular album price. The December 1968 special was this classic-to-be from the Stones. Full-priced albums that month included new releases by the Beatles (white album), Hendrix (Electric Ladyland) and Cream (Wheels of Fire). By the end of the month I was broke.

Artist: CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND
Song Title: "Let's Talk About Girls"
Source: CD: NUGGETS (box set) (originally released on LP: NO WAY OUT and featured on the original early 1970s NUGGETS double LP set)
Release Year: 1967
I find it extremely appropriate that the first cut on the first album released by this San Jose, California band had a vocal track by Don Bennett, a studio vocalist under contract to Tower Records, replacing the original track by Watchband vocalist Dave Aguilar. Aguilar's vocals were also replaced by Bennett's on their cover of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" on the same album. In addition, there are four instrumental tracks on the album that are played entirely by studio musicians. Worse yet, the entire first side of the Watchband's second LP was done by studio musicians and the third Watchband LP featured an entirely different lineup. The final insult was when Lenny Kaye, who assembled the original Nuggets collection in the early 1970s, elected to include this recording, rather than one of the several fine tracks that actually did feature Aguilar on vocals.

Artist: GRATEFUL DEAD
Song Title: "The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)"
Source: CD: SKELETONS FROM THE CLOSET (originally released on LP: GRATEFUL DEAD and on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
I once knew someone from San Jose who had an original copy of the single version of this, the opening track from the first Dead album. It was totally worn out from being played a few hundred times, though.

Artist: VANILLA FUDGE
Song Title: "Come By Day, Come By Night"
Source: 45 RPM vinyl (B side)
Release Year: 1968
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was first released as a single in 1967, but tanked before it could hit the top 60. In 1968 the song was re-released with a different B side and made the top 20. This is that B side.

Artist: BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD
Song Title: "Special Care"
Source: LP: LAST TIME AROUND (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1968
Released after the Springfield had already split up, Last Time Around is an uneven album that nonetheless includes some tasty tracks that have been largely overlooked. A prime example is this Stephen Stills tune, sounding as much like early Crosby, Stills & Nash as it does Buffalo Springfield.

Artist: QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE
Song Title: "Codine"
Source: CD: LOVE IS THE SONG WE SING: SAN FRANCISCO NUGGETS 1965-1970 (originally appeared on the LP REVOLUTION: MOTION PICTURE SCORE)
Release Year: 1968
This Buffy St. Marie tune 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 released a cover of the Coasters' "The Shadow Knows." 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, Quicksilver Messenger Service were 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. Despite this, 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: JACKIE DeSHANNON, with the Byrds
Song Title: "Splendor in the Grass"
Source: CD: WHERE THE ACTION IS: L.A. NUGGETS 1965-68 (originally released on 45 RPM vinyl)
Release Year: 1966 (recorded in 1965)
Jackie DeShannon was, by mid-1965, regarded as one of the top singer-songwriters on the L.A. scene. She had just scored a huge hit with her version of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David tune "What the World Needs Now (Is Love Sweet Love), and decided to show her support of her favorite local club band, the Byrds, by recording one of her own compositions with them backing her up. Imperial Records chose not to release the single at first, but finally relented in 1966 following the Byrds back-to-back hits "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!" To be completely honest, this track doesn't do anything for me personally, but I decided to include it on this week's show as a historical curiousity. I do that sometimes.

Artist: SPENCER DAVIS GROUP
Song Title: "Gimme Some Lovin'"
Source: LP: PROGRESSIVE HEAVIES (orginally released on 45 RPM vinyl).
Release Year: 1967
Speaking of things I do sometimes, here is the first of a pair of songs I played on recent shows. In this case it was last week's show. Some things just bear repeating.

Artist: THE YARDBIRDS
Song Title: "I'm a Man"
Source: 45 RPM vinyl (reissue)
Release Year: 1965
For many, the Yardbirds version of "I'm a Man" is the definitive version of this Bo Diddley classic. The version I played of this recording four weeks ago as part of a Yardbirds set was actually the "electronically reprocessed for stereo" version used on the Yardbirds' Great Hits LP. This, on the other hand, is the original mono release.

Artist: JETHRO TULL
Song Title: "Play In Time"
Source: CD: BENEFIT (originally released on LP vinyl)
Release Year: 1970
In the first few years of Jethro Tull's existence, there was one personnel change per album. The third album, Benefit, however, is almost an exception, as keyboardist John Locke, who plays on most of the tracks, would not become an official member of the band until after the album's release. "Play In Time" is one of those songs that was a staple of early album rock playlists, but didn't make the transition to the current Classic Rock format.

Artist: TRAFFIC
Song Title: "Sad and Deep As You"
Source: LP: WELCOME TO THE CANTEEN (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1971
In more than one sense this is really not a Traffic cut at all. The album itself is credited to the individual band members, without the word Traffic appearing anywhere on the cover or label. Also, only Chris Wood (flute) and Reebop Kwaku Bah (percussion) accompany Mason on this tune, which originally appeared on a Dave Mason solo LP. Ironic how this week's most recent recording is also the scratchiest.

Artist: BLUES PROJECT
Song Title: "(Electric) Flute Thing"
Source: LP: LIVE AT TOWN HALL (original vinyl)
Release Year: 1967
The third and final 10+ minute track of the week is a live version of the tune that originally appeared on the Blues Project's critically-acclaimed LP Projections. The expanded flute solo is close to what the audience at the Monterey International Pop Festival saw performed a few months later. Al Kooper, who plays keyboards on this track, left the band shortly after this album was released, and was part of the stage crew at Monterey, performing some of the songs he had written for the Blues Project with a pick up band of his own.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Long time listeners will remember a song called "Friends of Mine," a ten-minute epic by the Guess Who that I had only a 45 RPM promo copy of. The problem was, of course, that I only had the one copy and the song itself was spread out over both sides of the record, so I had to turn the record over midway, creating a few seconds of dead air in the process.
Well, I am happy to announce that I finally found a copy of Wheatfield Soul, the album the song originally appeared on, and you can hear it on this week's show. As for the other 100+ minutes of music on the show, I guess you'll just have to tune in to find out what I managed to come up with this week. Talk to you then.