Artist: Mouse And The Traps
Title: A Public Execution
Source: CD: More Nuggets (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Henderson/Weiss
Label: Rhino (original label: Fraternity)
Year: 1965
It's easy to imagine some kid somewhere in Texas inviting his friends over to hear the new Bob Dylan record, only to reveal afterwards that it wasn't Dylan at all, but this band he heard while visiting his cousins down in Tyler. Mouse and the Traps, in fact, got quite a bit of airplay in that part of the state with a series of singles issued in the mid-60s. A Public Execution is unique among those singles in that the artist on the label was listed simply as Mouse.
Artist: Byrds
Title: Eight Miles High
Source: LP: Nuggets Vol. 9-Acid Rock (originally released as 45 RPM single and on LP: Fifth Dimension)
Writer(s): Clark/McGuinn/Crosby
Label: Rhino (original label: Columbia)
Year: 1966
Gene Clark's final contribution to the Byrds was his collaboration with David Crosby and Roger McGuinn, Eight Miles High. Despite a newsletter from the most powerful man in top 40 radio, Bill Drake, advising stations not to play this "drug song", the song managed to hit the top 20 in 1966. The band members themselves claimed that Eight Miles High was not a drug song at all, but was instead referring to the experience of travelling by air. In fact, it was Gene Clark's fear of flying that led to his leaving the Byrds.
Artist: Easybeats
Title: Heaven And Hell
Source: CD: Nuggets-Classics From The Psychedelic 60s (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Vanda/Young
Label: Rhino (original label: Parlophone)
Year: 1967
Throughout the mid-60s Australia's most popular band was the Easybeats, often called the Australian Beatles. Although their early material sounded like slightly dated British Invasion music (Australia had a reputation for cultural lag, and besides, all but one of the members were British immigrants), by late 1966 guitarist Harry Vanda (the Scandinavian member of the group) had learned enough English to be able to replace vocalist Stevie Wright as George Young's writing partner. The new team was much more adventurous in their compositions than the Wright/Young team had been, and were responsible for the band's first international hit, Friday On My Mind. By then the Easybeats had relocated to England, and continued to produce fine singles such as Heaven And Hell.
Artist: Yardbirds
Title: Think About It
Source: CD: Over, Under, Sideways, Down (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Relf/McCarty/Page
Label: Raven (original label: Epic)
Year: 1968
The final Yardbirds record was a single released in early 1968. Although the group made TV appearances in Europe to promote the A side, Good Night Josephine, it is the B side of that record, Think About It, that deserves to be considered the last Yardbirds song. Instrumentally the song sounds a lot like something off of Led Zeppelin's first couple of albums. Once Keith Relf's vocals come in, however, there is no doubt that this is vintage Yardbirds, and quite possibly the best track of the entire Jimmy Page era.
Artist: Blues Project
Title: Who Do You Love
Source: LP: Live At The Café Au Go Go
Writer(s): Elias McDaniel
Label: Verve Folkways
Year: 1966
In early 1966 Howard Solomon, proprietor of New York's Café Au Go Go, held a three day blues festival. The main purpose of the event was to provide a venue for the house band, the Blues Project, to record several tracks for use on their debut LP for Verve Folkways. Shortly after the event, the band was flown out to Los Angeles by the people from M-G-M, Verve's parent company. That's when the problems started, as lead vocalist Tommy Flander's girlfriend surprised everyone with the announcement that Flanders was leaving the band to pursue a solo career in both music and films. This left Verve with a dilemma: most of the material recorded for the album featured Flanders prominently, although there were a few tunes sung by guitarist Danny Kalb and keyboardist Al Kooper (and one by second guitarist Steve Katz), but not enough to fill an entire LP. The solution was to re-order the songs, putting most of Flanders's songs toward the end of the album. Thus, the final track was also the longest one: a rockin' rendition of Bo Diddley's Who Do You Love with Flanders on lead vocal.
Artist: Ultimate Spinach
Title: Baroque # 1
Source: LP: Ultimate Spinach
Writer(s): Ian Bruce-Douglas
Label: M-G-M
Year: 1967
Of the six major US record labels of the time, only two, Decca and M-G-M, failed to sign any San Francisco bands. Decca, which had been bought by MCA in the early 60s, was fast fading as a major force in the industry (ironic considering that Universal, the direct descendant of MCA, is now the world's largest record company). M-G-M, on the other hand, had a strong presence on the Greenwich Village scene thanks to Jerry Schoenbaum at the Verve Forecast label, who had signed such critically-acclaimed artists as Dave Van Ronk, Tim Hardin and the Blues Project. Taking this as an inspiration, the parent label decided to create interest in the Boston music scene, aggressively promoting (some would say hyping) the "Boss-Town Sound". One of the bands signed was Ultimate Spinach, which was led by keyboardist Ian Bruce-Douglas, who wrote all the band's material, including the instrumental Baroque # 1.
Artist: Steve Miller Band
Title: Quicksilver Girl
Source: CD: Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-70 (originally released as 45 RPM single and on LP: Sailor)
Writer(s): Steve Miller
Label: Rhino (original label: Capitol)
Year: 1968
Steve Miller moved to San Francisco from Chicago and was reportedly struck by what he saw as a much lower standard of musicianship in the bay area than in the windy city. Miller's response was to form a band that would conform to Chicago standards. The result was the Steve Miller Band, one of the most successful of the San Francisco bands, although much of that success would not come until the mid-1970s, after several personnel changes. One feature of the Miller band is that it featured multiple lead vocalists, depending on who wrote the song. Miller himself wrote and sings on Quicksilver Girl, from the band's second LP, Sailor.
Artist: Steppenwolf
Title: Your Wall's Too High
Source: CD: Born To Be Wild-A Retrospective (originally released on LP: Steppenwolf)
Writer(s): John Kay
Label: MCA (original label: Dunhill)
Year: 1968
Most of the songs on Steppenwolf's first album had been in the group's stage repertoire for a year or more, giving the band plenty of opportunity to work the bugs out of their arrangements. As a result the band sounded tight and well-rehearsed on their debut LP, as is evident on Your Wall's Too High, a tune written by leader John Kay, who also played slide guitar on the tune.
Artist: Steppenwolf
Title: Born To Be Wild
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Mars Bonfire
Label: Dunhill
Year: 1968
Born To Be Wild's status as a counter-cultural anthem was cemented when it was chosen for the soundtrack of the movie Easy Rider. The popularity of both the song and the movie resulted in Steppenwolf becoming the all-time favorite band of bikers all over the world.
Artist: Steppenwolf
Title: The Ostrich
Source: CD: Born To Be Wild-A Retrospective (originally released on LP: Steppenwolf)
Writer(s): John Kay
Label: MCA (original label: Dunhill)
Year: 1968
Although John Kay's songwriting skills were still a work in progress on the first Steppenwolf album, there were some outstanding Kay songs on that LP, such as The Ostrich, a song that helped define Steppenwolf as one of the most politically savvy rock bands in history.
Artist: Grand Funk Railroad
Title: I Want Freedom
Source: 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Mark Farner
Label: Capitol
Year: 1971
After being savaged by the rock press for their first three studio albums, Grand Funk Railroad mellowed their hard rocking sound a bit with their 1971 LP Survival. They did this by putting a greater emphasis on organ and electric piano, played by guitarist Mark Farner. Like the song Mean Mistreater, which had been a minor hit for the group in 1970, I Want Freedom, which opens the Survival album, is built entirely around Farner's keyboard playing.
Artist: Gary Lee Yoder
Title: Flight From The East
Source: CD: Kak-Ola (bonus track originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Gary Lee Yoder
Label: Big Beat (original label: Epic)
Year: 1970
Gary Lee Yoder established himself as one of the core members of the San Francisco music scene in the late 60s, first as a member of the Oxford Circle and later as the leader of Kak. Shortly after Kad disbanded, Yoder convinced the people at Epic Records to let him record a single, Flight From The East, that he hoped would lead to an album project. A lack of promotion from the label put an end to those dreams, however, and Yoder ended up joining a tamed down version of Blue Cheer.
Artist: Fleetwood Mac
Title: Buddy's Song
Source: LP: Kiln House
Writer(s): Ella Holley
Label: Reprise
Year: 1970
As an early member of Fleetwood Mac, guitarist Jeremy Spencer had always taken a back seat to lead guitarist/vocalist Peter Green. With the departure of Green following the Then Play On album, however, Spencer got a chance to take center stage for several tunes on the band's next LP, Kiln House, including Buddy's Song. Officially credited to Buddy Holly's mother, the song is actually a reworking of Peggy Sue Got Married, with new lyrics incorporating several Buddy Holly song titles provided by Spencer, whose fondness for 50s rockabilly was well known. As it turned out, Kiln House would be the last album Spencer recorded as a member of Fleetwood Mac, and the band continued to move away from its blues roots toward the soft rock sound that would make Fleetwood Mac a household name in the 1980s.
Artist: Sam And Dave
Title: Hold On! I'm Comin'
Source: 45 RPM single (reissue)
Writer(s): Hayes/Porter
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1966
Of the various artists recording in Memphis for Stax Records in the mid-to-late 1960s, none were more consistently successful than Sam Moore and David Prater. Sam And Dave, as they were usually known, specialized in performing songs written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, such as Soul Man and I Thank You. One of their best-known tunes was Hold On! I'm Comin', released in spring of 1966. According to Hayes, the title of the song came from Porter's response when Hayes was trying to get Porter to finish his business in the restroom at Stax Studios and get back to work on a song they were writing.
Artist: Bee Gees
Title: I Can't See Nobody
Source: CD: Bee Gees' 1st (also released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Barry and Robin Gibb
Label: Reprise (original label: Atco)
Year: 1967
The Bee Gees had already released two albums in Australia by the time they relocated to England and recorded the album that came to be known as Bee Gees' 1st in 1967. Unlike their previous efforts, Bee Gees' 1st was released internationally and ended up yielding several hits including Holiday, New York Mining Disaster-1941, and To Love Somebody. The album featured mostly original material written by Barry and Robin Gibb, who, along with Robin's fraternal twin brother Maurice, made up the group's core. Barry handled most of the lead vocals on the album. One exception is I Can't See Nobody, which was sung by Robin Gibb.
Artist: Status Quo
Title: Pictures Of Matchstick Men
Source: CD: Psychedelic Pop (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Francis Rossi
Label: BMG/RCA/Buddah
Year: 1967
The band with the most charted singles in the UK is not the Beatles or even the Rolling Stones. It is, in fact, Status Quo, quite possibly the nearest thing to a real life version of Spinal Tap. Except for Pictures of Matchstick Men, the group has never had a hit in the US. On the other hand, they remain popular in Scandanavia, playing to sellout crowds on a regular basis (yes, they are still together).
Artist: Pink Floyd
Title: Paintbox
Source: CD: Relics (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Rick Wright
Label: Capitol (original label: Harvest)
Year: 1967
On Pink Floyd's earliest records, the songwriter of record was usually Syd Barrett. After Barrett's mental health issues forced him out of the band the other members stepped up to fill the gap. But even before Barrett left, drummer Rick Wright's name began to show up on songwriting credits, such as on Paintbox, a 1967 B side that came out between the band's first two LPs.
Artist: Spencer Davis Group
Title: I'm A Man
Source: Progressive Heavies (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Miller/Winwood
Label: United Artists
Year: 1967
The Spencer Davis Group, featuring Steve and Muff Winwood, was one of the UK's most successful white R&B bands of the sixties, cranking out a steady stream of hit singles. Two of them, the iconic Gimme Some Lovin' and I'm A Man, were also major hits in the US, the latter being the last song to feature the Winwood brothers. Muff Winwood became a successful record producer. The group itself continued on for several years, but were never able to duplicate their earlier successes. As for Steve Winwood, he quickly faded off into obscurity, never to be heard from again. Except as the leader of Traffic. And a member of Blind Faith. And Traffic again. And some critically-acclaimed collaborations in the early 1980s with Asian musicians. Oh yeah, and a few major solo hits like Higher Love and Roll With It in the late 80s. Other than that, nothing.
Artist: Buffalo Springfield
Title: Mr. Soul
Source: CD: Retrospective (originally released on LP: Buffalo Springfield Again)
Writer(s): Neil Young
Label: Atco
Year: 1967
Executives at Atco Records originally considered Neil Young's voice "too weird" to be recorded. As a result many of Young's early tunes (including the band's debut single Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing), were sung by Richie Furay. By the time the band's second album, Buffalo Springfield Again, was released, the band had enough clout to make sure Young was allowed to sing his own songs. In fact, the album starts with a Young vocal on the classic Mr. Soul.
AArtist: Cream
Title: Crossroads
Source: CD: Best of 60s Psychedelic Rock (originally released on LP: Wheels Of Fire)
Writer: Robert Johnson
Label: Priority (original label: Atco)
Year: 1968
Robert Johnson's Crossroads has come to be regarded as a signature song for Eric Clapton, who's live version (recorded at the Fillmore East) was first released on the Cream album Wheels Of Fire.
Artist: Who
Title: Amazing Journey
Source: Spirit Of Joy (originally released on LP: Tommy)
Writer(s): Pete Townshend
Label: Polydor (original label: Decca)
Year: 1969
After achieving major success in their native England with a series of hit singles in 1965-67, the Who began to concentrate more on their albums from 1968 on. The first of these concept albums was The Who Sell Out, released in December of 1967. The Who Sell Out was a collection of songs connected by faux radio spots and actual jingles from England's last remaining pirate radio station, Radio London. After releasing a few more singles in 1968, the Who began work on their most ambitious project yet: the world's first rock opera. Tommy, released in 1969, was a double LP telling the story of a boy who, after being tramautized into becoming a blind deaf-mute, eventually emerges as a kind of messiah, only to have his followers ultimately abandon him. One of the early tracks on the album is Amazing Journey, describing Tommy's voyage into the recesses of his own mind in response to the traumatic event that results in his blind, deaf and dumb condition.
Artist: Donovan
Title: Do You Hear Me Now
Source: LP: Hear Me Now (originally released in UK on EP: Universal Soldier and in US as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Bert Jansch
Label: Janus (original UK label: Pye; original US label: Hickory)
Year: 1965
In 1965 Donovan's UK label, Pye Records, released an Extended Play 45 RPM record (EP) called the Universal Soldier. The record featured four songs that were not available in any other format. EPs had been moderately successful in the US in the mid-1950s, but by 1965 had virtually disappeared from American record racks (except for children's records from companies like Disney and Peter Pan Records). Donovan's US label, Hickory Records, wanted to release the song Universal Soldier, but had no desire to release an EP. Instead they released the song as a single, with one of the other tracks from the EP, Do You Hear Me Now, as the B side. In 1971 Janus Records re-released many of Donovan's early songs, including Do You Hear Me Now, on a new set of albums. Unfortunately those LPs used the electronically reprocessed for stereo versions rather than the original mono mixes.
Artist: Beatles
Title: I Don't Want To Spoil The Party
Source: LP: Beatles VI (originally released in UK on LP: Beatles For Sale)
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Apple (original UK label: Parlophone; original US label: Capitol)
Year: UK: 1964, US: 1965
As early as 1964 the Beatles were starting to incorporate acoustic guitars into their music to supplement their basic electric sound. One example of this is I Don't Want To Spoil The Party from their LP Beatles For Sale. In the US the song appeared on the 1965 LP Beatles VI.
Artist: Doors
Title: Not To Touch The Earth
Source: CD: Waiting For The Sun
Writer(s): The Doors
Label: Elektra
Year: 1968
Waiting For the Sun was the first Doors album to feature a gatefold cover (imagine a 24"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 Not To Touch The Earth, a short section from the middle of the piece, for inclusion on the album.
Artist: Doors
Title: You're Lost Little Girl
Source: LP: Strange Days
Writer(s): 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 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: Doors
Title: My Wild Love
Source: CD: Waiting For The Sun
Writer(s): The Doors
Label: Elektra
Year: 1968
The Doors' third album, Waiting For The Sun, was the band's only LP to make it to the top of the charts. It also marked the beginning of a more experimental period for the band, with an eclectic mix of songs that included the flamenco-flavored Spanish Caravan, the brutally anti-war piece The Unknown Soldier and My Wild Love, an a-capella piece that sounds more like a chain gang work song than a rock and roll tune.
Artist: Standells
Title: Dirty Water
Source: LP: Nuggets Vol. 1-The Hits (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Ed Cobb
Label: Rhino (original label: Tower)
Year: 1966
When it comes to garage rock it really doesn't get any better than Dirty Water. The 1966 Standells classic was written by producer Ed Cobb, the Ed Wood of the record industry.
Artist: Chocolate Watchband
Title: Are You Gonna Be There (At The Love-In)
Source: CD: Nuggets-Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era (originally released as 45 RPM single and on LP: No Way Out)
Writer(s): McElroy/Bennett
Label: Rhino (original label: Tower)
Year: 1967
It took me several years to sort out the convoluted truth behind the recorded works of San Jose, California's most popular local band, the Chocolate Watchband. While it's true that much of what was released under their name was in truth the work of studio musicians, there are a few tracks that are indeed the product of Dave Aguilar and company. Are You Gonna Be There, a song used in the cheapie teenspliotation flick the Love-In and included on the Watchband's first album, is one of those few. Even more ironic is the fact that the song was co-written by Don Bennett, the studio vocalist whose voice was substituted for Aguilar's on a couple of other songs from the same album.
Artist: Big Brother And The Holding Company
Title: Summertime
Source: LP: Cheap Thrills
Writer(s): George and Ira Gershwin
Label: Columbia
Year: 1968
Janis Joplin, on Big Brother And The Holding Company's Cheap Thrills album, sounds like she was born to sing Gershwin's Summertime. Maybe she was.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment