https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/440983-pe-2240b
Sixty years ago this week, on October 5, 1962, EMI released a single on its second-tier Parlophone label written and performed by four young men from Liverpool. That single touched off what came to be known as Beatlemania the following year. The year after that Beatlemania reached the US, launching an invasion of the US music industry by British "beat" bands, which in turn inspired American teenagers to form their own self-contained garage bands, setting the stage for what we now call the Psychedelic Era. This week we celebrate that British Invasion, starting at the very beginning with that 1962 single.
Artist: Beatles
Title: Love Me Do (Ringo on drums version)
Source: Mono CD: Past Masters Volume One (originally released in UK as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Apple Parlophone
Year: 1962
The Beatles made three recordings of their debut single, Love Me Do. The first version of the song (which had actually been written before the Beatles even existed) was made on June 6, 1962 for the band's EMI Artist Test with Pete Best playing drums. Although the band passed the audition, they decided to change drummers soon after, replacing Best with Richard Starkey, AKA Ringo Starr. On September 4, 1962 they returned to EMI studios for their first official recording session and cut the song a second time, this time with Ringo on drums. Producer George Martin was not entirely satisfied with Ringo's drumming on the recording, and so the song was recut a week later, on September 11, 1962, with studio drummer Andy White (Ringo played tambourine on this version). The single was first issued on October 5th of that year, using the version with Ringo on drums. That version was soon replaced, however, with the Alan White version, which was included on the band's 1963 debut LP Please Please Me, as well as the first pressings of Vee Jay's Introducing...The Beatles LP and the US single version of the song released on the Tollie label.
Artist: Tornados
Title: Telstar
Source: 45 RPM single (reissue)
Writer: J. Meek
Label: London
Year: 1962
Before the Beatles kicked off the British Invasion in 1964 there had only been two British recordings that had been able to hit the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The first was Strangers On The Shore, a jazz piece by saxophonist Mr. Acker Bilk. The second chart-topper (the first by a rock band) was the Tornados' Telstar, a quasi-surf instrumental named for the first transatlantic communication satellite.
Artist: Beatles
Title: Please Please Me
Source: Mono CD: Please Please Me
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Apple Parlophone
Year: 1963
When Love Me Do was released in autumn of 1962 it did respectively well for a debut single from a group situated well outside the London hub of the British music scene, peaking at #17 on the British charts. The next single by the band, Please Please Me, did considerably better, going to the #1 spot on all but one of the British music charts (which ironically has come to be the one that is now considered the "official" chart of the time). More importantly, Please Please Me touched off a phenomenon that soon came to be called Beatlemania.
Artist: Beatles
Title: From Me To You
Source: Mono CD: Past Masters Volume One (originally released in UK as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Apple/Parlophone
Year: 1963
The first Beatles single to top every British record chart was From Me To You, released on April 11, 1963. It was the first of 11 consecutive number one hits for the band.
Artist: Beatles
Title: She Loves You
Source: Mono CD: Past Masters Volume One (originally released in UK as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Apple/Capitol (original US label: Swan)
Year: 1963
Beatlemania hit its British peak in the fall of 1963, when She Loves You spent 18 weeks in the UK top 5, six of them in the # 1 spot. Such was the popularity of the band at that time that thousands of copies of the single had been pre-ordered before the song was even written, a number that grew to half a million by the time the record was released. She Loves You is the all-time best-selling Beatles single in the UK, and was the group's second consecutive # 1 hit in the US as well (knocking I Want To Hold Your Hand out of the top spot on March 21, 1964. The song, which was initially released in the US on the Swan label, was at first considered a flop, selling only about 1,000 copies when it first hit the American record racks in September of 1963. Eventually, though, the song became one of the five Beatles songs to occupy the top 5 spots on the US charts simultaneously in April of 1964 and ended up being the second-highest ranked song of the year, behind I Want To Hold Your Hand.
Artist: Beatles
Title: I Want To Hold Your Hand
Source: CD: Past Masters Volume One (originally released in UK as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Apple/Capitol
Year: 1963
Originally released in the UK in November of 1963, I Want To Hold Your Hand was originally slated for a January 1964 release in the US, but when a Washington DC disc jockey started playing an imported copy of the British single in early December Capitol Records decided to move up the release of the song to December 26th. By the middle of January the song was in the US top 50 and on February 1st it took over the #1 spot, staying there for seven weeks and touching off what would come to be known as the British Invasion. Unlike many later Beatles songs that, despite being credited to the songwriting team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney were actually written by one or the other of the pair, I Want To Hold Your Hand was a true collaboration worked out in the basement of the house McCartney was living in. The group performed the song on the Ed Sullivan TV show in mid-January, setting all-time records for viewership. The track (the first by the band to be recorded on four-track equipment and mixed in stereo as well as mono) was included on their first album for Capitol, Meet The Beatles. That album, released on January 20, 1964, actually ended up outselling the single, the first time in US history that had happened. It was not long before other British bands started hitting the US charts and American kids began growing their hair out in imitation of the Beatles, many of them even going so far as to form their own British-influenced garage bands.
Artist: Dusty Springfield
Title: I Only Want To Be With You
Source: Mono LP: History Of British Rock (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Hawker/Raymonde
Label: Sire (original label: Philips)
Year: 1963
Released in November of 1963, Dusty Springfield's debut single as a solo artist, I Only Want To Be With You, became the first non-Beatles single of the British Invasion to hit the US charts, making its debut at #77 the last week of January, 1964. It would eventually hit its peak at #12.
Artist: Dave Clark Five
Title: Glad All Over
Source: Mono CD: 5 By Five (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Clark/Smith
Label: Hollywood (original label: Epic)
Year: 1963
The Dave Clark Five were originally formed as a way of raising money for Clark's football (soccer) team. Toward the end of 1963 they scored a number one hit in England with Glad All Over, which was released to an enthusiastic US audience a few months later. For a while they even rivaled the Beatles in popularity.
Artist: Freddie And The Dreamers
Title: I'm Telling You Now
Source: Mono LP: I'm Telling You Now (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Garrity/Murray
Label: Tower
Year: 1963
Although it was not released in the US until 1965, Freddie And The Dreamers' I'm Telling You Now was a huge UK hit in 1963, going all the way to the #2 spot on the British charts. The wild, almost comical, dancing style of bandleader Freddie Garrity inspired a short-lived dance called The Freddie following the song's US release. Probably the most famous performance of the dance was by Gomez Addams (played by John Astin) in a 1965 episode of the TV show The Addams Family called "Lurch, the Teenage Idol".
Artist: Gerry And The Pacemakers
Title: I Like It
Source: Mono LP: History Of British Rock (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Mitch Murray
Label: Sire (original UK label: Columbia; original US label: Laurie)
Year: 1963
Gerry And The Pacemakers were the second band to be managed by Brian Epstein and probably the second most popular band to come from Liverpool, behind the Beatles. They were the first band, however, to hit the #1 spot on the British charts will their first three singles, a record that was not equalled until the 1980s (ironically by another Liverpool band, Frankie Goes To Hollywood). The second of those three songs was a Mitch Murray tune called I Like It. Released in May of 1963, the song made it into the US top 20 in early 1964 but was soon eclipsed by the ballad Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying.
Artist: Swinging Blue Jeans
Title: Hippy Hippy Shake
Source: Mono LP: History Of British Rock (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Chan Romero
Label: Sire (original UK label: His Master's Voice; original US label: Imperial)
Year: 1963
Merseybeat is the term applied to bands from Liverpool that were popular from around 1962 to 1965. Perhaps the most typical example of a Merseybeat band was the Swinging Blue Jeans. Formed as a skiffle sextet called the Bluegenes in 1957, the group switched to rock 'n' roll in 1962 after being booed off the stage at Hamburg's Star Club, taking the name Swinging Blue Jeans at the same time. They released their first single for EMI's His Master's Voice label in June of 1963, but had their greatest success with their December 1963 cover of Chan Romero's Hippy Hippy Shake. The song went to the #2 spot on the British charts and was one of the first British Invasion records to hit the Hot 100 in the US, peaking at #24.
Artist: Nashville Teens
Title: Tobacco Road
Source: Mono CD: British Beat (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: John D. Loudermilk
Label: K-Tel (original US label: London)
Year: 1964
The Nashville Teens were not teens. Nor were they from Nashville. In fact, they were one of the original British Invasion bands. Their version of John D. Loudermilk's Tobacco Road was a huge international hit in the summer of 1964. The lead guitar parts on the recording are the work of studio musician Jimmy Page.
Artist: Yardbirds
Title: I'm A Man
Source: 45 RPM single (reissue)
Writer(s): Elias McDaniel
Label: Epic
Year: 1965
It's pretty much a given that the Rolling Stones were the most influential band in the world when it came to inspiring American garage bands. The single song that had the most influence on those bands, however, was probably the Yardbirds high-energy cover of Bo Diddley's I'm A Man, which electrified the US charts in 1965. I spell M....A.....N....Yeah!
Artist: Troggs
Title: Wild Thing
Source: Simulated stere LP: History Of British Rock (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Chip Taylor
Label: Sire (original label: Fontana)
Year: 1966
I have a DVD copy of a music video (although back then they were called promotional films) for the Troggs' Wild Thing in which the members of the band are walking through what looks like a train station while being mobbed by girls at every turn. Every time I watch it I imagine singer Reg Presley saying "giggity-giggity" as he bobs his head.
Artist: Status Quo
Title: Pictures Of Matchstick Men
Source: Simulated stereo CD: British Beat (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Francis Rossi
Label: K-Tel (original label: Cadet Concept)
Year: 1968
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: Jethro Tull
Title: Beggar's Farm
Source: LP: This Was
Writer(s): Abrahams/Anderson
Label: Chrysalis
Year: 1968
Although Jethro Tull would eventually come to be considered almost a backup band for flautist/vocalist/songwriter Ian Anderson, in the early days the group was much more democratically inclined, at least until the departure of guitarist and co-founder Mick Abrahams. In addition to providing a more blues-based orientation for the band, Abrahams shared songwriting duties with Anderson as well, including collaborations such as Beggar's Farm from the band's 1968 debut LP, This Was.
Artist: Pink Floyd
Title: Cirrus Minor
Source: CD: Relics (originally released on LP: Music From The Film "More")
Writer(s): Roger Waters
Label: Capitol (original label: Harvest)
Year: 1969
In the years between the departure of founding member Syd Barrett and their breakthrough album Dark Side Of The Moon, Pink Floyd provided music for several independent films such as Zabriskie Point and one called More. One of the tracks from the latter film, Cirrus Minor, foreshadows how the band would sound during its most successful period during the late 70s and early 80s. The song, written by keyboardist Roger Waters, features lead vocals by Barrett's replacement, guitarist David Gilmour.
Artist: Kinks
Title: Lola
Source: LP: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround
Writer(s): Ray Davies
Label: Reprise
Year: 1970
By 1970 the Kinks were all but forgotten in the US and not doing all that much better in their native UK. Then came Lola. I guess I could stop right there. Or I could mention that the song was based on a true story involving the band's manager. I could even say something about Dave Davies' claim that, although his brother Ray is credited as the sole songwriter of Lola, Dave actually came up with the music and Ray added the lyrics. But you've probably heard it all before. This is Lola, the most famous transvestite song in history, we're talking about, after all.
Artist: Pink Fairies
Title: War Girl
Source: CD: Spirit Of Joy (originally released on LP: Neverneverland)
Writer(s): Twink aka John Charles Edward Alder
Label: Polydor
Year: 1971
The Pink Fairies were formed when three members of the Deviants (Paul Rudolph, Duncan Sanderson, and Russell Hunter), who had fired their own band leader during a disastrous North American tour, decided to hook up with Twink (John Charles Edward Alder), the former drummer of Tomorrow and the Pretty Things. Twink had done a one-shot gig with an ad hoc group of musicians under the name Pink Fairies in 1969, and the new group decided that they liked the name and appropriated it for themselves. The band gained immediate notoriety for putting on free concerts, often just outside the gates of places that were charging premium prices for tickets to see more well-known bands. By the end of 1970 the Fairies had secured a contract with Polydor and releasing their first single late in the year. This was followed by a 1971 album called Neverneverland that featured several tracks written by Twink, such as War Girl. Although the Pink Fairies split up in 1976, they still get together from time to time to put on a show.
Artist: Them
Title: Baby, Please Don't Go
Source: Mono 12" single (reissue)
Writer: Joe Williams
Label: A&M
Year: 1964
Belfast, Northern Ireland was home to one of the first bands that could be legitimately described as punk rock. Led by Van Morrison, the band quickly got a reputation for being rude and obnoxious, particularly to members of the English press (although it was actually a fellow Irishman who first labeled them as "boorish"). Their first single was what has come to be considered the definitive rock and roll version of the 1923 Joe Williams tune Baby, Please Don't Go. Despite its UK success, the single did not chart in the US, although its B side, Gloria, did get some airplay before being banned on most US radio stations due to its suggestive lyrics. Them's recording of Baby, Please Don't Go gained renewed popularity in the 1980s when it was used in the film Good Morning Vietnam and reissued as a 12' promotional single in 1988. One side of that record is the song "in the clear", while the other (heard on this week's show) includes an introduction by Robin Williams in his film role as US Air Force disc jockey Adrian Cronauer.
Artist: Donovan
Title: Catch The Wind
Source: Mono CD: Donovan's Greatest Hits (originally released in UK on LP: What's Bin Did And What's Bin Hid and in US on LP: Catch The Wind)
Writer(s): Donovan Leitch
Label: Epic/Legacy (original US label: Hickory)
Year: 1965
Scottish singer/songwriter Donovan Leitch released his first single, Catch The Wind, in March of 1965. The record was an instant hit, going to the #4 spot on the British charts and later hitting #23 in the US. He ended up re-recording the song twice; first for his debut LP, What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid (released in the US as Catch The Wind), and then again in stereo for his 1969 greatest hits album, when Epic Records was unable to secure the rights to either of the original versions. By the late 1990s, however, Epic was able to substitute the first LP version for the later one on the CD issue of Donovan's Greatest Hits (although the liner notes erroneously state that the single version was used). Having heard all three, I would personally pick the original mono LP version heard here as the best of the lot.
Artist: Donovan
Title: The Trip
Source: Mono LP: Sunshine Superman
Writer(s): Donovan Leitch
Label: Sundazed/Epic
Year: 1966
Donovan had already established a reputation in his native Scotland as the UK's answer to Bob Dylan, but had not had much success in the US, where his records were being released on the poorly distributed Hickory label. That all changed in 1966, however, when he began to move beyond his folk roots and embrace a more electric sound. Unlike Dylan, who basically kept the same style as his acoustic songs, simply adding electic instruments, Donovan took a more holistic approach. The result was a body of music with a much broader range of sounds. The first of these new electric tunes was Sunshine Superman, sometimes cited as the first top 10 psychedelic hit. The B side of Sunshine Superman was a song called The Trip, which managed to be even more psychedelic than its A side. Both songs soon appeared on Donovan's major US label debut, an album that was not even released in the UK due to a contractual dispute between the singer/songwriter and Pye Records.
Artist: Donovan
Title: Hurdy Gurdy Man
Source: CD: Donovan's Greatest Hits (originally released as 45 RPM single and included on LP: Hurdy Gurdy Man)
Writer(s): Donovan Leitch
Label: Epic/Legacy
Year: 1968
In early 1968 Donovan Leitch decided to try his hand at producing another band, Hurdy Gurdy, which included his old friend bassist Mac MacLeod. However, creative differences with the band led to Donovan recording the song himself and releasing it as a single in May of that year. The song is done in a harder rock style than most of Donovan's recordings, and features some of London's top studio musicians, including Clem Cattini on drums, Alan Parker on guitar and future Led Zeppelin member John Paul Jones on bass. It has long been rumoured that Jimmy Page and John Bonham also participated on the recording, but their presence is disputed. Donovan reportedly wanted to use Jimi Hendrix on the recording, but the guitarist was unavailable at the time.
Artist: Blossom Toes
Title: Look At Me I'm You
Source: British import CD: We Are Ever So Clean
Writer(s): Godding/Gomelski
Label: Sunbeam (original label: Marmalade)
Year: 1968
Bands often have to work hard to get "discovered". The Blossom Toes had a different, more short-term goal however; they wanted Georgio Gomelski to be their manager. Originally calling themselves the Ingoes (after an obscure Chuck Berry tune), the band formed in 1964 and was willing to play anywhere and anytime for whatever pay they could get. The first time they approached Gomelski, who was already well-known locally as the manager of the Yardbirds, he told them to come back when they had gotten themselves together. They took him at his word and went to Dortmund, Germany, for a three-week long engagement where, in the words of bandleader Brian Godding, "the learning curve became a vertical line". Upon their return they again approached Gomelski and were again rejected, but this time tasked his right-hand man Hamish Grimes with finding the group some "educational" gigs around London. Gomelski finally took on the band as clients, but soon sent them to Paris, where they were billed as "Los Ingoes from the world-famous Marquee Club". Eventually the band changed its name to the Blossom Toes and got the opportunity to record their debut LP for Gomelski's own Marmalade label. The resulting album, We Are Ever So Clean has been called an example of "quintessentially British Psychedelia". Britain's Melody Maker magazine referred to it as "Giorgio Gomelsky's Lonely Hearts Club Band", and indeed, Gomelski co-wrote the album's opening track, Look At Me I'm You, with Godding. Blossom Toes went on to record a second, harder rocking album for Marmalade before disbanding in 1970 due to lack of commercial success.
Artist: Bonzo Dog Band
Title: I'm The Urban Spaceman
Source: LP: Progressive Heavies (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Neil Innes
Label: United Artists
Year: 1968
The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (as they were originally called) was as much theatre (note the British spelling) as music, and were known for such antics as starting out their performances by doing calisthentics (after being introduced as the warm-up band) and having one of the members, "Legs" Larry Smith tapdance on stage (he was actually quite good). In 1967 they became the resident band on Do Not Adjust Your Set, a children's TV show that also featured sketch comedy by future Monty Python members Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin along with David Jason, the future voice of Mr. Toad and Danger Mouse. Late in the year they appeared in the Beatles' telefilm Magical Mystery Tour, performing a song called Deathcab For Cutie. In 1968 the Bonzos released their only hit single, I'm The Urban Spaceman, co-produced by Paul McCartney. Frontman Neil Innes would go on to hook up with Eric Idle for the Rutles project, among other things, and is often referred to as the Seventh Python.
Artist: Small Faces
Title: Itchycoo Park
Source: LP: History Of British Rock (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Marriott/Lane
Label: Sire (original label: Immediate)
Year: 1967
Led by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, the Small Faces got their name from the fact that all the members of the band were somewhat vertically challenged. The group was quite popular with the London mod crowd, and was sometimes referred to as the East End's answer to the Who. Although quite successful in the UK, the group only managed to score one hit in the US, the iconic Itchycoo Park, which was released in late 1967. Following the departure of Marriott the group shortened their name to Faces, and recruited a new lead vocalist named Rod Stewart. Needless to say, the new version of the band did much better in the US than their previous incarnation.
Artist: Deep Purple
Title: Wring That Neck (aka Hard Road)
Source: LP: Purple Passages (originally released on LP: The Book Of Taleisyn)
Writer(s): Blackmore/Lord/Simper/Paice
Label: Warner Brothers (original label: Tetragrammaton)
Year: 1968
Wring That Neck is an instrumental piece by Deep Purple first recorded for their second LP, The Book Of Taleisyn. The piece served as the band's opening number for live performances, particularly when touring the US in 1968 and 1969. The title refers to the playing styles of guitarist Richie Blackmore and bassist Nicky Simper, who would "wring the neck" of their instruments to "squeeze out" the notes, according to Simper. The band's American label, Tetragrammaton, felt that the title was too violent, however, and had it changed to Hard Road for the album's US release. One of the stops on the band's American tour was San Francisco, home of a band called It's A Beautiful Day. Don And Dewey, the opening track of It's A Beautiful Day's second LP, Marrying Maiden (released in 1970), uses an almost identical signature riff to that of Hard Road. Perhaps not coincidentally, Child In Time, the best-known track on Deep Purple's 1970 LP Deep Purple In Rock, is built around a riff nearly identical to that of Bombay Calling, a popular concert piece from It's A Beautiful Day's 1969 debut album.
Artist: Animals
Title: It's My Life
Source: Mono CD: Retrospective (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Atkins/D'Errico
Label: Abkco (original label: M-G-M)
Year: 1965
The Animals had a string of solid hits throughout the mid-60s, many of which were written by professional songwriters working out of Don Kirschner's Brill Building in New York. Although vocalist Eric Burdon expressed disdain for most of these songs at the time (preferring to perform the blues/R&B covers that the group had built up its following with), he now sings every one of them, including It's My Life, on the oldies circuit.
Artist: Animals
Title: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Source: Mono LP: The Best Of The Animals (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Benjamin/Marcus/Caldwell
Label: M-G-M
Year: 1965
1965 was a huge year for the Animals. Coming off the success of their 1964 smash House Of The Rising Sun, the Newcastle group racked up three major hits in 1965, including Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, a song originally recorded by jazz singer Nina Simone. The Animals version speeded up the tempo and used a signature riff that had been taken from Simone's outro. The Animals version of Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood made the top 20 in the US and the top five in both the UK and Canada.
Artist: Animals
Title: We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (US version)
Source: Mono CD: Retrospective (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Mann/Weil
Label: Abkco (original label: M-G-M)
Year: 1965
In 1965 producer Mickey Most put out a call to Don Kirschner's Brill building songwriters for material that could be recorded by the Animals. He ended up selecting three songs, all of which are among the Animals' most popular singles. Possibly the most familiar of the three is a song written by the husband and wife team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil called We Gotta Get Out Of This Place. The song (the first Animals recording to featuring Dave Rowberry, who had replaced founder Alan Price on organ) starts off with what is probably Chas Chandler's best known bass line, slowly adding drums, vocals, guitar and finally keyboards on its way to an explosive chorus. The song was not originally intended for the Animals, however; it was written for the Righteous Brothers as a follow up to (You've Got That) Lovin' Feelin', which Mann and Weil had also provided for the duo. Mann, however, decided to record the song himself, but the Animals managed to get their version out first, taking it to the top 20 in the US and the top 5 in the UK. As the Vietnam war escalated, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place became a sort of underground anthem for US servicemen stationed in South Vietnam, and has been associated with that war ever since. Incidentally, there were actually two versions of We Gotta Get Out Of This Place recorded during the same recording session, with an alternate take accidentally being sent to M-G-M and subsequently being released as the US version of the single. This version (which some collectors and fans maintain has a stronger vocal track) appeared on the US-only LP Animal Tracks in the fall of 1965 as well as the original M-G-M pressings of the 1966 album Best Of The Animals. The original UK version, on the other hand, did not appear on any albums, as was common for British singles in the 1960s. By the 1980s record mogul Allen Klein had control of the original Animals' entire catalog, and decreed that all CD reissues of the song would use the original British version of the song, including the updated (and expanded) CD version of The Best Of The Animals. Abkco decided to use the US version, however, on the 2004 Retrospective CD, which for the first time combines tracks from both the original Animals and later lineups that went by the name Eric Burdon And The Animals.
Artist: Traffic
Title: Paper Sun
Source: Mono CD: Mr. Fantasy (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Winwood/Capaldi
Label: Island (original US label: United Artists)
Year: 1967
One of the first British acid-rock bands was a group called Deep Feeling, which included drummer Jim Capaldi and woodwind player Chris Wood. At the same time Deep Feeling was experimenting with psychedelia, another, more commercially oriented band, the Spencer Davis Group, was tearing up the British top 40 charts with hits like Keep On Running, Gimme Some Lovin' and I'm A Man. The undisputed star of the Spencer Davis Group was a teenaged guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist named Steve Winwood, who was also beginning to make his mark as a songwriter. Along with guitarist/vocalist Dave Mason, who had worked with Capaldi in earlier bands, they formed Traffic in the spring of 1967, releasing their first single, Paper Sun, in May of that year. Capaldi and Winwood had actually written the tune while Winwood was still in the Spencer Davis Group, and the song was an immediate hit in the UK. This was followed quickly by an album, Mr. Fantasy, that, as was the common practice at the time in the UK, did not include Paper Sun. When the album was picked up by United Artists Records for US release in early 1968, however, Paper Sun was included as the LP's opening track. The US version of the album was originally titled Heaven Is In Your Mind, but was quickly retitled Mr. Fantasy to match the original British title (although the alterations in track listing remained).
Artist: Spencer Davis Group
Title: I'm A Man
Source: Mono LP: Progressive Heavies (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Winwood/Miller
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, while his brother Steve went on to form the band Traffic. Then Blind Faith. Then Traffic again. And then a successful solo career. Meanwhile, the Spencer Davis Group continued on for several years with a series of replacement vocalists, but were never able to duplicate their earlier successes with the Winwoods.
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: Tell Me
Source: Singles Collection-The London Years
Writer(s): Jagger/Richards
Label: Abkco
Year: 1964
The first song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to be recorded by the Rolling Stones, Tell Me was only available as an LP cut in the UK. In the US it became a hit single, establishing the Stones as serious competition to the Beatles themselves. Jagger and Richards would continue to write songs together, eventually outlasting the John Lennon/Paul McCartney team by several decades (and still counting).
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: Ruby Tuesday
Source: Mono CD: Singles Collection-The London Years (originally released as 45 RPM single B side and on LP: Between The Buttons)
Writer(s): Jagger/Richards
Label: Abkco (original label: London)
Year: 1967
One of the most durable songs in the Rolling Stones catalog, Ruby Tuesday was originally intended to be the B side of their 1967 single Let's Spend The Night Together. Many stations, however, balked at the subject matter of the A side and began playing Ruby Tuesday instead.
Artist: Rolling Stones (also released as Bill Wyman)
Title: In Another Land
Source: CD: Their Satanic Majesties Request
Writer(s): Bill Wyman
Label: Abkco (original label: London)
Year: 1967
In Another Land was the first Rolling Stones song written and sung by bassist Bill Wyman, and was even released in the US as a Wyman single. The song originally appeared on the Stones' most psychedelic album, Their Satanic Majesties Request, in late 1967.
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