https://exchange.prx.org/p/621969
This week we have an Advanced Psych segment that goes from a Little Red Record to a Big Red Ball. Other than that we have several sets that focus on a particular year. In fact, every set does, along with two or three songs that aren't part of a set at all.
Artist: Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title: EXP/Up From The Skies
Source: CD: Axis: Bold As Love
Writer(s): Jimi Hendrix
Label: Experience Hendrix/Legacy (original label: Reprise)
Year: 1967
The second Jimi Hendrix Experience album, Axis: Bold As Love, is very much a studio creation. Hendrix had been taking a growing interest in what could be done with multiple tracks to work with, and came up with a masterpiece. What makes the achievement even more remarkable is the fact that he actually only had four tracks to work with (compared to the virtually unlimited number available with modern digital equipment). EXP, which opens the album, is an exercise in creative feedback, using volume and panning to create the illusion of circular motion. The intro to the piece is a faux interview of a slowed-down Hendrix (posing as his friend Paul Caruso) by a slightly sped up bassist Noel Redding. The track leads directly into Up From The Skies, the only song on the album to be issued as a single in the US. Up From The Skies features Hendrix's extensive use of a wah-wah pedal, with vocals and guitar panning back and forth from speaker to speaker over the jazz-styled brushes of drummer Mitch Mitchell.
Artist: Atlantics
Title: Come On
Source: Mono CD: Nuggets II-Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969 (originally released in Australia as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Peter Hood
Label: Rhino (original label: Sunshine)
Year: 1967
One of Australia's most popular and prolific bands, the Atlantics were formed in 1961 as a surf band. By 1964 they were also recording songs with vocals, usually backing up singer Johnny Rebb. Additionally, they released a handful of records with their own vocals provided by guitarist Jim Addams and/or drummer Peter Hood. Among those singles was Come On, a 1967 track written by Hood.
Artist: Circus Maximus
Title: Time Waits
Source: LP: Circus Maximus
Writer(s): Bob Bruno
Label: Vanguard
Year: 1967
When putting together this week's show I noticed that there was one track on the 1967 Circus Maximus debut album that I had only played once before. After listening to it, I understand why. Written by Bob Bruno, Time Waits is sung by the entire band. Unfortunately, vocal harmonies were not their strong point.
Artist: Superfine Dandelion
Title: Day And Night
Source: British import CD: All Kinds Of Highs (originally released in US on LP: The Superfine Dandelion)
Writer(s): McFadden/Musil
Label: Big Beat (original label: Mainstream)
Year: 1967
The Mile Ends were a Phoenix, Arizona band that were regulars at a local teen club called the Fifth Estate, which was run by a guy named Jim Musil. Musil became the group's manager, booking studio time to record a drinking song called Bottle Up And Go in 1966. Not long after that the group, now consisting of guitarists Mike McFadden and Ed Black, along with drummer Mike Collins, began calling themselves the Superfine Dandelion for a studio project sponsored by Musil. The group recorded an album's worth of material that came to the attention of Bob Shad, who was looking for material to issue on his Mainstream label. Shad bought the tapes, releasing the album in November of 1967. Day And Night is one of the standout tracks from that album.
Artist: Love
Title: Colored Balls Falling
Source: Mono LP: Love
Writer(s): Arthur Lee
Label: Elektra
Year: 1966
The first Love album is rooted solidly in both folk-rock and garage rock. A solid example of this blend is Colored Balls Falling, written by Arthur Lee. To my knowledge, Colored Balls Falling has never been included on any anthology albums, making this mono mix of the song somewhat of a rarity until recently, when Elektra reissued the album in both mono and stereo formats on a remastered CD.
Artist: Monks
Title: Boys Are Boys And Girls Are Choice
Source: German import CD: Black Monk Time
Writer(s): Burger/Clark/Day/Johnston/Shaw
Label: Repertoire (original label: Polydor)
Year: 1966
One advantage of being an American beat band (they weren't yet calling it "rock") in mid-60s Germany was that, unless you were truly horrible, you pretty much had a guaranteed local audience. In the case of the Monks, four ex-GIs who were anything but horrible, that meant a level of artistic freedom that most other bands wouldn't have until the latter part of the decade. The Monks were, in fact, popular enough to get a contract with the German branch of England's Polydor label, and tight enough to turn out an excellent, if somewhat obscure album called Black Monk Time, as well as a handful of singles. It turned out, however, that the record buying public wouldn't be ready for a band like the Monks playing short and to the point songs like Boys Are Boys And Girls Are Choice until the late 1970s, when punk-rock became all the rage.
Artist: Yardbirds
Title: Shapes Of Things
Source: British import 45 RPM single
Writer(s): Samwell-Smith/Relf/McCarty
Label: Columbia
Year: 1966
Unlike earlier Yardbirds hits, 1966's Shapes Of Things was written by members of the band. The song, featuring one of guitarist Jeff Beck's most distinctive solos, just barely missed making it to the top 10 in the US, although it was a top 5 single in the UK.
Artist: Ten Years After
Title: 50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain
Source: CD: Cricklewood Green
Writer: Alvin Lee
Label: Chrysalis (original label: Deram)
Year: 1970
Alvin Lee mentions going to every planet in the solar system in 50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain, a nearly eight-minute track from the 1970 Ten Years After album, Cricklewood Green. The album itself was the band's most successful until they changed labels and released A Space In Time, the LP that included their best known song, I'd Love To Change The World.
Artist: Sonics
Title: Strychnine
Source: Mono CD: Nuggets-Original Artyfacts from the Psychedelic Era (originally released on LP: Here Are The Sonics)
Writer(s): Gerald Roslie
Label: Rhino (original label: Etiquette)
Year: 1965
From 1965 we have a band that maintains a cult following to this day: the legendary Sonics, generally considered one of the foundation stones of the Seattle music scene. Although the majority of songs on their albums were cover tunes, virtually all of their originals, such as Strychnine from their debut LP, are now considered punk classics; indeed, the Sonics, along with their labelmates the Wailers, are often cited as the first true punk rock bands.
Artist: Beatles
Title: The Word
Source: Mono CD: Rubber Soul
Writer(s): Lennon/McCartney
Label: Capitol/EMI
Year: 1965
The original concept for the album Rubber Soul was to show the group stretching out into R&B territory. The US version of the album, however, deleted several of the more soulful numbers in favor of folk-rock oriented songs. This was done by Capitol records mainly to cash in on the sudden popularity of the genre in 1965. Not all of the more R&B flavored songs were replaced, however. John Lennon's The Word appeared on both US and UK versions of Rubber Soul.
Artist: Bobby Fuller Four
Title: Let Her Dance
Source: LP: Nuggets Volume 3-Pop (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Bobby Fuller
Label: Rhino (original labels: Mustang/Liberty)
Year: 1965
Once upon a time executive Bob Keane from the small Hollywood-based Stereo-Fi corp. (owner of the Del-Fi and Mustang labels) had lunch with Al Bennett, head of the much larger Liberty Records. Keane was excited about Mustang's about-to-be-released new single, a tune by the Bobby Fuller Four called Let Her Dance. Bennett told Keane he was interested in hearing it, so Keane obliged by sending over a tape of the song later that same day. Bennett liked the song so much that he asked Keane if he could put it out himself. Keane, hoping for a possible distribution deal with Liberty, replied "send me over a contract", and proceeded to release the single himself. Meanwhile Bennett had a contract drawn up and was so certain the deal was sealed, started sending out promos of the song on the Liberty label to several radio stations before receiving the signed contract back from Keane. When Keane read the contract itself, he saw that Bennett had included language that would have given Liberty first rights to a Bobby Fuller Four LP, as well as the Let Her Dance single. Keane, who had no intention of signing away either song or album, told Bennett that there was no way he was going to sign the contract. When he found out that promo copies of Let Her Dance had already been sent out on the Liberty label he immediately contacted every radio station that had a copy and let them know that the only legitimate release of the song was on the Mustang label. Unfortunately, he overlooked the trade magazines when making his phone calls, and the song was listed by both Billboard and Cashbox as being a Liberty release.
Artist: Donovan
Title: Atlantis
Source: British import CD: Acid Daze (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Donovan Leitch
Label: Uncut (original US label: Epic)
Year: 1968
Although it was included on the 1969 album Barabajagal, Donovan's Atlantis was originally issued as a single in November of 1968. The tune went into the top 10 in several nations worldwide, including the US, but only managed to peak at #23 in the UK. At nearly five minutes in length, the song was considered by the shirts at Epic Records to be too long to get top 40 airplay in the US, and was thus relegated to B side status. They were proved wrong when DJs started flipping the record over and it went to the #7 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
Artist: Big Brother and the Holding Company
Title: Piece Of My Heart
Source: LP: Cheap Thrills
Writer: Ragovoy/Burns
Label: Columbia
Year: 1968
By 1968 Big Brother and the Holding Company, with their charismatic vocalist from Texas, Janis Joplin, had become as popular as fellow San Francisco bands Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. Somehow, though, they were still without a major label record deal. That all changed with the release of Cheap Thrills, with cover art by the legendary underground comix artist R. Crumb. The album itself was a curious mixture of live performances and studio tracks, the latter being led by the band's powerful cover of the 1966 Barbara Lynn tune Piece Of My Heart. The song propelled the band, and Joplin, to stardom. That stardom would be short-lived for most of the band members, however, as well-meaning but ultimately wrong-headed advice-givers convinced Joplin that Big Brother was holding her back. The reality was that Joplin was far more integrated with Big Brother And The Holding Company than anyone she would ever work with again.
Artist: Del Shannon
Title: Silver Birch/I Think I Love You
Source: British import CD: The Further Adventures Of Charles Westover
Writer(s): Shannon/Perkins
Label: BGO (original label: Liberty)
Year: 1968
Sometimes called Del Shannon's most consistent album (and certainly his most psychedelic), The Further Adventures Of Charles Westover was released in early 1968, long after Shannon's run at the top of the charts with songs like Runaway and Keep On Searching. The album was a departure from Shannon's usual style, with songs like Silver Birch (about a girl whose wedding plans came to nothing) replacing the usual "I'm the victim here" types of songs Shannon was famous for. Westover (Shannon's birth name) takes a more subdued, yet rich, vocal approach on songs like the self-penned I Think I Love You, resulting in one of the most underrated (and unheard) tracks of the psychedelic era.
Artist: Monkees
Title: Valleri
Source: CD: Nuggets-Classics From The Psychedelic 60s (originally released on LP: The Birds, The Bees, And The Monkees)
Writer(s): Boyce/Hart
Label: Rhino (original label: Colgems)
Year: 1968
The last Monkees top 10 single was also Michael Nesmith's least favorite Monkees song. Valleri was a Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart composition that the group had first recorded for the first season of their TV show in 1966. Apparently nobody was happy with the recording, however, and the song was never issed on vinyl. Two years later the song was re-recorded for the album The Birds, The Bees And The Monkees and subsequently released as a single. The flamenco-style guitar on the intro (and repeated throughout the song) was played by studio guitarist Louie Shelton, after Nesmith refused to participate in the recording.
Artist: Pink Fairies
Title: Prologue/Right On, Fight On
Source: CD: Spirit Of Joy (originally released on LP: What A Bunch Of Sweeties)
Writer(s): Pink Fairies
Label: Polydor (UK import)
Year: 1972
While most rock musicians in the early 1970s were dreaming of becoming rich and famous, there were a few notable exceptions on both sides of the Atlantic. Among those were Detroit's MC5, whose radical politics were at the forefront of everything they did, and the New York City street band David Peel and the Lower East Side, who were more a musical guerrilla theater group than an actual rock band. In the UK, it was the Pink Fairies bucking the establishment, performing such anarchic acts as giving free concerts outside the gates of places where other bands were playing for pay, such as the 1970 Isle Of Wight music festival. Formed from the ashes of another anarchic band, the Social Deviants, the Pink Fairies recorded three albums from 1971-73, finally cutting a single for Stiff Records in 1976 before splitting up. The group has reformed several times since.
Artist: Matching Mole
Title: Gloria Gloom
Source: LP: Little Red Record
Writer(s): Bill MacCormick
Label: Columbia
Year: 1972
The musical center for avant-garde progressive rock was known as the Canterbury Scene, which included the bands Soft Machine, Caravan, Gong, Delivery and Quiet Sun, among others. In October of 1971, former Soft Machine drummer/vocalist Robert Wyatt formed a sort of Canterbury supergroup with keyboardist David Sinclair of Caravan, guitarist Phil Miller of Delivery, bassist Bill McCormick of Quiet Sun. Calling themselves Matching Mole (an anglicization Machine Molle, the French translation of Soft Machine), they released their debut LP in April of 1972. Sinclair left the group after the album was released and was replaced by New Zealand pianist Dave MacRae in time for their second and final LP, Matching Mole's Little Red Record. Produced by Robert Fripp, the album included a guest appearance by Brian Eno, who played synthesizer on Gloria Gloom. The album is also notable for its cover art, which is done in the style of China's Cultural Revolution posters.
Artist: Electric Prunes
Title: Analog Life
Source: British import LP: Artifact
Writer(s): Harris/Smith
Label: Heartbeat
Year: 2001
The Electric Prunes, like many other bands, recorded, in addition to their own compositions, material from professional songwriters such as Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz. Unlike many groups, however, the Prunes shied away from recording covers of popular tunes, instead going with songs they could rearrange to their own liking. Such was the case with their first single, Ain't It Hard, which had been released as a B side in 1965 by the Gypsy Trips, as well as their biggest hit, I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night), written by the aforementioned Tucker/Mantz team. Some of the songs they recorded, such as Toonerville Trolley and Dr. Do-Good, were a total departure from the band's usual style. The group continued this trend with Analog Life, from their 2001 comeback album, Artifact. The song is credited to Harris and Smith (no first names given), but I have been unable to find any other references to the song other than the Prunes' recording.
Artist: Big Red Ball
Title: Eastern Sky
Source: Stereo 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Lisa Raye
Label: Prospective
Year: 1992
Big Red Ball was a Minneapolis band that consisted of Lisa Raye (vocals), Mike Reiter (drums), David Fee Jr. (bass), Jimmy Swan (guitar), Jeff Blitz (bass), Tom Cook (drums), Tom Lischmann (guitar) and Cindy Lawson (vocals). They released three singles and one EP from 1991 through 1995. Eastern Sky is the B side of their second single.
Artist: Charlatans
Title: Alabama Bound
Source: CD: Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-70
Writer: trad., arr. The Charlatans
Label: Rhino (original label: Ace/Big Beat)
Year: Recorded 1967, released 1996
Despite being one of the most important bands on the San Francisco scene, the Charlatans did not have much luck in the recording studio. Their first sessions were aborted, the planned LP for Kama Sutra was shelved by the label itself, and the band was overruled in their choice of songs to be released on their first (and only) single issued from the Kama Sutra sessions. In 1967, however, they did manage to get some decent tracks recorded. Unfortunately, those tracks were not released until 1996, and then only in the UK. The centerpiece of the 1967 sessions was this six-and-a-half minute long recording of a traditional tune that is generally considered to be the Charlatans' signature song: Alabama Bound.
Artist: Jefferson Airplane
Title: How Suite It Is
Source: LP: After Bathing At Baxters
Writer(s): Kantner/Casady/Dryden/Kaukonen
Label: RCA Victor
Year: 1967
The second side of After Bathing At Baxters starts off fairly conventionally (for the Airplane), with Paul Kantner's Watch Her Ride, the first third or so of something called How Suite It Is. This leads (without a break in the audio) into Spare Chaynge, one of the coolest studio jams ever recorded, featuring intricate interplay between Jack Casady's bass and Jorma Kaukonen's guitar, with Spencer Dryden using his drum kit as enhancement rather than as a beat-setter. In particular, Casady's virtuoso performance helped redefine what could be done with an electric bass.
Artist: Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band
Title: Abba Zaba
Source: 45 RPM single (originally issued as B side and included on LP: Safe As Milk)
Writer(s): Don Van Vliet
Label: Sundazed/Buddah
Year: 1967
After an aborted recording career with A&M Records, future avant-garde rock superstar Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) signed a contract with the newly formed Buddah record label. The first record ever released by Buddah was the album Safe As Milk, which included the single Yellow Brick Road, backed with Abba Zaba. Although the Captain's music was at that time still somewhat blues-based, the album was not a commercial success, and Buddah cut Beefheart and his Magic Band from the label in favor of more pop oriented groups like the 1910 Fruitgum Company and the Ohio Express. Captain Beefheart then moved to yet another fledgling label, Blue Thumb, before finding a more permanent home with his old high school classmate Frank Zappa's Bizarre Records, where he released the classic Trout Mask Replica. More recently, Sundazed has re-released the Buddah single, but with Abba Zaba as the A side.
Artist: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Title: I'll Search The Sky
Source: Mono CD: Where The Action Is: L.A. Nuggets 1965-68 (originally released on LP: Ricochet)
Writer(s): David Hanna
Label: Rhino (original label: Liberty)
Year: 1967
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band released two albums in 1967, about four to five months apart. Part of the reason for this may have been that their label, Liberty Records, was finding it difficult to get any of their releases to show up on the Billboard album charts; in fact, the first Dirt Band album was one of only two LPs on the label to accomplish that feat that year. The second LP by the group, Ricochet, was not able to duplicate the success of the first one, however, despite fine tracks like I'll Search The Sky and the band was in danger of fading off into obscurity by the end of the year. The group persisted, however, and eventually hit it big with their version of Jerry Jeff Walker's Mr. Bojangles. The band continued to gravitate toward country music over the next decade, eventually emerging as one of the top country acts of the 1980s.
Artist: Roger Nichols Trio
Title: Montage Mirror
Source: Mono CD: Where The Action Is: L.A. Nuggets 1965-68 (originally released in UK on LP: The Parade-Sunshine Girl: The Complete Recordings)
Writer(s): Nichols/Roberds
Label: Rhino
Year: Recorded 1967, released 2008
The Parade was an L.A. studio group made up of actors and studio musicians that had a top 20 hit with Sunshine Girl in early 1967. Montage Mirror, recorded later the same year is pretty much the same group but credited to the Roger Nichols Trio instead. An attempt to subvert an unpleasant contract with another label perhaps? I guess we'll never know, as the song sat on the shelf for 41(!) years before being included on a British Parade anthology.
Artist: Shadows of Knight
Title: Light Bulb Blues
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): Kelley/Sohns/McGeorge
Label: Dunwich
Year: 1966
Following the national success of their cover of Van Morrison's Gloria, Chicago's Shadows Of Knight returned to the studio to cut a cover of a Bo Diddley tune, Oh Yeah. For the B side of that record the band was allowed to record one of their own compositions. Light Bulb Blues captures the essence of the Shadows' style: hard-driving garage/punk that follows a traditional 12-bar blues progression. The result is a track that sounds a bit like a twisted variation on Muddy Waters's classic Rollin' And Tumblin'.
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