https://exchange.prx.org/p/583901
This week we inject a little new blood into the show, as we feature three artists making their Stuck in the Psychedelic Era debut along with a whole passel of old favorites.
Artist: Pink Floyd
Title: See Emily Play
Source: Mono CD: An Introduction To Syd Barrett (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Syd Barrett
Label: Capitol (original label: Tower)
Year: 1967
Following up on their first single, Arnold Layne, Pink Floyd found even greater chart success (at least in their native England) with See Emily Play. Released in June of 1967, the song went all the way to the #6 spot on the British charts. In the US the song failed to chart as a single, although it was included on the US version of Pink Floyd's debut LP, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. The "Emily" in question is reportedly the sculptor Emily Young, who in those days was known as the "psychedelic schoolgirl" at London's legendary UFO club.
Artist: Rainy Daze
Title: Fe Fi Fo Fum (also issued as Blood Of Oblivion)
Source: Mono LP: Highs In The Sixties Volume 18- Colorado (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Gilbert/Carter
Label: AIP (original label: Uni)
Year: 1967
Formed in Denver, Colorado in 1965, the Rainy Daze are best known for two things: the first was a single called That Acapulco Gold that stalled out at the #70 spot on the Hot !00 when certain influential people realized it was a pro-marijuana song; the second is for being the origin of the songwriting team of Tim Gilbert and John Carter, who co-wrote all but one of the band's original compositions (although Carter was not a member of the band itself) and then went on to write for other bands such as the Strawberry Alarm Clock. Fe Fi Fo Fum was sent out to radio stations as a promo in July of 1967 and almost immediately withdrawn and retitled Blood Of Oblivion, retaining the same catalog number. Nobody seems to know why this was done.
Artist: Buffalo Springfield
Title: Mr. Soul
Source: CD: Retrospective-The Best Of Buffalo Springfield (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.
Artist: Fantastic Zoo
Title: Light Show
Source: Mono LP: Highs In The Sixties Volume Three-LA 1967 Mondo Hollywood A Go-Go (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Cameron/Karl
Label: AIP (original label: Double Shot)
Year: 1967
The Fantastic Zoo had its origins in Denver, Colorado, with a band called the Fogcutters. When the group disbanded in 1966, main members Don Cameron and Erik Karl relocated to Los Angeles and reformed the group with new members. After signing a deal with local label Double Shot (which had a major hit on the charts at the time with Count Five's Psychotic Reaction), the group rechristened itself Fantastic Zoo, releasing their first single that fall. Early in 1967 the band released their second and final single, Light Show. The song did not get much airplay at the time, but has since become somewhat of a cult favorite.
Artist: Jefferson Airplane
Title: White Rabbit
Source: CD: Psychedelic Pop (originally released on LP: Surrealistic Pillow)
Writer: Grace Slick
Label: BMG/RCA/Buddah
Year: 1967
The first time I heard White Rabbit was on Denver's first FM rock station, KLZ-FM. The station branded itself as having a top 100 (as opposed to local ratings leader KIMN's top 60), and prided itself on being the first station in town to play new releases and album tracks. It wasn't long before White Rabbit was officially released as a single, and went on to become a top 10 hit, the last for the Airplane.
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: Ruby Tuesday
Source: 45 RPM single (stereo reissue)
Writer(s): Jagger/Richards
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, which is somewhat ironic considering speculations as to the subject matter of the song (usually considered to be about a groupie of the band's acquaintance, although Mick Jagger has said it was about Keith Richards' ex-girlfriend).
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: Stray Cat Blues
Source: CD: Beggar's Banquet
Writer(s): Jagger/Richards
Label: ABKCO (original label: London)
Year: 1968
As a 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 a classic-to-be from the Rolling Stones called Beggar's Banquet, which I bought for a buck and a half. Full-priced albums that month included new releases by the Beatles (white album), Hendrix (Electric Ladyland) and Cream (Wheels of Fire). Astute readers may have noticed that all of those full-priced albums were double LP sets. Needless to say, by the end of the month I was broke.
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: Let's Spend The Night Together
Source: 45 RPM single (stereo reissue)
Writer(s): Jagger/Richards
Label: London
Year: 1967
I seem to recall some TV show (Ed Sullivan, maybe?) making Mick Jagger change the words to "Let's Spend Some Time Together". I can't imagine anyone doing that to the Stones now.
Artist: Music Machine
Title: Sufferin' Sucotash
Source: Mono British import CD: The Ultimate Turn On
Writer(s): Sean Bonniwell
Label: Big Beat
Year: Recorded 1966, released 2006
Before signing with Original Sound Records in late 1966, Sean Bonniwell's band, the Music Machine, recorded several demos. Among those demos was a tune called Sufferin' Sucotash, obviously inspired by a certain cartoon cat. If only Sean Bonniwell had sung it with a lisp...
Artist: 13th Floor Elevators
Title: Fire Engine
Source: CD: The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators
Writer(s): Hall/Sutherland/Erickson
Label: Collectables (original label: International Artists)
Year: 1966
In the summer of 1971 the band I was in, Sunn, did a cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs as part of our regular repertoire. For the siren effect at the beginning of the song we used our voices, which always elicited smiles from some of the more perceptive members of the audience. Listening to Fire Engine, from The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators, has the same effect on me, for pretty much the same reason. The main difference is that the Elevators actually did it with the tape rolling on one of their own original songs, something Sunn never got the opportunity to do.
Artist: Balloon Farm
Title: A Question Of Temperature
Source: Mono LP: Nuggets Vol. 1-The Hits (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Appel/Schnug/Henny
Label: Rhino (original label: Laurie)
Year: 1967
It's not entirely clear whether the Balloon Farm was an actual band or simply an East Coast studio concoction. Regardless, they did manage to successfully cross garage rock with bubble gum for A Question Of Temperature, originally released on the Laurie label in 1967. Band member Mike Appel went on to have greater notoriety as Bruce Springsteen's first manager.
Artist: Guess Who
Title: Pink Wine Sparkles In The Glass
Source: CD: Wheatfield Soul
Writer(s): Bachman/Cummings
Label: Iconoclassic (original label: RCA Victor)
Year: 1968
Originally written as a poem, Pink Wine Sparkles In The Glass, from the 1968 Guess Who album Wheatfield Soul, is on the surface a fairly light psychedelic tune. Hidden within the lyrics, however, are hints of Burton Cummings' awareness of social issues, an awareness that would only continue to grow over the next few years, resulting in classics like American Woman and Share The Land. Guitarist Randy Bachman apparently liked the original poem so much that he wrote music to go with it. Cummings, who normally played keyboards, plays rhythm guitar on the song.
Artist: Phil Cordell
Title: Red Lady
Source: Mono British import CD: Love, Poetry And Revolution (originallyu released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Phil Cordell
Label: Grapefruit (original UK label: Warner Brothers; US label: Janus)
Year: 1969
While still in his teens, multi-instrumentalist Phil Cordell formed the band Tuesday's Children, but left after their third single to work on his songwriting and recording skills. In 1969 he released his first solo single, Pumping The Water, with Red Lady as the much stronger B side, playing all the instruments on both sides of the record as well as providing vocals. Over the next few years Cordell recorded mostly instrumental tracks under the names Springwater and Dan the Banjo Man, achieving success in the UK and continental Europe.
Artist: Jethro Tull
Title: Play In Time
Source: CD: Benefit
Writer: Ian Anderson
Label: Capitol/Chrysalis (original label: Reprise)
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: Parade
Title: Sunshine Girl
Source: CD: More Nuggets (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Riopelle/Roberds/MacLeod
Label: Rhino (original label: A&M)
Year: 1967
Although most 1967 singles were only available in mono, A&M sent out a few stereo promo pressings of their hit singles to FM radio stations, which explains why the Parade's Sunshine Girl is heard here in glorious stereo. The group itself is a classic example of Hollywood insiders getting together to make a record or two, then going their separate ways. The official group consisted of Jerry Riopelle, who played keyboards on several Phil Spector-produced records; Murray MacLeod, an actor who appeared on Hawaii Five-O and Kung Fu; and Allen "Smokey" Roberds, another actor. The actual instruments, however, were played by a group of Los Angeles studio musicians known unofficially as the Wrecking Crew, which included drummer Hal Blaine, bassist Carol Kaye and saxophonist Steve Douglas. A second single by the group included yet another actor, Stuart Margolin, who would go on to be a cast member of the Rockford Files.
Artist: Electric Prunes
Title: Antique Doll
Source: CD: Underground)
Writer(s): Tucker/Mantz
Label: Collector's Choice/Rhino (original label: Reprise)
Year: 1967
Sometimes there is no comprehending what goes on in the mind of record company people. Take the Electric Prunes, for example. Their second single, I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night), put them right at the front of the pack of the psychedelic rock movement in early 1967. Their follow up single, Get Me To The World On Time, was a solid hit as well, which should have guaranteed them a good run. But even with that second single, problems with management's decision making were becoming apparent. For one thing, the song chosen as the second single's B side, Are You Lovin' Me More (But Enjoying It Less), had the potential to be a hit in its own right, but being put on a B side killed that idea entirely. It only got worse from there. The next single chosen was a novelty number from the band's second LP, Underground, called Dr. Do-Good. The tune was written by the same team of Annette Tucker and Nanci Mantz that had come up with both Dream and Lovin' Me More, but was played for laughs by the band. The choice of such a weird track is a complete puzzle, as there were several more commercial tunes on the LP, including one written by Tucker and Mantz themselves called Antique Doll. Unfortunately, the song was not even picked to be a B side, and has remained virtually unknown ever since. Rather than own up to their own mistakes, however, the band's management blamed the musicians themselves for their lack of commercial success, and eventually replaced the entire lineup of the original group (who had signed away the rights to the name Electric Prunes early on). Of course, the new lineups were even less successful than the original crew, but really, what else would you expect?
Artist: Status Quo
Title: Pictures Of Matchstick Men
Source: Mono CD: Nuggets II-Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969 (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Francis Rossi
Label: Rhino (original label: Cadet Concept)
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 currently in existence. 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: Byrds
Title: Thoughts And Words
Source: CD: Younger Than Yesterday
Writer(s): Chris Hillman
Label: Columbia/Legacy
Year: 1967
In addition to recording the most commercially successful Dylan cover songs, the Byrds had a wealth of original material over the course of several albums. On their first album, these came primarily from guitarists Gene Clark and Jim (now Roger) McGuinn, with David Crosby emerging as the group's third songwriter on the band's second album. After Clark's departure, bassist Chris Hillman began writing as well, and had three credits as solo songwriter, including Thoughts And Words, on the group's fourth LP, Younger Than Yesterday. Hillman credits McGuinn, however, for coming up with the distinctive reverse-guitar break midway through the song.
Artist: Grass Roots
Title: Let's Live For Today
Source: CD: Battle of the Bands-Vol. Two (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer: Julian/Mogull/Shapiro
Label: Era (original label: Dunhill)
Year: 1967
This well-known 1967 hit by the Grass Roots started off as a song by the Italian band the Rokes, Piangi Con Mi, released in 1966. The Rokes themselves were originally from Manchester, England, but had relocated to Italy in 1963. Piangi Con Mi was their biggest hit to date, and the band decided to re-record the tune in English for release in Britain (ironic, considering that the band originally specialized in translating popular US and UK hits into the Italian language). The original translation didn't sit right with the band's UK label, so a guy from the record company came up with new lyrics and the title Let's Live For Today. The song still didn't do much on the charts, but did get the attention of former Brill building songwriter Steve Barri, whose current project was writing and producing a band known as the Grass Roots with co-producer P.F. Sloan. Let's Live For Today became the first of many top 10 singles for the Grass Roots.
Artist: Simon And Garfunkel
Title: Bleeker Street
Source: CD: Collected Works (originally released on LP: Wednesday Morning, 3AM)
Writer(s): Paul Simon
Label: Columbia
Year: 1964
One of the first of many "slice of life" songs from songwriter Paul Simon, Bleeker Street (a real street in New York's Greenwich Village) appeared on the first Simon And Garfunkel LP, Wednesday Morning, 3AM, in late 1964. The album did not initially sell well, and the duo actually split up shortly after it was deleted from the Columbia catalog. Following the success of an electrified remix of another song from the album, The Sound Of Silence, the pair reunited and Columbia reissued Wednesday Morning, 3AM in 1966.
Artist: Simon And Garfunkel
Title: Patterns
Source: LP: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme
Writer(s): Paul Simon
Label: Sundazed/Columbia
Year: 1966
Although it was the third Simon And Garfunkel album, 1966s' Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme was actually the first to contain songs written following the duo's shift from pure folk music to a more electric sound. The album was more adventurous overall, containing such sonic experiments as Silent Night juxtaposed with the 7 O'Clock News and Patterns, which opens with a guitar string being detuned (or maybe tuned) and features an African beat throughout. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme is now generally regarded as Simon's first true classic album.
Artist: Simon and Garfunkel
Title: Scarborough Fair/Canticle
Source: Collected Works (originally released on LP: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme)
Writer(s): Paul Simon
Label: Columbia
Year: 1966
After the reunion of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel following the surprise success of an electrified remix of The Sound Of Silence, the two quickly recorded an album to support the hit single. Sounds Of Silence was, for the most part, a reworking of material that Simon had recorded for 1965 UK LP the Paul Simon Songbook. The pressure for a new album thus (temporarily) relieved, the duo got to work on their first album of all new material since their unsuccessful 1964 effort Wednesday Morning 3AM (which had in fact been re-released and was now doing well on the charts). In October the new album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, hit the stands. The title track was a new arrangement of an old English folk ballad, Scarborough Fair, combined with a reworking of a 1963 Simon tune (The Side Of A Hill,) with all-new lyrics and retitled Canticle. The two melodies and sets of lyrics are set in counterpoint to each other, creating one of the most sophisticated folk song arrangements ever recorded. After being featured in the film The Graduate, Scarborough Fair/Canticle was released as a single in early 1968, going on to become one of the duo's most celebrated songs.
Artist: Beach Boys
Title: Good Vibrations
Source: Mono CD: Billboard Top Rock 'N' Roll Hits-1966 (originally released as 45 RPM single)
Writer(s): Wilson/Love
Label: Rhino (original label: Capitol)
Year: 1966
Although I had originally discovered top 40 radio in 1963 (when I had received a small Sony transistor radio for my birthday), it wasn't until 1966 that I really got into it in a big way. This way due to a combination of a couple of things: first, my dad bought a console stereo, and second, my junior high school went onto split sessions, meaning that I was home by one o'clock every day. This gave me unprecedented access to Denver's two big top 40 AM stations, as well as an FM station that was experimenting with a Top 100 format for a few hours each day. At first I was content to just listen to the music, but soon realized that the DJs were making a point of mentioning each song's chart position just about every time that song would play. Naturally I began writing all this stuff down in my notebook (when I was supposed to be doing my homework), until I realized that both KIMN and KBTR actually published weekly charts, which I began to diligently hunt down at various local stores. In addition to the songs occupying numbered positions on the charts, both stations included songs at the bottom of the list that they called "pick hits". These were new releases that had not been around long enough to achieve a chart position. The one that most stands out in my memory was the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations, a song I liked so much that I went out and bought it the afternoon I heard it. Within a few weeks Good Vibrations had gone all the way to the top of the charts, and I always felt that some of the credit should go to me for buying the record when it first came out. Over the next couple of years I bought plenty more singles, but to this day Good Vibrations stands out as the most important record purchase I ever made.
Artist: Small Faces
Title: Green Circles
Source: British import CD: Acid Daze (originally released on LP: Small Faces)
Writer(s): Marroitt/Lane/O'Sullivan
Label: Uncut (original label: Immediate)
Year: 1967
Keeping track of early Small Faces albums can be a bit confusing. For one thing, both their first and second LPs were simply called Small Faces. The first one, released in the UK on the Decca label, made the British top 5 with its mixture of R&B and blue-eyed soul popular with the Mod crowd. The second one, released in 1967 on Andrew Oldham's Immediate label, was much more psychedelic in nature, and unlike the first album was made up entirely of compositions from the band members themselves. One song on the album, Green Circles, also includes the name Michael O'Sullivan in the credits. O'Sullivan was actually a friend who was living with the band at the time whose experience with an "enlightened stranger" while on an acid trip was reportedly the inspiration for Green Circles. The song was originally slated for release as a B side, but was included on the LP instead. Neither of the first two Small Faces albums were released in the US. Instead, an album called There Are But Four Small Faces was released in March of 1968. This album included about half the songs from the second Small Faces LP (including Green Circles), supplemented by a selection of A and B sides not appearing on any British albums.
Artist: Deep Purple
Title: The Shield
Source: LP: Purple Passages (originally released on LP: The Book Of Taliesyn)
Writer(s): Blackmore/Evans/Lord
Label: Warner Brothers (original label: Tetragrammaton)
Year: 1968
The story of the original Deep Purple lineup is, in a way, two entirely different stories. At home the band was virtually ignored by audiences and press alike, and struggled to even get their records released. In the US, however, they were overnight sensations, thanks in large part to the success of the single Hush in the spring of 1968. A North American tour was set up, scheduled to begin in October of that year, but their American label, Tetragrammaton, wanted a second album from the band to be on the racks before the tour opened. This meant that the group was in the studio only two months after releasing Shades of Deep Purple, working on what would become The Book Of Taleisyn, despite the fact that Shades of Deep Purple had not even been released yet in the UK. The first song recorded for the new LP was The Shield, an imaginative piece incorporating unusual drum patterns from Ian Paice and appropriately mystical lyrics from Rod Evans, along with some nice guitar and organ work from Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord. Although The Book Of Taleisyn was not as big a seller in the US as Shades Of Deep Purple, the tour itself was a huge success. Still, the band still was not getting any respect at home. In fact, The Book Of Taleisyn did not even come out in the UK until mid-1969, by which time Evans and bassist Nicky Simper were no longer members of Deep Purple.
Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Title: Graveyard Train
Source: LP: Bayou Country
Writer(s): John Fogerty
Label: Fantasy
Year: 1969
The influence of Chess-era bluemen like Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters is evident on Graveyard Train, from Creedence Clearwater Revival's second LP, Bayou Country. The lyrics are reminiscent of an even earlier time, when such subjects as death (with supernatural overtones) were often dealt with by members of chain gangs in song.
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: Bed Of Roses
Title: Hate
Source: Mono LP: Mono LP: Highs In The Sixties Volume Six: Michigan Part Two (originally released as 45 RPM single B side)
Writer(s): Bed Of Roses
Label: AIP (original label: Deltron)
Year: 1966
The Bed Of Roses were a band from Saginaw, Michigan that released two singles two years apart. In between the two, some of the group's members were seen in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district panhandling for money and handing out copies of their 1966 single, a cover of Bob Dylan's I Don't Believe You backed with an instrumental called Hate. The record label itself, Deltron, listed no songwriting credits, however. It is not known whether their second single, released in early 1968, was recorded in San Francisco or if the band had returned to Michigan, but it is apparently the only record ever issued by tea (lower case) records.
Artist: Chocolate Watchband
Title: Sitting There Standing
Source: Mono LP: Riot On Sunset Strip
Writer(s): Aguilar/Andrijasevich/Flores/Toomis/Tolby
Label: Tower
Year: 1967
The members of the Chocolate Watchband, by their own admission, were far more interested in playing to a live audience than getting anything down on tape. As a result, their studio output is a poor representation of who they were as a band. There are a few tracks, however, that managed to capture the real Chocolate Watchband in their element. One of these, Sitting There Standing, came about almost by accident. The band had been flown down to Los Angeles to appear in the movie Riot On Sunset Strip, but only had one song ready to go, a Dave Aguilar song called Don't Need Your Lovin'. Faced with the need for a second song, the band quickly came up with Sitting There Standing, which was essentially the Yardbirds' The Nazz Are Blue (one of the Watchband's most popular stage numbers) with improvised new lyrics. The band then performed both numbers live on the Paramount soundstage, with members of the cast and crew serving as an audience. The tapes were then played back with the band faking a performance at a mockup of the legendary L.A. teen club Pandora's Box (which by then had been closed down and earmarked for demolition by the Los Angeles City Council) for use in the film itself. As it turned out, the sequence was the high point of the entire movie.
Artist: Big Brother and the Holding Company
Title: Down On Me (live)
Source: CD: Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-70 (originally released on LP: Joplin In Concert)
Writer: Trad. Arr. Joplin
Label: Rhino (original label: Columbia)
Year: Recorded 1968, released 1972
Big Brother And The Holding Company's first album, featuring the single Down On Me, was recorded in 1967 at the studios of Mainstream Records, a medium-sized Chicago label known for its jazz recordings. At the time, Mainstream's engineers had no experience with a rock band, particularly a loud one like Big Brother, and vainly attempted to clean up the band's sound as best they could. The result was an album full of bland recordings sucked dry of the energy that made Big Brother and the Holding Company one of San Francisco's top live attractions. Luckily we have this live version of the tune recorded in Detroit in early 1968 and released on the 1972 album Joplin In Concert that captures the band at their peak, before powerful people with questionable motives convinced singer Janis Joplin that the rest of the group was (ahem) holding her back.
Artist: Led Zeppelin
Title: How Many More Times
Source: LP: Homer (soundtrack) (originally released on LP: Led Zeppelin)
Writer(s): Page/Jones/Bonham
Label: Cotillion (original label: Atlantic)
Year: 1969
Like many early Led Zeppelin songs, How Many More Times was originally credited to the band members (except, for contractual reasons, singer Robert Plant). More recent releases of the song, however, list Chester Burnett (Howlin' Wolf) as a co-writer, despite the fact that he and the members of Led Zeppelin had never met. This is because of the similarity, especially in the lyrics, to a 1951 Howlin' Wolf record called How Many More Years. The band reportedly tried to trick radio programmers into playing the eight and a half minute song by listing it on the album cover as being three minutes and thirty seconds long. I doubt anyone was fooled.
Artist: MC5
Title: Tonight
Source: LP: Back In The USA
Writer(s): MC5
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1970
Described by one critic as one of the ultimate teenage anthems, Tonight is the second track on the second MC5 album, Back In The USA. The song was released as the album's lead single, but failed to make an impression on the charts.
Artist: Blood, Sweat And Tears
Title: Spinning Wheel
Source: Mono 45 RPM single
Writer(s): David Clayton-Thomas
Label: Columbia/Legacy
Year: 1969
After the departure of Blood, Sweat & Tears founder Al Kooper following the group's first LP, the remaining members decided to make a go of it with a new vocalist. They recruited Canada's David Clayton-Thomas, who not only brought a unique vocal sound to the group, but also penned one of their most popular songs, Spinning Wheel. The tune was the band's second consecutive top 5 single and cemented the group's reputation as a force to be reckoned with in the music world. The single version of the song differs markedly from the original LP version, with the jazz-oriented middle section entirely excised in favor of a short guitar solo by Steve Katz.
