THIS BLOG'S ABOUT MY FAVORITE 7" SINGLES. ALL KINDS, ALL GENRES. AND ANYTHING ELSE: INFO, STORIES, CHARTS, CLIPPINGS, ETC. EVERY SONG IS CONVERTED FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION TO MP3. AND NOT ONE THAT I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND YOU SEEKING OUT. ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDERS WHO DON'T WANT THEIR MUSIC HEARD HERE – JUST LET ME KNOW, AND DOWN IT WILL COME. CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE.
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If you live in America, well definitely New York, hearing ‘Lola’, (nowadays restricted to the oldies or dreaded classic rock formats) is as close as I imagine one can get to an oasis during a tsunami.
I was desperate a few weeks back, having left my iTouch at home during the morning school drop-off drive, all of ten minutes. Still it was one of those rare, aching to hear something decent moments, when suddenly ‘Lola’ appears as a result of my manic dashboard button pushing.
Let me tell you, I couldn’t believe once was a time I’d heard it on the radio so much, I thought I never needed to hear ‘Lola’ again. Do you remember those days? Well they are long gone. It never sounded better. And I finally got round to loading it onto my device tonight, an act I regret not having done before last weekend’s drive to and from Boston.
Hearing ‘Lola’ took me also to YouTube, where I was reminded it indeed was the song that, unbeknownst at the time, began signaling an end to that first classic era of The Kinks. Yes, there were several to follow, but as the seminal four piece lineup expanded to five, suddenly including John Gosling on keyboards, The Kinks immaculate 60’s visual perfection began to blemish.
Mind you, despite his un-English rough look, which was initially passable, the transformation was smooth. One could safely call it a soft landing as their sound remained pretty much unchanged, having always incorporated piano into their recordings, unually played by Nicky Hopkins or Ray himself.
Listen: Apeman / The Kinks
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Other than lyrically, ‘Apeman’ could have easily fit onto ARTHUR or even THE VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY for that matter. The mix always bothered me. Had it been as powerful as ‘Lola’, my bet is ‘Apeman’ would have been a bigger hit. The struggle to hear Ray’s vocal annoys to this day, particularly during the intro. Having said that, it’s impossible to ruin such a great song.
Listen: God’s Children / The Kinks
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Sticking close to the original Kinks sound was also the case with ‘God’s Children’, the last official UK Pye / US Reprise 7″. Technically, in England, as opposed to being an A side, it was the lead track off a 4 song EP pulled from the PERCY film soundtrack, the full album being rejected by Reprise and apparently destroying the band/label relationship.
Whereas, in the US, ‘God’s Children’ became an official and final Reprise single. A later US Reprise 7″ ‘King Kong’ / ‘Waterloo Sunset’ notwithstanding, as it came after the band had moved to RCA, and was released solely to promote THE KINK KRONIKLES double album compilation.
Back to YouTube, ‘Lola’ from TOP OF THE POPS lead me to watch ‘Apeman’, then ‘Autumn Almanac’, ‘Wonderboy’ and ultimately ‘Days’:
For those of you like myself, who waited agonizingly for The Kinks to be allowed back into the US after some musician’s union ban during ‘66, our wishes became reality when in ‘69, the band returned to promote ARTHUR. Apparently, many of the scheduled shows between the tour’s New York start and it’s conclusion in Los Angeles were cancelled. Lucky was I to see them at the very beginning, New York.
Not only does the above clip capture the absolutely perfect Kinks during the period, it too gives the viewer ultimate Ray Davies moments at exactly :24 – :29, again at 1:02 and then 1:20. Expressions and smirks that addicted many a weak soul to the heroin known as The Kinks in the 60’s.
The clip, in fact, must have been shot within weeks of that infamous US return, as both Dave and Ray are wearing the exact same clothes they had on here at The Fillmore East (October 17 & 18, ‘69) and then also in Potsdam NY, at the State college gymnasium on Sunday October 19. I will never, ever, ever forget Ray’s shirt. We were at stage edge, literally speaking out requests to the band.
See said shirt for yourself in the clip above. When uncovered with a jacket, like at the live shows, who could forget it?
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I saw The Rolling Stones for the first time on October 30, 1965 at the Syracuse War Memorial. I had forged a press pass, a typed note actually, on letterhead from a weekly paper in my little hometown. My Dad had set me up with the pompous owner of it, as I wanted to interview the band for a feature.
Looking back it was quite a good idea on my part, but this self celebrating fellow was nasty and dismissive. Even though I ended up meeting the band, I still loathe him for his attitude, not towards me, but towards my Father. He was so busy being busy, running in and out of his pathetic office, that I just reached over and grabbed a few pages of letterhead when he wasn’t looking. I shook with fear at what I’d done (I was still a good Catholic boy), but too late, I’d done it. So he tells me, “We don’t need a piece on this dirty English combo”, and that was that – or so he thought. Indeed, they didn’t need a a kid in his late single digits writing a review.
To be exact, this was the Canastota Bee Journal, as close as you can get to Mayberry. He and the paper, I’m guessing, are long gone. Still, I composed this laughable letter, claiming to be a writer on assignment – and needing to interview the band.
In those days, arenas were filled with hysterical, screaming kids – so how I managed to slide backstage so easily still baffles. An usher fell for that forged letter, and brought me back, where Bill Wyman was wrapping up his cords. Bill reads it, stares me straight in the eye and says (in hindsight with a knowing smirk), “Come on and we’ll meet the rest”.
Holy shit. Is this really happening? It was the first time I nearly blacked out. I seriously remember that vividly. We are suddenly walking up the steps to the dressing room, knees weak, where in years to follow, I would meet, more like pester, (here goes – I know this is all a bit name droppy, but it really, really happened. I met all these bands and I’m proud of it): The Mindbenders, Them, The Moody Blues, The Nashville Teens, The Yardbirds, The Ikettes, The Who, The Pretty Things, Manfred Mann, The Kinks, Humble Pie, Heads Hands & Feet, Fairport Convention, Free, John Martyn, Steppenwolf, Canned Heat, Caravan, Curved Air, Toe Fat, Derek & The Dominoes, Jethro Tull, The Jeff Beck Group, Grand Funk Railroad, Frampton’s Camel, Family, Wild Turkey, Blodwyn Pig, The Faces, T. Rex, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Mother Earth, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Chambers Brothers, Sly & The Family Stone, Savoy Brown, Ten Years After, Iron Butterfly, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Big Brother & The Holding Company, The Jimi Hendrix Experience – even Vivian Green, who I work with now, was in that very room when on tour with Maxwell. Talk about coming full circle.
The management knew me and my friends well early on, they must’ve gotten a kick out of these crazy little kids, who’s Mom’s & Dad’s would wait patiently for until the shows ended. Our parents befriended the office staff, and in turn, those nice ladies always let us backstage.
The Rolling Stones were great, so nice. No one was in their dressing room except the band, and one other guy, I guess the tour manager. No food, nothing but bottles of Coca Cola. They signed my copy of 12 X 5, it probably lasted all of a minute – but I still can relive it to this day. Here I was, with this exotic band from England that changed my life, which prior I could only see on TV every 3-4 months tops. I thought at that very moment, “This is the life for me”. I’m completely convinced it led to my career in music – no question.
One of their current album at the time, THE ROLLING STONES NOW, was not a real album at all. In those days, the English labels released singles and EPs, in addition to albums. Not only were the EP tracks not on the LPs, but the singles weren’t either. So the US companies were always dropping off intended LP tracks to make room for the singles and sometimes strong ones from those EPs. For this particular release, London Records basically cobbled together some singles and EP songs, as well as unused UK LP tracks (the UK LPs were 14 songs compared to our 10-12, thereby creating even more choices). Probably by coincidence more than design, THE ROLLING STONES NOW actually works as a proper LP. It was certainly a big success – slowly but very solidly scaling the US LP charts and staying Top 10 for ages, as it deserved to. The record’s filled with dark, minor key classics (‘Heart Of Stone’, ‘Little Red Rooster’ and ‘Pain In My Heart’ – which they played on that night, Brian sitting at a huge B3 organ, wailing away).
It’s ok if you’re getting tingles. Take your time. You’ll need it. They were back, nine months later, during the AFTERMATH tour, and that’s whole ‘nother post waiting to be written.
This all leads us to ‘Down Home Girl’, a song on THE ROLLING STONES NOW. Little did I know then that it was a cover. I don’t even think I knew what that meant. They were all Rolling Stones songs to us. Years and years later I wised up, seeked out the original, and became a dangerous Alvin Robinson fanatic.
Here’s his version. Get any of his other releases – all of them actually.
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If you don’t like that late 60’s blues/progressive stuff, you probably won’t appreciate this one. Although, Blodwyn Pig just may find a place in your heart, as they really were quite musical and still hold up well today.
Formed by Jethro Tull’s first guitarist, Mick Abrahams, just after they’d released that debut LP, THIS WAS. Like them, Blodwyn Pig leaned a bit jazz as they were based on more than guitar/bass/drums, with Jack Lancaster on saxes, horns, harmonicas, etc. A particularly strong asset: Mick Abraham’s vocals. Authentic blues voice had he – and a very accomplished acoustic slide player as well.
Funny to think this was being written and played by guys in their late teens or at most, early twenties. Saw them once, along with Chicken Shack, opening for The Kinks. A UK band triple header that at the time, had me counting down the weeks, then days, then hours. Man, was it ever worth the agony.
Listen: I Could Feel The Whole World Turn Around / The Shotgun Express
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‘65 – ‘66 was a busy time for so many major stars as they did a non stop jig of musical chairs, seeming all a bit desperate in hindsight.
In this internet age, where everything is at your fingertips instantly, and anyone can record some songs with only their laptop, it’s wildly ironic that in the 60’s, bands, records and record deals moved much faster than today. Within months you could jump ship to another company, with two, four or more singles under your arm ready to release. Yet nowadays, despite all our resources, it seems to take like sometimes two years for a band to issue a followup.
Again, none of that was the case back then. And talk about musical chairs, Jimmy Page is rumored to have been on dozens, maybe hundreds of hits and flops as an in demand session player and John Paul Jones too. Rod Stewart went from solo deal to a very short stint as vocalist with The Kinks (thank God and heaven above that didn’t work out) to Long John Baldry & The Hoochie Coochie Band, on to Steampacket – a sort of super star ensemble that featured Baldry, Stewart, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll, Micky Waller and others, back to a solo contract (this time recording ‘Shake’ with The Brian Auger Trinity on backup), then onto The Shotgun Express. Often viewed as a poor man’s Steampacket supergroup, with members Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Bardens (later of Camel) and female vocal sparring partner, the unknown Beryl Marsden, they lasted only a few months, but it didn’t hinder a singles deal with Columbia UK and this lone, flop 7′ release, by official NME chart position that is. Over at pirate station Radio Caroline, it had a decent first week at # 25, unfortunately also it’s peak, by two weeks later, it was gone from their Top 50.
Always collectable mostly due to it’s various members instead of the music, on first spin, it’s a big let down – more often a “what the hell did I spend all that money on this dog of a record for?” Even I thought that too, yet on second listen, I quite liked the obvious frustration of it’s members sounding ‘forced’ into recording a track against their instincts, back in the day when you obeyed your label, their chosen producer and accompanying material. I kinda think it’s pretty great now, and not only because of that tension, I like the song too. Plus it’s a co-write by a favorite: Heads, Hands & Feet vocalist/Taste producer Tony Colton.
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I figured finding a US stock copy at of ‘Autumn Almanac’ at the Forest Hills Church In The Gardens white elephant sale was enough to justify this post. Everyone knows the record, but the warm rush of finding it amongst a stack of good, but common, 60’s 7″ donations I bet everyone does not know. It makes me wonder, what else was there before I arrived – or more likely, I got to hit the stack first. Who would leave this one behind?
Listen: Sir B. McKenzie’s Daughter’s Lament For The 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat From The Straights Of Loch Knombe, In The Year Of The Lord 1727, On The Occasion Of The Announcement Of Her Marriage To The Laird Of Kinleanie / Fairport Convention
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Although the song title earned the Guinness Book award for ‘longest ever’, Fairport Convention were guaranteed not to have a hit single because of it. Besides, this was oddly relegated to the b-side. A last remnant of Richard Thompson’s days with the band, by time of release, he was gone.
I was desperate to own this single, not having been included on FULL HOUSE, their current album at the time. Far from being amongst the majority vote, I considered the new four piece lineup, sans Thompson, their best yet. And although the prior release, LEIGE AND LIEF got, and still gets, all the praise – it’s FULL HOUSE hands down that’s my favorite. This being due to coinciding with my first Fairport Convention concert, supporting Traffic. A wondrous night that. I was spellbound.
Listen: John Lee / Fairport Convention
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Less spellbound were the critics. Everyone missed Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny. Okay, I get it, but Dave Swarbrick and Simon Nicol were equally powerful, unsung frontmen. Tiny Dave in dark blue platform boots swirling around the stage, attacking his violin, and creating a whirlwind of sound and nuts-ness. What the fuck’s not to like?
Their next album, BABBACOMBE LEE, ruled my world. That tour was a special night out for us British music followers, being sandwiched between The Kinks and Lindisfarne. This my friends was heaven on earth, the absolute best place to be in the entire solar system.
‘John Lee’, one the the album’s two singles, still brings back that raging blizzard of March 1, 1972. We’d driven through blinding snow for well over an hour. Being pre-cell phone days, I was terrified of finding the show’d been cancelled once we arrived and approached Kleinhand’s Music Hall with a deadly pit in the stomach. Besides, this was my first date with Corinne, who finally agreed to accept an invitation out. Please God, make it all happen.
Miracle. The show went on as planned, thankfully. It was in the stars I guess.
Let me tell you about it: This was Lindisfarne’s first ever US date – though you’d never have known. ‘Fog On The Tyne’ made it clear this was going to be a very English night. Bring it on, we had waited long for this.
Not to worry, Fairport Convention, despite being of ‘folk rock’ classification, powered that stage the moment they hit. Straight into ‘Walk Awhile’, “Sir B. McKenzie’s…’, ‘The Journeyman’s Grace’, ‘Sickness And Diseases’, ‘Sloth’ and the above ‘John Lee’ – even the balcony was jigging in the aisles, or at least they thought they were.
Then came The Kinks. At this point, in their high camp era, Dave decked out in a tight orange / red suit and Ray with bright green velvet jacket and clown sized bow tie, perfectly sloppy, satiating us with ‘The Village Green Preservation Society’, ‘Victoria’, ‘Death Of A Clown’, ‘Wonder Boy’, ‘Drivin’, ‘Autumn Almanac’ and ‘Waterloo Sunset’. Sweet Jesus have mercy!
Listen: Rosie / Fairport Convention
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“Rosie’ is as vital a song and single in Fairport Convention’s history as any of the others – which seem to get all the name checks. It came to represent the beginning of a comradery amongst former members that eventually defined lineups ahead, whereby any or many would float in and out of the band. For this one, it was Sandy Denny who guested on the call and response type chorus, hinting at the full time member she would return to be just a year or so down the road. For proof of the fantastic vocal clarity she could bring to any song, just listen to ‘Rosie’.
Listen: White Dress / Fairport Convention
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Supporting the reunion album, RISING FOR THE MOON with another Anglophile crushing US package (Caravan and Renaissance), the horribly under attended September 24, 1975 stop in Rochester had to be a demoralizing, why-are-we-here moment. Unfortunately, the stark, vast theater seemed ironically fitting during ‘White Dress’, their most chilling track ever, and in some ways, most powerful – simply via Sandy Denny’s ability to evoke feelings of sadness so effortlessly.
As with her very own version of Elton John’s ‘Candle In The Wind’ (a solo single from ‘78 – see Sandy Denny post), ‘White Dress’ can be overwhelming, and many times, still challenges my courage to play it all the way through.
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Discount Records, in the mid 60’s through to the early 70’s, was what you’d call a full catalog store. Owned by CBS, the classical and non-classical titles ran very deep. It wasn’t just the bins that’d be full, so too were the ‘understock’ shelves below. These were arranged by label, then numerical within each. Almost daily, stock would need checking, business was so brisk. Not only did you have to count quantities of big sellers, but also determine missing titles by number, checking them against the respective label’s current catalog, all the while entering the quantities onto inventory sheets. The designated store buyer would eventually decide how many of each to order.
Everyone hated taking inventory, but not me. I couldn’t wait to get started on my first day in mid ‘74. Within a week or so, I was on fire. I didn’t even need the catalogs. I’d been studying labels for years at that point. Basically when it came to records, I could remember every detail, still can. Bob at the second location in Syracuse was the same. To us, the catalog numbers were fun. They basically made up our entire conversations. When it came to doing anything else – I was useless. If I had to hang a picture, I’d bend the nail. But this stuff was easy.
Like anywhere, there were store regulars, all with their specific and peculiar tastes. One guy would visit almost daily, trolling the $1.99 bins for country titles. His name was Dave Disinger. We had these large, fluorescent red markdown stickers, and once something sat long enough, you’d eventually price it cheap to make it move. Plus, overstock from other locations would be shipped in for just these bins. Occasionally, some location in Michigan or somewhere would close, and we’d get boxes of their stuff – always really good finds in those. I vividly remember getting several copies of THEM AGAIN this way. It was like Christmas morning when those boxes would arrive.
Well Dave was addicted to country markdowns. I made amusement for myself by intentionally pulling full price, more obscure titles and throwing on the sticker, then wait and watch. Sure enough, he’d be joyous at these finds. One day we get to talking – I was sorting a bunch of newly arrived 45’s at the front counter. He mentions he used to be a singles guy, rock and soul, but moved on to country LP’s. He didn’t even play his singles anymore. Clearly, I was his direct opposite. Somehow or another, he mentions as a kid, he worked at WNDR, the tighter Top 40 in the market but very popular in the 60’s.
So wait Dave, do you have a lot of old stuff? Now I’m getting interested – and pretty quickly I’m offering a lot of on the spot country markdowns in exchange for some of those radio station copies from the day. He heads home then and there, returning with a box, probably 200-ish.
Fantastic! Fuck me – this was a goldmine. He brought them till his supply was dry. Only drawback was he’s written his name on every last one. Still, the stuff was crazy. That first box included The Riot Squad ‘How Is It Down’ and The Kinks ‘Waterloo Sunset’, plus, as you can see, ‘I Can’t Let Go’. It was the very copy that WNDR never did play.
Listen: Take Me For What I’m Worth / The Searchers
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Despite their clean cut Mersey look, The Searchers made consistently good singles for years. A staple of The English Invasion, like The Beatles and Freddie & The Dreamers, their past haunted them a bit when smaller labels in the US that had issued unsuccessful debut singles trudged them out to compete with more current hits. Didn’t seem to harm them much as ‘Sugar & Spice’ fared equally well next to ‘Needles & Pins’ in ‘64.
A short time later, hits became a bit of a struggle (although most were well chosen covers), with spotty airplay hindering P.F. Sloan’s ‘Take Me For What I’m Worth’ unfairly. It’s seven week run that began in January of ‘66 got it to only #76. Oddly, it didn’t fare much better back at home (#20).
Listen: Have You Ever Loved Somebody / The Searchers
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Maybe the suits needed to go, and the adaption to an image more in line with Them, The Yardbirds or The Kinks would have kept initial fans interested. Even The Beatles dumped that look, probably in their constant effort to unsuccessfully keep up with The Rolling Stones, although for predictably klutzy flower power / Nehru gear. ‘Have You Ever Loved Somebody’, like ‘Take For What I’m Worth’ before it, was highlighted by a very unique vocal harmony that gave both singles something irresistible. Again, US airplay was playing it’s fickle hand and it’s short three week chart run found it stalling at #94, with a similar fate in the UK (#48).
Listen: A Little Bit Hurt / Julien Covey & The Machine
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An unheralded supergroup this. Julien Covey, real name Phil Kinorra, played with Brian Auger in his early days. As well as fronting the band vocally, he also drummed. Amongst it’s members were John Moreshead on guitar, who played with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, The Shotgun Express and The Ansley Dunbar Retaliation. In addition, the band included Peter Bardens (Them, Camel), Jim Creagan (Blossom Toes, Family) and Dave Mason at various times. Their lone release, ‘A Little Bit Hurt’, was co-written produced by Jimmy Miller in ‘67, who brought along his freshly used prodcution techniques, successful on The Spencer Davis Group’s ‘Gimme Some Lovin” and applied them to The Kinks ‘You Really Got Me’ riff, to help create this now, Northern soul classic.
Listen: Green Door / Wynder K. Frog
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Between ‘64 – ‘67. the sound of the Jimmy Smith/Jimmy McGriff hammond B3 was the prevalent connection that bridged hip rock and soul, bringing the jazzy black Flamingo club sounds (Brian Auger & The Trinity, Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, The Graham Bond Organization) to a more mainstream public, as with The Spencer Davis Group. A key factor was the production sound of Jimmy Miller. He worked his magic of some less successful, commercially for the time that is, singles. Like the aforementioned Julien Covey & The Machine track, and ‘Green Door’ by Wynder K. Frog. Although not chart records, they became club dance floor fillers then, and still to this day, on the Northern circuit.
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I stumbled on this in some London collectors shop, I think it was 50p. How could the help not have noticed both the writers and producers were Kenny Pickett and Eddie Phillips? Aren’t you paid to know these guys are The Creation? Okay, so it was released in 1980, when they were traveling the has-been patch before legend. Not sure if The Creation were ever really has-beens though. Never mind, their loss, my gain.
Yes, it’s pretty 80’s sounding but those undeniable hooks were still intact. It was around this time their ‘Teacher Teacher’ became a hit for Rockpile. Pressumably Don Arden decided to give the guys a release via Jet. Maybe he had something on them, given it was seven years later when Eddie Phillips released ‘A Spirit Called Love’ again on Jet. This time as The Creation, during a brief period when both Mick Avory and John Dalton from The Kinks made up their rhythm section.
Disposable pop apparently, this one doesn’t even appear in the Record Collector Price Guide. Possibly only for we hardcore Creation freaks. I can live with that. Again, their loss, my gain.
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I became pretty friendly with a couple of Syracuse University students, Fred Perry and Harry Fagenbaum, via their Sunday evening late night show on WAER, the student run radio station. It was as much a case of me finding them as them finding me.
I couldn’t sleep, it was late on a very cold Sunday night and despite school beckoning the next morning, I started fiddling with the wireless part of the TV/stereo/radio combination counsel, as much a piece of time period furniture as it was a media center. This was 1968, and I was so desperate to hear the new single by The Move, ‘Fire Brigade’, that I actually believed I’d find it on some far away radio station, beaming it’s way to me back when late night signals bounced to unlikely places. Lo and behold, I found my first ever college radio station, and was stunned. These two guys were playing some fantastic music: Ten Years After, John Mayall’s Bluesbreaker and The Kinks. I could not believe my luck.
Twenty minutes into the bliss, onto the air comes ‘Fire Brigade’ by The Move. Holy fucking shit. It was like I was possessed or something. Having tossed and turned, feeling frustrated to be growing up in a town and country where the radio stunk, I get out of bed and find what I was looking for. I know you’re thinking this is being exaggerated to make for better copy, but I swear, it’s true. Yes, be careful what you wish – it can be a little unsettling when it comes true.
So I made a low volume, long distance call to these DJ’s. Not only had I found a weekly oasis for my musical desires, they’d finally found a listener who wanted to hear the stuff. We agreed to meet up and talk English groups.
A year or so later, Harry became the Warner Brothers college rep, and would occasionally let me troll through his trunk full of promos, not anywhere near as often as I wanted, or as often as I’d have let him had the situation been reversed. Still, I was appreciative for the high.
One of those Saturday trunk scores included white label promos by Deep Purple ‘Strange Kind Of Woman’, John & Beverly Martyn ‘Road To Ruin’ and Alice Cooper ‘Caught In A Dream’, back when the name of the band, not the guy, was Alice Cooper. The Zappa partnership still seamed strong, with the WB label prominently including Frank’s Straight logo. Lots of good singles from Alice Cooper were still to come, but I think this one remains their best.
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Listen: Suzie Q / Lonnie Mack
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Often lumped with Duane Eddy and Link Wray, contemporaries of the day, Lonnie Mack’s musical distinction is the blues as opposed to a rockabilly instrumental slant. Not surprisingly, he’s widely regarded as a ground-breaking rock guitarist, whose artistic impact far outreaches his commercial accomplishments, although he had a few massive records. His first, ‘Memphis’ hit Top 5 in early ‘63 on both Billboard’s Pop and RnB charts.
Things were clearly different in those days. It’s not the first time that a record, recorded quickly during some down time, post a proper session, somehow got released without the artist knowing, and ended up a hit – again to said artist’s surprise. Such was apparently the case with ‘Memphis’
‘Wham’, a followup, has significance for (a) being another unlikely instrumental success and (b) for actually describing a sound both unique and original at the time in it’s title. The culprit, a whammy bar, in reality a Bigsby tremelo arm. To further enhance the vibrato on his tunes, Lonnie Mack employed a variant of Robert Ward’s distortion technique, using a 1950s-era tube-fired Magnatone amplifier to produce a ‘rotating, fluttery sound’. Hence, the blues guitar revolution began, at least according to some.
Either way, this is a great double sider. Adults and children alike should own a handful of his 7’s for when the appropriate party moment occurs at one’s home.
I was quite excited back in September ‘69 when Lonnie Mack was on the bill at The Fillmore East as main support to headliners Crosby, Stills & Nash. Opening that weekend: The Move. I just sent away for two tickets and announced to my Dad that he was either taking me or I was hitch hiking. Mind you, we lived in Syracuse and NYC was a good 300 miles away. To be honest, this was all about seeing The Move, but planning to stay long enough to gawk at Lonnie Mack and his wire-fire fingers.
Sadly, The Move never did play New York, so I exchanged my seats for another weekend’s triple header: Spirit / The Kinks / The Bonzo Dog Band. A life changing tradeoff, I can assure you.
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Let’s face it. The theme song to ABC’s syndicated daily pop show, WHERE THE ACTION IS, titled ‘Action’ by Freddie Cannon, was so good, even The Ramones could have covered it.
I lived for WHERE THE ACTION IS and saw many a great act each day after school. Our local Syracuse affiliate, WSYR-TV, was wishy-washy, and many times pre-empted it with other things. Looking over the complete, chronological list of episodes and guests, I’ve only just discovered missing Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours, The Action and Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich for just that reason. Indeed, I’m a bit crushed having now discovered these atrocities. Scumbags.
But seeing an LA centric act, who were basically down the street from the studios I’m guessing (The Guillteens, The Ikettes with and without Ike & Tina Turner, The Vejtables, The Leaves, The Seeds, Gary & The Hornets, Love, Dino Desi & Billy, The Buffalo Springfield and Jan & Dean) almost daily was bliss.
Not to mention the RnB stuff: Martha & The Vandellas, Doris Troy, The Royalettes, Mary Wells, Brenda Holloway, The Toys, Maxine Brown, Kim Weston, Carla Thomas, Billy Stewart, Bobby Hebb, Alvin Cash & The Crawlers or Felice Taylor. I still replay The Vibrations doing ‘My Girl Sloopy’ vividly in my memory.
Then there were the black and white segments from England, a real high for this sicko: The Small Faces, Gary Farr & The T-Bones, Them, The Mindbenders, The Zombies, The Moody Blues, The Kinks, Unit 4 + 2, The Who, Wayne Fontana, Marianne Faithfull and The Yardbirds. Surviving somehow for all to see, The Cryin’ Shames clip (complete with Dick Clark’s intro):
While I’m on the subject of TV shows – there was a great summer replacement in ‘67 for HOLLYWOOD PALACE, the weekly Saturday night variety program hosted by Dean Martin on ABC-TV. You know the one The Rolling Stones made their US network debut on, whereby Dean poked fun their way during his into and outro to the performance.
Well, in summer ‘67 it was replaced with PICCADILLY PALACE. The sight to the series lists air dates and guests for each episode. I generally lived each week for the moment. Well that’s not entirely true, a lot happened that summer. Still, some of the guests: The Small, Faces, The Hollies, Manfred Mann, Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, The Kinks and The New Vaudeville Band. If anyone has footage, please let me know.
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It was very early on that I’d learned to depend on certain labels for a consistant style or quality. Many collectors focus on their entire runs, and Chess/Checker is easily one such company. Basically, I was never disappointed by their 60’s output. Must have been an early radio station handout that turned me on to Tommy Tucker, although this did scale to #11 in ‘64. His Jimmy Reed style was an instant magnet, and I’m happy to this day that I plonked down $5 for his one and only Checker album at the time.
Speaking of Don Covay (previous post), he wrote ‘Long Tall Shorty’, Tommy Tucker’s followup to ‘High Heeled Sneakers’. Covered by The Kinks and The Graham Bond Organization, it was apparently a staple on the London club scene for a bit. Not a hit at the time – it’s deservedly risen to an equal ‘classic’ position for Tommy Tucker through the years.
Listen: Â Wake Up Little Susie / The Everly Brothers
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Listen: Â Cathy’s Clown / The Everly Brothers
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Listen: I’m Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail / The Everly Brothers
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Listen: Â Don’t Let The Whole World Know / The Everly Brothers
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Talk about remembering your childhood. ‘Wake Up Little Susie’ precedes mine, but I still seem to remember this record being out. I’m guessing it was played for years after hitting #1 in ‘57. I’m pretty sure my babysitting cousin Peggy would let the changer keep repeating it endlessly on my parents Living Stereo console, during which she would lock me in the bathroom, while she and her boyfriend made out (I’m guessing).Â
There’s something to be said about siblings, and how their voices are magic together. The McGuire Sisters, or Ray and Dave Davies – you’d think John and Exene were family members sometimes. I wonder what Ron and Russell would sound like if they sang together?
Here’s something interesting, for what sounds like the ultimate white pop music, both ‘Wake Up Little Suzie’ and ‘Cathy’s Clown’ scaled to the #1 spot on the pop AND the RnB charts. Can you believe that!!!
After the brothers bailed  for Warner Brothers in 1960, their original label, Cadence, continued to release the odd single in the hopes of grabbing another hit. One such 7″: ‘I’m Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail’ snuck out in August ‘62. Not as wild as the title suggests, it’s nonetheless grown on me over the years. The record’s humble chart run and placing (6 weeks, #76) in Billboard being part of the attraction. I love a flop.
By ‘63 the hits had pretty much dried up – and not surprisingly, the British Invasion crippled them as it did so many other clean cut late 50’s/early 60’s teen stars. They released a version of ‘Love Her’ in that year, only to be usurped by The Walker Brothers rendition. In fact, ‘Don’t Let The Whole World Know’, the B side to ‘You’re My Girl’ (#110, 2/65), is a total cross between The Walker Brothers and The Cramps, two acts everyone, even The Everly Brothers, wishes they were like.
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Listen: I Got A Line On You / Spirit
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Listen: Dark Eyed Woman / Spirit
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Listen: 1984 / Spirit
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Listen: Animal Zoo / Spirit
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Listen: Mr. Skin / Spirit
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Luckily, despite the revolution in stereophonic sound that was going hand in hand with the album format of 1968, most singles were still issued in mono. Such was the case for Spirit’s first release, on both the promo (listen above) and stock copies. ‘Mechanical World’ epitomized the dark side of the LSD generation, and defined late night radio. I always had fantasies of this and many tracks by The Doors being the soundtrack to driving through a pitch dark desert in the wee hours. God knows why – I’d never even been to a desert. There wasn’t one near Syracuse although I certainly felt like I was growing up somewhere equally deserted, hence the possible connection in my brain.
I loved Spirit from the get go. They didn’t sound English which was a strict requirement, but thankfully they didn’t sound Americana either. Plus they looked good. LA bands tended to.
Somehow rather quickly, Spirit had a hit with their second 45, ‘I Got A Line On You’. It was welcomed. Their albums were great and hearing them on Top 40 radio made us all feel liberated. Things were pretty good on the airwaves. The Who and The Cream were getting some play, as were Big Brother & The Holding Company, Iron Butterfly and The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown. I was rather content.
‘Dark Eyed Woman’ was the lead track and first single from the difficult 3rd album CLEAR. Difficult (as a second album is known to be these days) because they’d had a hit despite the ‘album band’ and ‘live band’ habitat from which they came. Top 40 was developing it’s evil lack of loyalty way back then, and ‘Dark Eyed Woman’ didn’t get much play. But FM radio, much like today’s Sirius satellite stations, made up for it. Touring in support of it’s release, I finally got to see the band live. Despite how fantastic they were – and believe me, fantastic is putting it mildly, I was reeling from the support acts that night (October 18, 1969): The Kinks and The Bonzo Dog Band. Reeling indeed.
It was The Kinks first US show after the three year musician’s union ban. They had just released ARTHUR, much of which they played along with tracks from THE VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY, ‘Waterloo Sunset’, ‘Autumn Almanac’, ‘Sunny Afternoon’, ‘Death Of A Clown’ and ‘Til The End Of The Day’, their opening song. Jawdropping. Plus third on the bill: The Bonzos. I walked out of the venue never to be the same again.
I digressed, sorry.
Spirit released ‘1984′, a non LP single, next. This was not a common move in the day. Still, it’s forever attached to Spirit’s CLEAR era, being of same time period. Actually, ‘1984′ only ever appeared on LP once BEST OF SPIRIT was issued years later. The year 1984 seemed an eternity away on release and the record contributed to a political and ecological slant the band had taken from inception. Remember ‘Fresh Garbage’ from that first album?
Many rightfully consider the original lineup’s fourth and final album, THE TWELVE DREAMS OF DR. SARDONICUS, to be their art rock pinnacle. At least I read something to that effect recently. The two singles released from it are seminal. In fact the first, ‘Animal Zoo’, came out seemingly months prior to the album. I swiped it from a local album rock station whose late night dj occasionally let me visit. I honestly don’t remember their call letters, and he was a rather unpleasant know-it-all. I once recall him adamantly arguing with me about Humble Pie, claiming all their members, instead of just one, were from The Small Faces (wrong) and that none were from The Herd or Spooky Tooth (wrong) – which I desperately tried to point out for his benefit. He wasn’t having it, his loss. Nonetheless, I would tolerate him to get the records. This became mine one summer night along with the Juicy Lucy, Sea Train and Vivian Stanshall singles.
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Listen: The Guitar Man / Bread
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I was filing a box of singles last weekend that I’d been avoiding for ages, with no recollection of how I ended up owning them even. Mostly likely Graham Stapleton saved these for me from his stockpile of 70’s promos, back when he dealt with all the BBC dj’s and pop press music critics. Check out past posts for more details.
They were all UK A labels – and the reason for avoiding them was not what you think. It’s because I knew it would eat up an afternoon to get through the 30 count box, once I started cleaning and playing them all. As it turns out – I had a great time.
Amongst them were two Bread 7’s. Like everyone, I had my nose in the air toward this band at the time. Yes, they looked like shit, and were no match for glam or The Kinks. But guilty pleasures were indeed a few of their songs at the time. I have to say, ‘The Guitar Man’ sounded pretty great on Sunday. In hindsight, these sit perfectly with any Glen Campbell or Jimmy Webb record probably considered more politically correct still.
Listen: Down On Me / Big Brother & The Holding Company
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There are two things about Janis Joplin that annoy me. Neither are her fault, in fact she seemed to be forever a victim – it’s true. Firstly, there is so little footage that really captures her power – AND that the media uses. The clips on a short lived US pop music show, Music Scene, are the best ones. That was with her Kozmic Blues Band lineup. Then to be fair, the Ed Sullivan and Dick Cavett shows were great as well. But the media always use that shit footage from the Monterey Pop Festival, when she hadn’t yet exploded vocally or visually. By the time she left the Bay area and was playing nationally, her voice was rasp and tortured; and she was visually a ball of color and fire. So heads up: seek out some of the aforementioned performances. The second is Clive Davis. Why people line up to credit him with her success sickens me. Sure he signed her band. And yes, he’s done a lot of things. His resume looks way better than mine (He let Ray Davies make 2 awesome Kinks albums, SLEEPWALKER and MISFITS, signed The Patti Smith Group and let her make 2 great ones initially as well, plus gave both Lou Reed and Iggy Pop shots on Arista). But ‘masterminding’ the break up of Big Brother & The Holding Company is not a creative stroke on genius and is definitely unforgivable. How fucking ‘dumb’ can you be, or is it ‘money hungry’ I should be using here? Even that wouldn’t make sense. Their CHEAP THRILLS album soared to #1 in the Billboard charts and it was a blisteringly perfect document of her and the band’s magnetism. This was the ultimate acid rock group of all time. They were raw and ragged but had swing, a lethally positive combination. Listen to James Gurley’s solo on the version of ‘Down On Me’ I’ve posted. By the time this was released (after her death), Clive didn’t even have the courtesy to credit the band on the label. I assume the plan was to polish her for mainstream acceptance. Please. The whole point was the show. Big Brother & The Holding Company live were an experience I’ll never forget. It was October 11, 1968. Syracuse University presented the band at The War Memorial, but you had to be a student to get in. I wasn’t an SU student, in fact I was a little boy – no way could I even pass for a college kid. My friend Denny and I BEGGED a security guy to let us in – bless him cause he did! Changed my life. These two pictures are from that night, snapped with my crap camera. I wish I had the negatives as the prints are fading. Check out how little equipment is up on stage. Still it was loud and out of control. Fantastic. Luckily, Janis played my town many times – I got to see all her line ups through the years. She was so amazing. It’s not because I was young and impressionable – she was truly a living legend. And the lasting effect she had over everyone, not just me, proves it.
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Finchley Central / The New Vaudeville Band
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The New Vaudeville Band never get their due respect. Even though they never made a bad single, and their albums are full of flawless…..vaudeville. A genre cornered successfully, and deservedly so, by The Bonzo Dog Band and later dabbled into by The Kinks, I’m guessing maybe these guys were just a touch ahead of the credibility curve. Add to that, their first single ‘Winchester Catherdral’ became a worldwide number one and, even back then, they landed into the mainstream before the press could give them praise – so they didn’t. Never mind, these singles speak for themselves. The two followups in order were: ‘Peek A Boo’ and ‘Finchley Central’. Although hits in the UK, only ‘Peek A Boo’ made the Top 100 here (#74 in February ‘67), due in part to a great performance on the then, newly ‘In Color’ version of popular Saturday night variety show HOLLYWOOD PALACE. Singer Tristam The VII, Earl Of Cricklewood wore a blue sparkley jacket identical to the one Mick Jagger pranced in just a month earlier on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW (January ‘67) when they caved, changing the lyrics for the boss, Ed himself, and thereby performing ‘Let’s Spend Some TIME Together’ as a worldwide one-off.
‘Finchley Central’ followed in late spring. Although not housed in a now very hard to find color UK picture sleeve, indeed US Fontana sprang nonetheless for a cover – except in black and white. Both are pictured above. Despite climbing to #16 in England, for places like Texas and Florida, a single in the style of your parents music (with a vocal that doesn’t even begin until 1:04 into the song, and then lyrically about the London subway system) during the summer of psychedelic ‘67 meant…little. Well actually it did Bubble Under The Top 100 at #102 for a stubborn three weeks. Maybe people equated it to something off SGT PEPPER or YELLOW SUBMARINE and thought it so far out that it was actually ‘in’, as it got some play and sold a handful. See, The New Vaudeville Band were so good even The Beatles wanted to sound like them, and occasionally did.
