In Dan's Garage...#14

Hooray! I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday season and yes, it's almost time to ring in the New Year! On this New Years Eve I'd like to thank all the friends and even the lurkers out there who've come to visit my little corner of cyberspace. In the past year I've been able to reacquaint myself with my record collection, and doing one of the things I love the most. Sharing it. I've always admired the the people who put the great comps together, mainly because they had great collections of far out cool records, but they also were making it available to fans and connoisseurs of hip sixties sounds. With this blog I've tried to present a wide spectrum of these sounds, from early 60's rockers to late 60's heavy psychedelic numbers. Even though this blog is firmly rooted in garage/punk, I include lots of records that don't exactly fit in with that description. I once asked a collector and dealer that I had dealt with if he was a "Back From The Grave" type purist and he said "Hell no. A good song is a good song". I've pretty much adhered to this same philosophy. Some friends have balked at my "choices", but as Iggy Pop once famously said..."Screw Ya". I like all this stuff. From The Trashmen to The Giant Jellybean Copout. So here we are with Number 14! This one's another crazy trip through what I consider the greatest decade in the history of Rock & Roll. This handful of 45s takes a few twists and turns and you'll hear a wide variety of cool tunes. I hope you all enjoy it. I'd really like to thank all the friends who dropped by with comments, and especially the friends who provided valuable info and corrections on my posts. You are as important to this blog as the music is. Thank You, and I wish you all a happy and very prosperous New Year.

Love, Dan

Clingers - Gonna Have A Good Time

I usually start with the beginning of the decade with these posts, but I couldn't resist kicking off with this one. The Clingers were a girl group produced by Kim Fowley & Michael Lloyd, and this one from '69 predated The Runaways by about 6 years, although they're certainly not as aggressive.

Moonriders - Rockin' Robin

Here's a great early 60's rocker out of Park Ridge, Ill. I'd guess this one is from about '61 or '62 (who knows? maybe earlier) and has a great inept guitar solo and pounding piano.

Head Lyters - You'd Better Come Home / I Need You

I'm not sure if this is the same group from Michigan who gave us "Girl Down The Street" on Phalanx records, 'cause they sure don't sound like it. This is a "La Bamba/Twist And Shout" ripoff, and the flip's a great soul influenced number.

 Buddy Knox - Jo Ann

 

Everyone knows Buddy Knox as the guy who did "Party Doll" back in 1957. He later cut a lot of teen pop stuff for Liberty, and then United Artists. In 1966 though he cut this maraca shakin' thing on the tiny Ruff Records label (also the home of the Blue Things and some other stellar garage 45s) that's real strange. It's got a real lo-fi feel to it and there's no electric guitars, just this acoustic 12 string. Totally weird, but rockin' nonetheless.

Charles Christy & The Crystals - Cherry Pie / Will I Find Her

This 45 sat in a guy's box for years until I offered him a $1 for it thinking it was just a total piece of crap. I was actually pleasantly surprised by this. Charles Christy was from Fort Worth, TX, had one other 45 on HBR. Although this is kind of lightweight, it's got a great garage feel to it.

Larry Roquemore - Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter / Just Stay

As long as we're in Fort Worth, lets check this one out. This is none other than Texas legends Larry & The Blue Notes, who's "In And Out" is what I consider one of the top 10 garage/punk songs of all time. This on the other hand is not quite as "killer". Real interesting though....

Don Charles - She's Mine

 Can't tell you much about Don and this cool British raver, except that he was from Hull, UK. and possibly had an album.....

Fugitives - What Made You Blue / Theme Of Love

 YOW! One of my favorites! This is positively one of the crudest recordings I've ever heard, but these guys totally rock. Great guitar solo and honking sax. These guys put out an entire album on the famous Justice label. From Richmond, VA. Woo Hoo!

Hole In The Wall - Bring It On Home / When Blue Turns To Gray

Here's a real obscure one that I actually got some info on. Hole In The Wall were from Matawan, NJ and were originally known as "Jay Walker & The Pedestrians". They were produced by an entrepreneur named Johnny Dee who was trying his hand at promoting/managing groups, this being one of them. He got them a one shot deal with Epic and produced this one 45 which I think is fabulous. Cool organ dominates both sides of this two sided gem.

Terry & The Chain Reaction - Stop Stopping Me / Keep Your Cool

The first of two 45s released by this Alabama combo...

Layng Martine Jr. - Crazy Daisy

 I wasn't sure whether to post this one. It's got a cool fuzz guitar and a great break, but it's got a teenybopper goofiness to it. Layng Martine Jr. is best known for writing some huge country hits, and this obviously isn't one of them. He had another 45 called "Surabian Lament" which is a pretty cool psychedelic number. I'll feature that in a later post.

 Royal Guardsmen - Baby Let's Wait

 Oh what the hell. Let's throw caution to the wind and talk about this one too. We all know the Guardsmen's famous "Snoopy" songs. I really feel sorry for these guys, because they actually were a decent band that got pigeonholed with those goofy Snoopy things. While this certainly isn't their best, it is a great garage ballad, and I like it!

Magicians - An Invitation to Cry / Rain Don't Fall On Me No More

One of the truly great 60's masterpieces. Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon went on to write about a half dozen hits for the Turtles including "Happy Together" and "She's My Girl". They also wrote "Put The Clock Back On The Wall" a pop/psyche classic.

Michael Paul - Jingle Jangle

 "A good song, is a good song". Here's a perfect example. Although this Troggs cover is a "big production" style number, you can't escape the cool 12 string "jangly" guitars, and the almost snotty like vocals.

Off Set - A Change Is Gonna Come / Xanthia (Lisa)

Originally known as "The Jagged Edge" who put out the fantastic "You Can't Keep A Good Man Down", this is a great pop/psyche/folk rock two sider. They had to change their name because there were so many Jagged Edges at the time...

Opus IV - Mess Around / About Her

 Here's a great one from Ohio. The guy singing sounds a lot like Paul Jones from Manfred Mann.

Tayles - Funny Paper Sam / It's High Time

 I swore this was from 68 or 69,but it's really from 1971! This Madison, WI group had an album and another 45 credited to them.

Mind Garage - Asphalt Mother / Reach Out

 This Morgantown, WV group is credited with being one of the first "Christian Rock" bands, but before they began doing an "Electric Liturgy" in churches around the east, and releasing two LPs on RCA Victor, they released this rather obscure 45 on the trippy "Morning Glori" label. Both sides are real heavy psych.

Get it HERE