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Thursday, October 30, 2014

In Dan’s Garage…#103

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Hello music lovers! It’s great to be here once again giving you another edition of “In Dan’s Garage”, my humble blog which I hope you will all enjoy. I don’t have much to say today, except that I really wanted to get this one out before the end of the month, because I’m going on a well deserved (in my opinion) vacation next week, cruising on the MSC Divina, a gargantuan vessel that serves fresh pasta, pizza, gelato, and Italian pastry all day (and night). If any one of you happen to sail out of Miami on Nov.1 on this thing, look for me. I’ll be wearing Ray Ban sunglasses and sporting a Rochester Red Wings baseball cap for the duration of the cruise.
    As usual I have another potpourri of 60s sounds, with a bit of 50s and 70s thrown in for good measure. I hope you all enjoy and I’ll see you next month before the Thanksgiving holiday. Bon Voyage……….

Chan Romero – My Little Ruby (1959)
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I really dig this 45 by the legendary Chan Romero who wrote one of my favorite songs ever, “Hippy Hippy Shake”. This follow-up does not disappoint and is just as good as “Hippy”.

Underbeats – Book Of Love / Darling Lorraine (1966)
underbeats
A very popular Minneapolis group that had a heavy group vocal/do-wop influence.

Astronauts – Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day (1965)
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Before The Monkees recorded this song and released it on their debut LP in 1966, The Astronauts tackled this beast and gave it an incredibly snotty garage/punk delivery. The flip is merely an instrumental version of the A side. What a rip off!!!!!!

Beatin’ Path – The Original Nothing People / I Waited So Long (1966)
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Total legendary coolness from a Reading, PA band that had this one release. I love the whole “recorded in a cave” type sound they get here. Real garage band stuff here my friends.

Beat Merchants – So Fine (1965)
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The flip side of Freddie & The Dreamers’ “You Were Made For Me”. I guess Tower couldn’t come up with anything decent to put on the B side, so they let these guys loose with a great beat pounder that’s based on the Fiestas’ original. Actually, this 45 was released twice with the same catalog number. The first version was actually a Freddie & The Dreamers two sider.

Sean & The Brandywines – She Ain’t No Good / Cod’ine (1966)
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An unknown California group that released this one spectacular 45 produced by Gary Usher. He may have been part of the group but I really don’t know for sure……

Standells - Mi Hai Fatto Innamorare (1965)
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I’m very picky about re-issues but I think this one deserves inclusion. This was written by guitarist Tony Valentino who was a native of Italy and probably held a lot of sway in the release of this song, although I’m not quite sure when it was released and if it was a B side. In any case, Tony and the crew get real “Italian” here with a traditional Italian style intro featuring mandolins and all before busting into a great garage/pop number.

Remains – My Babe / Why Do I Cry (1965)
remains
Oh my God. These guys are perhaps the greatest band to never to make it big. I don’t consider these guys a “garage” band because they’re too good. The Remains are the best band never to make it big from the 1960’s. Period. If any one is wondering why I feature the “My Babe” side here first, it’s because it was deemed the A side by the brilliant execs at Epic records, whilst the “B” side “Why Do I Cry” is the real gem here as we all know. “My Babe” is OK but pales in comparison to “Why Do I Cry”.

Rising Sons – Candy Man / The Devil’s Got My Woman (1966)
rising sons
A group that included such greats as Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal. They released this one 45 in 1966 and they were considered one of the best bands in LA at the time, their sound being way ahead of their time and rivaling the popularity of the Byrds.

Sonics – You Got Your Head On Backwards (1966)
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One of The Sonics’ best. Real brutal crunch on this one as well as being one of the best chick put down songs of all time. A+.

Los Bravos – Brand New Baby / Going Nowhere (1966)
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I like Los Bravos, even if all their songs kinda sounded like “Black Is Black”. This two sider is especially good.

Bob Seger & The Last Heard – Heavy Music (part 1) (1967)
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This was Bob’s last 45 to appear on Cameo Records before Cameo went bust, and Bob signed with Capitol. It’s too bad that the execs at Cameo didn’t stick with him, but of course how do you compete with a mega-label like Capitol? Anyway…This 45 is OK in my opinion, but pales alongside his earlier efforts. The flip is just a continuation of the same “groove” on the A side.

Seeds – No Escape (1966)
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I love the Seeds. Mainly because they would use the same riff over and over again, and rather successfully I might add. The reason I include this most common of Seeds songs is that there are actually TWO versions. The one that everyone has a prominent reverb on the vocals, and this… a completely different mix altogether is pretty dry. The Seeds, or Crescendo Records, had a habit of releasing different singles with the same catalogue numbers. I featured this “same” 45 back in IDG # 18 where the flip of “Mr. Farmer” was “Up In Her Room”…

Fountain Of Youth – Don’t Blame Me (For Trying) / Take A Giant Step (1968)
fountainofyouth
These guys from Texas were once rumored to be the “test band” for The Monkees, but I don’t really buy that although they were on Colgems, and they did cover “Take A Giant Step”, and they did sound a little bit like them(The Monkees that is). This is their best 45 and I always was a big fan of “Don’t Blame Me” from when it was re-released on Boulders, but I must say, their version of “Take A Giant Step” is stunning to say the least. Almost near perfect pop perfection.

Chosen Few – Asian Chrome / The Earth Above The Sky Below (1967)
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I featured their other 45 in IDG #99, but this is their crowning achievement. Real cool far/middle east style guitar ramblings that culminate in a wacked out fuzz and reverb drenched solo. The B side which has had little attention is pretty good as well.

Springfield Rifle – Left Of Nowhere (1968)
springfieldrifle
One of the best bands to come out of the Pacific NW in the late 60’. They concentrated on good arrangements and tight vocal harmonies.

Music Explosion – Where Are We Going (1968)
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One of many 45s that this Ohio based band would release, including the great “Little Bit Of Soul”.

Bards – Never Too Much Love / The Jabberwocky (1968)
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The Bards were a very popular Pacific NW, kinda like The Sonics and The Springfield Rifle, both featured in this post. These guys were lucky enough to land a recording contract with Capitol Records and release this interesting 45 that mixes some really good blue-eyed soul with a whacked out rendition of “The Jabberwocky”.

Lucifers Friend – Everybody’s Clown (1970)
lucifersfriend
Sooooo… let’s fast forward to 1970, where in Germany, a band called “Lucifer’s Friend” was conjuring up a mix of Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath type sounds. This 45 45 from 1970 is a good example of how psych crossed over with hard rock.

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18 comments:

  1. Once again, an incredible collection of the new (to me) and the familiar. And I love the label shots. Thank you.

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  2. thanks again Dan, excellent picks! (and enjoy the cruise!)

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  3. And the hits keep on coming!!! Yay, Dan! Thanks. Love the labels, the notes and especially the music!! Thank you sir. (But shut? No love for Curtis Mayfield who wrote the Bards track??

    kevinpat

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  4. Yeah! A great mix of not so common stuff! Thanks and have a great cruise. Take care, br, JD

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  5. Dan:
    Enjoy your trip and as always thanks for a great comp.

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  6. The Standells disc was given away in France with the very first issue of 'Juke Box Magazine' dated October 1984.
    Here is the page containing the picture sleeve to cut out:
    http://www15.zippyshare.com/v/26264066/file.html

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  7. Merci beaucoup DAN

    RV

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  8. More choice cuts from the man....cheers Dan!

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  9. Hi there,

    I feel I have got to say a big THANK YOU once in a while for this great collection of 60s beat, garage and stuff..... Keep doing your fantastic work!

    Tumbleweed

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  10. Hello there...where is the new comp #103 ???
    Attached link is for comp #101 !!
    Am I miss something?

    Keep up a good work! :-)

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  11. Hello: I'm Jacinto from Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA. I ask you about password to access to Dan's Garage #76, #77,#78 and #79. Help me, please. Thanks a lot!!!

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  12. found the download link. Now how do I get the site to stop asking me if I want to open using something called RarGenie?

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    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. You can't. Zippyshare is free and unfortunately is fueled by pop up ads, tis keeps our costs down so you can obtain this stuff at no cost to you. Your best bet is to turn on your pop up blocker.

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  13. Jim Danelectro ClevelandAugust 3, 2016 at 5:40 PM

    Hello again, Dan! Before proceeding further please allow me to correct a most egregious error! I have read some of your blogs, listened to some of your downloads, offered a few comments to share knowledge and information but......... I haven't taken a few seconds to say "Thank You"!?!?!? SHAME on me! "THANK YOU!!!". Thank you for your time, the music, the information, the discussion, EVERYTHING! Now, to offer a bit more info.... "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day" is a great track and I was unaware that it was recorded by the Astronauts. Haven't heard it yet but I look forward to it. A while back on one of my radio shows I played music by The Monkees and cover versions of the same songs back-to-back. Sir Walter Raleigh & The Coupons also recorded "T-G-B-A-D" so I played that version. According to the 'Searching For Shakes' web page that version was recorded in September of 1964 so maybe it was the first commercial release of this song?

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  14. Jim Danelectro ClevelandAugust 3, 2016 at 5:59 PM

    In Re: "Where Are We Going" by The Music Explosion, produced by Mickey Lane. Is this, perhaps, Mickey LEE Lane of "Hey, Sah-Lo-Ney" and "The Shaggy Dog" fame?

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