Hey everybody. Back again with some more 45's for all to sample. Right now I'm just grabbing things randomly and ripping them, in fact I got some pretty good mojo workin' here as all the keystrokes it takes to rip and edit this blog are coming to me effortlessly. Practice makes perfect I guess. The only thing I'm avoiding is posting 45s with the same label in the same post, aside from that anything goes except for obvious stinkers (in my opinion) that I'm just not going to bother with.
This last Monday was be six weeks since having surgery and I'm starting to feel like I'm on the mend. I disposed the sling and I'm feeling somewhat normal again, although I have a few more months of rehab, but in the meantime I can keep plugging away here. Enjoy.
U.S. Six - I Do Love You / The Push (1964)
HEY! Let's start with a total dead end!!!! Outside of the fact that this 45 came out on Ascot records, I know nothing about this group. One lead suggested they were from San Jose, CA, but that's iffy. 'A; side is a really cool mid-tempo minor chord ballad, and the flip is pretty good garage/soul.
Balloon Corps - Muddy Water / Make It Right (1969)
The Balloon Corps were from somewhere in Pennsylvania and were previously known as The Snaps and The Underground Balloon Corps. Nice rockin' two sider from the late 60's.
Candymen - Movies In My Mind (1967)
I probably should've ripped both sides of this 45 but "Georgia Pines" was somewhat of a hit in '67 so I left it out. The flip is a really interesting number though with a really nice hook. The Candymen were Roy Orbison's backing band in the mid 60's and several of the band members were involved in The Classics IV who's "Spooky" was a huge hit, and then they evolved into "The Atlanta Rhythm Section" in the 70's. Let me know in the comments if you want the 'A' side posted.
Russ Alquist - Ordinary Morning / Fly Free As A Bird (1966)
Russ Alquist's story is rather interesting. He was married to British actress Juliet Mills and wrote or co-wrote songs for The Fourmost, Herman's Hermits, Chad & Jeremy, and collaborated with the British songwriting team of Carter and Lewis who were responsible for several hits in the mid-sixties as well as a slew of lesser known songs for a bunch of other acts. This was Russ' only recording and in my opinion is perfect mid-sixties pop. I can't say for sure, but the Wrecking Crew probably backed him on this gem.
The Red Baron - Gonna Get You In The End / Cowboy (1967)
Not much is known about "The Red Baron" A/K/A David "Von" Garber. He did have this one 45 in '67 and fortunately it has nothing to do with the "Snoopy" craze that The Royal Guardsmen were responsible for, in fact, the 'A' side sounds kind of demented. Hell, the 'B' side is a wee bit out there as well. Perhaps it's because genius producer Tom Wilson was involved in this affair.
Thanes - So Alone / If She Were Here (1968)
The Thanes were from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada and had this one very moody 45 that only came out in Canada. Sorry for the poor shape of this record. I tried doing some "fixing" on the desktop, but I couldn't manage to get all of the crackles out. Not to be confused with the with the 80's band from Scotland.
Traffic featuring Steve Winwood - Paper Sun / Giving To You (1967)
I know this is a well known song by a well known band, but this particular version of "Paper Sun" is mixed somewhat differently than the LP version and is a bit shorter, perhaps for radio play. The 45 is also credited to "Traffic featuring Steve Winwood" as this 45 came out a couple of months after he left The Spencer Davis Group, probably because Spencer Davis' "Somebody Help Me" was still on the charts.
The Alan Bown! - Gypsy Girl / All I Can (1969)
Alan Bown started his career playing with the John Barry Seven and eventually left that group and took a couple of other members with him and formed The Alan Bown Set. They were an R&B group not unlike Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames and started releasing records in 1965. They would evolve into more of a pop/psyche group in the later 60'sreleasing an LP here in the states on Music Factory records. They dropped the "Set" and added the ! to their name in 1967 although in the U.S. they would simply be known as "The Alan Bown" until this 45 from 1969 which would be their last release here.
Right about the time this record was put out and getting some steam on the charts, lead vocalist Jess Roden left and was replaced by none other than Robert Palmer. "Gypsy Girl" was re-recorded with Palmer on vocals but in the U.S. we got the original song with Roden. Sax player John Helliwell and bassist Dougie Thompson eventually hooked up with Supertramp and enjoyed huge success with them.
Group Therapy - Bad News (1967)
One of several bands that called themselves "Group Therapy" during the 60's, this band was bassist Leland Sklar's first band. I skipped the 'A' side of this because I couldn't get past the first 30 seconds of schmaltz, but on second listen, it get's better, although it kinda sounds a bit like a Partridge Family song, That's not necessarily a bad thing. I'll throw it on the next effort.
Affection Collection - Feelin' Fine / Can't Put Her Down (1971)
From Idaho Falls, ID, The Affection Collection trucked down to Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, NM to record this and in fact, all their records. That's a 16 hour drive! Their perseverance earned them seven 45's on Maudz, Evolution, and United Artists records all decent songs that range from folk rock to pop.
Beast - Move Mountain (You Got it) / Communication (1970)
A Denver, CO group that also recorded at Norman Petty's studio although their trip only took about 7 to 8 hours. Nice heavy stuff here. They had two LP's, one on Cotillion and one on Evolution.
Boffolongo - Please Stay / Mr. Go Away (1969)
I'm breaking my rule of putting more than one 45 of the same label in a post. So much for quality control. Boffolongo, from what I can gather, was a band from Ithaca, NY, a mere 2 hours away from Dan's Garage central. They were Cornell University students at the time and managed to record two LP's before they broke up. Some of them migrated to Paris and worked as session musicians and eventually headed back to the states, regrouped, and formed King Harvest who had a memorable AM radio hit with "Dancing In The Moonlight" This 45 is pretty good up-tempo pop/rock and "Mr. Go Away", to my ears, sound kinda like Procol Harum. By the way, Boffolongo released the first version of "Dancing In The Moonlight" in 1970 but apparently had no success with it.
Majic Ship - Hummin / It's Over (1969)
I have two copies of this 45. The one you see here on Crazy Horse, which incidentally was pressed by Capitol records, and the original which appeared on the local Magic-L label. This copy popped up in my pile of stuff and unfortunately it's pretty trashed. I tried to let Audacity do some "pop and crackle" voodoo on it, but it's still pretty crispy.
The Majic Ship were from Long Island, and were a typical band from that location and era, ya know, Heavy Hammond B-3 organ not unlike their fellow Long Islanders The Vanilla Fudge and The Hassles. who also covered Hummin'. Unlike The Hassles version which has some horns in it trying to get that Stax Records vibe, the horns on this record sounds like they were recorded in a different building, or just an afterthought.
Thomas And Richard Frost - Got To Find The Light / St. Petersburgh (1972)
Tom and Rich Martin A/K/A Thomas And Richard Frost were a duo from San Mateo, CA that had a very interesting history. They played in a surf band called the Impressions and then went on to form The Art Collection and backed New Zealander Ray Columbus after he left the Invaders and moved to the U.S. They then went on to form a power pop group called "Powder", that did the freakbeat/mod thing ala The Who and did it quite well I might add. I've only heard one song by them, "Gladly" that sounds like it was recorded in the U.K. sometime in 1966 or '67. Real good stuff. The two garnered attention from Imperial Records and recorded a handful of 45's before recording an entire LP for Uni in 1972. This was the only 45 from that album and it definitely shows a shift in styles from their earlier work.
