Greetings music lovers!!!! It's good to be back once again with a batch of cool, if not interesting, 45s. We've got everything from Rockabilly to Psychedelic this time around, so there's something that will pique everyone's interest.
I wanted to get this out in late spring, but here we are in mid-July, and I feel like a lazy ass. Procrastination ought to be my middle name, but that's only because I have so much on my plate. I'll stop complaining (don't worry, there's more ahead...) and get on with the rest of this little diatribe...
Life's been pretty good these days. We got through a crappy winter up here in Western N.Y., and springtime hasn't been any great shakes either, but I did manage to get away with my lovely wife, Red, down to Myrtle Beach in mid-May and enjoyed a week there with near-perfect weather. Bonus. I made a feeble attempt at looking for records, but fell far short. I did see a place after I'd left that supposedly had 100,000 L.P.'s, but I guess I missed out on that adventure. I did go to a "flea market", but there wasn't much to be found there. Speaking of flea markets, what the hell is wrong with these people trying to sell records???? I really don't mean to disparage the average flea market vendor; they're mostly decent people trying to make an extra buck, and in some cases, it's their only income. That being said, if you're trying to sell a copy of Three Dog Night's "Captured Live At The Forum" for $39, you're probably gonna be hanging on to that one for a while, even if it is in mint condition. There's this thing called eBay, and there are even record shows that'll sell that record for less than half that. I got a decent copy not that long ago for $2, so if any of you vendors are reading this, you may see a record like that on Ebay for that price, but that doesn't mean anyone is going to buy it. That's my rant for today.
I hope you like this post; it's always good fun to spin records and share them with all of you.
Van Brothers - Servant Of Love / Sweet Marie (1959)
In my last post, I told all of you about how I got a wad of 45's that were in a small laundry basket for $25. Well, I finally decided to go through some of them and happened upon this little gem. The 'A' side, "Sweet Marie", is really good hillbilly honky tonk country. The 'B' side, on the other hand, is a straight-up rockabilly bopper "ala" Sun Records era Elvis with not one, but three killer guitar breaks. I did some digging, and this record sold for $650 back in 2021. The last copy sold on Discogs for @ $100. Pretty cool for a $25 investment. I hope there are some other "gems" floating around in this basket as well!!!!
Positively Thirteen O'Clock - Psychotic Reaction / 13 O'clock Theme For Psychotics (1966)
This was actually "Mouse And The Traps" under a pseudonym, and was produced by local Dallas D.J., Jimmy Rabbitt. I always thought that this was Ronny Weiss a/k/a "Mouse" that sang this, but I've read somewhere that it was Jimmy Rabbitt that handled the lead vocals. I dunno, sounds a lot like Mouse to me, so I'm sticking with that. By the way, this is an excellent version of this GarageBand classic. Sorry for the messed-up label. Sometimes we gotta take what we can afford.
Bees - Leave Me Be / She's An Artist (She Belongs To Me) (1965)
One of two "Bees" that I'm aware of. These guys were from L.A., and the other group (that released the INSANE "Voices Green And Purple") was possibly from the East Coast. Great jangly 12-string folk rock sounds on this two-sider. The flip is a great sped-up garagey attempt at Dylan's classic "She Belongs To Me".
Equals - I Won't Be There / Fire (1966)
The first 45 by this great band. I really can't think of much that these guys did that I don't like, and this one does not disappoint. They were a prolific group that was active well into the 70's with 30+ 45s released in the U.K. to their credit and over 200 worldwide. In the U.S., they managed to get about a dozen released, and had a hit in 1968 with "Baby Come Back". I'm not sure this particular copy is an original pressing. When I got it, it just looked too nice and didn't pass the "smell test". At least not to this cork sniffer. ;)
Reasons Why - Same Old Worries / I Don't Care If You Don't Care (1967)
I just realized I posted this one in IDG #144, so instead of writing something up, just hit the link. Sorry.
Prophecy - Take A Look At Mary / Goddess Of Love (1968)
I love these 45s where some DJ has done a quick one-word review of it, such as this one. I would not characterize the 'A' side of this as "bad"; in fact, it's pretty good psych/pop. Perhaps the not-so-vague reference to smoking reefers was the reason why, but it's better than the 'B' side, which isn't really "bad", at least not in my opinion.
Bhagavad-Gita - Long Hair Soulful / Long Hair Soulful (Instrumental) (1967)
Weird yet interesting story on this one. Bhagavad-Gita was essentially a studio project worked up by Cleveland, OH producer Roger Karshner and none other than local Rochester, NY jazz legend Chuck Mangione. What makes it more interesting is that the actual band was a pre-Joe Walsh James Gang. Karshner and Mangione would later release an L.P. titled " The National Gallery - Musical Interpretations Of The Paintings Of Paul Klee". I'm really not familiar with Klee's work, but the album and the 45 bombed. This is actually a cool psychedelic 45 with some time signature changes in the bridge and some decent guitar noodling throughout. You can get more info from Buckeye Beat and this blog here.
Blizzard - Keep A Knockin', Get Back, Etc. / Health (1969)
Most likely a studio group from N.Y.C., Blizzard released this one-off 45 at the height of bubblegum mania. Although the 'A' side is ok, the 'B' side gets a solid thumbs up in the "fuzzed out guitar instrumental" department. Arranger Joe Renzetti was house guitarist for Cameo/Parkway records back in the 60's and played on and arranged a bunch of hit songs well into the 70's and beyond.
Thousand Faces - A Thousand Faces / Sweet Little Cup (Of Lovin') (1968)
Nice sunshine pop 45 from L.A. These guys also released another 45 on the same label as "The Lollipop Fantasy".
Brothers Pride - Let The Music Play / Love Is All I Have To Give (1970)
Two sides of decent pop-rock from a Louisville, KY band that released four 45's, this, being their last. "Let The Music Play" is an up-tempo cover of a Drifters song which was the 'B' side to "On Broadway". "Love Is All I Have To Give" is a Bacharach / David tune that was done by Checkmates LTD. in '69. Guitarist Jim Muench went on to form a band with his brothers called "The Muench Brothers", and they simply evolved into "Muench" and released an L.P. in 1977.
Howard Boggess - Hollywood / 20th Century Sad (1971)
Howard Boggess' name is pretty much unknown, but for an obscure kinda guy, his name pops up all over the place.
Unfortunately, his name shows up on mostly obscure 45's, but it seems like he was a busy guy writing and producing for acts like "Marsh", Billy Harner", "The Tams", and a few other Philadelphia-based acts. This was his only release credited to him, and I gotta say, it's kinda cool. "Hollywood" is weird and a bit on the funky side? The flip is pretty strange as well.
Sugar Shoppe - Save The Country / Easy To Be Hard (1969)
The Sugar Shoppe was a fine Sunshine Pop Quartet from Toronto that had about a half dozen 45s released in Canada, and three here in the U.S. This was the last one, and it's their best IMHO. You can't go wrong with any Laura Nyro covers. I have found myself really fascinated with her songwriting style, and "Eli And The Thirteenth Confession" is a work of art and musical genius. Literally. So "Save The Country" comes off very well in the hands of this group, and "Easy To Be Hard", a song that was made really famous by Three Dog Night, gets the "Sunshine Pop" treatment here. You can't go wrong with this one either, but I think the movie "Hair" is a total piece of garbage.
Marsh - I Can Love You So Much Better / Trip, Tumble, And Fall (1970)
An extremely short-lived band from Philadelphia, or somewhere around there...I thought I had a story on these guys locked down, but it must've been another late 60's, early 70's group that had a record out on Decca or Uni. I sorta lost track. Anyway...Remember Howard Boggess? Just scroll up a bit...yeah, he produced this band, and it's typical horn-driven rock from the early seventies. Not bad though....
Pickettywitch - Baby We've Been Loving Too Long (1970)
Pickettywitch were a band from Birmingham and had a very successful career, especially their lead vocalist, Polly Brown. I'm not a big fan of their music, just a wee bit too "poppy" for my tastes, but this one, the flip side to their big hit, "That Same Old Feeling", hits the nail right on the head.
