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Sunday, January 31, 2010

In Dan's Garage...#18

 

HEY!!! I hope everyone is having a great weekend! The band played out last night to a small but very enthusiastic crowd who dared to venture out in the subzero weather we've been having here in upstate New York. Plus, we had a gigantic full moon. I guess it's the biggest one of the year, so the whole evening had a spooky vibe to it. Overall, we had a blast. Now I'm sitting here recovering from several pints of delicious IPA's. Not exactly hungover, but just a little drained from last night's activities.So what better way to wind down the weekend than with another posting of "In Dan's Garage"? This particular edition features some very familiar, and maybe "not so garage or psychedelic" sounds. I just opened a new box and was greeted with some old favorites, and a few oddballs. I'm sure you'll all enjoy it. So here it is....

Rogues - Everyday
  
Let's not confuse this studio group with the other 100 or so "Rogues" out there. This is Bruce Johnston & Terry Melcher doing a super solid remake of Buddy Holly's lightweight classic. Sorry Buddy Holly fans, but this version is absolutely the best I've ever heard, with a nice "Louie Louie" thing thrown in for good measure!

C.L. & The Pictures - Let's Take A Ride
 
 Here's a nice early '60s rocker. The only thing I could find out about C.L. Weldon is that he released an album of hard blues rock called "Houston's Natural Gass" with another guy named Jesse Lankford. It sounds an awful lot like Grand Funk Railroad. 

Excels - It Isn't So / Run Girl Run
 
Every search I do on this group comes up with references to Northern Soul. I dig soul music, but this sure as hell ain't nothing like James Brown. Actually, it's a pretty cheesy teen garage band. The top side is an inept weeper, and the flip is a Buddy Holy style thing with cool organ fills. From the Chicago area....

High Spirits - (Turn On Your) Love Light / Tossin' And Turnin'
  
Pretty good version by a bunch from Minneapolis. If you haven't heard their awesome "I Believe" yet, you definitely should. This was their 1st 45....

Sev & Fred - Bye Bye Love
  
As long as we're in the upper Midwest, why not throw in a couple of mystery men from Wisconsin? Not sure who Sev or Fred were, but this is a way cool version of the Everly Bros. classic. Note: No electric guitars....

Mod Rockers - Lovers Lane
 
 Another mystery. These guys may have been "rockers", but this tune sure doesn't sound "mod" to me... Wait...Mod...Rockers...hey! I get it! It's an oxymoron!!!! How clever....

Mugwumps - I Don't Wanna Know
 
Hey, let's throw in some nice "folk rock" OK? This was Mama Cass and Denny Doherty of Mamas and Papas fame with Zal Yanovsky of Lovin' Spoonful fame before they split into their respective groups. I'm not a "folkie", in the trditional sense, but I kinda like this "power folk" (for lack of a better term).

We Five - Let's Get Together
As long as we're doing the "meaningful folk rock" thing, let's throw in this little nugget. We Five's "You Were On My Mind" was one of the first to blend traditional folk with rock music. I think it's a fantastic song. What is overlooked is the fact that We Five did the hippie anthem "Let's Get Together" a good two years before the Youngbloods had a hit with it. This one's a completely different take on the song. Real cool.

Jamie Coe & The Gigolos - Greenback Dollar / But Yesterday
 
Jamie Coe was discovered by Bobby Darrin in the late fifties and did a few teen rocker 45s. After the Beatles hit big he lost his popularity (except in Michigan where he was still a big favorite), changed his up sound and released this cool folk rock 45. 

Gentrys - Spread It On Thick / Brown Paper Sack
  
Great Frat rock/R&B group from Memphis. They sang this one in a movie with The Animals and The Castaways, but I forget the name of it...

British Walkers - Shake / That Was Yesterday
  
A Washington DC. group that had a few 45's  released, all of them pretty good. This one is rumored to be the Chartbusters in disguise.

Kingsmen - If I Need Someone
 
 It's real hard to believe that this is the same band that gave us Louie Louie, or even Jolly Green Giant for that matter. Nonetheless, this is a terrific version of George Harrison's classic folk rocker.

Nobody's Children - Don'tcha Feel Like Cryin'
  
Here's one of those borderline tunes with horns. This one's pretty good though, because it's got cool fuzz guitars, and the singer sounds just like Joey Ramone! From the Maryland / D.C. area.

Seeds - Mr. Farmer / Up In Her Room
 
 I don't think this band needs any introduction. This was one of their better efforts that wasn't a clone of "Pushin' Too Hard"

Balloon Farm - Question Of Temperature / Hurtin' For Your Love
  
The first "garage" 45 I ever bought! A true classic! The flip side "Hurtin' For Your Love" is really overlooked.

Bristol Boxkite - Clors Of Love / If You Love Me
 
Great folky/poppy/psyche sounds from a group out of Castro Valley, a suburb of San Fransisco.

Vagrants - I Love, Love You (Yes I Do)
 
 What the hell...I'll throw in this beat up copy of the seldom heard flip side of "Respect" Leslie West wails on this vocal....

Music Explosion - What You Want (Baby I Want You)
 
 I originally bought this for the freaky instrumental psychedelic flip side "Road Runner", while completely ignoring the A side. Well...you know what? The A side is pretty freaking cool. Emphasis on "freak". The guys who sang the bubblegum classic "Little Bit Of Soul" really take a left turn on this 45.

 Ohio Express - Try It / Soul Struttin'
  
Here's another Kasenetz & Katz effort, this time by the Yummy Yummy Yummy guys. Between that and the great "Beg Borrow and Steal", this group tried their hand at the Standells' hit. The flip was co-written by Tony Orlando!

Bubble Puppy - Hot Smoke & Sassafras / Lonely
 
 Debut 45 by one of the best known Texas psyche bands ever. It was there, so I had to include it.

Bintangs - Ridin' On The L & N
 
 Definitely not a garage tune, but a great rockin' blues number. The Bintangs from The Netherlands have been around forever and are a very prolific group.

Get it HERE 






13 comments:

  1. Great collection. I can't wait to listen to it....
    Thanks!

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  2. Looks like another super set. I wonder if the "CL" could be Curtis Lee who also recorded on Dunes? Another great tune by the British Walkers was "Watch Yourself".I used to see them pretty often in D.C.'s Georgetown area. Mike

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  3. Wow! I finally get to hear the b-side of that Balloon Farm single... Thanks!

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  4. Another great post. I always love our posts - a combination of some things I know and some stuff I never hear before.

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  5. yes great collection keep them going dan

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  6. Thanks yet again for another great post,excellent stuff.

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  7. Hey Dan,
    Looks like viewers are able to listen to your records. How do I go about doing that?
    Thanks,
    Dwight

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  8. There's a link at the bottom of the post that says "Get it HERE". Clicking that link will take you to Sharebee, a file sharing site. From there you can download the entire file which will contain the mp3s, label scans, and cover art. You'll need an archiving program to open it. I recommend 7 ZIP. It works great, and it's free.

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  9. Hotrodmike.... CL is NOT Curtis Lee....

    The British Walkers, who reunited last year for the first time in some 30 years, are definitely not The Chartbusters.

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  10. The movie with the Gentrys and Castaways etc was It's A Bikini World

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  11. Thanks.

    The Cameo-Parkway "Ohio Express" was actually The New Breed from NYC. No relation to the later studio group on Buddah.

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  12. I actually saw Sev and Fred sing Bye-Bye love. Their sister was my teacher in 1968 and they came to sing to our class. Sadly I no longer have either the 45 or the signed 8x10. So blown away to know they aren't a figment of my imagination. Thanks:)

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  13. Thanks a ton for this. Always great to hear ? of Temp but my main raves here are The Music Explosion and Nobody's Children.

    Nathan.G

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