In Dan’s Garage…#64

Greetings! Well, summer has once again passed here in Upstate NY and the fall season is again upon us, but I love the fall. Football season starts, baseball playoffs and the World Series are in full swing, the weather is a tad bit cooler, grapes are being harvested in the Finger Lakes, leaves change their hue and start falling, apples are being picked by the bushel, outdoor grilling gives way to nice hot comfort foods…well…you get the picture. It’s a very pleasant time of the year. Here's some random thoughts though….    As you all know I am a beer lover. I love cheap beer, expensive beer, ales, lagers, stouts, and a nice hearty I.P.A. as well. The fall is a great time for brewing, especially Oktoberfest style beers which are very abundant, but has anyone out there had this “pumpkin” lager stuff that goes around right about now???? Yuck! I know there are “fruity” beers like strawberry blondes, and cranberry ales, and I’ve often put a lime in a bottle of Corona, but I’m not sure if I want my beer tasting like pumpkin pie. Same goes for this maple and caramel stuff that goes around. Ew. The maple junk tastes like a stack of pancakes. But what do I know? I guess it sells well so that’s why they keep brewing it I suppose.    I’ve put somewhat of a moratorium on buying records for the time being, only because I’m overwhelmed with new 45s and have some catching up to do. I have some real interesting stuff to post so stay tuned, things are going to start picking up as I have more free time to get this blog out more frequently. I hope everyone enjoys this offering……

Curiosities – Money (1965) Here’s another Seeburg jukebox 45 from The Curiosities who were probably the same band as The Look Outs (IDG #45) and The Seeburg Spotlite Band (IDG #30). This time they go through a pretty happenin’ version of Barret Strong’s “Money”.

Lindy Blaskey & The Lavells – Sweets For My Sweet / Movin’ Away (1966) Another fine record from Albuquerque's Lindy Blaskey. This was his last of four 45s on Space records. Top side is a great version of “Sweets For My Sweet” and the B side is a teen ballad.

Ritchie Dean – Goodbye Girl (1964) Ritchie Dean is actually songwriter/producer Warren Schatz who is credited on some extremely cool 45s from the 60s. Most of his output was pop, but he did manage to release a couple of good songs most notably “Time”, and this one here.

Sun-Set – Don’t (Judge Me Baby) / Man Without A Home (1964) I can’t say for sure where these guys are from, but they have a great British Invasion sound. I seems Dick Monda had something to do with this one, and his credits are also present on The Badd Boys’ “I Told You So” & “Never Going Back To Georgia” (IDG #17 & 40) which are both superb 45s.

Poore Boyes – Give / It’s Love (1966) Another “mystery” group. I always thought this one was from Minnesota, but Fuzz, Acid, & Flowers has to screw with my head by stating that it ”might” be from Arizona. Whatever. All that horseshit is overshadowed by the subject matter of this song. Although “tragedy” records were nothing new at the time, this one goes to a whole other level, much like Little John & The Monks’ “Black Winds” but not quite as tragic as say The Whyte Boots’ “Nightmare”. This guy sings about the love of his life (Jean) and how great she is… then….he meets someone “new”. So he goes walkin’ and talkin’ with his new babe but he didn’t realize that Jean was stalking them, and a tad bit psycho as well. So Jean confronts them WITH A KNIFE! YIKES!!!! She comes at him with the weapon and he pushes her and she falls on it and DIES! Holy crap what a freakin’ horror! At the end he gets really maudlin about the whole episode and I guess the moral of the story is, don't date messed up women.

Tikis – If I’ve Been Dreaming / Pay Attention To Me (1965) The Tikis were a surf group from San Francisco but released this cool merseybeat inspired 45 in 1965. They eventually renamed themselves Harper’s Bizarre, became a sunshine pop band, and had a couple of huge hits namely a remake of Simon & Garfunkel’s “59th Street Bridge Song”. Perhaps the most interesting is that Ted Templeman was the drummer on this 45, and he went on to produce some of rock music’s biggest classics including The Doobie Brothers, Van Halen, Van Morrison, and Sammy Hagar’s original band Montrose who’s first LP is one of my favorites. Yes, I’ll admit I do have a soft spot for early-mid 70s “hard rock”…..

Chips & Company – Ace Of Spades / Walk Tall (1966) Two moody ballads from another mystery group, although the writing credits indicate that this is probably Gene Pistilli of Cashman, Pistilli, & West. They released at least one other 45 which I haven't heard.

Boston Tea Party – Words / Spinach (1967) Released around the same time as the Monkees’ version, this is a completely different take on the song. The Boston Tea Party would release a so-so LP and had some other 45s on different labels as well.

New Colony Six – You’re Gonna Be Mine / Woman (1967) One of the most popular bands to come out of Chicago, this was released when they still had some “garage” left in them. Although kinda lightweight, it’s still pretty good.

Brentwoods – Babe You Know / Yeah, Yeah, No, No (1967) Long thought to be a Texas 45 due to it’s appearance on a Texas edition of “Highs In The Mid 60s”, it’s actually a group from Hobbs, New Mexico just down the road apiece from Clovis where Norman Petty’s studio is located and where this fantastic 45 was recorded. Great guy/gal vocals with superb organ flourishes highlight this gem.

Fat Water – Santa Anna Speed Queen / Amalynda Guinivere (1969) Alas, another dead end on the info. What I’ve concluded from my searches on this 45 is that they most likely were from Chicago, not the west coast, and that they had little or nothing to do with the One Eyed Jacks from Champaign, IL. Anyway, this is a great fast paced late 60s hard rocker on the A side, and some excellent folk/pop on the flip. They had one LP which was pretty good too.

Underground Sunshine – Birthday / All I Want Is You (1969) We last saw this band in IDG #43 and this time around we got a rather…well…I don’t want to say inept, but it aint that great either, version of The Beatles’ “Birthday”. I guess I chose to post this because if you compare it to the original, it’s pretty lame and falls well short of doing it justice. On the other hand, it’s a perfect example of how “garage” sensibilities (cheesy organs, etc.) and innocence still permeated pop music culture as late as 1969. The flip though is a pretty good garage/psyche number. This actually became a small hit and they did appear on American Bandstand.

Five By Five – Fire / Hang Up (1968) Hailing from Magnolia, AK, these guys decided to cover Hendrix’ “Fire” and although it’s not spot on, it does a nice job with a real garage-like delivery and tons of fuzz. The flip aint too shabby either and is probably better than the A side in my opinion. They had gobs of 45s and an LP, all of them worth checking out.

Beau Allen – Georgia Ground / Fallen Angel (1970) Beau was in a popular Vidalia, GA garage band called “Bo & The Weevils” and eventually went solo after a couple of decent 45s. This one from 1970 kind of has a “southern rock'” feel to it and was arranged by Atlanta Rhythm Section guitarist Barry Bailey who’s probably doing all the riffing.

Yellow Payges – The Two Of Us (1969) Although these guys were a huge act locally (in L.A.), they unfortunately failed to hit the big time when their sole LP sort of fell flat, and then embarked on a failed ad campaign for the Yellow Pages (you know..”let your fingers do the walking”…). In any case, they did have quite a bit of output on Uni records covering a wide variety of styles including this heavy hitter.

Get It Here