In Dan’s Garage…#91

I haven’t got much to say today, mainly because an extremely NASTY virus infected my computer (courtesy of my loveable son) and has put me in a foul mood. But I did get it fixed so’s I can get this here post out. So please, enjoy this day’s offerings, and keep smiling!

Bobby Kent & The Kentones – Don’t Go’way / Summertime Is Through (1959) Let’s start off with an early rocker from the Salem, MA area. A side is a great mover and the B is typical teen heartthrob fare. Booby Kent’s real name was Bob Kassiotis and was apparently from Lynn, Ma.

Johnny & The Jays – Baby Do / Lugene (1960) I can’t say I know the complete history of this particular rocker, but it was also recorded by Jackie Lee Cochran and was never released except for the acetate making a couple of appearances on various comps. A nice up-tempo rocker backed by another teen crooner.

Chartbusters – Why / Stop The Music (1964) The second 45 by these D.C. legends, and they follow up “She’s The One” with another Invasion styled doozy. The flip was written by Big Al Dowling who they backed up as the Poe Kats back in the 50’s.

Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas – Bad To Me / Little Children (1964) OK, I know this is not garage or psyche or anything related (well I stand corrected, they were a “beat” group), and yeah, it’s a common 45, but this was in the stack and I played it and…you know what??? I’ve heard countless CDs over the years proclaiming superior sound, and re-mastered this, and digitally enhanced that, and the whole argument that digital music is better than pure analog music (e.g. VINYL), and that you don’t have to deal with pops and scratches and BLAH BLAH BLAH. Well I’m here to say…FUCK CDS!!!!!!!!!. I hate those fucking things. You know what happens when a CD gets scratched?? IT’S FUCKED! You can’t play the goddamned thing anymore and it skips even worse than a piece of scratched vinyl does. Plus the sound is usually horrendous. It’s all tinny and there’s a general ice pick to the ear quality about it. Ever hear a copy of “Please Please Me” by the Beatles on VJ Records in pure mono? It’s glorious. Even with the pops and scratches, which is why I included this here 45 in this post. I played it and it just sounds so good in all it’s monophonic glory. Scratches and all. Sorry for the vulgarities, but I had to get that off my chest……..whew! Oh, yeah, Billy J. was from Liverpool (actually nearby Bootle) and a pal of the above mentioned Beatles. He was rather successful for a bit, but couldn’t keep up with the changes that the late 60s brought about. His handful of hits are excellent IMHO.

Fenways – Humpty Dumpty (1964) Pittsburgh’s Fenways are probably best known for backing up the Vogues who also recorded a version of this tune probably using The Fenways as a backing band for that one as well. This “solo” effort, if you will, is different from the Vogues track.

Leaves – Hey Joe / Funny Little World (1965) Released twice by Mira records, this is the second and more famous version of the song.There is a bit of debate as to which version is better, but I think both are great. The fist one might be a bit “garagier” than the second as it lacks the prominent fuzz guitar of the second.

Leaves – Get Out Of My Life Woman (1966) Another one by the Leaves, this time something a little more soul influenced. I swear I have a version of this same 45 in one of my boxes that is a different mix with some atrocious horns tacked on to it.

Vejtables – I Still Love You / Anything (1965) The Vejtables were one of the finest acts to come out of the Bay Area in the mid sixties before the Haight/Ashbury hype became prominent. They, along with other folk rock groups like The Beau Brummels and We Five created a unique sound that was somewhat different than their SoCal counterparts in LA. Both sides of this 45 are great and it’s too bad they never got the exposure they deserved. Drummer Jan Errico would eventually quit and join The Mojo Men who had a minor hit with Stephen Stills’ “Sit Down I Think I Love You”.

Combenashuns – What’cha Gonna Do? / Hey! Uncle Sam (1966) All I know about this somewhat lo-fi 45 is that they were from Bethlehem, PA. Anyone out there know more????

Life – Snake Bite / One O'clock Noon Time (1967) A group that was based in Auburn, AL, they formed in college and travelled up to Memphis and recorded this neat two sider at Hi studios. I could tell you more, but if you click HERE, It’ll take you to a very nice blog that’ll give you tons more info than I can offer.

Happy Return – To Give Your Lovin’ / I Thought I Loved Her (1969) I found a little bit of info on this group from St. Louis. The band members consisted of Steve Noack (vocals, lead guitar), Tom Noack (rhythm guitar), Jim Cunningham (organ), Jimmy Albright (bass), and Rich Carroll (drums). Apparently Norman Petty was involved in this affair as it shows up on a website of Norman Petty Productions. Nice fuzzed out heaviness on the A side with a much softer B side.

Movers – Leave Me Loose / Birmingham (1969) Another hard edged 45 from ‘69. Pretty good for something that came out so late in the decade. From New Port Richey, FL.

End – Shades Of Orange / Loving, Sacred Loving (1968) Long thought to be The Rolling Stones incognito because of Bill Wyman’s involvement, it appeared on many bootleg LPs before people finally realized they were in fact NOT the Stones. Their debut 45 which is more ‘mod’ than psyche can be found on IDG# 25.

Genesis – Angeline / Suzanne (1969) I’ll just politely point out that this is not the British super group, but an entirely different crew from the USA. They recorded an LP which was a mixed bag of pop and psyche, but this heavy number really stands out.

Hype – Waiting For The Man / White Light, White Heat (1970) Well, this 45 appeared in my stack and I wasn't sure whether to include it or not. For those who are unaware, The Hype was a band that was formed by David Bowie in 1970, and were sort of a bridge between Space Oddity and Hunky Dory, although you can hear what was to become the basis for Ziggy Stardust on both sides, which are covers of two famous Velvet Underground songs. Band members were Mick Ronson [guitar], Tony Visconti [bass] and John Cambridge [drums] as well as Bowie who played rhythm and sang vocals (naturally). The Hype never really had many performances except for a few appearances on the BBC which is where these recordings were most likely taken from. This 45 is obviously some sort of a bootleg and I’m including it here more for historical value, although I must say they’re both excellent performances and don’t really seem too out of place. I thought this was some kind of super rarity, but it turns out it really doesn’t fetch very much $$$ on the market.

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In Dan’s Garage…#90

Holy smokes! It feels like forever since I last did this. Did everyone have a good summer? Mine was pretty busy, and I wish I had a lot more leisure time to do fun things like get this blog out more frequently! The best thing about the end of the summer is that the NFL starts up, and Major League Baseball is winding down towards the playoffs and eventually the World Series in October. It doesn’t look too good for the Yankees this year, too many injuries, poor pitching, and that debacle with A-Rod (I personally can’t get rid of this guy soon enough) makes for a lousy season, although I’m quite surprised they did better than expected. As for my beloved New York Giants, they started their NFL season with a sloppy performance in a game which they could have won. Oh well.   I really can’t believe that I’ve gotten up to 90 posts so far and there’s a whole bunch more to come! I’m very grateful to the 200+ friends that have signed on through Google to follow this blog, and as Gomer Pyle would say…"thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! and SHAZAM! we’ve gotten over 350,000 hits on this baby! Keep those mice clicking!   As usual, I’ve gathered up a nice little potpourri of sounds here that range from straight up garage, to whimsical psyche. I hope everyone enjoys it. Thanks again for all the kind words and keep the comments coming. It’s a great ego boost!

Clefs Of Lavender Hill – Stop! Get A Ticket / First Tell My Why (1965) The first 45 released by these Miami, FL legends, and arguably their best, although they had excellent output throughout their short career. They recorded an album that Date records never released. Those assholes.

Me And Dem Guys – Black Cloud / Come On Little Sweetheart (1965) From Jackson, MI (not Grand Rapids), these guys had a very complicated existence recording for several labels including this one, which was named after a chain of clubs that they were booked at in Michigan. Both sides of this 45 are great frat-garage/rock. If you want to read an in-depth story of the band click HERE.

“You Know Who” Group – Roses Are Red My Love / Playboy (1965) Ahhhh….here we go again with the “You Know Who” group, as if to say that they were The Beatles or something in disguise. What a hoot! Four guys in Lone Ranger masks yeah, yeah, yeahing, and Ooooohing all over their records trying to fool impressionable young teens hungry for “Liverpool” like sounds into thinking it was The Fab 4 incognito. The genius behind all of this was a savvy guy named Bob Gallo (a nice Italian boy), a producer engineer, and entrepreneur who’s credited with either producing or engineering some of Rock And Roll’s greatest hits including The Crest’s “Sixteen Candles”, & Wilbert Harrison’s “Kansas City”.

Countdowns – Skies Will Be Happy To See You / She Works All Night (1967) A rather obscure bunch from Holyoke, MA gives us a lightweight, yet solid two sider from 1967.

Pretty Things – Honey I Need / I Can Never Say (1965) Oh so very cool 45 by The Pretties, and in my opinion their BEST. Yeah….better than Rosalyn, LSD, or, Come See Me. It’s the understated nature of it all, with the 12 string acoustic guitars backed by that pounding rhythm section. Truly great.

Seeds – Try To Understand (1966) The Seeds are a real chore to try to figure out in regards to their output on GNP Crescendo. “Pushin’ Too Hard” was released twice with different B sides and this example is from the second release. Sky delivers the familiar “Oohhh”s on this one like he did on “Can’t Seem To Make You Mine”.

Syndicate Of Sound – Rumors / The Upper Hand (1966) The Syndicate’s follow up to the awesome “Little Girl”. I really like this one better than “Little Girl”, although the B side is kind of non the blue eyed soul side.

Avengers – Everyone’s Gonna Wonder / Take My Hand (1967) I remember when I bought this 45. I was at a record show in Albany, NY at the Sheraton Hotel and it was a rather huge affair because there was a featured appearance by Peter Tork of The Monkees and Bobby Hart (of Boyce And Hart of course) and it was months before the big hyped up Monkees reunion of the 80s. All I remember was that they did a short performance and Tork sang “Shades Of Gray”, and I don’t know what the hell Hart did. I got some stuff autographed and I don’t want to say that Tork was a dick, but he seemed a little fed up with the Monkees thing only wanting to sign TWO items. I guess I don’t blame him. There were a lot of what I call “Star Trek” types with junk like Monkees cards and lunch boxes, et,al. Anyway thanks Pete. Oh yeah..the record show. I’m plowing through mounds of 45s and come across this one and said HOLY SHIT THE AVENGERS! thinking it was the “Be A Caveman” guys.Well…I was wrong. I guess this group was out of Wellington in New Zealand and weren’t exactly a group of garage punkers, but a pop band. I HATED this 45 for the longest time thinking I got sandbagged, but after a while it grew on me. Very finely crafted pop from the mid 60s.

Coloring Book – Smokestack Lightning / You Make Me Feel Good (1966) Slow, tense version of the Howlin’ Wolf classic with an eerie 12 string guitar and harmonica in the distant background. The flip gets the same treatment. From California.

Distortions – Behind My Wall / A Love That Loves You (1966) This is what we here in these parts call “meaningful folk rock”. The A side sort of reminds me of “I Am A Rock” lyrically. Very pretentious but with a naïve quality that I like. From Birmingham, AL

Fountain Of Youth – Day Don’t Come / Sunshine On A Cold Morning (1968) Superb pop/garage/psyche by a band from Texas. All their other releases are worth seeking out. “Witness People” is featured on IDG #88.

Grains Of Sand – Nice Girl / Drop Down Sometime (1967) Yup, the same guys that did “That’s When Happiness Began” on Valiant Records. This one’s not quite as aggressive though, yet it has a “Lovin’ Spoonful” quality to it.

Truth – I Can / A Day Like Today (1968) Supposedly a group out of Chicago, but I really can’t say for sure. Excellent organ driven psyche.

Thorinsheild – Lonely Mountain Again (1968) Another offering from this LA psyche trio. Also featured in IDG #88

Window Frame – You Have The Choice / Before And After (196?) Geez…try doing a search on these guys. All I get are links to home improvement projects. Anyone out there got any info on this decent psyche 45 from Michigan??????

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