In Dan’s Garage…#98

Great googly moogly! I thought I’d never get back to another post given this extremely busy month or so I’ve had. Aside from the usual family type stuff that I have to tend to, the bulk of my spare time has been recording and mixing the new True Believers project and I’ve been working diligently trying to make each track sound great. What we did was recorded pretty much everything on our set list as well as several original contributions from local musician pals (we solicited them because we are such lousy songwriters), and possibly some original songs from our old bands that never really got their due, and when all is said and done we should have enough material for two, possibly three CDs. The first will most likely be a bunch of our favorites as we’re still putting a lot of “finishing touches” on the original material which were “blank canvases” if you will and I’m trying to come up with ideas that aren’t too clichéd. The entire project is being recorded, mixed and mastered in my humble little DIY studio here in the man cave just inches away from where I write this very blog, thus the major distraction. I did manage to find a bit of time this weekend to finally hammer out this edition as I head towards Volume 100 which I thought I’d never see. In fact, I may have enough cool records here to produce another 50 of these which certainly will keep me occupied for a few more years. As I did with the last post, I’ll keep the commentary brief as to get the whole shebang out by today, so please, enjoy the weekend, and Happy Fathers Day to all you Dads out there. This one’s for you.

Princetons Five – Roll Over Beethoven / Passing By (1964) A Michigan group who I think were also known as simply “The Princetons” and released several 45s on Colpix, Wand, and Philips. All good.

Mousers – I Know (About My Baby) (1964) Not sure who these guys were, but they must’ve been a bunch of greasers given the schmaltzy do-wop flip.

Spartans – I Won’t Be Taken / Who Told The Lie (1965) Cool garagey sounds from a virtually unknown band.

Conlon & The Crawlers – You’re Comin’ On / I Won’t Tell (1966) Chuck Conlon’s group after he left the Nightcrawlers. A side is great with lots of fuzz and a kind of sleazy delivery. The B side is sort of a re-make of “Little Black Egg”.

Middle Window – Treasure Land / Let My Heart Heal (196?) Another virtually unknown act. Judging by the label this may be from Chicago or somewhere close by.

One Way Street – Yard Dog / Girls, Girls (1966) Blue eyed soul from Louisiana.

Flying Machine – I’ll Find You Anyway / Flying On The Ground (1967) Decent garage/pop from Wisconsin. B side is a slow, mellow version of Neil Young’s Buffalo Springfield nugget.

Astronauts – Main Street / In My Car (1966) 1966 finds this great surf band changing up it’s sound with the times in an effort to keep up with what sounds like some “Pet Sounds” influences. Real good IMHO.

New Colony Six – Love You So Much / Let Me Love You (1966) Great effort before they became a “soft rock” act.

Barry Lee Show – I Don’t Want To Love You /  Over And Over (1967) A British group doing a nice mod cover of the Everlys

Reed Williams – I’m Free / There’s A Girl (196?) A real obscure crooner from Houston.

Paraphernalia – It Came Out Of The Sky / Quicksand (1970) Madison, WI group tackles CCR and The Youngbloods.

Wazoo – Hey Girl I’m In Love With You / Don’t Give Your Love To Anyone (1969) Cleveland group delivers some lite pop/psych. Former members of Bocky & The Visions here.

Chayns – You / Let Yourself Go (1971) Last 45 released by this San Antonio band. A side has that Vanilla Fudge thing going while the B definitely leans into the 70s.

Aum – Aum / Little Brown Hen (1969) Heavy, religious inspired A side with a hard bluesy B. These guys were very popular on the late 60s Bay Area scene.

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