In Dan’s Garage…#102

Welcome friends to another edition of.. “Dan’s Garage”! This volume here is kinda different, well… not really, it’s just that it’s all stuff is on major labels, not that that’s a bad thing. For the slightly uninitiated, many local bands with regional hits on small local labels were picked up by major labels or labels with national distribution. Columbia, RCA, Capitol, United Artists, Laurie, etc. I’m not suggesting that all of the bands featured in this volume were locals who got lucky enough to get their music released nationally, it’s just that this “handful” happened to be all majors. In any case I hope you enjoy all of them. Cheers!

Faron’s Flamingos – Let’s Stomp (1964) I really dig these guys. They were what you could consider a typical Merseybeat group but judging from this one song that was released in the UK on Oriole, you can tell they were an amazing live act. I love the furious guitar solo and the general crazy vibe. A+ indeed. This and a bunch of other acts were on a compilation recorded in 1963 and released by Columbia Records in 1964 trying to cash in on The Beatles craze at the time. It’s worth searching out and it was also re-released in the 80’s but the actual name of the LP escapes me at the moment……… This was the A side of a single which featured Faron and……

Rory Storm & The Hurricanes – I Can Tell (1964) The B side of the above 45. These guys were  famous for being the group that the Beatles got Ringo Starr from. Here they give a nice rendition of Bo Diddley’s “I Can Tell”.

Symbols – Don’t Go / One Fine Girl (1964) A British group from Essex that was together well into the 70s yet only had a handful of releases including this their first which was produced by Mickie Most handler of such acts as Herman’s Hermits and The Animals.

Music Asylum – Yesterday’s Children / I Need Someone (1967) I can’t find much info on this group, possibly a New York City area act. They turn in a real nice moody folk/rock-like two sider here.

6⅞ – Ski-Daddle / Ev’rybody’s Got A Home But Me (1966) A 45 that isn't exactly garage, but has a real folky feel with lots of vocals and a “wall of sound” type production with tons of reverb. I thought this one was a real loser when I first picked it up but it slowly grew on me. No other info is available on this obscure band.

Gants – Crackin’ Up / Dr. Feelgood (1966) An ace two sider by the great Gants from Mississippi. This was the follow-up to “Little Boy Sad”.

Merry-Go-Round – Where Have You Been All My Life / You’re A Very Lovely Woman (1967) Led by the multi-talented Emitt Rhodes, The Merry-Go-Round had a rather short career but released a bunch of 45s and an LP on A&M. Rhodes would later record a critically acclaimed solo LP.

A Passing Fancy – People In Me / Spread Out (1967) A great Canadian group that had some very cool 45s including the awesome “I’m Losing Tonight”

Playboys Of Edinburgh – Mickey’s Monkey / Sanford Ringleton V Of Abernathy (1967) This Texas group was all over the place style-wise. Last post I featured “Look At Me Girl” a decent slice of country influenced folk/rock, but on this 45 they show two completely different sides. The A side is a nice cover of The Miracles “Mickey’s Monkey” and on the B they kinda do a complete 180.

Thee Prophets – Patricia Ann (1967) A Milwaukee group that released an LP that was rather mixed in styles but this B side from it is pretty good. They were managed by Carl Bonafede who was a member of Chicago’s Buckinghams.

Seagulls – Death Of A Clown (1967) A pretty good version of The Kinks / Dave Davies classic. I picked this up while visiting my brother in San Diego back in 1987 and didn’t think much of it then (probably because I paid more than it was worth at the time) but again, this one really grew on me.

Truth – Hey Gyp / Jingle Jangle (1967) A British duo that had a hit with of a cover of The Beatles’ “Girl”, but not much afterward. Their cover of Donavan’s “Hey Gyp” is a nice bit of mod freakbeat. The flip on the other hand is a great version of The Troggs’ “Jingle Jangle” and although it’s kind of lightweight, I really like it a lot. One of my favorite songs.

Balloon Farm – Hurry Up Sundown (1968) From the same group of studio gurus that gave us the CLASSIC “Question Of Temperature”. They tone things down a bit with this oh so cool lite psyche number. The flip (or A side if you will) is unfortunately complete garbage.

Music Explosion – We Gotta Go Home / Hearts And Flowers (1967) One of nearly a dozen 45s released by this Ohio based group. This one’s a little more pop and also includes a spaced out instrumental flip side.

Nazz – Not Wrong Long / Under The Ice (1969) One of the truly great bands to emerge from the late 60s, this, their third 45 is in my opinion their best. “Not Wrong Long” is power pop perfection while “Under The Ice” is a real heavy workout. Superb.

Rattles – The Witch / Geraldine (1970) The Rattles were a very popular and prolific beat group from Germany and had quite a few personnel changes in their lifetime. By the time “The Witch” was released there were no longer any original members and with that their sound changed quite drastically as well. Lots of crazy guitar work and some sinister sounding orchestration made this a hit in 1970.

Syndicate Of Sound – You’re Looking Fine / Change The World (1969) Speaking of personnel changes, by the time The Syndicate Of Sound got around to recording this Kinks/Animals covers, there was only one original band member. As you’ll hear, this record sounds absolutely nothing like the jangly garage sounds of “Little Girl”. Instead, it’s a very heavy late 60s sounding effort with lots of flashy guitar work.

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