Hi Y’all! I hope everyone has enjoyed their summer this year, mine was incredibly busy yet quite fulfilling. Lots of stuff going on. Keeping it very brief this time around but we'll catch up on life in the next post. Enjoy this one and enjoy the the upcoming fall season!
| Accents – Road Runner / Why (1966)
One of Minneapolis’ greatest bands. They had nine 45s released on different local labels such as Garret, Twin Town, and Bangar. | | Ronnie & The Devilles – Tragedy / Oh Love (1965)
Ronnie & The Devilles were a local band from Memphis that teamed up with Alex Chilton and eventually became The Box Tops who’s mega hit “The Letter” shot up to #1 in1967. These guys do bear a passing resemblance to The Gentrys, another group out of Memphis. | | Them Other Brothers – Be A Good Little Girl / Just Forget ‘Em (1964)
A neat combo of teen pop and British Invasion sounds by none other than country great Mac Davis and what I would presume to be a bunch of good studio musicians. | | Michael & The Messengers - Midnight Hour / Up Til’ News (1967)
Michael & The Messengers were a group out of Milwaukee that had a minor hit with a cover of The Reflection’s “Just Like Romeo & Juliet”. This is their second 45 a nice cover of Wilson Pickett’s “Midnight Hour”. At least they didn’t pick “Mustang Sally”. | | New Lime – That Girl / She Kissed Me (With Her Eyes) (1966)
A group out of the Cincinnati / NW Kentucky area that had a bunch of very good 45s on several different labels, mostly Counterpart. This one got national exposure on Columbia, but alas, The New Lime never hit the big time. | | Unknowns – Tighter (1967)
Supposedly associated in some way with Paul Revere & The Raiders, this 45 actually sounds just like them, so who the hell knows?????? | | Greek Fountains – Blue Jean / Countin’ The Steps (1966)
A group from Louisiana that had a half dozen or so 45s, this one is the only to make it on a major label. | | John Fred & The Playboy Band – Up And Down / Wind Up Doll (1967)
Typical blue eyed soul from John Fred & His Playboy band, with a touch of psychedelia. “Up And Down” is really good, and The Music Explosion covered this song note for note with different lyrics and called it “Can’t Stop Now” (IDG #39). | | Iron Butterfly – Unconscious Power / Possession (1967)
Whoa. Forget “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, this, the first 45 by this classic band is for my money THE BEST. Two ultra cool psychedelic acid rock numbers that literally define the genre. DIG IT!!!!!! | | Giant Sunflower - What's So Good About Goodbye / Mark Twain (1969)
Let’s lighten things up a bit with The Giant Sunflower, one of the great wannabe “Flower Power” groups that never quite made it. Both sides are superb. | | Grapefruit – Elevator / Yes (1968)
A great combo that was part of the fledgling Apple Music Ltd. enterprise. It should be noted that songwriter and bassist George Alexander, was born Alexander Young, the older brother of The Easybeats’ guitarist George Young, and elder brother of Angus & Malcolm Young of AC/DC fame. Sounds a bit like the Easybeats don’t it???????? | | Fat City – City Cat (1969)
Well this one is really interesting. This 45 is Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert who would go on to soft pop fame with The Starland Vocal Band and have a hit with “Afternoon Delight”. Go figure….. | | Crowd+1 – Circles / Most Peculiar Things (1969)
This 45 from 1969 is a nice example of how pop bands were trying to glean some influence off the Beatles’ “White Album”. The ‘A’ side is a good example. This Fort Worth, Texas band would eventually shift personnel and become Bloodrock who had a sizable hit with D.O.A. | | Gross National Product – Cover Girl / That’s What I’ll Do Now (1970)
A group out of Baltimore that was rather obscure and had only two 45s. | | Stone Country – Wheels On Fire / Million Dollar Bash (1968)
These guys saw fit to not only cover Dylan’s classic “This Wheel’s On Fire” (and do a very nice job I might add), but they also covered “Million Dollar Bash” as well. | |
