In Dan's Garage...#120

Getting sick and staying home does have it's benefits. While recuperating, you can pass what would otherwise be valuable time, spinning scratchy 45s and writing your blog. My discomfort is your gain this weekend as I've quickly assembled another montage of cool records for your approval. This one leans a bit on the obscure side so let's get things started........

Rockin' Ramrods - Wild About You / Cry In My Room (1965)

One of Boston's most popular groups in the 60s, the Rockin' Ramrods had several 45s including the fabulous "She Lied", a bona fide garage classic. This one's pretty good as well.

Dinks - Nina Kocka Nina / Penny A Tear Drop (1965)

Hilarious "Surfin' Bird" styled garage novelty out of Beloit, KS. I first heard this on a Boulders comp way back in the 80's and cracked up every time I heard it. The flip's great as well although not quite as funny. Here's an in depth article about them.

Shaprels -A Fool For Your Lies / You're Cheating On Me (1968)

The Shaprels hailed from Milwaukee and released four 45's. This was a "cleaned up" version of their first 45 which was released on Feature records in 1966 and is a bit easier to find than the early release.

Jades LTD. - You're Not There / Last Chance (1967)

Not much info on this one. The sole 45 released by this unknown group. A nice blend of garage,pop,12 string guitars, and blue eyed soul.

Flowerz - I Need Love Now / My Sad Story (1967)

Reading, PA was home to this bunch who released two excellent 45s which were recorded at Barclay one of the region's busiest studios in the mid sixties.

Equazion - It's Alright / I've Been Hurt (1968)

From Buena Vista, GA comes The Equazion, who left us with this one very cool moody 45. Tomahawk records was based out of Columbus, GA and actually released quite a few records, mostly soul and country, but they did have a few garage discs thrown in as well. Both sides of this record were written by Ray Whitley, and Bill Deal and The Rhondels had a hit with "I've Been Hurt".

Him & His Sons - The Words I Say / I Love The Way You Love Me (1967)

Trying to find info on "Him & His Sons" came up with a relative dead end. I do know that Mills Audio & Recording were from Canton, OH home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but aside from that the only details I have is that this was definitely a family affair, as we can see on the autographed copy of this 45. After staring at these signatures and looking at the label for while, I came to the conclusion that "J. Sheldon Carothers" was the dad or "Him", and Bennie, Chris, & Bob were "His Sons". While this 45 is marred with some cheezy horns, it's a decent 45 nonetheless. Great Farfisa organ as well.

Wildweeds - It Was Fun (While It Lasted) / Sorrow's Anthem (1968)

The Wildweeds from Windsor, CT have the distinction of having "Big" Al Anderson as their lead guitarist. Al would go on to join NRBQ and have a prosperous solo career as well.

Electric Flag - Peter's Trip (1967)

To be perfectly honest, I'm not a fan of The Electric Flag. Although they were very talented, they helped usher in such acts as Chicago and Blood Sweat & Tears, bands that were defined by their "horns", and I never quite bought into The Electric Flag's "An American Music Band" tag. Like, was ? & The Mysterians not playing "American music" at the same time???? I don't have a problem with horns as long as they're used in context and not overused. This "tune" here was featured in the somewhat cool exploitation flick, "The Trip" starring Peter Fonda, and this tune was used during his "L.S.D. trip" scene, supposedly. I don't remember really, I mean...I've seen the film once or twice and to be perfectly honest was so bored by it that I don't recall musical details. For my money, "Wild Angels" is a much better flick.

Love Sculpture - Sabre Dance / Think Of Love (1968)

Love Sculpture's claim to fame is that it had a young Dave Edmunds playing lead guitar. Sabre dance was a hit in 1968 and the band recorded two albums before calling it quits. As we all know, Edmunds went on to to an excellent solo career, fronting his own band, playing with Rockpile and producing some of the 70's best records. Thanks Dave.

Midwest Delegation - Mr. Soul / We Love (1970)

A very obscure group out of the Midwest (naturally) that does a fairly decent job covering Neil Young's "Mr. Soul". This is a great example of how many bands from the outlying regions of the U.S. were trying to be "progressive", yet still carried that "garage band" mentality into the studio. Although there's no label for this 45, it was most certainly recorded and released by Golden Voice Recording Co. from S. Pekin, IL just outside of Peoria.

Warlock - In A Dream / Feel A Whole Lot Better (1971)

More early 70's garage, this time from Wisconsin. Where in Wisconsin I don't exactly know but that was all I could get. Wisconsin. They do a decent job covering The Byrds' "Feel A Whole Lot Better".

Phase IV - Plastic World / It's You (1972)

I'm On a roll here with this obscure 70's garage/psych stuff. This time we have for you Phase IV from Fall River, MA who evolved from an earlier group called "Bobby & The Ferarris" Both sides are pretty good here especially "Plastic World" which has some decent guitar work. Read some in depth info on them HERE.

Bohemos - Life Goes On, Mia, Good Luck  / There's A Girl, Citybeat (1979)

I'm not sure what the hell to make out of this 45. I come across some pretty wacked out pieces of vinyl, but this one's out there. Not because the music is superlative, or different, in fact, it's pretty vanilla in my opinion. Bohemos were a couple of guys from what I would gather, the N.Y.C. area. Here's an ad from the Village Voice from 1975...

I sure as hell NEVER saw these guys on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. This shows them wearing what would appear to be skirts????? Kinda like "The Turfits" but who the hell knows what these guys were thinking. They also released an L.P. on Space Records (the label of this 45)...

which by all accounts was released in 1976. So why does my 45 have a 1979 date on it???? Who the hell knows????? What I do know is that Bohemos were two guys that had a penchant for very nice mid sixties styled garage/power pop/bubblegum/Beatlesque type songs and melodies that are rather cool once you get past the sickening fake Farfisa organ sounds. These guys were also NOT U.S. natives. NOT THAT THAT'S A BAD THING. You can tell by their tortured use of the English language and their heavy accents, although I have no clue where their heritage may be. Also, I'm not exactly sure if these are "samples" of songs from their LP, because it sure sounds like a cut and paste job to me, or if these songs were actually sequenced this way. Who knows???? You be the judge. In any case, both sides of this 45 are quite enjoyable. Does anyone out there have any concrete info on these guys??????????????????

HERE