In Dan's Garage...#121

Greetings once again friends and followers! As usual things are quite hectic here at Dan's Garage Central and I've obviously been keeping busy with lots of yard work, a few barbecues, and some family get togethers as well as two concerts I recently attended, The Zombies and Ring Starr's "All Star Band". First The Zombies. They played in a very small venue at the Seneca Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls, NY called "The Bears Den". They state the capacity is 600 but I swear there couldn't have been more that 300 people there and it was full. A super awesome intimate setting where you feel up-close and personal with the band and the sound was superb as well. Just a nice small stage and NO jumbotrons. I swear there wasn't a bad seat in the house, and as for the Zombies, they were fantastic! For a bunch of guys who are in their 70's, they can still perform at an extremely high level and Colin Blunstone's vocals were spot on as well. Yeah, he may have missed a couple of high notes on a song or two, but he was in excellent form all evening. Rod Argent is a monster keyboard player as well and the rest of the band was top notch,. As for Ringo....well....I love Ringo and I love his spirit and yeah, I did want to catch an actual Beatle in concert, but I gotta say it was pretty lackluster. The "All Star Band" consisted of Greg Rollie from Santana, Steve Lukather from Toto, Todd Rundgren, some guy from the band Mister Mister who's name escapes me at the moment and a couple of sidemen. It was basically two hours of a bunch of guys having a jam session and Ringo singing a few of his most well known songs. The band was good, but we all had to sit through a LOT of filler performed by each of the all stars. The venue (another casino) totally sucked ass. It was literally a big outdoor concert stage erected in a parking lot with a shitload of folding chairs for seating, not to mention the smell of cow manure wafting our way every time the breeze shifted. Todd Rundgren even joked about that. I suppose I got my money's worth but I left the show somewhat disappointed. We ventured into the casino afterwards and my wife won $29 playing penny slots so the evening wasn't a complete loss.

I'm hoping you all enjoy the warmer weather coming and look for "Dan's Leftovers" to come out of hibernation sometime in the near future. I expect to start that up again real soon, but in the meantime dig the latest edition.....

Fabulous Flippers - Shout / Turn On Your Lovelight (1967)

I'm starting this post with something that's not exactly garage, or psychedelic, or even pop for that matter. The Fabulous Flippers from Lawrence, Kansas evolved from a group known as Terry & The Flippers, and simply "The Flippers". They grew into a big James Brown style R&B show band and were rather popular around the Midwest. This 45 is probably what you got at a typical Flippers show. I have a love/hate relationship with the song "Shout" though. One the one hand it's a great R&B tune and certainly a "standard", but on the other hand it's the theme song for The Buffalo Bills (the Bills make me want to "Shout") and come August I gotta hear it on the radio every ten minutes and besides I am NOT a Buffalo Bills fan.

Dino & His Fabulous Jerrells - Freddie's Marilyn / For Your Love (1965)

I had a difficult time finding any info on this band. They are supposedly from Rochester, but I couldn't really confirm that although it does sound like it was recorded at the Fine Recording studio here in Roch. Both sides are rather crude, the A side an up tempo frat rocker and the B slow teen ballad.

Four Blazers - Mr. Ticket Man / Let It Be Me (1968)

Supposedly recorded at Robin Hood Brians' studio in Tyler, TX in 1968, The Four Blazers amazingly had FIVE other 45's released on the famous Buddy record label. Marshall, TX is located just west of Shreveport, LA so it's possible they could have been from somewhere in Louisiana, but I can't say for sure.

Nocturns - What Do They Know / Sha La La (1965)

A real stumper from the U.K. A side has a Dylan feel to it while the B is routine pop and NOT the same as the big Shirelles/Manfred Mann hit.

Pete Martin & The Features - Elvira / She's Alright (1967)

Originally from Taos, NM Pete Martin and The Features evolved from a group called the Zircons that left New Mexico via Las Vegas for California. They managed a few 45's as the Zircons, changed personnel and continued on as Pete Martin & The Features releasing this garagey cover of the famous annoying C&W song "Elvira".

Johnny Thompson Quintet - For Us There'll Be No Tomorrow (1967)

A strange 45 by a west coast group that had several other 45 in the same style although i haven't really heard them. I included a scan of the picture sleeve which features the A side which I didn't post because I thought it was terrible. Look for it in an upcoming edition "Dan's Leftovers" OK?

Mickey & The Invaders - Love Is A Wonderful Thing / You'll Never Know (1967)

Mickey & The Invaders were a popular East L.A. group similar to The Premiers, V.I.Ps, etc. The A side of this 45 sounds strangely similar to The New Colony Six' "You're Gonna Be Mine" released around the same time. An in depth story on this band can be found HERE.

A Group Called Eve - Smile / Within A World Of You (1969)

Genius pop two sider from a Cleveland, OH group (where else???) that had some connections to The Choir and The Raspberries.

Colours - Bad Day At Black Rock, Baby / Love Heals (1969)

Pretty good psych/pop from a diverse group of musicians which included future Delaney & Bonne/Derek & The Dominoes bass player Carl Radle.

Illusion - Did You See Her Eyes (1969)

Great heavy psych/rock from a Long Island group. This was a minor hit which reached #32 on the Billboard charts. Sorry, the flip is somewhat putrid.

Love Society - Candle Waxing / Bang On Your Own Drum (1970)

A decent pop/psych group out of Wisconsin that released about a half dozen 45's on various major and local record labels including Scepter and RCA.

Mighty Avengers - When Blue Turns To Gray / I'm Lost Without You (1965)

A band from Coventry that played around for a few years before being scooped up by Andrew Loog Oldham and getting some songwriting help from Mick Jagger & Keith Richards including this cool version of "When Blue Turns To Gray" which is quite different from the Stones' version. There's a very informative article on them HERE.

Wildcats - I Think We're Alone Now (196?)

Well, except for the fact that this record came from somewhere in Texas, I have no clue as to who they are, or what part of Texas they're from, if they are even from there.. Great garagey version of Tommy James' big hit.

Velvet Crest - Na Na Song / Did You Ever feel Like Kicking Yourself (1968)

More genius power pop sounds from Ohio, this time Mineral City which lies somewhere south of Canton, home of the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. YOW! They began as a group called "By Popular Demand" which I featured their one and only 45 on IDG #26. What's most interesting is how this band got a hold of a relatively obscure mod song from the U.K. in this case, The "Na Na Song" by The Ferris Wheel. While they don't do an exact cover of it, they tailored it themselves and came up with a winner. I love the B side as well.

Fever Tree - I Put A Spell On You (1970)

The last 45 released by this great band. By the time this came out, they had gone through several personnel changes and this was sort of a last ditch effort to keep things going. I'm sorry I couldn't include the flip "Hey Joe", but this copy had the same song on both sides.

Wild Butter - Roxanna / Terribly Blind (1970)

What do we have here??? Another band from Ohio??? More genius power pop???? Yip! Wild Butter released one L.P. and one 45 and they are totally representative of what rock & roll bands were doing in Ohio at the time. Great vocals, harmonies, and arrangements. Need I say more??????

GET IT HERE