Hello friends and followers!!!!! After an eight month sabbatical with this blog, I've dusted off my keyboard, revved up my turntable, and got back to posting stuff after an incredibly long and depressing period of time. Although the records aren't pouring in at a frenzied pace these days, they do trickle in every so often, and some of them are really cool. I'm still trying to organize my "posted", and "unposted" 45's, and there's quite a few to be ripped yet. I did acquire some new equipment back in May, a nice shiny new Audio Technica AT-LP120X which for me does the trick as it's more suited to DJing, but I kinda miss the auto return of my trusty old Technics SL-D202, which has too many quirks now to be totally reliable, so I quietly put it on the shelf with my other half dozen or so turntables and am giving it a rest until I can find another suitable use for it. The AT is great because it really keeps the record speed firmly where it belongs and the the whole thing is just more stable so what you get are better sounding recordings. Everyone wins.
As usual, I've plucked a nice sample of goods from my collection to share with you. Some great garage, frat, pop, and psychedelia for your listening pleasure. I hope you all enjoy them.
Cat's Meow - La La Lu / Confusion (1966)
The Cat's Meow were from Staten Island, NY and released two 45's on Decca this one being the first from about April of 1966 and the second was "House Of Kicks" which was featured on Pebbles Vol. 13. The A side here is terrific garage pop with lots of cool guitar breaks and an overall upbeat feel to it, the B side is a frantic instrumental. Apparently, this record was somewhat of a hit in Germany and Australia. Should've been a hit here in the U.S.
17th Avenue Exits - A Man Can Cry / I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore (1966)
After doing a wee bit of research on this particular 45, I dicovered that it was released twice. The first was on "Big Bry Sound" out of Mobile, AL in 1966. It must have done well regionally because in April of 1967, Modern Records out of Los Angeles, a label known mostly for it's R&B roster picked it up. Both sides are pretty good garage cavers with lot's of fuzzy guitars, the A side being a cover of Johnny Rivers' "A Man Can Cry", and the B side a rework of The Young Rascals' "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore".
Danny King - Outside Of My Room / Amen (1966)
Danny King from Birmingham, had a short career in the U.K. during the early to mid 60's. Although he never had any big hits, his claim to fame was having bands that included members of The Move and The Moody Blues at one time or another. One story I read stated that The Moodies were his backing band just before they split with him and started having their own success. I'm not sure whos playing on this 45, but it's a very nice beat two sider with a "teen" feel to it. Bothe sides of this one were released separately on different 45's in the U.K.
Michael's Mystics - You Ran Away / Hi Bird (1965)
Michael's Mystics were a typical frat rock outfit from St. Paul, MN that worked the area for much of the 60's and well into the 70's. As you can hear from this 45, they generally stuck to the typical formula that most frat/rock bands from the sixties used, a sax, keyboard, some cheesy guitar licks, etc. They later would add more horns to their act and release a version of "Pain" on Charlie records, a song originally done by a group from North Carolina called "Novas Nine". That record got picked up by Metromedia in 1970 (also becoming simply "The Mystics") and became a regional hit. Interesting note...Bill Lordan who played with Sly & The Family Stone and was the long time drummer for Robin Trower played for a while in the Mystics and played on "Pain".
"E" Types - She Moves Me / The Love Of The Loved (1966)
The "E" Types were from Salinas, CA and had four 45's, the most famous being, "Put The Clock Back On The Wall" which came out on Tower records and was produced by Ed Cobb, the guy that produced the "Dirty Water" era Standells and The Chocolate Watchband. He also produced this very nice two sider which isn't as much garage as it is pop, but the "E" Types were pretty adept at injecting that garage/psyche vibe to their records. That was probably Cobb's handiwork.
Noël Deschamps - Ils Étaient Trois / Ça Va Bien Pour Moi / Oh La Hey / Pour Le Pied (1966)
A couple of posts ago (that seems like WAAAAY back) I posted a Noel Deschamps EP that I acquired with a very nice haul of other 45's most of which I still have to get around to. Aside from some off putting horns and a bit of over-production, Noel really delivers the goods on all four tracks here, especially "Ça Va Bien Pour Moi" and his French version of Gene Vincent's "Bird Doggin'".
Reverbs - Lie In The Shade Of The Sun / I Got The Need (1967)
As I've often stated on this blog, every once and a while I hear a song that really strikes a nerve, and "a good song is indeed a good song". This is one of them. The first time I ever heard this I said to myself, "that is a great song". 'Lie In The Shade Of The Sun" is no "killer" by any stretch. It has no fuzz guitars, no snotty vocals, no primal screams, but it's the spooky subdued nature of this tune that really gets to me. Cool organ fills, a haunting vocal, and snappy drums make this 45 a true winner IMHO. I'm not sure where these guys were from, but somewhere down south would be a good guess, Georgia perhaps????
Cascades - Flying On The Ground / Main Street (1967)
The Cascades' greatest moment was in 1962 when they had a huge hit with "Rhythm Of The Rain". After that, I'm unaware of any other blockbuster hits that they had, but to their credit they put out a slew of records on a bunch of different labels. This one here from '67 is a very nice version of The Buffalo Springfield's "Flying On The Ground" and The Cascades were most likely backed up by The Wrecking Crew on this one (they played on Rhythm Of The Rain) since Jack Nitzsche had the honors of producing this. The B side is not too bad either, a good pop tune with great vocal harmonies.
Bob Seger & The Last Heard - Vagrant Winter / Very Few (1967)
The second last 45 Seger would put out on Cameo records before he left them for Capitol and superstardom. This one is particularly good (at least the A side is) and is probably one of the best from this era, rivaling "East Side Story". I have almost all of Seger's Cameo 45's and I don't ever recall hearing a sappier B side than the one here, but what the hell do I know? You may just like it.
October Country - October Country / Baby What I Mean (1967)
Michal Lloyd was a rather prolific performer, songwriter, producer and his credits include The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, St. John Green, even cartoon characters The Cattanooga Cats!!!! This record is sort of an apples and oranges affair. "October Country" (the song) is really good sunshine pop with those nice harpsichords ringing out and great vocals, the B side on the other hand has a party like atmosphere and sounds kinda like they stuck one or two mics in the room and let it rip. Very garage like.
Paupers - One Rainy Day / Tudor Impressions (1967)
The Paupers from Toronto, ON were a very popular act in the mid to late 60's and did quite a bit of gigging on both sides of the border. I think they even made an appearance at the Monterrey Pop Festival in 1967. Their style is a mixed bag of pop and psychedelia and this 45 is a bit on the folk/loner side. It's mainly acoustic and kind of "progressive" for lack of a better term. They started in 1965 and it looked like they were on the cusp of fame but somehow, like many bands from that era, success eluded them and they finally hung it up around 1970.
Vanilla Fudge - Hold On / I Can Make It Alone (1969)
YEAH BABY! Give me shot of that oh so heavy B-3 organ, some killer drums courtesy of Carmine Appice, wild guitar, and a low down bass and what do you get??? The Vanilla Fudge in one of their wilder moments from 1969. These guys are still out there doing their thing and hopefully I'll get to see them on one of their next tours.
Chris Farlowe - Paint It Black / What Have I Been Doing (1968)
Chris Farlowe, it seems, had a rather close relationship with The Rolling Stones as his early records were produced by Andrew Loog Oldham and a bunch of his recordings were covers of Stones songs including this one here which came out on Oldham's Immediate label and was also produced by Mick Jagger himself. How much actual "producing" Jagger did is anybody's guess, but Farlowe turns in a nice rendition of the Stones classic.
