In Dan's Garage..#162

Greetings music lovers!!!! It's good to be back once again with a batch of cool, if not interesting, 45s. We've got everything from Rockabilly to Psychedelic this time around, so there's something that will pique everyone's interest. 

I wanted to get this out in late spring, but here we are in mid-July, and I feel like a lazy ass. Procrastination ought to be my middle name, but that's only because I have so much on my plate. I'll stop complaining (don't worry, there's more ahead...) and get on with the rest of this little diatribe... 

Life's been pretty good these days. We got through a crappy winter up here in Western N.Y., and springtime hasn't been any great shakes either, but I did manage to get away with my lovely wife, Red, down to Myrtle Beach in mid-May and enjoyed a week there with near-perfect weather. Bonus. I made a feeble attempt at looking for records, but fell far short. I did see a place after I'd left that supposedly had 100,000 L.P.'s, but I guess I missed out on that adventure. I did go to a "flea market", but there wasn't much to be found there. Speaking of flea markets, what the hell is wrong with these people trying to sell records???? I really don't mean to disparage the average flea market vendor; they're mostly decent people trying to make an extra buck, and in some cases, it's their only income. That being said, if you're trying to sell a copy of Three Dog Night's "Captured Live At The Forum" for $39, you're probably gonna be hanging on to that one for a while, even if it is in mint condition. There's this thing called eBay, and there are even record shows that'll sell that record for less than half that. I got a decent copy not that long ago for $2, so if any of you vendors are reading this, you may see a record like that on Ebay for that price, but that doesn't mean anyone is going to buy it. That's my rant for today.

I hope you like this post; it's always good fun to spin records and share them with all of you.

Van Brothers - Servant Of Love / Sweet Marie (1959)

In my last post, I told all of you about how I got a wad of 45's that were in a small laundry basket for $25. Well, I finally decided to go through some of them and happened upon this little gem. The 'A' side, "Sweet Marie", is really good hillbilly honky tonk country. The 'B' side, on the other hand, is a straight-up rockabilly bopper "ala" Sun Records era Elvis with not one, but three killer guitar breaks. I did some digging, and this record sold for $650 back in 2021. The last copy sold on Discogs for @ $100. Pretty cool for a $25 investment. I hope there are some other "gems" floating around in this basket as well!!!!

Positively Thirteen O'Clock - Psychotic Reaction / 13 O'clock Theme For Psychotics (1966)

This was actually "Mouse And The Traps" under a pseudonym, and was produced by local Dallas D.J., Jimmy Rabbitt. I always thought that this was Ronny Weiss a/k/a "Mouse" that sang this, but I've read somewhere that it was Jimmy Rabbitt that handled the lead vocals. I dunno, sounds a lot like Mouse to me, so I'm sticking with that. By the way, this is an excellent version of this GarageBand classic. Sorry for the messed-up label. Sometimes we gotta take what we can afford.

Bees - Leave Me Be / She's An Artist (She Belongs To Me) (1965)

One of two "Bees" that I'm aware of. These guys were from L.A., and the other group (that released the INSANE "Voices Green And Purple") was possibly from the East Coast. Great jangly 12-string folk rock sounds on this two-sider. The flip is a great sped-up garagey attempt at Dylan's classic "She Belongs To Me".

Equals - I Won't Be There / Fire (1966)

The first 45 by this great band. I really can't think of much that these guys did that I don't like, and this one does not disappoint. They were a prolific group that was active well into the 70's with 30+ 45s released in the U.K. to their credit and over 200 worldwide. In the U.S., they managed to get about a dozen released, and had a hit in 1968 with "Baby Come Back". I'm not sure this particular copy is an original pressing. When I got it, it just looked too nice and didn't pass the "smell test". At least not to this cork sniffer. ;)

Reasons Why - Same Old Worries / I Don't Care If You Don't Care (1967)

I just realized I posted this one in IDG #144, so instead of writing something up, just hit the link. Sorry.

Prophecy - Take A Look At Mary / Goddess Of Love (1968)

I love these 45s where some DJ has done a quick one-word review of it, such as this one. I would not characterize the 'A' side of this as "bad"; in fact, it's pretty good psych/pop. Perhaps the not-so-vague reference to smoking reefers was the reason why, but it's better than the 'B' side, which isn't really "bad", at least not in my opinion.

Bhagavad-Gita - Long Hair Soulful / Long Hair Soulful (Instrumental) (1967)

Weird yet interesting story on this one. Bhagavad-Gita was essentially a studio project worked up by Cleveland, OH producer Roger Karshner and none other than local Rochester, NY jazz legend Chuck Mangione. What makes it more interesting is that the actual band was a pre-Joe Walsh James Gang. Karshner and Mangione would later release an L.P. titled " The National Gallery - Musical Interpretations Of The Paintings Of Paul Klee". I'm really not familiar with Klee's work, but the album and the 45 bombed. This is actually a cool psychedelic 45 with some time signature changes in the bridge and some decent guitar noodling throughout. You can get more info from Buckeye Beat and this blog here.

Blizzard - Keep A Knockin', Get Back, Etc. / Health (1969)

Most likely a studio group from N.Y.C., Blizzard released this one-off 45 at the height of bubblegum mania. Although the 'A' side is ok, the 'B' side gets a solid thumbs up in the "fuzzed out guitar instrumental" department. Arranger Joe Renzetti was house guitarist for Cameo/Parkway records back in the 60's and played on and arranged a bunch of hit songs well into the 70's and beyond.

Thousand Faces - A Thousand Faces / Sweet Little Cup (Of Lovin') (1968)

Nice sunshine pop 45 from L.A. These guys also released  another 45 on the same label as "The Lollipop Fantasy".

Brothers Pride - Let The Music Play / Love Is All I Have To Give (1970)

Two sides of decent pop-rock from a Louisville, KY band that released four 45's, this, being their last. "Let The Music Play" is an up-tempo cover of a Drifters song which was the 'B' side to "On Broadway".  "Love Is All I Have To Give" is a Bacharach / David tune that was done by Checkmates LTD. in '69. Guitarist Jim Muench went on to form a band with his brothers called "The Muench Brothers", and they simply evolved into "Muench" and released an L.P. in 1977.

Howard Boggess - Hollywood / 20th Century Sad (1971)

Howard Boggess' name is pretty much unknown, but for an obscure kinda guy, his name pops up all over the place.

Unfortunately, his name shows up on mostly obscure 45's, but it seems like he was a busy guy writing and producing for acts like "Marsh", Billy Harner", "The Tams", and a few other Philadelphia-based acts. This was his only release credited to him, and I gotta say, it's kinda cool. "Hollywood" is weird and a bit on the funky side? The flip is pretty strange as well.

Sugar Shoppe - Save The Country / Easy To Be Hard (1969)

The Sugar Shoppe was a fine Sunshine Pop Quartet from Toronto that had about a half dozen 45s released in Canada, and three here in the U.S. This was the last one, and it's their best IMHO. You can't go wrong with any Laura Nyro covers. I have found myself really fascinated with her songwriting style, and "Eli And The Thirteenth Confession" is a work of art and musical genius. Literally. So "Save The Country" comes off very well in the hands of this group, and "Easy To Be Hard", a song that was made really famous by Three Dog Night, gets the "Sunshine Pop" treatment here. You can't go wrong with this one either, but I think the movie "Hair" is a total piece of garbage.

Marsh - I Can Love You So Much Better / Trip, Tumble, And Fall (1970)

An extremely short-lived band from Philadelphia, or somewhere around there...I thought I had a story on these guys locked down, but it must've been another late 60's, early 70's group that had a record out on Decca or Uni. I sorta lost track. Anyway...Remember Howard Boggess? Just scroll up a bit...yeah, he produced this band, and it's typical horn-driven rock from the early seventies. Not bad though....

Pickettywitch - Baby We've Been Loving Too Long (1970)

Pickettywitch were a band from Birmingham and had a very successful career, especially their lead vocalist, Polly Brown. I'm not a big fan of their music, just a wee bit too "poppy" for my tastes, but this one, the flip side to their big hit, "That Same Old Feeling", hits the nail right on the head.

HERE

 

 

In Dan's Garage...#161

 

Howdy there, all you music lovers! It's been a while since I posted here, and I'm sure many of you thought I was going to fade away. In fact, this thing has been ready to post for over a month, but I wanted to do some proofreading and some personal issues got in the way. Not so fast. After recovering from my shoulder surgery, I eventually returned to work, and it was a blessing. Six months off is not what it's cracked up to be. You get really soft, and just doing menial things is painful. All over. I got super fat and got into some bad eating and drinking habits, so if I had to do it again, I'd definitely mix in a long walk every day and stay away from snacks and booze. They're both killers. Since I got back into the swing of things, I've dropped 30 lbs. and feel better than ever. 

I've also bought a substantial amount of records as well, many of which don't exactly merit entry into this blog, but they were just offers "I couldn't pass up". One was at a record show in nearby Batavia, NY  where a vendor that I frequent quite often had one of those plastic dish racks that you put your clean dishes in, or something very similar, full of 45's. Probably at least 200, I'd say, and a lot of it was common stuff, but records I did not have in my collection. Great filler 45's. He was asking $50, and I passed as I was on a tight budget and running out of cash (I had just purchased what I felt was an overpriced copy of "Nazz Nazz" from a vendor who would not haggle), so as I was getting ready to leave, I offered him $25 for the whole lot. Not a bad deal. I've also picked up some cool 45's on eBay as well, but getting anything from there is really tough these days because I'm competing with collectors that have very deep pockets, and I just can't spend $75 and up on these things. So while I'm very frugal about what I buy, they still trickle in on a regular basis. I've also done a bit of organizing, so I know what's been posted and what hasn't, and I have it at my fingertips.

This particular post is from the first box I attacked; I literally plucked random 45's out of it, ripped them, scanned the labels, and here we are. It's definitely a mixed bag that varies wildly from garage to pop, and even some glam rock and "folk psyche" for your pleasure.

Once again, it's good to be back, and I hope I can scrape up enough time to do this more often.

Enjoy.

Arthur Alexander - You Better Move On / A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues (1961)

A real classic that I actually never heard until several years ago, while watching "Muscle Shoals," a superb film documentary about the legendary Fame Recording Studios where this was recorded. "You Better Move On" is a stirring ballad that's backed by another classic, "A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues," which was covered by the Beatles in their early days.

Birdwatchers - Turn Around Girl / You Got It (1967)

The Birdwatchers were a prolific (by 1960's standards) Garage/pop act from Miami, FL that had about 16 45's on 8 different labels, mostly on the local Marlin label, and a bunch on Mala, which was distributed by Bell Records. Their output was pretty consistent, nothing too wild, and this 45 is a great example.

Chandells - We Are The Ones / Little Girl, Pretty Girl (1966)

The Chandells were from Pueblo, CO, and released this one-off 45 in 1966. I'm pretty sure this was recorded at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, NM. Both sides are pretty lightweight, but I prefer "We Are The Ones" out of the two songs here.

Law Firm - Love Is Bad / Girl From Liverpool (1965)

There's not a lot of info on these guys, but I'll bet they were a studio group because it's got a lot of L.A. names plastered all over the label. I'm featuring the B side here, because the A side (which I have included) is a ridiculous novelty song with banjos and a guy singing in a real fake British accent. "Love Is Bad," on the other hand, is not bad.

Destinations - Hello Girl / With You (1967)

Although The Destinations from Milwaukee, WI  released this one 45, they have a very cool and interesting history. Reed Kailing, their guitarist and band leader, wrote both sides of this nice garage/pop 45, and you can read his story in great detail here. It's also worth mentioning that Dee Donaldson of The Robbs (another act from Milwaukee) produced this 45 at Chess Studios in Chicago.

Gary & The Hornets - Kind Of Hush (1967)

I gotta apologize for this one. In future posts, I feel like I'm going to be doing a lot of it because I have gobs of junk like this, that's definitely "60's", but rather embarrassing, such as the 45 we have here. I'm not sure if Gary (14 yrs. old) and his 12 and 7-year-old brothers actually played any instruments on this record, but if they did, I'll give them a lot of credit. Of course, these three brothers were somewhat of a novelty act, and they actually can be seen HERE playing on The Tonight Show, so maybe they did play on this record. 

Blue Marble Faun - The Battle Is Over / Going Home (1968) 

This group was from Albuquerque, NM and released two 45's on the Look label out of Nashville, TN. Both 45's were typical late sixties harmony pop, kinda like The Mamas & Papas.

Cyntriks - Something's Got A Hold Of My Soul / Shannon (1968)

Blue Eyed Soul from North Carolina with lots of Hammond B3 organ and horns. Moody 'B' side.

Hi Noon's - It's Our World / Want It To Last (1970)

It's fascinating to hear stuff like this from 1970. These guys sound like a garage band straight out of 1966. The Hi Noon's, according to their label, were billed as "Louisiana's Teenage Sensation". Both sides are really moody garage. Just the kind that I like.

Ice Cream - The Chewin' Gum Kid / Epitaph To Marie (1968)

Milan Radenkovich a/k/a "The Leather Boy", released a bunch of records in the '60's as Milan, The World Of Milan, and The Leather Boy. I'm not sure this is him vocalizing on this 45, which strangely resembles Tommy James & The Shondells' "I Think We're Alone Now", or at least the intro does anyway, but his name is plastered all over the credits. "The Chewin' Gum Kid" is obvious up-tempo Bubblegum Rock, although the flip takes a darker turn.

Street - Apollo...Amen / Why Concern Yourself (1969)

A somewhat bizarre novelty 45, I guess, at least that's my opinion, although some out there may find it cool, "Apollo...Amen" was released a few months after the Apollo 8 spaceflight in December 1968, the first lunar orbit by humans. On Christmas Eve 1968, we were all glued to the television watching this; it was really wild stuff for an 8-year-old, and during the broadcast, the three astronauts recited passages from Genesis. So I guess producer and arranger Rick Shorter thought it would be a great idea to cash in on "Apollomania" by having Street (also known as "Anya's Street") play this here song and have the actual sound clips dubbed over the band singing the gospel song "Amen". I don't know about you, but this seems real corny in my humble opinion. The 'B' side fares much better, featuring Anya Cohen singing quite well. As mentioned before, Street was also known as Anya's Street, who released a 45 on Verve Forecast records. I have a copy of that, and I'll feature it in the future. I should also mention that Anya Cohen was supposedly discovered right here in Rochester, NY, working at the Wee Spot Coffee House on South Ave. She also spent three years at the Eastman School of Music, where I would assume she took voice lessons. I don't know that for sure, just guessing.

Weird Herald - Just Yesterday / Saratoga James (1968)

An obscure folk/psyche group from the Bay Area in California, who released their lone 45 in 1968. This particular 45 gets a lot of attention from collectors and is fetching a decent buck on eBay and Discogs, if you can find it. I bought this 45 way back in 1986 at a record show in Albany, NY, where a guy had a huge box of 45's for a buck apiece, so I took a stab at it. This isn't a bad 45, but it's not exactly my cup of tea. I just scratch my head as to why it's so desirable. They eventually released an entire LP, which I guess was in the can for 50+ years. You can read more about them, including an interview with some of the members here.

Streak - Gonna Have A Good Time (1972)

Oh geez, I was working on the current post and like a numbskull realized I hadn't done a write up on the last two 45's in this collection, so here goes...

While Streak's history is somewhat cloudy, I can say they were a band based out of the U.K. that eventually evolved into The Arrows, the band that performed the original version of Joan Jett's mega-hit "I Love Rock And Roll". This is really great glam-rock typical of this era, and it's unfortunate that neither group got close to hitting it big.

Russell Morris - The Real Thing (part 1) / The Real Thing (part 2) (1969)

I first heard this when I got a copy of the box set of 45's "Psychedelic Days". It was a set of six 45 RPM reissues that was re-released by Acme Records, all great stuff if you're into late 60's psychedelic pop. I was surprised that this was actually released in the U.S. and on an independent label no less (it was released on Decca in the U.K., two volumes). The song starts out really moody, but then the recording engineer turns on the flanger, and it gets pretty wild from there. The original Decca release keeps the whole tune on one side of the record, but I guess they had to split it up for us Americans, seeing as how we were so used to the radio-friendly 2:30 song.

HERE