In Dan's Garage...#137

Greetings music lovers!!!!! Holy crap, as I write this I'm trying to wade through a bunch of changes that the "blogger app" has gone through and being a very old school guy, am having a bit of difficulty with it. But I'm sure after muddling through this for an hour or so, I'll get the hang of it. 

HEY!!! I haven't communicated with you for a while and I'm feeling somewhat guilty about that, but as you all know, we only have so much time on our hands to play around with this shit, and time is a precious commodity these days (as always) but I managed to get a couple of hours of solitude to spin some 45's, scan some labels, and now I'm here writing!

Thanks to all the friends and followers who've stuck around, I appreciate your continued interest in this humble blog of mine which will keep going on for the foreseeable future.

I managed to somewhat organize my 45's this summer into "posted" 45's and "not posted" 45's. That took several days and you'll all be glad to hear that there's TONS that haven't been posted yet.

I did take a hiatus from buying stuff due to the covids and the financial uncertainty that it caused. I'm happy to report that all is well here and my lovely wife Red and I are doing fine, as well as the rest of my family and my mother who will be turning 90 on September 2. I visit with her at least twice a week, and outside of the usual creakyness a 90 year old experiences, she's in excellent health and she's sharp as a tack. But I am back to procuring cool 45's and have gotten a few gems in the last few weeks. Please stay tuned!

On a more somber note, my best pal and band mate Jerry Flanagan passed away on June 23rd from cancer which was diagnosed in April. He was experiencing some discomfort in his chest around Christmastime and by the time he got a proper diagnosis, it was too late. I played in a band with this guy for the better part of 37 years and I will miss him dearly. We were still playing together as of December 2019 and our last "gig" was a Christmas party we played here at my house back in mid December. It was one of our better performances but never in my life did I think it would be our last. So I dedicate this post to his memory. 

R.I.P. Jerry Flanagan

So here we are, August 2020 and I'm trying to get this thing back up and running on a regular basis. As usual we have a varied mix of styles here from straight up raunchy garage to beautiful Sunshine Pop. So pleas sit back and enjoy the ride!!!!

Ravens - Are You A Boy, Or Are You A Girl / Imagine You And Me (1966)

I'm not sure where these guys are from, but somewhere near Cincinnati, OH would be a good guess as this 45 was pressed at the Rite Records factory in WKRP town. "Ravens" do a weird job on the Barbarian's classic here with a very slow loopy delivery and a wicked cool sax as well. Extremely lo-fi this record is one my coolest acquisitions of the last two years or so. The flip is a real slow ballad, but is cool nonetheless.

Classels - Love Is / Tomorrow May Be Too Late (1966)

The Classels were a very popular outfit out of Montreal, Quebec, CA and had over twenty 45's released up there, this one here is the only one to be released in the U.S. Most, if not all of their Canadian singles were sung in French but on this one here they sing in English, the A sided being a take on the traditional French song "Alouette" and the B side a nice beat/pop number. Their "schtick" was wearing multi colored or all white suits and having their hair dyed bleach blond. They are well featured on IDG #56. Check it out!

Last Five - Kicking You / Weatherman (1966)

A decent 45 from a Hartford, CT that features a nice B-3 organ and a cheezy guitar solo as well. Apparently this was their only 45 but they evolved into a group called Boffalongo that had a few 45's on United Artists including the original version of  the soft rock classic "Dancing In The Moonlight". Eventually Boffalongo evolved into King Harvest, re-recorded the song and had a huge hit with it.

Victor & The Spoils - I Wish That I Could Make You Love Me / Lonely Memory (1966)

Here's a 45 that I would presume was a studio concoction by Bo Gentry who was involved with Tommy James & The Shondells, The 1910 Fruitgum Co., had at least one solo 45 that I know of and some collaborations with Richie Cordell who was also heavily involved with Tommy James. This isn't a spectacular 45, but it's kinda nice with it's Buddy Holly flavor, think "Everyday" only with a little more drive so to speak.

Little Boy Blues - Look At The Sun / Love For A Day (1965)

The Little Boy Blues were a band out of Chicago, Il and had about a half dozen 45's released and all of them are good to fantastic. Their claim to fame was "The Great Train Robbery" which was featured on "Highs In The Mid 60's Vol. 4" one of my favorite comps. This is their first 45 on IRC, a local Chicago label, and its great folk rock with some wailing harmonica and twangy guitars. They would later release an LP and a 45 on Fontana which are good, but they headed in a decidedly heavier  direction.

Rock A Go-Go's - I'm Out To Win You Over / Blossoms In May (1968)

I don't know a thing about this group, but 'm guessing by the label they were an east coast act????? Perhaps, but in any case the B side which I'm featuring first is the standout track. It starts off really cool with some nice fuzz guitar and some pounding drums, but then settles into somewhat of a pop tune with these "do-do-wah" backing vocals as well as a few shifts in the rhythm. Very cool overall and a nice find. The A side is a pretty typical garage band ballad.

Culver Street Playground - East River Lovers / Feedback (1968)

Oh man oh man, THIS is one of my all time faves!!!!! I was first turned on to this by guy named Ron Simpson from Indiana who used to trade tapes with in the 80's and into the early 90's. Somehow these two songs always were standouts with me and my old band The Projectiles even covered "Feedback" a way cool bit of psychedelia if I do say so myself and "East River Lovers" is perhaps one of the best "moody" garage band ballads I've ever heard, in my humble opinion. From what I gather this band was from New York City and they did have another 45 which I featured on IDG #40.

Association - Everything That Touches You / We Love Us (1968)

I don't normally post stuff like this, well..... yeah, I actually post a LOT of stuff like this, but not by big time bands like The Association who had a bunch of hits in the mid sixties, and they had so many I'm not going to reference all of  them here. Turn on oldies radio and you will hear them eventually without waiting too long. This one did pretty well hitting #10 on the Billboard in 1968, but it never stuck in my brain like the other ones they had (you know what I'm talking about). I plucked this 45 out of a stack that was lying around (as many around here at Dan's Garage Central do) and decided to give it a spin. I recall hearing this song in the past but never realized how good it was. When it comes to sunshiny pop type songs, it really doesn't get any better than this. Nice harmonies and the arrangement isn't way over the top. Sit back, close your eyes, and marinate in some top notch pop music goodness.

Joe Brown - A Little Help From My Friends / Won'tcha Show Me Around (1967)

I got this one in a "lot" of what some people on Ebay call "weird" 45's so I took a chance and ended up with about a half dozen very cool records including this one here. Joe Brown is a very famous, well pretty famous singer and guitarist that influenced quite a few young British lads back in the early sixties. Guys like Hank Marvin and The Beatles come to mind as Brian Epstein worked out a deal where The Beatles could warm up for Joe so's they could be exposed to a wider audience. In any case, The Beatles fame eclipsed Joe's but he did record this gem in 1967 not long after Sgt. Pepper's was released, and I must say, Joe did an excellent job of it. "With A Little Help From My Friends" is one of my all time favorite songs and Joe Brown does true justice to this tune. I like this way better than Joe Cocker's cover hands down. Oh, by the way...the flip's pretty good as well!

Future - Shape Of Things To Come / 52% (1968)

So here we have a another unknown group that I would assume was out of L.A or San Francisco or some other west coast town, doing a cover of "Max Frost & The Trooper's" "Shape Of Things To Come". This 45 was arranged by Vic Briggs who played guitar with Eric Burdon & The Animals, and I think it's his fuzz guitar that is heard on "When I Was Young". I don't know why "Shape" always reminds me of some old Dragnet episode where Joe Friday & Frank Gannon corner some hippies and lecture them about how their lifestyle is going to ruin America and they should get on the straight and narrow and all this hippy revolution stuff is nothing but bullshit! Oh...where was I???? Yeah, I'm not exactly sure where "Future" was from, but they do an excellent job on this two sider and their version of the A side might be better than Max Frost & The Trooper's???? Now THAT'S a revolution!

Maryann Farra And The Genesis - Society's Child / One Day Boy (1971)

Society's Child was originally written and recorded by Janis Ian in 1966 and was subsequently covered by at least a dozen other acts including Spooky Tooth, Camel, plus a slew of garage/psychedelic acts including this east coast act from 1971. I couldn't get much info on Maryann Farra and her backing band, but apparently she became a disco singer in the mid-seventies. I think this version and the flip are pretty good, and this doesn't sound like typical early seventies "progressive" rock.

Wet Paint - Glass Road / Give You Everything I've Got (1970)

Here's a cool 45 by a group from New England, but since I really couldn't find much info them, I can't pinpoint exactly where they're from since Methuen is just over the border from New Hampshire, and just north of Lowell, MA and perhaps an hour's drive from Boston. I love records like this because here it is, 1970, and these guys sound like they just stepped out of the garage (or basement) with a rather crude sound for that era. Both sides are great and to make up for any perceived ineptitude, they released this in stereo!!!!

Wool - The Witch /Listen To The Sound (1970)

Wool was led by guitarist Ed Wool who was from Watertown, NY, about 3 hours northeast of Dan's Garage Central. He recorded as Ed Wool & The Nomads, The Sure Cure, The Pineapple Heard, and eventually Wool. They had an LP and a couple 45's on ABC and then landed a deal with Columbia which produced two 45's before the label dropped them. One was a cover of Elton John's "Take Me To The Pilot" and the other is this one, a cover of The Rattles' "The Witch" a good choice, but I think these guys could have shown a little more intensity in their execution.

HERE

 

In Dan’s Garage…#92

Hi Y’all!!! I wanted to get this one out last weekend, but I ran into some detours and had to put it off until this weekend. It still amazes me that I’ve gotten as far as #92 in this whole deal, and since I started we’ve grown into  a nice little community of 208 friends and followers, and this thing has taken well over 300,000 hits since I put the little counter up there about three years ago. Thanks again for all your kind comments and suggestions. Please keep ‘em coming and yes do send me pictures and such if you were in or knew anybody from one of these acts. I love to hear stories and if you’d like to relate something in detail, perhaps we can do a feature. I’d still like to get my good collector friend Chuck Ciriello to do a guest post one of these days. He has an awesome collection that’s real heavy on local stuff. Chuck if you’re out there let me know, we can do it anytime! Once again I’ve gathered another pile of 45s and recorded them for your (and my) enjoyment, so sit back and dig on NUMBER 92!!!!!!!

The Mighty Hannibal – Jerkin’ The Dog (1965) This is definitely NOT a garage or even psyche 45, but what a lot of people consider “Northern Soul”, a genre that’s getting a lot of attention these days from collectors, and one that is fetching huge bucks for what are considered “rare” records. Personally, I don’t get it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of soul music and R&B, although I don’t collect those types of records, but many of these pieces are commanding prices way in excess of $1000, well above and beyond their garage “counterparts”.   I love this 45 though because it not only has tremendous soul mojo, but also evokes somewhat of a garage feel as well, with it’s very sparse instrumentation (no horns), and the general groove of the song. If there ever was a “crossover” record, this would be it.

Roy Head & The Traits – Apple Of My Eye / I Pass The Day (1965) Meanwhile, back in San Antonio, TX, white guys like Roy Head were singing “blue eyed soul” songs like this ace 45, his follow up to “Treat Her Right”

Captain Zoom – Long Tall Texan / I Really Want You (1965) From what I gather, these guys were not from Texas, although they do an excellent mimicking of The Sir Douglas Quintet, but were from Richmond, CA, the Bay Area, and had at least two other 45s on A&M. Ironically, KBOP is a radio station from the Dallas, TX area.

Gants – Road Runner / My Baby Don’t Care (1965) The Gants were from Greenwood, Mississippi and unlike other groups from the deep south, they emulated the British Invasion as well as anyone in the USA. They especially had a great knack for doing excellent cover songs as well as a few superb originals like “My Baby Don’t Care”, the flip of this classic two sider.

Teddy & The Pandas – Bye Bye, Out The Window / Once Upon A Time (1966) A very popular group from Boston that had several 45s and an LP on Tower records.

Wild Ones – Come On Back (1966) These are the guys who did the original version of “Wild Thing”, in a style reminiscent of Bob Dylan as opposed to the hard rockin’ version made famous by The Troggs. This was their second to last 45 which was oddly released on the Sears label (as in Sears-Roebuck) and was most likely some kind of promotional item sold through the department store.

Court Jesters – It’s All Right / Dance For Me (1967) Danny Jordan and Tommy Wynn were both members of The Detergents whose “Leader Of The Laundromat” was a hit in 1964. They went on to do other projects but in between they recorded two 45s as The Court Jesters for Roulette. This is one of them. Not bad really, but definitely more pop than garage.

Hysterics – Won’t Get Far / That’s All She Wrote / Why Should You Treat Me This Way / Everything’s There (1966) I generally don’t post reissues on my blog, mainly because I prefer to show off my “original” pieces, but sometimes (only twice) I cheat and replace the vinyl tracks with digital copies, mainly because the original has so much surface noise that it totally distracts from the song, or in this case, a reissue that is actually quite rare and includes an entire body of work by one of history’s best garage bands. I remember the first time I heard “Won’t Get Far” (on Boulders Vol. 1) and thinking that the singer had a real problem with his girlfriend, and was definitely letting his aggression loose in the studio. Real genius stuff here. The Hysterics were from Southern California, and released two gems, both included on this reissue EP which apparently is pretty hard to get these days.

Kinetic Energy – Suzie Q / Margaret Ann (1969) These guys were from Houghton located on the upper peninsula of Michigan very close to Wisconsin and Canada. They released one 45 on the Minneapolis based label Studio City as simply “The Kinetics”. They later augmented their name and released this real heavy take on the Dale Hawkins classic with a flip side that reminds me of Procol Harum.

Los Rockin’ Devils – Mi Carcachita / Azucar, Azucar (1970) Los Rockin’ Devils were a band from Tijuana, Mexico that had an extremely prolific career recording records for a Mexican audience hungry for American Rock & Roll. They specialized in covering the hits of the day and singing them in Spanish, and had an exceptionally raw delivery as evidenced on these two covers. One a Stones hit and the other a rather amusing rendition of the Archies’ biggest hit!

North Atlantic Invasion Force – Black On White / The Orange Patch (1968) An excellent group from Connecticut that had several other 45s.

Challengers – Hear My Message / I Wanna Hold You (1970) A decent group from Milwaukee, WI that also released the legendary “Take A Ride On The Jefferson Airplane” 45 on Night Owl records.

Rush Hour -  Before I Die / Set Me Free (1969) A Chicago group that takes the Vanilla Fudge formula and applies it to an outstanding flanged out original, and a cover of The Kinks’ “Set Me Free”

Syndicate Of Sound – Brown Paper Bag / Reverb Beat (1970) Best known for their huge 1966 hit and garage anthem “Little Girl”, The Syndicate Of Sound had several somewhat unsuccessful follow-ups including this one released early in 1970. This is actually a pretty good record, and some have said that they were trying to catch the same feel as fellow Bay Area legends CCR.

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In Dan’s Garage…#82

Greetings friends and followers! I hope everyone’s New Year is going well so far. Mine is rather dreary right now with the bitter cold weather and all, and the fact that my beloved New York Giants missed the NFL playoffs this year and I have to watch teams that they either beat the crap out of (San Francisco), or got beat up by (Baltimore), slug it out in what is the biggest sporting event of the season (here in the good ol’ USA that is…). Someone at work got real excited that Beyoncé was the half time show. I wonder if she’s going to lip-sync or not???? Maybe she’ll trip on stage like Madonna did last year (or was that the year before???) Personally I could give a shit about half time shows. Most, or rather all of them suck ass, even if the acts are decent guys like The Who or Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. I think they ought to have Paul Revere & The Raiders do it sometime, even if he is a Las Vegas schmuck now,at least he’d be better than Beyoncé lip-syncing her bullshit. Does she even really sing??? If it didn’t say BEYONCE in front of it, would you actually know it’s her????? Seriously, I can’t tell the difference. I don’t want to sound like an old fogy but who the hell is “Nickelback” and what do they really sound like???? As my good friend Chuck Irving would say… “they’re a generic alternative rock band” and that is what we have today my friends. “generic music”. It’s really sad. Us “older” Rock & Roll fans have slogged through some of the worst commercial crap in the history of humanity, but think about it, were “The Partridge Family” as bad as everyone thinks they were??????? How about The Osmonds, all clean and Mormon like? I listen to that stuff nowadays and marvel at the craftiness of it all. Something lost in today’s music.     I just did one of those stupid Facebook surveys that asked how many “influential” albums you had in your collection, and I was surprised (well I shouldn’t have been) how much CRAP there was in their “selection”. One of the offending “LPs” was “Dexy’s Midnight Runners” who’s “Come On Eileen” video was famous for the mere fact that they didn’t wear any underwear while filming it. Holy SHIT STAIN BATMAN!!!!!! When I got to that part of the survey I knew it was a pile of horse dung.   But seriously folks. To say that music, in the “Rock & Roll” sense, is evolving is folly. Rock & Roll is not dead by any stretch, but it has run it’s course in my humble opinion. What is heard nowadays is some mish mash of influences stirred up in a commercial pot and sold like Duncan Hines cake mixes on a grocery shelf. Which one do like?? White or Fudge?? Eventually there will be young people who will truly carry the torch of Rock & Roll into the mainstream again, kind of the way that guys like Harry Connick Jr. carried Frank Sinatra’s torch into the new millennium of “pop stars”. It will happen. It always does That is not to say that there are no GREAT Rock & Roll acts out there today. They are just “under the radar"and the savvy amongst us go looking for them instead of having them handed to us on a silver platter. It’s weird. We used to wait for the next big thing on the radio, and usually it would be something that was actually fresh, even if we weren’t “down with it”. Nowadays we just wait for people like Lady Gaga and Justin Beiber to go away. Justin Beiber or David Cassidy???? Think about it.    OK! Enough of that rant. I want to thank everyone out there for supporting me during this “transition” period where the feds are really cracking down on internet piracy. I’ll say it again. Blogs like this are the least of their worries. Go fry some BIGGER fish please. I’m thinking people sharing Katy Perry’s newest is what you want to watch out for. To quote Adam Corrolla, she really does “look like she’s always thinking about something stupid” Now there’s a REAL talent folks!!!!!!! Sorry, I got off track again. Old links will be replaced in time. Don’t hold your breath, I will eventually replace them all, but it is VERY TIME CONSUMING. I wish there was a quicker way but there really isn’t. I can’t believe there’s 82 volumes here!!! WOO HOO!!!! I always thought I’d be finished after 50, but I think I’ll be well over 100 by next year. I’m glad everyone is enjoying what I do here, and I just want to give a shout out to the locals who follow this blog . I know who you are. Come see me sometime at a gig and we’ll have a drink together. In the meantime enjoy the latest offering. Adios!

Thee Midnighters – Whittier Blvd. / Evil Love (1965) East L.A’s finest rumble through two classics on one 45. Areeba Areeba!!!!

Bartholomew +3 – She’s Mine / You’re Not There (1965) A rather obscure act from Montreal, Canada who had a few other 45s. Nice moody folk/rock offering here.

Fenians – Got A Feeling / Tonight’s The Night For Love (1965) I gave my best shot at trying to find some info on this 45, but all I came up with was a website that led me to some horrific hacker’s site. YOW! Anyway…I can tell you that The Fenians were arranged and produced  by Tony Harris, who’s “Superman” is featured on IDG #9, so it’s quite possible that these two bands are the same.

Richie Dennis & The Group / Forever And A Day (1966) Another dead end on this one also. Very moody folk/rock with some nice “group” vocals propping it up and a thumping bass as well.

Bachs Lunch You Go On / Will You Love Me Tomorrow (1966) I’m not exactly sure who the Bach Lunch was, but this 45 was produced by Carole King and features a cover of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” as the A side and a wonderful pop/psyche number titled “You’ll Go On” as the flip, the featured song here. “You Go On” was apparently penned by Rick Philip and Dave Palmer who were members of The Myddle Class who also had a couple of classic 45s released on the same label so it may be possible that they were the backing band on this excellent 45.

Love Ins – Red Light, Green Light / Groove Me (1968) Let’s jump to ‘68 where The Love Ins, most likely a “studio” group recorded this very nice bubblegumish 45.

Carpetbaggers – Let Yourself Go / Just A Friend (1966) Another dead end *sigh*. Good “protest” rock that apparently was produced by novelty song king Ray Stevens. I wonder if this is actually him singing this…….

Joys Of Life – Descent / Good Times Are Over (1967) Look at these guys. a bunch of nice clean Midwestern boys from Indiana who got a break by releasing a 45, and on a major label no less. “Good Times Are Over” is typical Midwestern R&B a-la “The Fabulous Flippers” and other groups from the same region, but what sets this 45 apart from the rest is the flipside “Descent” which is featured here. Holy crap, talk about a tale of two bands. While “Good Times” is generic blue eyed soul, “Descent” is about as nasty a garage/punker can be. The Lyrics say it all… “You say my ways they weren’t the same, you criticized my looks but baby I can’t seem to stop those evil actions. By lying and any other means you made me prince of public scenes” and it continues from there. A tale of a guy who’s girl is so nasty, he has to shame her…”Now I’m the king and you’re the pawn, I can see you looking on, jealous of my new love and my freedom”. It gets better, but I’m sure after a few spins you’ll get the picture. A masterpiece.

Pretty Things – Progress / Buzz The Jerk (1966) The Pretties at their “soul” best. Real cool “mod” sounds here, and the horns really don’t mess up the A side at all.

Shady Days – Little Girl / That’s How Strong My Love Is (1967) This actually is the Chicago band, The Revelles with a different moniker. “Little “Girl” is a lightweight folk rocker, whilst “That’s How Strong My Love Is” is a lightweight soul rocker. All kidding aside, this is a terrific two sider.

Just Rita – Tomorrow Is Another Day (1967) A Chicago area singer who had quite a bit of media backing via Billboard ads, but it looks like she really flopped big time, as well as her label. This 45 is a cool sitar inspired psychedelic song. Do a Google search on her and find some interesting Billboard ads and articles.

Springfield Rifle – I’ll Be Standing There / Will You Love Me Tomorrow (1968) A Pacific NW group who had a slew of 45 in the mid sixties including this Zombies inspired number and a very cool moody version of “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”. Oops! I put two of these one here????? DOH!!!!

Company Front – I’m So Happy Now / Not Today (1968) A Kentucky based pop group with awesome vocal harmonies, do justice to a Young Rascals tune.

Hamilton Streetcar – Confusion / It’s Your Own Come Down (1968) Oh, so cool garage/psych from the guys who gave us “Invisible People”. This was their second 45 on LHI before they became a poppier band and released an album on Dot. These guys should have made it big and it’s a shame they didn’t.

Equals – Baby Come Back / Hold Me Closer (1968) Yeah… I know this was a hit, but if all “hits” were this cool, the world would be a much better place.

Iota – R.I.P. / Sing For You (1969) A band from El Paso Texas recorded this 45 somewhere around 1969 and was released the Memphis based M.O.C. label. Very good heavy psychedelic sounds.

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