Fred Neil “Fred Neil”

Folk,RnB

Fred Neil

From the clatter of the Greenwich Village 60s folk scene came a voice that was inspired, authentic, and extraordinarily deep. Freddy Neil had one of those unmistakable voices, a baritone that could rumble your brain and leave cracks in your spine. Add to that the skills of one of the better blues-folk songwriters; his songs were covered by Karen Dalton, Harry Nilsson, Jefferson Airplane… anybody who knew their stuff.

Released in 1967, Fred Neil is moody, soft, and dark, but shimmers in beautiful electric sound. It lives within the pinnacle of styles from which Freddy would draw his influence: Brill Building chops, cold hard blues, good old folk song, and raga spiritualism. The ten original compositions heard here are masterpiece quality pens. “Everybody’s Talkin'” would put the voice of Nilsson forever in popular knowledge thanks to Midnight Cowboy; Fred refused to sing for the movie and his unornamented version is a refreshing listen. Neil harbored a genuine love for dolphins, championing their causes throughout his life, and recording his dreamy ode to open the record. I harbor a specific love for the bluesy standard, “That’s The Bag I’m In” and songs like “Faretheewell (Fred’s Tune)” are too precious for my description.

Neil was a father figure to many integral players in the folk, blues, and rock movements, cited as an influence by folks like David Crosby and Bob Dylan. Go grab this essential LP if it isn’t already in your collection.

“The Dolphins”

:) Original Vinyl | 1966 | Capitol | search ebay ]
:D CD Reissue |  200 6 | Water | amazon ]

Hot Top 5 1960s Music Videos

, , Video

HAAA, look at this. Our 1960s video list wound up in the hands of Sergio from Infomania on Current.tv and well, just watch…

 

Check out our original post and let us know about your favorite pre-mtv vids below.

**************************************************************************************

Before MTV revolutionized the music video format, rock & roll videos were mostly lip-synched reenactments or television appearances. In rarer instances, the filmmaker would push the limits to create an artistic match to the audio it intended to promote (‘promo clips‘). Here’s our 5 favorite pre-MTV promo clips, each with a video as boss as the song:


5. The Animals – House of the Rising Sun (1964)
This is on the line as it’s a studio lip-synch, but there’s something going on here. Clever camera angles that show the roles of each band member, stoic pacing around the studio, Alan Price pulsating on the Vox Continental, and Eric Burdon’s ice cold performance show this to be an inspired rock video, one of the earliest made.


4. The Kinks – Dead End Street (1966)
After writing the huge Kinks hit, Sunny Afternoon, Ray Davies wanted to write about something a little less sunny and came up with Dead End Street, a fantastic hard-edged single. They got to ham it up for this film, though the BBC refused to show it when they found their antics mixed with Great Depression photos to be in “poor taste.” It’s not hilarious today, but it was one of the first music videos to introduce a plot, of sorts.


3. The Masters Apprentices – Buried And Dead (1967)
This was a pioneering promo clip in Australia’s 1967, influencing many other bands to release videos for their songs. Slow motion and choppy edits of live footage are interspersed with a DIY back-story. This gritty little film nicely captures the feel of the song.


2. The Beatles – Rain (1966)
There’s not a lot of depth here (just the Beatles acting casual, digging their song), but the direction by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, is iconic in style. This clip has everything a traditional music video has like rhythmic back-and-forth edits and trippy B-roll of the band. Stands out amongst the crowd as the fab4 always did.


1. Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues (1966)
Little needs to be said for the classic D.A. Pennebaker film that would elevate the promo clip to an artform. Bob Dylan drops increasingly inaccurate cue cards while Allen Ginsberg chats with Bob Neuwirth in the background in this groundbreaking piece of musical cinema vérité . It’s an all-time classic, recognized and imitated the world over.


Q: Let us know about your favorite 60s music videos.

The JuJus “You Treat Me Bad 1965-1967”

, , Garage

The Jujus

Of all the regional garage bands that were never given the opportunity to record an album, the JuJus were amongst the very best.  They formed in 1964 and played a mixture of frat rock, British Invasion influenced teenbeat and classic garage rock sounds all around the local clubs of Grand Rapids.  Their early tracks can be heard on the above 2009 Cicadelic reissue, it’s an excellent sampling of the group’s career.   The early tracks have saxophones, sappy lyrics and muddy sound but are good for what they are – great frat rock and teenbeat. 

In 1965 the group would cut vocalist/guitarist Ray Hummel’s “You Treat Me Bad/Hey Little Girl” for Fenton.  Fenton was a local label run by electronic/production genuis  Dave Kalmbach and business partner Bruce Smith.  Fenton would cut many, many garage classics but You Treat Me Bad stands out as one of the label’s best.  The vocals are snotty and the tempo is driving; You Treat Me Bad would eventually hit number 2 on local radio.   The JuJus second 45 was cut in Kingtones guitarist Phil Robert Jr.’s basement studio and issued in a picture sleeve on the United label in 1966.  Both sides of “I’m Really Sorry/Do You Understand Me” are superb.  Do You Understand Me has guitar lines straight out of the Stones’ Last Time and is achored down by a nice fuzz solo.  Both recordings sound very crude and primitive but hold a special place in many garage fans’ hearts – this was some of the best rock n roll being pumped out of Michigan at the time.

The JuJus lineup would change quite a bit from 1964 to 1967.  Eventually the group would break up after losing core band members Ray Hummel, drummer Bill Gorski and saxophone player Max Colley.  But before throwing in the towel they would cut a few more songs in 1967 for a possible single release.  The JuJus were constantly evolving and by this time they had grown into a more experimental unit.  They would record two songs that year:  Sometime Or Another and If You Really Love Me.  The latter was a nice slice of power pop with pretty vocal harmonies and a quality guitar oriented arrangement.  Sometime Or Another, a song that was good enough for an A-side release, was the JuJus at their most psychedelic and adventurous.  This track could compete with any “big group’s” best single and was notable for its distorted vocals, blazing fuzz guitar solo and introspective lyrics.  It sounded like a hit but was probably a bit downbeat and too experimental for top 40 radio. 

The above reissue is one of the best garage rock offerings I’ve heard in quite some time.  Cicadelic gives you the classic singles, a good 1965 Ray Hummel Fenton 45 ( in which he is backed by the JuJus) and a slew of quality outtakes.  There are no lame covers and the sound quality is excellent.  The JuJus were a great group whose music still burns brightly in the memories of Michigan locals.  This is mandatory listening for anyone interested in pure rock n roll.

“I’m Really Sorry”

:D CD Reissue | 2009 | Cicadelic | buy from cicadelic ]

J.K. & Co. “Suddenly One Summer”

Concept Albums,Pop,Psych

Suddenly One Summer

This is a good, semi well-known psych album, indeed there aren’t too many 60s rock fans that dislike J.K. & Co.’s Suddenly One Summer.  It’s the only album this group would release.  Prior to Suddenly One Summer, Jay Kaye had been in the Loved Ones, though I don’t think this band released any singles.

Jay Kaye was only 15 years old when he recorded this album in 1968.  The lyrics, vocals, songs and musicianship are remarkably advanced for someone who was so inexperienced in the studio.  Jay Kaye made the trip from Las Vegas to Vancouver, Canada to record the lp with top flight session musicians (among them members of noted Vancouver band Mother Tucker’s Yellow Duck).  The album was inspired by recent Beatles’ masterpieces and of course LSD, so it’s not surprising that much of this record is full of orchestral psychedelia and heavy studio effects – music with a spiritual slant.  Another teen, Robert Buckley aided Jay Kaye with many of the album’s arrangements and psychedelic effects.  It was he who created the decaying backward effects on the masterful “Fly,” a track that sounds well ahead of its time and similar in feel to prime-era Radiohead (though 30 years prior).

Suddenly One Summer was conceived as a concept album and briefly featured in Billboard claiming “to depict musically a man’s life from birth to death.”  At least half the album is full of great psychedelia.  “O.D.” features wild guitar playing, great drug addled madness, and soaring vocals, “Fly,” as mentioned before, is an all-time psych classic, and “Magical Fingers Of Minerva” is a great sitar based rocker that usually ends up on trippy compilations.  Other compositions of note are the gorgeous acoustic track “Nobody,” a great pop rocker titled “Christine,” and the dramatic finale, “Dead.”  The LP plays from strength to strength and never falls off into the deep end.

J.K. & Co.’s album was a decent size underground hit in California, leading White Whale to release a single to capitalize on the group’s popularity.  They chose the 36-second album opening intro which at the time was seen as a major marketing disaster.  In the end, White Whale’s terrible management blunder would halter the career of Jay Kaye and also hurt the company’s ability to market J.K. & Co as a serious group.   After the record’s release Kaye had even put together a band with his Cousin John (bass) and friend Rick Dean (drums) to promote the LP’s songs live but success eluded them.  In 2001 Sundazed released this great conceptual acid album through their BeatRocket label.

“Fly”

:) Vinyl Reissue | BeatRocket | 2001 | buy from sundazed ]
:D CD Reissue | BeatRocket | 2001 | buy from sundazed ]

Reg King (self-titled)

Classic Rock,Pop,RnB

Reg King

Reg King belonged to the Action, Mighty Baby, Blossom Toes,  B.B. Blunder family tree, leaving the Action before they became Mighty Baby and performing with (ex-Blossom Toes) B.B. Blunder after releasing this acclaimed and rare solo record.

Members from the bands above would form the backbone for this project, recorded over three years and guesting Stevie Winwood on keys. The Action had cut their teeth covering Motown soul during the mid 60s and those influences had not gone amiss for this LP, albeit through distorted guitars and stoney jams. The leadoff track “Must Be Something Else Around” is a blistering slice of hard English rock that probably gave Led Zep a brief jolt of anxiety. “That Ain’t Living” has the explosive impatience of certain tracks I know from The Action, but add this album’s key ingredient: raw and relentless blue-eyed soul, propelled by Reg King’s voice – probably the best of the British hard-rock-soul singers.

It’s not a grand slam on the other hand. I’m not much of a blues-hound, so “Down The Drain,” or six-minutes of predictable blues doesn’t do it for me. But “That Ain’t Living” pushes hard through a fully worthwhile six of spirited rock. There are a couple less memorable tracks, but the good hooks make this record worth a spin. Perhaps a good introduction to the Action family tree .

“Must Be Something Else Around”

:D CD reissue | 2007 | Circle Records | Reg King ]
:) Original Issue | mega rare | search ebay ]
8-) Spotify link | listen ]

The HiFis “Snakes and HiFis”

Pop,Psych

Snakes and HiFis

The HiFis were a wonderful mid 60s  London-based group that would eventually relocate to Germany and release the above Star-Club lp in 1967.  Prior to the LPs release, the HiFis (also known as the Hi-Fi’s) also released a series of singles.  These singles were more in a soul beat style though some of them are pretty good and worth seeking out.  Their lineup consisted of Brian Bennett (vocals and keyboards), Mike Douglas (vocals and guitars),  Malcolm Lenny (vocals and lead guitar), Gary Unwin (bass), and Mel Wright (drums).

Many UK groups would relocate to countries such as Germany or Italy because being a British Invasion group that played original rock n roll was seen as something special abroad.  Many of these groups like the Rokes, the Primitives, and the Sorrows (a really excellent group) would see great success and sell lots of records.  The HiFis did pretty well in Germany and were a popular live group.  This success allowed them to record their only album, Snakes and HiFis.  I have seen other magazines describe the lp as “a brilliant mixed bag of an lp” or “one of the finest examples of the beat-bands-go-bonkers syndrome.”  I have even heard some compare the HiFi’s guitar and rhythm section to that of the legendary Monks (a funhouse effect in which everything seems about ready to fall apart but the band pulls thru in the end to keep things together).  I agree with all these comparisons though it’s really hard to put a label on the HiFis, they were pretty unique.

There are several great tracks on Snakes and HiFis: Tread Softly For The Sleepers (a great chunky mod psych track that reminds me of late period Action), Snakes and Ladders, What’s A Bulb, I’m A Box, Calorie Ann (soaring vocals and whacked out lyrical concerns), Odd Man Out, You’re Haunting Me, My Cards Numbered 17, and the awesome but strange Uwe Aus Duisburg.  Just by looking at these titles one can tell that this music is NOT the typical beat psych fare.  As mentioned before, this lp was recorded at a time when beat groups were experimenting with different sounds and turning to psychedelia, so there’s a bit of an advanced mid-60s sound – short 2 minute pop songs with a freaky edge.  For those of you who love the Kinks, the Idle Race, the Move, the Tages and the Ro-d-y’s (a great group from the Netherlands), you’ll love this reissue (the 2008 Wooden Hill cd version to be exact).  Standout picks on my end are the buzzing organ psych of What’s a Bulb, which is an absolutely brilliant track, and Uwe Aus Duisburg.  The latter track vaguely reminds me of The Move with its galloping tempo and gonzoid lyrics – it’s a track that would fit in well with today’s modern indie radio stations.  Other good ones are the Pet Sounds influenced You’re Haunting Me and the truly bizarre I’m A Box.  Both of these tracks carry a unique mellow buzz and one may also note that I’m A Box was strangely released as a single (this track had no hit potential whatsoever).  Wooden Hill reissues are usually limited, so pick one up if you can.  Snakes and HiFis is definitely an obscure gem and a must hear for fans of Brit psych.

“What’s A Bulb”

:D CD Reissue | 2008 | Wooden Hill | google shop ]
:) Original Vinyl |  1967 | Star-Club | ebay ]

PODCAST 10 Rain

Podcast

trs podcast

Running Time: 33 Minutes | File Size: 48.6 MB
Download:  .mp3
To subscribe to this podcast: https://therisingstorm.net/podcast.xml [?]

It took one year and 14 days but we made it to ten!

PLAYLIST

The American Dream “Untitled Demo” (The American Way?) (source)

The Spades (13th Floor Elevators) “We Sell Soul”

The Kinks “Rainy Day In June”

Fred Neil “Just A Little Bit of Rain”

The Savages “Intro/Poor Man’s son”

Rising Storm “The Rain Falls Down”

The Action “Something To Say”

The Idle Race “Morning Sunshine”

Closers

The Beatles
THE BYRDS (forgot to list them originally)
The Pretty Things
Link Wray

uReview: Steely Dan “Can’t Buy A Thrill”

Classic Rock,Pop,RnB,uReview

Can't Buy A Thrill

[ratings]

The perfect musical antiheroes for the Seventies. –Rolling Stone

“Think of the Dan as the first post-boogie band: the beat swings more than it blasts or blisters, the chord changes defy our primitive subconscious expectations, and the lyrics underline their own difficulty…” –Robert Christgau

“Steely Dan gargles my balls.” – Seth Rogen’s character in “Knocked Up“

Q: What’s your take on Steely Dan’s 1972 debut?

8-) Spotify link | listen ]

Read the rest of this entry »

Odds n Ends | Lost singles and forgotten tracks…

Garage,Psych,Punk

Zakary Thaks – Face to Face
Zakary Thaks came from Corpus Christi Texas, an area that was considered a hotbed for such groups. Much of their reputation rests on 1966’s Bad Girl, an incredible single notable for its jaunty start-stop tempo. They managed to release 6 great 45s throughout the decade, some of which were local hits. Most of their 45 releases are originals and cut while the group were still in their teens (they covered just one Kinks track, I Need You – a good version too). Face to Face, their second J-Beck single released in 1967 was arguably the group’s finest moment. It begins with one of the all time great guitar intros and is no doubt one of Texas’ prime garage punkers. The intro sounds like swirling police sirens but Face to Face is also anchored down by a good chaotic fuzz guitar solo and an uplifting chorus. This single was a huge regional hit (selling over 6,000 copies) giving the Thaks major local popularity and momentum to break into other regions/states. The group was poised for a major breakthru but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. All the group’s singles and outtakes have been compiled on BeatRocket’s excellent Form The Habit.

It’s almost unfair to call the Zakary Thaks a garage rock group. Their sound was definitely raw but they were great musicians, well above the typical garage band standard. Also, their sound was constantly evolving and changing throughout the 60’s – just listen to all of their singles. The first time I heard Face to Face my head was blown off clean, it’s a terrific song from a group that were ahead of their time.

“Face To Face”

:) Vinyl Reissue | “Form The Habit” | Beat Rocket | buy from sundazed ]

The Mind’s Eye – Help, I’m Lost
This group was short-lived and from San Antonio Texas but their single is excellent and worth the search. The B-side had come from Louis Cabaza, Steve Perron and Chris Holzhaus’ prior group, the Argyles. Bill Ash played guitar for the Mind’s Eye briefly and prior to this was a member of the Stoics. The Stoics released a double sided garage rock gem in Enough Of What I Need/Hate – suitably underproduced and menacing. The Mind’s Eye’s only A-side, Help, I’m Lost, is a primitive garage psych classic. Perron’s vocals are mad while the string arrangement adds a sophisticated texture to the swirling organ and acidic raga guitar solo. This single was recorded in 1967 and released off the Jox label. As with many great singles from this era, it received very little commercial feedback and sank without a trace. Many of the Mind’s Eye members went on to form the Children, who would release a good psych pop record in 1968 (all the above tracks were released on Gear Fab’s Rebirth reissue by the Children).

The Stoics:

“Enough Of What I Need”

The Mind’s Eye:

“Help I’m Lost”

:D CD Reissue | 2002 | Gear Fab Records | buy from amazon ]

Morning Disaster – Black Leather Books
This track was never released. Morning Disaster were from Colonial Heights Virginia (a Petersburg suburb). They recorded two other good psych pop tracks that also went unreleased at the time: Song of Innocence and Urban 44. All three tracks appeared on Aliens, Psychos & Wild Things Volume 3 ( a great compilation of local Virginia garage psych bands). Not much is known about the group but I believe these tracks were recorded in 1968 with Black Leather Books/Urban 44 as a projected single. Stanley Rose, vocals and guitar, had written all three tracks and been in prior garage bands the Lost Cause and Fugitives. Black Leather Books is his finest 3 minutes, a demented masterpiece of spacey psychedelia with compelling lyrics “all of your children, waiting in slumber, sad golden children, waiting in slumber.”

“Black Leather Books”

:D CD Compilation | 2003 | Arcania Int’l | buy from amazon ]

Thor’s Hammer – The Big Beat Country Dance
One of Iceland’s finest groups, Thor’s Hammer (in Iceland they were known as Hijomar) released singles, eps and a few albums then eventually morphed into progressive rock group Trubrot. The late 60s albums were more in a pop-rock/psych-pop mode though perhaps their best work was the 1966 ep titled Umbarumbamba. This disc featured four hard hitting rockers: My Life, I Don’t Care, Better Days and the Big Beat Country Dance. My Life, Big Beat Country Dance, and I Don’t Care are acknowledged killers but Better Days is also pretty good. Big Beat Country Dance sizzles from the intro and forges on with a skull crushing intensity that never lets up – these guys knew how to raise hell. The group recorded these sides in London’s Lansdowne studios. Every song is full of frenzied drum work and walls of guitar distortion. This ep is essential for fans of freakish mid 60s beat sounds.

“The Big Beat Country Dance”

:D CD Reissue | 2004 | Big Beak UK | buy from amazon ]

The Red Krayola “God Bless the Red Krayola and All Who Sail With It”

Art,Psych

God Bless the Red Krayola

Sued by Crayola for naming rights, this is the band’s first album under their new ‘Krayola’ moniker, a stripped down follow-up to their debut record, the freaked out Parable of Arable Land. Actually it’s a remake of a rejected (by International Artists) 2nd album called Coconut Hotel. Mayo Thompson essentially pasted together a daring audio collage with amateur musicians, dada lyrics sung by choruses of friends, original (opposed to ‘ found’) sounds, a little Texas grit, psychedelic glue, and it holds up well today.

I love how the band continually loses the rhythmn on “Sherrif Jack,” teasing any possibility of a groove, eventually bringing back the ‘Say Hello To Jamie Jones’ motif when things fall apart. Tracks like “Big” are really ahead of its time with the unintelligible childspeak sample and organ, bass, guitar trio playing a scarcely organized sample-and-hold pattern. Short songs make the album really tolerable and engaging, an enjoyable trip that would influence countless lo-fi and bedroom musicians for years to come.

This album reminds us that music doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t have to be serious, and you don’t have to be a virtuoso to record a fantastic record.

“Sherriff Jack”

:D CD Reissue | 2CD w/ Parable | 2007 | Snapper | buy at amazon ]
:D CD Reissue | Mini Gatefold Limited Edition | 2003 | Sunspots | buy at amazon ]
:) Original Vinyl | 1968 | International Artists | search ebay ]
8-) Spotify link | listen ]