Posts Tagged ‘ 1967 ’

The Paupers “Magic People”

| Psych,Sunshine

Magic People

In 1967 the great band from the North released their debut record. The Paupers, along with the Guess Who, were one of the first Canadian bands to capitalize on the British Invasion. They started releasing singles in 1965 with a lineup consisting of Denny Gerrard (Bass), Skip Prokop (Drums), Bill Marion (Guitars) and Chuck Beal (Guitars). Prokop and Marion handled all the songwriting chores on their first clutch of singles.

Their early sound was a classy mixture of roots music, blues and folk-rock (think early Byrds or Lovin’ Spoonful crossed with the Blues Project circa 1965). The band began rehearsing 14 hours a day, honing their setlist and evolving into one of the tightest bands around. They hit the hip Yorkville District of Canada, playing to packed out venues daily and in return this gained them immense popularity. Rumor has it that the Paupers blew the mighty Jefferson Airplane off stage one night. In 1966/1967, Bill Marion exited the band for reasons unknown, prompting the Paupers to recruit Adam Mitchell. Mitchell (guitar and vocals) proved to be an excellent songwriting partner for Prokop, and at this point the band set out to create their debut lp.

Magic People has a good mid 60’s sound and is anchored by the band’s folk-rock leanings. There are a trio of good psychedelic sunshine pop fuzz rockers on the record. These songs, Magic People, It’s Your Mind and Think I Care, are highlighted by Prokop’s distinct drum patterns, special guitar effects, and great raga soloing. The only dud on the album is One Rainy Day, which is a jaunty good time Lovin’ Spoonful rocker. The remaining six songs are good to great folk-rockers, that recall the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and the Beau Brummels. The catchy You and Me feels like a throw back to a 1965 Byrds or Brummels folk-rock sound. Tudor Impressions is excellent, reflective, and abstract, including horns, sparkling accoustic guitars and a Beach Boys-like harmony pop ending. Black Thank You Package and My Love Hides From Your View have a great outsider feel. Black Thank You Package has a distinct, exciting intro and a catchy chorus while My Love Hides is an absolute haunting masterpiece of acid-folk.

Later on in the year the band would play at the seminal Monterey Pop Festival. Everything that could go wrong for them did. Band members took doses of acid that were way too strong and had equipment/sound check problems. Thus, it was the beginning of the end for the Paupers, a group of individuals who had began with so much promise. In 1968, beneath all the internal turmoil, the Paupers were able to squeeze one more lp out. Ellis Island is a little mini psychedelic gem and fans are strongly urged to check this great album out as well.

“My Love Hides From Your View”

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The Amboy Dukes “The Amboy Dukes”

| Garage,Psych

Amboy Dukes

The Amboy Dukes were Ted Nugent’s first band (or one of). They came from the same Detroit scene as SRC, The Stooges, Mitch Ryder, Bob Seger, The Frost, The Rationals, MC5 and so forth. They began playing the clubs and ballrooms of Detroit in the mid 1960’s. In 1967 they released their self-titled debut. It was a legendary mix of psychedelia, blues, garage rock, and folk.

The album/music above is also a far cry from Ted Nugent’s mid to late 70’s prime cock rock anthems. At the time, Nugent was content playing his guitar in a rock n roll band. The reality shows, money, politics, redneck concerns and overproduced rock to come had not yet inflated his ego.

The five and a half minute version of Baby Please Don’t Go is an absolute acid garage classic with some fantastic feedback and great guitar sustain. Nugent creates some serious guitar noise on this number and shows off his brilliant chops. The album closes with another garage classic, Gimme Love. This song has some laser fuzz guitar riffs and angry Mike Drake vocals. In between these two garage monsters are many other great compositions. There are a few covers, two work really well (the splendidly bluesy Let’s Go Get Stoned and the gritty Who cover It’s Not True) while the Cream song I Feel Free is ill-advised (it’s the album’s only weak spot). The Amboy Dukes hit real hard with Colors, a furious acid rock song with some sinister soloing. Other psych songs like The Lovely Lady are excellent, recalling the Velvet Underground at their trippiest with spiraling guitar pyrotechnics. Phillip’s Escalator is very Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd with brit vocals, clanging chords and first class guitar scrape. It’s a true classic on this exceptional outing. Night Time and Young Love show the band effectively sticking to their garage band roots.

The Amboy Dukes would go on to release two or three other great albums throughout the late 60’s and early 70’s. None of them have that vintage, exciting 66/67 sound like this debut. The guitar freakouts, Who-like energy and great songs make this debut a prime slice of early Detroit rock.

“Down On Philip’s Escalator”

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The Wild Cherries “That’s Life”

| Psych

That's Life

The above album is a compilation of the Wild Cherries’ 4 singles (the B-sides all being respectable soul rock songs) and 16 live cuts. The live cuts are entirely covers in weak fidelity and as such, do not represent a band who was considered exciting and explosive on stage.

The Wild Cherries or also known as the Wild “Indian” Cherries were one of Australia’s first genuine psychedelic groups. Aussie guitar legend Lobby Loyde came to this band in or around 1967, after doing time with yet another legendary band, the Purple Hearts. The Purple Hearts were a wild garage r’n’b group that released 6 very good singles during the mid 60’s (think early Pretty Things or Sorrows). Loyde would go on to make quality proto punk albums with the Coloured Balls and achieve greater fame as a solo artist throughout the 70’s. But it was the Wild Cherries who had a unique sound, a look, and that special something that only comes around every so often.

In early 1967 the Wild Cherries released their first single, Krome Plated Yabbie (Yabbie is an Australian crayfish) off the Festival label. Krome Plated Yabbie is now rightfully considered an Oz classic. This song sounds vaguely similar to the Small Faces or even the early Move, a superb, bouncy mixture of British style r’n’b and blasting Hendrix influenced guitar distortion. Loyde’s playing is incendiary and foward looking while vocalist Danny Robinson turns in an extremely soulful performance. This single made a big splash throughout the Aussie underground, giving the Wild Cherries much needed notoriety. Krome Plated Yabbie was a hard single to follow up, but in late 1967 the Wild Cherries released That’s Life.

In 1967, nothing on the airwaves sounded quite like That’s Life.

Even today, That’s Life is considered one of the most imaginative singles that ever came out of the Australian underground. It reached the top 40, and opens with a huge fuzz guitar riff which gives way to a pounding psych punk masterpiece. Throughout the song there are spacey organ runs and a great phased Loyde guitar solo.

In 1968 the Wild Cherries released another psychedelic gem, Gotta Stop Lying. This was a hard rocking, punkish original with a great paisley guitar solo, emotive vocals and trippy organ work. Later on in the year, the band released their final single, I Don’t Care. This song was a total departure from their earlier, raw sound, being a ballad with strings, backup singers and a heavily phased ending. Some fans consider this single their experimental peak, though I am not one of them. Lack of commercial success effectively ended this innovative group’s career in late 68/early 1969. In the early 1970’s, Lobby Loyde revived the Wild Cherries name (with none of the original members) and released a solid, spacey hard rocking acoustic single that dealt with environmental concerns.

“That’s Life”

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The Left Banke “There’s Gonna Be A Storm”

| Baroque,Pop,Sunshine

There's Gonna Be A Storm

Noted as one of the trailblazers of baroque pop, the Left Banke,  known for their huge hit ‘Walk Away Renee’ were original twee. Think of a classical Zombies, harpsichord instead of wurli with dramatic classically-influenced arrangements.

‘Pretty Ballerina’ is their lesser but still well-known hit, and the singing is drop dead gorgeous. Steve Martin (not that Steve Martin) was one of the most under appreciated rock vocalists of his generation and his tender delivery, combined with the delicate string arrangements assured ‘Ballerina.’ Michael Brown wrote great melodies, lyrics tuned to the woe of teenage heartbreak.

Key tracks include ‘Shadows Breaking Over My Head,’ ‘She May Call You Up Tonight,’ ‘I Haven’t Got The Nerve,’ ‘Barterers And Their Wives,’ ‘There’s Gonna Be A Storm’ etc. The 2nd half of this collection covers the material surrounding the Left Banke’s unfortunate demise.

Only a country-rocker falls flat on a completely solid album that many people call baroque pop. Their second album Too, is respectable but lacks the fire of the debut and does not benefit from Michael Brown’s absence. Essential stuff!!

For the complete recordings of the Left Banke in one package, get this.

‘Desiree’ plus ‘Men Are Building Sand’ would be part of the excellent follow up record, Montage.

“I’ve Got Something On My Mind”

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The Rolling Stones “Between The Buttons”

| Pop,RnB

Between The Buttons

You’d think that we’d recommend Satanic Majesty instead of Between the Buttons, but no. The Stones were getting hang of the studio, and starting to experiment before they decided to try and get all psych on Their Satanic… but man, just because an album is psychedelic, or at least just because the cover is psychedelic, it don’t make it good. We’re not all about psychedelic music, we’re all about good music.

Anyway, there are interesting sounds sprinkled all throughout this record. A swell dose of xylophone, flutes, glass clinks, tambourines, crunch guitar, and weird sounds in general gracing each track on this killer LP. It’s psychedelic enough, and the Stones are doing what they do best… not faking it. Some of my favorites include the driving Connection, a staunchy Something Happened To Me Yesterday, and the rocking My Obsession and Complicated. All the songs on this record are great, it’s a classic Stones record with wild sounds.

If you can live without the big hits, Ruby Tuesday and Let’s Spend The Night Together, you’d be well off picking up the UK record, it’s the original lineup (on remastered Super CD or whatever they are calling it these days) because in the UK they would save the big ones for greatest hits records. Back Street Girl and Please Go Home are featured only on the UK release of “Btw” and are also available on Flowers (US). Between the Buttons is probably their best record?

“Cool, Calm, Collected”

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The Rising Storm “Calm Before…”

| Garage,Pop,Psych

Calm Before¦

Hardcore fans of unknown 60s psych and garage all search for that taste of magic once committed to rare grooves of vinyl, a glimpse into an era when any rock combo with a few fans could get enough studio time to immortalize a set of their wildest sounds, and with Calm Before.., you get the full dosage.

If you have an original copy of this record, you ought to encase it in 15 sheets of mylar and lock it up in the safe, as garage rock hounds are probably sniffing you down as you read this. Only 500 LPs were pressed in 1967, just as these six young lads from Phillips Academy in Massachusetts were graduating prep school.

Typically, impossibly rare albums tend to get seriously over-hyped, but not so in this case. Collectors don’t go nuts over this one because it’s so rare, it’s because it’s so good! The Rising Storm rocks with the controlled frenzy of The Remains (even tearing open the album with their explosive “Don’t Look Back”), but manage to layer in a thin film of psychedelia. The contemplative original numbers are the real gems on this record. “To L.N./Who Doesn’t Know,” “Frozen Laughter,” and “The Rain Falls Down” are three must-hear folk-tinged treats.

“Mr. Wind”  with it’s lovely, lilting melody and the rollicking “Bright Lit Blue Skies” were both tunes borrowed from local Boston garage rocker contemporaries, The Rockin’ Ramrods, clearly heroes to the Storm. Another laid back treat is “A Message To Pretty,” a Love cover that proves the musical taste and cool sensibility of these young preps. Simply put, the rockers on here will start up the party, but the softer tunes give it all the sparkle.

Most of my favorite records take some time invested before they begin to reward, and Calm Before is a genuine grower.  The CD reissue includes the original LP lineup and follows with a 1983 reunion concert recorded in their home town of Andover. Surprisingly, the boys play with all the same energy and a little bit of welcome slop that actually recreates an authentic garage sound.

These guys arguably had one of the best band names of the time. ; )

“Bright Lit Blue Skies”

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Check out the band’s current website.

The Kinks “Something Else”

| Pop

Something Else

My favorite Kinks record. This one is special. On Something Else, not only do we get the famous and beautiful Waterloo Sunset, but a fine roster of prime Kink gems.

David Watts and Situation Vacant provide the grit and rock, while three slower but wonderful numbers, Two Sisters (read: Two Davies Brothers), No Return, End of The Season, are magnificent reflective Kinksongs. Three Dave Davies numbers appear on this record and while they don’t match the genius of Ray’s masterpieces, they still feel right in their place. The remaining tunes half-define the Kinks for me as staunch Brits that refused to Americanize and rebelled by going conservative. You won’t hear the Beatles refer to a cigarette as a Harry Rag or writing tunes about their hometown traditions, Afternoon Tea (one of my all time favorites).

This album was released in between two of the most revered 60s Kink albums, Face to Face and VGPS, and in a way it does feel like a transitional record. They’re not trying too hard conceptually, just some busy brit rockers kicking out their next decent record. And dammit-all it’s another brilliant one! Damn Ray, let me get some of that! Why’s he got to write all the best songs? God save the Kinks.

Note: all bonus tracks awesome.

“Afternoon Tea”

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Traffic “Mr. Fantasy”

| Art,Pop,Psych

Mr. Fantasy

Bookending the mega radio hit, Dear Mr. Fantasy, are the wild and varied sonic experiences that comprise this classic psych record: Traffic’s debut, Mr. Fantasy.

Stevie Winwood was a prodigy with one of the great mellow rock voices and some crazy organ skills; by age 15 he was singing with The Spencer Davis Group and by age 20 he was playing with Joe Cocker and Jimi Hendrix, but before that he joined up with Dave Mason to create this short-lived supergroup and they kicked it off with a most interesting bang.

On Mr. Fantasy, we get a little something for everyone: a campy british melody here; a driving drum kit there, horns, strings, and sitars, some weirdo dialog bits, experimental audio collage, and some absolutely must-hear beautiful songs in No Face, No Name, No Number, Coloured Rain, and my personal favorite, Heaven Is In Your Mind.

Tunes like Giving To You and House For Everyone may present a challenge for the less psych-minded among us but not very much. The great thing about Mr. Fantasy is that it’s both adventurously catchy and accessibly far out. I know this for sure, as I spent night-after-middle-school-night soaking this record in with my young, impressionable, untrained Led Zeppelin and Doors loving ears.

And thankfully, no 20-minute On The Road style Traffic jams! Got to give it up for this classic gem! You rule Stevie!

“Heaven Is In Your Mind”

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The Beau Brummels “Triangle”

| Country Rock,Folk,Pop

Triangle

The Beau Brummels hit it big in the early 60s with their hits “Laugh Laugh” and “Just A Little” which were produced by Sly of the Family Stone. As English as they tried to appear, they were an American rock band hailing from San Fransisco.

I wholeheartedly recommend that you check out their early material, especially a record called From The Vaults, but it’s their adventurous and refreshing 1967 Triangle that steals the show. Sal Valentino is the voice of the Brummels, a vox of raw power and vibrato, certainly a highly unique voice that matches an almost unclassifiable and surprising album. Triangle has everything: it’s a tightly produced country record that is rooted in rock; it’s straight and folky and underlined by psychedelic imagery.

The production always drew me in on these records. By records, I mean, if you like this one, you’re in luck because there’s also Bradley’s Barn, a sequel of sorts to Triangle that was recorded in Nashville with some exceptional picking and production. Sometimes modern music can sound over produced – Bradley’s Barn and Triangle are like that, but in an inviting, interesting way, rather than a glossy, manufactured way.

Merle Travis’ “Nine Pound Hammer” is masterfully covered on this record, the most inventive version I’ve heard and one that always catches bluegrass audiences by surprise. Songs like the excellent “Magic Hollow,” “The Wolf of Velvet Fortune,” and “Painter of Women” are songs you’ll never hear anywhere near a record deemed “country.” Other’s, like Randy Newman’s “Old Kentucky Home” and “Are You Happy?” are straight up good timers.

Pick this one up, it may take a little getting used to, but it’s well worth it. The Beau Brummels are a seriously underrated treasure. Note to Beau Brummel fans: you’ll be wanting this.

“The Keeper Of Time”

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The Beach Boys “Smiley Smile”

| Pop,Psych,Sunshine

Smiley Smile

I remember, the first day I bought this album, I couldn’t listen to it right away, I was at a party for something. But I clutched it and stared at it all night, because I knew I had something special in my hands.

And I did. Smiley Smile usually gets the cold shoulder because it wasn’t Smile, Brian’s “teenage symphony to God” that never materialized (oh, but it did a year or so ago). However, if you would like to care more about what Smiley Smile is rather than what it is not, I think you are going to find yourself a great introduction to that side of The Beach Boys you may not have yet heard but were always wondering about.

Opening with the fantastic and complex Heroes and Villains, with uncharacteristic (for the Boys at least) lyrics penned by Van Dyke Parks, Smiley Smile is a real trip. This album follows Pet Sounds in the discography, so we have the creative remnants showing in arrangements and orchestration, but this time much toned down. Smiley Smile is a scarce and subtly produced record employing sound effects, laughter + dialogue, great percussion sounds, very basic instrumentation, and all throughout those marvelous Beach Boy voices shine as the lead instruments.

Of all the Boys records, this is by far the most psychedelic. Carl Wilson reported that a clinic in Fort Worth played it for their patients, their sole method in helping them out of bad LSD trips (see here, actually all the quotes make a great read). Some parts are a little over the top, as in She’s Goin’ Bald, but usually contain a great payoff. Plus, you’ll get the monstrous #1 hit Good Vibrations, and in the bonus tracks a revealing look at all the hard work that went into its development in three separate takes of the powerhouse track. Also in the bonus: the amazing Can’t Wait Too Long – this long study has a great feel and builds towards 25 seconds of one of my favorite Beach Boys instrumental moments.

Plus, with Capitol making available the entire Boys catalog in two-fer packages, you can’t pass this one up. Smiley Smile is packaged with Wild Honey, a Beach Boys-gone-soul record that I would love to talk more about. For under $10 it’s a no-brainer. Grab this record, and if you haven’t already, let this summer be your Beach Boys summer, you’ll never forget it!

“Fall Breaks And Back To Winter”

Remastered / Extra Tracks/plus Wild Honey!