The Merseys — Sorrow (1966)
Their first big hit after the Merseybeats became the Merseys, ‘Sorrow’ is actually a cover of a track by Indiana rockers The McCoys. Continuing the cover chain, David Bowie recorded the track for his 1973 album Pin Ups (one of my favorite Bowie albums ever, despite the fact it’s all covers)
Look at those mop-tops…
Gypsy Blood — Wasurekaketa Kotoba (Forgotten Words)
from Rokko Oroshi (1972)
If ニールヤング.. er.. Neil Young.. had been born in Japan instead of ol’ Canada… he might have sounded something like this! Rokko Oroshi is Gypsy Blood’s second and final album, and it’s a pity, because this is classic dust-under-the-wheels road music… roll the windows down, dude. (Or roll another number…) Other tracks are straight-up Deliverance-style hand-clappin’, fiddle-sawin’, mandolin-pickin’ jams—wild stuff.
I am only guessing, but they may have gotten their name from the raw solo guitar track of the same name, recorded by Jimi Hendrix in 1968.
Piano parts on this album performed by none other than Alan Merrill, frontman of the amazing Tokyo glam rockers Vodka Collins. Stay tuned for some of that too.
Grabbed this record at Japanese Old Prog.
The Sponsors — In and Out of Love
from Sponsors (1982)
The Sponsors, formerly known as the Handgrenades, were a Long Island group that hit the CBGB’s circuit in the late 70s and early 80s alongside bands like the Heartbreakers. They cut this LP in 1982 at Skyline Studios, on 31st St. in Manhattan, with Andy Shernoff of the Dictators producing.
The vocals, my friends, are delicious. “In in in out in in and out of love…”
Read an exhaustive bio at the Free Music Archive (and grab one of the album tracks..)
Puff — Go With You
from Puff (1969)
This is what happened when the Rockin’ Ramrods tuned in, turned on, and dropped out: Puff (as in the Magic Dragon). Beautiful Acid-Test-worthy psych-pop balladry.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say this track has the best organ sounds ever. (Sorry, Ray Manzarek) First, a chunky, gritty garage organ, then halfway through, hallelujah-worthy church pipes that’ll have you as blissed out as Jim Morrison riding the snake…
Personal & the Pizzas — Bored Out of My Brains
from Diet, Crime & Delinquency 7” (out Nov 22 on Oops Baby Records)
It’s Friday, we can have some fun, right? Awesome album cover, and to match, one of the best band names ever: Personal & the Pizzas. These boys are dishing up some Ramones-style sauce. Get it while it’s hot.
Psychic Ills — Mind Daze
from Hazed Dream (2011, Sacred Bone Records)
video directed by Harrison Owen
Brooklyn’s own Psychic Ills have put down the sensimilla for a second to record this hazy masterpiece of circa-1994 grungy glory, paired here with a psychedelic spectacle of oil-sheen colors. The scene at 2:25 is pure gold, and the ocean looks like lava.
The always-tuned-in Rose Kohl tells us Psychic Ills will be providing the soundtrack to the new film Dragonslayer at Williamsburg’s Public Assembly tonight. (free!) If you can’t make that, stream the new album at Soundcloud.
Bob Dylan — A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall
from Rolling Thunder Revue (1975)
Here’s Dylan performing the rock’n’roll version of Hard Rain in white-face, backed by one of the most epic bands ever assembled—Roger McGuinn, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, T-Bone Burnett and Mick Ronson on guitars, crazy-eyes-coke-addled Rob Stoner on bass, and Scarlet Rivera on violin. Not to mention Joan Baez on duets… a legendary tour.
(previously mentioned; the Bryan Ferry cover)
Kenneth Higney — Night Rider
from Attic Demonstration (1976)
I like to imagine this is what Kurt Vile would sound like if he were an untrained New Jersey truck driver, shouting out no discernible melody, backed by musicians who are extraordinarily adept at playing out of sync with each other.
But that’s the domain of Kenneth Higney, not Kurt Vile. Higney recorded this series of one-take demos in September 1976 and pressed 500 copies on vinyl. His plan was to distribute the album to fellow musicians, encouraging them to cover his tunes. As far as I know no one took him up on the offer, which isn’t all that hard to believe, though the record itself became a cult classic, a distillation of one man’s melancholy and despair. Some years ago, Higney himself re-released the album for all to hear.
Los York’s — Abrázame Baby (1967)
Demented garage from Peruvian psych-rockers Los Yorks. The lead singer, Pablo Luna, has a delightful meltdown on this tune, and the band just falls to pieces behind him.
This is actually a reworking of the Rolling Stones’ 1965 version of ‘Mercy Mercy,’ which was in turn a track originally written and performed in 1964 by soul/R&B singer Don Covay and the Goodtimers, with sublime guitar backing by a very young Jimi Hendrix.
To really bring things full circle, my favorite audio weirdos Lucky Dragons sampled the Don Covay version on their tooth-chattering 2002 track ‘Mercy.’ Oh, the journeys a song makes…
This and other Los York’s tracks at the definitive library of garage, Garage Hangover.
2 Of Clubs — Heart (1966)
2 of Clubs was Linda Parrish and Patti Valentine, two blondes with singing gigs at the Cincinnati nightclub Guys and Dolls. It wasn’t long before they figured out how harmoniously their voices braid together. That should be enough to lure you in. But then the going gets weird, and the Spector turns into spectacle, with a psychedelic frenzy of key changes. This gets a 10 in the unexpected performance category.
pierreism: ‘Heart’ by 2 Of Clubs Starts off as a Spector-ish ode to everyone’s favourite love-pump, then just when you least expect it, ’60s PSYCHEDELIC PARTY FREAKOUT! Amazing. (via Derek’s Daily 45)
The Tigers — Seaside Bound (ザ・タイガース - シーサイド・バウンド) (1967)
The Tigers were one of the most successful bands in Japan’s ‘Group Sounds’ era in the late 60s—a infectious mix of beat, pop and rock’n’roll that was more or less Japan’s response to the Beatles. But don’t think of them as knock-offs—these guys were real rock’n’rollers in their own right. Look at those dance moves!
I just tracked down a compilation of all The Tigers’ A-sides, so stay tuned for some more pop gems. Yeah yeah, I know, the blog’s turning into a Japanese music appreciation festival. But there are just so many charming oddities to discover…
The Alligators — Buckle Shoe Stomp (1964)
Look at these cats! A Swedish garage band that lasted just about two years, from 1962-64. So more or less until they hit puberty. (They’re all about 13 years old in this video!)
If you play guitar, practice this swinging move at home. I guarantee you’ll feel like a teen again.
via Beyond the Beat
