Category Archives: 1966

handcuffs | restraints

‘hassle’, not ‘haysil’: april 29, 1936 – april 25, 2005.“…I said, ‘could I smoke ?’“Uncharacteristically understated, on first inspection, the Haze nonetheless lets rip here – at 1’20”, and towards the fade – with a chilling approximation of a police siren wailing. Just one of 7,000 reputed original compositions penned and recorded for various labels,Continue reading “handcuffs | restraints”

mod my bed, gonna lie in it

Produced by the great Shel Talmy, this Harry Vanda and George Young classic was seemingly released first in the UK through Parlophone. Sometime in 1977, I purchased London’s “Summer of Love” EP solely for their cover of this one perfect song. Ten years later, again, and the hostelry which kept my pool cue racked behindContinue reading “mod my bed, gonna lie in it”

AMM | every noise has its note

keith rowe’s guitar rolled out over jackson pollock’s lavender mist x 3. montage by ib. I stumble into a crash-course introduction to AMMMusic not through any intellectual aspiration to po-faced theory, but through a far more immediate appreciation of El Syd’s Pink Floyd and the visceral living walls of Paul Jackson Pollock. I am slowContinue reading “AMM | every noise has its note”

le prugne elettriche #0532

Reprise 0532.Mere mention of the legendary 1972 compilation, “Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era” – a double LP featuring the Barbarians’ “Moulty“, among a plethora of assorted lysergic and garage distillations – is sufficient to prompt the reversed guitar intro to this Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz penned 45 to begin percolating inContinue reading “le prugne elettriche #0532”

under the floorboards

A swaggering Jagger & Richard composition from their fabulous “Aftermath“, this is proto-punk ‘1-2-3-4‘ at its most infectious. Restricted by the limited coverage independent distribution allowed- or, more prosaically, confined to minor celebrity in their native Pennsylvania – Bob Hocko’s Swamp Rats gnawed their way into the daylight of small town McKeesport in 1966, gravitatingContinue reading “under the floorboards”

he said, she said…

collage by klaus voorman. An intriguing splicing of demos from the “Revolver” era, culled from the original vinyl bootleg – “Lost Lennon Tapes (Volume 2)” – and reissued on a double CD through the Dutch label, Walrus, in 1996. back off boogaloo. ▼ JOHN LENNON: HE SAID HE SAID from “The Complete Lost Lennon TapesContinue reading “he said, she said…”

why we never hired a wedding singer

don gibson and reprobate accomplice, 1972. Alright. A Don Gibson number recorded, of course, by Faron Young in 1956 and Patsy Cline in 1963. It was Louisiana born crooner, though, Tommy McLain- one time time member of the Vel-Tones, alongside country singer, Cline West – who scored a #15 hit on the U.S. Billboard chartsContinue reading “why we never hired a wedding singer”

formal disclosures

toulouse, 2008. photographs by rory lindsay.So much has been written here and elsewhere regarding Brooklyn’s once forgotten finest that I will resist the temptation to embellish, save for the reminder that chief songwriter, Mike Brown was just sixteen years old when this rarified gem of an album was recorded in his father’s studio above aContinue reading “formal disclosures”

small and stately

The fifth 45 release from the Small Faces, hitting the #1 spot on the British singles chart two weeks after its release on August 5th, 1966; sharing the top position with The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine“, quite bizarrely. Think Rod Stewart’s cover of P.P. Arnold’s “First Cut is the Deepest” pipping the Pistols’ “God Save theContinue reading “small and stately”

auditors and auditties

big star trip thru kansas? poul•tice |ˌpəʊltɪs|nouna soft, moist mass of material, typically of plant material or flour, applied to the body to relieve soreness and inflammation and kept in place with a cloth. verb [ trans. ]apply a poultice to : he poulticed the wound. ORIGIN late Middle English : from Latin pultes (plural),Continue reading “auditors and auditties”

done come

Arranged by Billy Strange. Long out of print, but currently available via compilation. The lyrics here are as irritatingly maudlin – and unintentionally hilarious – as Ervin Drake’s “September of My Years“, but Hazlewood’s lowing burr elevates the performance into something genuinely affecting. The strings, though, almost blow it in the final bars. Last orders.Continue reading “done come”

i iive on the west side…

For some, gambling is a motherf@ckin’ religion. Do they hack your limbs off for that ? Or stone you to death in a football stadium ? Oh shit, pardon me; only if you’re a woman or don’t have enough dough to grease some sweaty f@cker’s palm. Pardon me. I’m forgetting myself. Bron-Y-Aur-Hajj. I don’t thinkContinue reading “i iive on the west side…”

ahh but, it hurts me now…

“…in 1965 they were spotted by leading record producer Tom Wilson, who had earned acclaim as the producer of the seminal Bob Dylan album ‘Bringing It All Back Home‘ and the single, ‘Like a Rolling Stone‘.“ Frank Zappa: guitar, conductor, vocals;Ray Collins: vocals, harmonica, tambourine, finger cymbals, tweezers; Jimmy Carl Black: drums; Roy Estrada: bass,Continue reading “ahh but, it hurts me now…”

angel of the coast

california angels, 1965. photograph by billy ray for ‘life‘ magazine. berdoo chapter, 1965. photograph by billy ray for ‘life‘ magazine. With thanks to Brian Turner of WFMU, New Jersey for originallyposting samples of the V.U. Norman Dolph acetate: “By now most music heads have heard the story of Warren Hillpicking up the rare acetate ofContinue reading “angel of the coast”

free as the grass grows

zimbabwe ? south africa? no. back in the u.s.a. Could you honestly imagine Frank Sinatra pulling off “From Russia With Love” with the same degree of intimacy ? From Wiki:“Matt Monro (December 1, 1930 – February 7, 1985) was an English ballad singer of the 1960s and one of great international postwar entertainers. Throughout hisContinue reading “free as the grass grows”