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Garage-Maniawith Robby and the NursePsych-out USA Part I Hi everyone! Garage Rock lives at GARAGE-MANIA on www.wpmd.org from Cerritos College, CA. with your hosts Robby Russell and my zany sidekick Nurse Cheril. We would like to thank all of you for the great response from my first four columns in RCN in which we picked out our favorite 25 Garage Bands of all time. In this month’s column, we move into a slightly different area, psychedelic rock.
1— “Shades of Orange” — The END U.K. 1967 The End were a supporting band for the Rolling Stones in 1966-67 and were managed by Bill Wyman himself. “Shades of Orange” was a ghostly psychedelic tune recorded in 1967 featuring Charlie Watts on drums. The phased Lennon-like vocal was so convincing that it turned up on Beatles’ bootlegs in the seventies. The song is truly a masterpiece. 2 — “My Friend Jack” - The SMOKE-U.K. 1967 This song should have been a smash. In Rhino Nuggets Vol 2 Box Set notes, the song is described as “massively contagious, toweringly confident, the bass and drums provide a solid balance beneath Mal Luker’s tremolo-shaking guitar and Mick Rowley’s winking knowing delivery”. Unfortunately, when the BBC figured out what “Jack eats sugar lumps” meant, and its [SD connotations, it was quickly banned in England. However, it became a big hit in Germany where it topped their charts for 7 weeks. 3 — “The Forest of the Black” —DIRTY FILTHY MUD -Oakland, CA. 1968 This band recorded just 1 single and if you can find the original 45 it is very expensive. This psychedelic recording from 1968 has wild electronic effects and druggy lyrics. You can find this gem on The Psychedelic Experience Vol. 4 — “Voices, Green And Purple” - The BEES — La Verne, CA 1966 This demented song released in October 1966 is a classic example of the influence of LSD on a teenage rock band. The song features simple fuzz guitar riffs, Jagger-like pouty vocals, lyrics that recall a bad acid trip and panic-stricken choruses. Truly uncharted waters for their times. It can be found on Rhino’s Nuggets Box Set Vol. 1. It is also one of the shortest songs we play on my show clocking, in at just 1:35. 5— “Pictures of Matchstick Men” - Status Quo U.K. 1968 This song has every psychedelic element we can think of: nonsensical trippy lyrics, wah wah effects, pinched-nosed vocals, freaky phasing effects and perhaps one of the greatest guitar signatures in history. Check out their 2 CD anthology Technicolor Dreams. 6- “Odyssey” HIGHER ELEVATION - Greeley,. CO. 1969 This band, originally known as The Monocles also recorded “The Spider and the Fly”, a demented tune about recreating someone’s nightmare. A reworking of that song became the instrumental backing for LA'S DJ Dave Diamond’s “Diamond Mine.” The band changed its name to The Higher Elevation in 1969 and recorded “Odyssey” a very garage pop spaced out nugget. It can be heard on Psychedelic Experience Vol2 7- “See Emily Play”- PINK FLOYD - U.K. 1967 This was Pink Floyd’s third single and features founder Syd Barrett from their first album Piper at the Gates of Dawn. We never get tired of this time-less track which was later covered by David Bowie. “See Emily Play”, the follow-up for “Arnold Lyne” reached No 6 in England and helped make Pink Floyd a household name. In its day the song represented a stunning advancement of musical frontiers. 8- “Jabberwock” BOEING DUVEEN & BEAUTIFUL SOUP - U.K. 1968 This is haunting recitation of Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwock” from Alice in Wonderland. It’s one of those records that defies description and if you can find the 45 it is very collectable and rare. The lead singer who went by the name of Hank Wangford became a popular country singer in England in the eighties. “Jabberwock” can be found on the CD Barn-Caruso Waxworks Vol. One. 9- “Tomorrow Never Knows” BEATLES U.K. 1966 This was the Beatles’ first, and in our opinion their best, psychedelic song ever. This was the first track recorded for Revolver and was heavily influenced by acid. The master relies on 16 tape loops. Several people were holding pencils for the tape to loop around and back into the recording machines as the various sound effects and instrumentation were faded in and out. Many of the words and phrases were either directly lifted or influenced by Timothy Leary’s The Psychedelic Experience. 10- “Kites” - SIMON DUPREE & THE BIG SOUND - U.K. 1967 There wasn’t really a Simon Dupree in this band. The name was tagged to lead singer Derek Shulman whose brothers Ray (guitar) and Phil (saxophone) were a part of the Big Sound. We saw a video clip of the band playing “I See the Light”, a cover of the 5 American’s hit, on the German TV show Big Beat, and they had a wild stage show. The Blues Brothers probably borrowed a page from them. Despite being known as mainly as a rhythm and blues band their only big hit was “Kites”. This was a haunting song with oriental atmosphere, exotic instrumentation and mysterious spoken passages from an oriental lady. The Shulman brothers reappeared in the seventies in the band Gentle Giant. 11- “I Can Hear the Grass Grow” - THE MOVE - U.K. 1968 This band was led by Roy Wood who later formed ELO and Wizzard. The track thunders along with Ace Kefford’s roaring guitar hook and Wood’s skillful guitar. Each member of the band shows off their vocal prowess and have distinct vocal parts as well as contributing to the harmony passages. The Move were also known for their destructive stage act in which television sets, political effigies and even cars were demolished with axes and sledge hammers. This track on be found on the Rhino Nuggets Box Vol. 2, and showcases the group at its peak of their powers. 12 - “Mr. Pinnodmy’s Dilemma” - THE ATTACK -U.K. 1968 We conclude side one of our compilation CD with this strange track from the Attack, a band that combined lyrical freakitude with a heavier approach. Their manager Don Arden saw them as the next Small Faces but obviously their record company - Decca - didn’t as they were dropped after only four singles. Their version of “Hi-Ho Silver” unfortunately was released at the same time as Jeff Beck who landed up having the hit. In our next article we will select 12 more unknown psychedelic relics for side 2 of our ultimate Robby and Cheril’s Pysch-Out USA CD. Some of the information used in this article came from the following: British Beat 1950-69 by Terry Rawlings and The Tapestry of Delights by Vernon Joyson Part 2GAGRAGE-MANIA LIVE SATURDAYS -1 TO 3 PM PACIFIC TIME - REPLAYS 5AM, 9PM, 1AM EVERYDAY. Just go to www.wpmd.org and click on the alternative stream site: www.robbyrussellshow.com |