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The Creation - A Collection Of German 60's 45 Picture Sleeves

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Derek's Daily 45: Morgen - "Of Dreams"

"There's something about the mix of (Steve) Morgen's wispy vocals mixed with fuzzed out, raw psychedelia that's very appealing here. A bombastic vocalist would turn the track into a relatively generic track, but the childlike vocals and lyrics add an English-like edge to the track, which truly elevates during the more restrained chorus-like section (staring for the first time around :48). "

"Morgen's LP is very rare and very collectable, but for my ears it's this single that's priceless." via Derek's Daily 45

Jukebox Record Sleeves

via crossedcombs.typepad.com

"The What's New"

from left: Jay Huling, Colin Scot, Kevin Shipman and Carl Berg

The What's New have always fascinated record collectors: mistakenly listed as a Florida band, they released two EPs in France but nothing in the U.S.

Their story starts with the Yachtsmen, a folk group founded by students at Long Beach City College in 1959. They became regulars at Disneyland in Anaheim, releasing an LP on Disney's Buena Vista label (BV-3310), "High and Dry with The Yachtsmen" in 1961.

On the LP the group were Carl Berg (vocals, guitar), Ray Jordan (vocals, banjo, string bass), Jay Huling (aka Jay Hulingpart, vocals, guitar, bongos), and Bill Reed (vocals, bass). Other members included Kevin Shipman and Mickey Elley.

Kevin Shipman created a video history of the Yachtsmen & What's New with photos and music.

 

The Yachtsmen continued performing at Disneyland for the next several years, adding Scot Thistlewaite (stage name Colin Scot).

Scot had been playing banjo and guitar with a ragtime duo called Bud and Scotty at Coke Corner in Disneyland, with Bud Hedrick on piano.

 

 

Bud Hedrick and Colin Scot at Coke Corner, photo courtesy Bud Hedrick.

Scot was born in the UK, moved to Canada in the late '50s where he went to Sir Adam Beck Collegiate High School in London, Ontario, then moved to California where he attended Cal State University at Long Beach.

 

In October, 1965, French chanteuse Line Renaud and her husband Louis "Loulou" Gasté saw the Yatchsmen at Disneyland and brought the group over to Paris in January, 1966.

The band changed their name to the What's New though they still look very collegiate performing "Des mots d'amor" with Line Renaud on French TV. They performed at the Casino de Paris, and opened for the Beach Boys and Michel Polnareff at the Olympia on October 25, 1966.

They recorded their first EP in July, '66 at Gasté's own studio in Paris, scoring a French hit with a single version of Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain". Their first EP also has their version of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind" and two songs by Randy Sparks of the New Christy Minstrels, "Huckleberry Finn" and "Driving Wheels".


Their second EP showcases four original songs by Colin Scot, putting a sharp folk-rock sound behind Scot's plaintive lead vocal and the group's harmonies. It includes the now-famous "Up So High" ("Got no use for LSD, every time you look at me I'm up so high") and the excellent "Get Away" which moves from dreamy verse to tough chorus.

The What's New disbanded in early 1967. Colin Scot became part owner of a nightclub called Kahuna's Cave in Cala Mayor, Palma de Majorca, and toured the folk circuit in the UK in the late '60s. In the 1970s he released LPs on United Artists and Warner Bros, with a final single "Mandolin Man" / "Boris" on RCA in 1977. He died in Amsterdam in 1996 (though I've also seen it listed as 1999).

Chas Kit writes about garage bands at Garage Hangover
What's New EP scans courtesy Jeff of the Limestone Lounge and Obsolete, Yachtsmen LP scan from Vintage Disneyland Tickets

Derek's Daily 45: Somebody's Image - "Hush"

"Australia was a virtual musical mirror of the northern hemisphere during the 60's; talented groups sprouted up in all the major cities, most of which were waxing excellent cover versions of American and English soul and rock n roll records.

Somebody's Image was fronted by a then-teenage singer named Russell Morris who, by 1969, had risen to prominence as a major solo star in Australia.

This version of the ubiquitous "Hush" was released before the most famous one cut by Deep Purple, and takes its arrangement from Billy Joe Royal's version. However, this version wiped the floor with the Billy Joe Royal version in my opinion as it seems less rushed, cuts a deeper groove (dig that bass breakdown) and has a far better lead singer in Russell Morris. Since finding it on my Australian trip last year, it's become my favorite version of this tune. From 1967..." via dereksdaily45.blogspot.com

The Starfires : "Linda" b/w "I Never Loved Her" (G.I)

I remember when my brother Olivier and I came to assist the mastering of the Lyres' Live album Tim Warren (Back From the Grave) was putting out on Crypt records, in the Boston suburbs, sometime during our holiday in the States of summer '87; Erik Lindgren was on the control board in his Arf Arf Records' Home-studio and Jeff "Monoman" Conolly was in the room watching the whole process... During a break, Jeff went thru Tim's rare 45 records case he had brought along, and dug up his original copy of the Starfires' "I Never Loved Her" and promptly ran out of the house with it : a $1000+ record! What a lunatic... a memorable afternoon :)
Now, I'm happy to have just a bootleg repro of this :

 

Forget the corny white boots from the alternate vid'... for some this is a religion!

Derek's 45's of the Week: The Valentinos

Hailing from Cleveland, OH, The Valentinos were made up of the Womack brothers (Bobby, Curtis, Harry, Friendly Jr, and Cecil). Curtis and Bobby were discovered as young teenagers in 1956 by Sam Cooke while the brothers were singing gospel music. Four years later, Cooke had the group travel to California where he signed them to his SAR record label. The group initially wanted to record only gospel material, but their gospel debut flopped. Thanks to an arrangement with Cooke, the group agreed to branch out into the world of secular music, although their powerhouse singing never lost its roots in the church.

After a few years of minor r&b hits for Cooke's label, the group found that The Rolling Stones caught wind of their new single "It's All Over Now" either shortly before or immediately upon its release in 1964 and The Stones wanted to cut the record themselves for a single release. Initially, Bobby was adamantly against the Stones covering the song, but he eventually allowed them to cut the song (which became their first US hit). The Valentinos original take is raw, rough and frankly lacked the ability and chance to cross over to the pop charts. This assesment is not a slight whatsoever, as the record is magical in its earthy groove with those fabulous brotherly harmonies driven along by a drummer that takes some serious chances with beats and fills but keeps it hot and danceable amidst sounding as though it can fall apart at any second.

It's All Over Now

Tragically, shortly after the release of this single, Sam Cooke was murdered, and Bobby found himself embroiled in a scandalous relationship with Cooke's widow, in which they were married perilously close to Cooke's death. In the last years of Cooke's life, Bobby was a member of Cooke's touring band (on guitar).

During this era, the group released more records as a group, and Bobby also began striking out on his own for solo relases. The group was signed to Chicago based Chess records in 1966, which is where they cut their masterpiece, "Sweeter Than The Day Before". The song was written by Cecil Womack and Mary Wells, who by this time became his wife. The wikipedia entry for the Valentinos has a mistake in which they list the year of this release as 1968 on Jubilee records, which is well after Bobby left the band. I am quite certain that he is lead singer of this track, which is a Northern Soul staple. The record is a swirling, stomping raver which is completely inspired, from the strong backing track to the brothers vocals which keep climbing higher and higher into the soul stratosphere.

Sweeter Than The Day Before

 

Bobby was definitely out of the band by 1967, and the group carried on for a bit before breaking up in 1968. With the help of brother Bobby's massive early '70's success, The Valentinos reformed in the early 70's, only to fall apart again thanks to another love triangle story, this time involving Mary Wells, Cecil and brother Curtis. My last offering, 1968's "Tired Of Being Nobody", shows off Curtis' lead vocals in a brilliant track that has lyrics which can be interpreted as being about a love affair or even possibly an analogy to the civil rights movement with its message of overcoming strife. Tragically, brother Harry died in 1974; Bobby's excellent (albeit incredibly sad) 1973 track 'Harry Hippie" details his brothers' decline into drug addiction hell. If one were only to look at the negatives and lack of deserved success that the brothers faced through the years, it would make for quite an American tragedy. However, all one needs to do is give a listen to these glorious records to hear the real success is in the grooves.

Tired Of Being Nobody

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Derek's Weekly 45's: Jimi Hendrix Singles of Note

In the post-Sgt Pepper era when rock n roll got "serious", the single was thought to be kids stuff and not a sufficient medium to relay a "heavy" message, ushering in the album rock era. While the album era certainly yielded its share of excellent LP's, it also encouraged excess.

Jimi Hendrix was the consummate artist; one that put great care into what he released in his lifetime, and of course the LP's released in which he had creative control are nearly flawless. I can easily put on Hendrix LP's (of which I have listened to literally hundreds of times all the way through) and never tire of their majestic qualities. However, along the trip Jimi released some fantastic SINGLES as well, that are relatively forgotten to history. While some of these songs are very familiar, Jimi's catalog has been twisted and turned so many times that these songs tend to be remembered in a far different way. For instance, "Hey Joe" (his UK debut as an artist) and "Purple Haze" are thought of as LP tracks by US listeners, as they were included on his debut LP in the states ("Are You Experienced" in the US is quite different than the UK edition). These numbers were SINGLES, as originally presented by Hendrix.

"Hey Joe b/w Stone Free" (released late in 1966) sounds absolutely glorious in its original mono state. "Stone Free" has been issued numerous times (most notably on the US "Smash Hits" collection) in re-channeled stereo. "Stone Free" is, in this writers' humble opinion, one of the greatest b-sides in history!

Hey Joe

Stone Free

Derek's Weekly 45's: Psych Psampler #1

I have a whole smattering of Psych & Garage  45's digitized that never seem to make it onto my daily site (dereksdaily45.blogspot.com) so thanks to the magic of Bedazzled!, I'll share a few micrograms of them here from time to time.

First up, we have The Brass Toad, from (possibly) a town called Orange, TX with "In The Back Of My Mind" (1969). The group certainly has the type of late period psych sound as heard from fellow Texans The Bubble Puppy, and this record has a very druggy vibe that would fit in well on the soundtrack of a period low budget film, perfect for an acid freakout scene or playing in the background of a wild go-go party. 

In The Back Of My Mind

 

Cooling things off a bit but no less trippy is "Lady Margaret" from Capes Of Good Hope (1966), a band out of Chicago. The Capes laid out a fabulous song here, full of interesting lyrics, stellar harmonies, and bogus tabla drums. This group released a mere two 45's, but their talent is obvious and they seemingly could have done far more. Truly excellent stuff that will stick in your head all day and perhaps even cause some flashbacks.

Lady Margaret

Derek's Weekly 45's: The Many Guises of Brenda Holloway

  Brenda Holloway is perhaps best known for being the west coast face of Motown, years before the label uprooted itself from Detroit to shift opeartions to Los Angeles. Along with her younger sister often on backing vocals, Brenda cut a remarkable run of singles for Tamla Motown. In addition to those records, her discography is a maze of incredible, obscure records cut under mysterious circumstances and with a number of pseudonyms; here are some of my favorite sides.

1962 found 16 year old Brenda (and 14 year old Patrice) put to wax an extraordinary debut single, "Echo". Del-Fi records released the "Echo" master three times (as "More Echo" and "Echo Echo Echo", respectively) with different flip sides. The sisterly harmonies of Brenda and Patrice are haunting but so sweet. These Del-Fi releases are incredibly hard to find (I have two of the three, and they hardly ever surface).

The following year (1963) saw Brenda paired up with songwriter/ producer Hal Davis (who was one of the key players in Motown moving west, and saw much success in the late 60's and thru the 70's) for "It's You"; a lush, luscious side of west coast pop soul perfection.

In 1964, Brenda was signed to Motown and her entire discography at the label is recommended; her sensual voice was wrapped around stellar material for an intoxicating, sexy musical concoction. The flip side to her debut Tamla/ Motown single (the sublime "Every Little Bit Hurts") is "Land Of A Thousand Boys"; a song that sounds as if it's beaming down from another planet (high praise indeed). Brenda was kind enough to sign my copy of this; my favorite of her records cut under her own name. Barry Gordy was known to have a watchful eye not only on his stars but also even session musicians, yet, somehow,  (probably the physical distance between LA and Detroit) Brenda was involved in the production of a few legendary records that did not use her name but took full advantage of her incredible voice.

In 1965, Brenda, (probably) Patrice and who knows who else cut to wax the absolutely incendiary "Nobody But You" as the Wooden Nickles for the tiny Los Angeles label Vault. While the talk of discs taken to a desert island is one that is repeated far too often, if I could only take one Platter Pak full of 45's with me to some final destination, this single would be one of the easiest to select. The energy, the distorted production, the excitement and Brenda's SOARING lead vocal drive this record to the stratosphere. This was a busy year for the sisters, as they also released "I'll Be Satisfied" as The Sequins; a trio which also contained Patty Hunt and shows off the echo chamber from legendary L.A studio "Gold Star" (heard on countless Phil Spector productions). It's a stellar effort; a dreamy girl group number that softly stomps it's way into our hearts. 

1966 saw the Holloway sisters join up with Sherlie Matthews (songwriter of great reknown for many of the artists featured on the brilliant LA Mirwood label) to form the Belles. The trio went so far as to even list pseudonyms on all official label/ studio documents relating to the group! "Don't Pretend" is the record that gets me all hot and bothered, led by a breathtakingly sexy lead vocal from Brenda. 

Brenda continued recording for Motown through 1967, and the late 60's also saw her lovely song recorded by (butchered rather, in my opinion) Blood Sweat And Tears; this overblown bombasity became a huge hit at around the time Brenda retired from the music business. Sometime around 1967-68, Brenda recorded "Before You Break My Heart (reconsider)" which was never released for some odd reason; this stormer of a track has been a favorite of the northern soul community for many years and serves as a fitting footnote to Brenda's recording career. I saw her perform in Los Angeles a few years back and she still has *it*; a lovely lady with a voice that still melts hearts within hearing range.

-Derek See

Echo

Its You

Land Of A Thousand Boys

Nobody But You

I'll Be Satisfied

Don't Pretend

Before You Break My Heart (Reconsider)

 

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Derek's 45's of The Week: Some Serious Heat from Gene Chandler

While I would never lay claim to any particular city as being my be-all-end-all FAVORITE soul city, I feel a special affinity with the sound, feel, groove and messages portrayed within Chicago soul. Chicago soul has a certain swagger and pride within all of the different sounds associated with the city.

Gene Chandler had a massive hit early on in his career (the ubiquitous "Duke Of Earl") but the man's catalog is chock full of gems that have been underground fanatic favorites since their release. Whether it's the timeless ballads such as "Rainbow", or the likes of which I'm presenting today (the type of record that will fill a dancefloor or make us tap manically on our steering wheel while driving) Gene was a renaissance man in that he was equally adept as producing, writing, or performing.

First up is "Mr Big Shot" (1966); tiny indie label Constellation was on its last legs at the time of release, almost ensuring obscurity, a fact which is driven home by how difficult it is to find this record. In addition to simply being a fantastic song, this record features some of the hardest hitting snare drum bashes of the 60s which propel the song into pure groove nirvana.

Fewfolks cover James Brown, and for good reason. JB's energy and delivery are tough shoes to fill. However, on 1968's "There Was A Time", Gene arguably waxed a version that may even be a hair hotter than JB's original (and this is no slight to the Godfather). Gene bills himself as "The Woman Handler" here; in lesser hands, these claims can be laughable. However, all one has to do is listen to the effect Gene had on the ladies (heard in ecstatic screams on the "Live In 65" LP) for proof that the man could back the claim. (Collector's note- the record shown here is indeed a lovely French issued picture sleeve.)

With a backing track that was also used for Baby Huey's phenomenal cut "Hard Times", Gene brings on an incredibly sensual, hard hitting and funky sound for 1969's "In My Body's House".

I've had the pleasure of seeing Gene live, and the man still has *it*; in his 8th decade on the planet, and fifty years into his career.

Mr. Big Shot

There Was A Time

In My Body's House

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Deram DM 148 - Robb and Dean Douglas - "Rose Growing In The Ruins"

For their second release on Deram, Robb and Dean Douglas recorded the Ashford-Simpson song, "A Rose Grows In The Ruins". Unfortunately, neither this nor the B side, "Gentle People" are available to post. Robb and Dean weren't heard from again.

Deram DM 147 - John Street and The Inmates of No. 12 - "Keep A Little Love"

Try as I may, I couldn't find anything on this release, nor on John Street and his inmates. John seems to have kept a pretty low profile. There is an author named John Street who wrote a book called "Rebel Rock", released in 1986, but I can't find any connection. On to DM 148.

Deram DM 146 - The Virgin Sleep - "Halliford House"

This stoned sounding gem is the B side to "Love". The "Sleep" certainly sound like their name, as they sing about an abandoned insane asylum near Sunbury on Thames. The drifty sounding vocals are perfect for a song about 'a twilight world', where children 'play on swings and roundabouts, some of them will never get out'. Sounds positively creepy and you can easily conjure up the look, smell and feel of an abandoned asylum. Both this and the A side were written by group member Tony Rees.

 

Deram DM 146 - The Virgin Sleep - "Love"

"Love" by The Virgin Sleep is one of my favourite records from 1967. It takes me straight back to the year when music seemed to progress, change, and startle at an amazing rate. Released Sept 1, 1967, the Virgin Sleep hailed from the Richmond area of London. A four piece, they were originally Themselves, but changed to a more Kings Road sounding name, and recorded this vaguely Eastern sounding song, loosely based on a Buddhist chant. It deftly blends sitars with a string section and is musical nirvana to those of us who enjoy Psych mixed with a strong batch of pop. This song should have been a huge hit, but unfortunately, it didn't bother the charts. Fortunately, Deram gave them a 2 record deal, because The Virgin Sleep released one more single, which we will come to in due time. The B side of this record, "Halliford House" is a worthy contender itself and we will take a listen to it next. These are the kind of records that made Deram such a great label!

 

Deram DM 145 - The Syn - "14 Hour Technicolour Dream"

I haven't posted a B side prior to this, but I think the flip side of "Flowerman" deserves it's own post.

 

Deram DM 145 - The Syn - "Flowerman"

The Syn return for their second and last single, with a very Summer of '67 song about flower power. "Flowerman" is a bit of a treacly delight if you like your BritPsych on the twee side. Released in Sept of 1967, "Flowerman" didn't bother the charts. Today, most people prefer the B side, an ode to the "Fourteen Hour Technicolour Dream" happening that took place at the Ally Pally in London in April of 67, as a fund raiser for the underground newspaper, the International Times. The Syn included Chris Squire and Peter banks, who a short time later founded Yes! and released three wonderful albums before traipsing off into prog self indulgence. But at the end of the Summer of 1967, the Syn left us with a piece of era memorabilia that seems impossibly naive today, but seemed oh so real for a short time during the Summer Of Luv.

 

Deram DM 144 - Cuppa T - "Miss Pinkerton"

Two former members of the Overlanders, who did a nice version of "Michelle", get together as Cuppa T and record the self penned "Miss Pinkerton", a song about a very bored office worker, somewhat in the vein of Cat Steven's "Matthew and Son" lyrically. I love the over-the-top production with piccoloes, Indian style guitar sounds, and a marching band sound. Hard to figure this song and the British public didn't take to it enough to get it into the charts. A shame because it's a nice slice of 1967 BritPop. We'll meet Cuppa T one more time for their second Deram release.

 

 

Derek's 45's Of The Week: Mother Tucker's Yellow Duck

With a name virtually guaranteed to squash a band's chance of success (what DJ would possibly run the  risk of an FCC fine and the chance of their boradcast license being taken away by accidentally saying a certain word that begins with "f" in place of Tucker's), this great group out of Vancouver, Canada did buck the odds by signing to Capitol records for two LP's (ahhhh the 60s, where virtually ANYTHING could happen to even the least commercial of art).

This group, like the Grateful Dead to the south, incorporated a rootsy country based sound into their music which was very obviously drug influenced (they blatantly sing about getting high in "I") and VERY psychedelic. The band even started out as more a hippie collective made up of Bostonian Kathy Kay (Mother Tucker), John Patrick Caldwell (The Yellow Duck) (aka Raphael Red The Village Idiot), Bob O'Connor (aka Dogan Pink Foot/Sheldon O'Dogan), and Michael Goldman (aka Garnet Crystalman) which morphed into the musical group. 

I've chosen two singles to represent this group: "I" is from their debut single (which was released on two different labels) and this truly shows the freaky rural sound of the group, as does the flip side ("Funny Feeling") which has a bit more commercial potential but is still seriously bent.

My favorite track from these whackos is "One Ring Jane" with some seriously speaker shredding lead guitar that brings to mind The Bubble Puppy (and that's a very fine thing indeed). The flip side to THAT record is the mighty fine but more restrained (at least until the guitar solo comes screaming out like a wild cat  peaking on acid) "Times Are Changing"."Times Are Changing" was the designated plug/ A side, but in this alternate Bedazzled reality let's pretend that "One Ring Jane" was a top ten hit in 1969, shall we?

 The group certainly showed some fantastic songwriting chops amidst all of the musical chaos, and these singles truly represent the very best of this amazingly bizarre group. All of these tracks seem to have been recorded during 1968-1969.

I

Funny Feeling

One Ring Jane

Times Are Changing

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Deram DM 143 - Bill Fay - "Some Good Advice"

Released in August of 1967, Bill Fay's debut record, "Some Good Advice", is a brilliant record described as "surrealistic Dylanesque lyrics alloyed to a piano based melodic pop structure, overlaid with some fluorishes from organ and mellotron". The flip side is the equally riveting "Scream In The Ears". Unfortunately for Bill, it failed to bother the charts and he disappeared from public view until 1970, when he put out an album, "Bill Fay", which was very different from this single, with slightly darker lyrics and string arrangements that are not particularly sympathetic to his songs. He released a second album in 71, "Time Of The Last Persecution" and on the cover he appeared to have given up on life to some degree and it's filled with dark introspective songs.