With jangling guitars, playful tambourines and lush harmomies in tow, folk rock sounds find favor year round, but the folk-rock vibe sounds especially splendid as the world wakes up from hibernation and all is in bloom again.
These four sides are unrelated other than in their overall vibe; after recent tragic events I just wanna focus on the GOOD things in life, and this music has an exceptional healing power.
If it was just for one song ("Needles & Pins") that is one of THE definitive folk rock statements, Jackie DeShannon would be a legend. The immense talents of this woman have ricocheted throughout a jaw dropping array of styles and she posseses the type of songwriting skills that are unparalleled. As The Byrds were first getting their act together and morphing from acoustic folkies into a self contained, electric band, they had an early champion in Jackie DeShannon, who enlisted the group to back her on this gorgeous track. No, it's not about the type of grass that folkies and folk rockers were so enamored of, but of the innocence of young love. David Crosby showcases his unique harmonies here, and already by 1965 the folk rock mold had gelled into a loping, swaying groove dotted with melodies and harmonies
seemingly coming from everywhere. Allegedly, Jimmy Page wrote "Tangerine' about his love affair with DeShannon, and the two songs certainly make an appealing pair of bookends (Robert Plant was heard introducing 'Tangerine' in concert as being about 'love at its most innocent stages").
The folk rock scene of the British Isles was dominated by brilliant music from Fairport Convention and The Pentangle, and dozens of other groups added the English pastoral experience and ancient melodies set to a rocking beat in their wake. Forever More were one of the groups who bridged the gap between folk rock and prog rock in the late 60's, and "beautiful Afternoon' from their 1970 debut is as fine of a late period folk rock track as one can find.
The San Francisco bay was a hotbed of folk rock, and (Autumn records recording artists) The Beau Brummels (in my opinion) stand side by side with The Byrds as the ultimate American folk rock groups, although limiting either group to such a label is unfair. With coffee house scenes dominating south in San Jose, north east in Berkeley, in the city of San Francisco itself and everywhere in between, the bay area folk scene begat practically every member of The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe & The Fish (and so many more) these countercultural types were tuning in, plugging in, and dropping out of the coffee houses, turning the volume up loud and rocking the walls of the old ballrooms. Formed on the peninsula just south of San Francisco, The Vejtables took a strong British Invasion influence and turned on to a folk rock sound before many of their local contemporaries in 1964. While they are perhaps best remembered for their (excellent) minor hit 'I Still Love You', I find this b-side to be perhaps their defining, jangly folk rock moment.
While Tim Buckley's debut Lp from '66 can be criticized as being the sound of a young artist grasping for his own sound (most of the ongs were written by Buckley and collaborator/ friend Larry Beckett while they were still high school students), there are several lovely moments, including "Song Of The Magician" which is one of his greatest tracks. 'Grief In My Soul' is unlike ANY other track in Buckley's astounding catalog, and it flat out cooks! The performance is a very appealing blues-folk-rock workout highlighted by Buckley's incredible vocals and some superb group musicianship. Van Dyke Parks never hit the piano harder, and Mothers Of Invention drummer Billy Mundi shows off his Zappa-driven percision behind the kit.
Alright, folks- I'm back with a handful of more intriguing covers tunes. This install focuses on the lighter side of beat and folk rock.
First off, we have Blackpool, UK's Rockin' Vickers- a band made infamous for dressing up as priests (vicars) and also including none other than Hawkwind/ Motorhead 's Lemmy Kilmister (Ian Willis) on guitar. The group were no different musically than the dozens of other beat groups recording in the UK during the mid-60s. The a-side of their final single was this cool version of the Ray Davies/ Kinks klassic which was also kovered by Herman's Hermits and made into a big international hit. The Vickers version is far superior in my opinion, as it maintains the English whimsy but adds some grit.
Hailing from Detroit suburb Oak Park, MI, The Shy Guys waxed a great version of the Gene Clark/ Byrds classic "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better" in 1967, putting an emphasis on the folk side of folk rock, with predominant acoustic guitar replacing the jingle jangle twelve string electric. The group had an excellent drums who really hits it hard, and the group contributes some excellent backing vocals, and they cap the song off nicely with a coda of their own making. The lead singer is no Gene Clark, but he does a very passable job nonetheless.
I would have reckoned that Los Angeles' "E" Types learned the Lennon/ McCartney composition from Cilla Black's recording. Not so, apparently: one of the members of The 'E" Types posted the song on his youtube page and mentioned that a member of the group read music well, spotted the Lennon-McCartney song in sheet music form and arranged a very nice version of it from there in 1966. This was several years before anyone outside of the Beatles inner circle had heard the Beatles own recording, from their ill-fated Decca Records audtion (January 1, 1962). Not only in their name, the group certainly wore their anglophilia in their sound as well, as this recording could easily pass for a British export.
I'm a massive fan of Simon & Garfunkel, and feel that the group simply does not get enough mention when the massive artists of the '60's get discussed. One of the most interesting songs in the S&G stable is "Cloudy", a gorgeous, melancholy song dripping with Paul Simon's songwriting skills. The Guild Late Gauge (itself a perfect name for a sunshine pop ensemble, is a reference to Guild guitar strings) is a mysterious group that was known to feature Paul Simon's brother Eddie. This seems to be their only release; a pity, as they have a really great sound here. This was probably recorded in 1967.
Finally, and most obscure of all, is this Tim Buckley cover from the unknown ensemble (probably a studio group) called Common Market. This probably rates as the first ever Tim Buckley cover (1967) and the arrangement is excellent, and showcases the budding songwriting talent of Buckley in an almost baroque style. Elektra was also banking on this to be a hit single from the writer himself, as they also released Buckley's version as a single in 1966; the song is also found on his first album.
Without further ado, I present the last single on RCA Records from San Jose's The Stained Glass; perhaps the finest single of all bay area psychedelic music.
While the majority of the San Francisco scene wallowed in long jams that took liberties with tuning, timing and musical structure (and I *like* a lot of those bands, so no insult intended), groups from the bay area suburbs (especially the south bay/ San Jose area, including the Chocolate Watch Band) were far more polished than their urban contemporaries. The Stained Glass formed in the wake of the Beatles, and boasted incredibly polished vocal harmonies, and a songwriter of great potential in bassist Jim McPherson. The rest of the group was guitarist Roger Hedge, guitarist Bob Rominger, and drummer Dennis Carrasco. "A Scene In Between" could have easily stepped off of the Beatles Revolver LP, as its full of trippy sound effects layered on top of a catchy song. Sadly, RCA dropped the band after this release (although the group continued on, minus Roger Hedge, for two LP's of country-rock until breaking up at the turn of the decade).
Rolling back to 1966; after experiencing heavy local success, talent scouts from RCA scooped up the group and released their debut single, a cover of The Beatles "If I Needed Someone". While it's a good cover, the flip side shows off the groups' strengths far better, in a original composition from Jim McPherson. This slice of moody folk rock is sophisticated and haunting.
For their next release,
Jim McPherson's songwriting is once again showcased on 'My Buddy Sin"; a track which is a highlight of the San Francisco Nuggets box set. Upping the temp but losing none of the moody nature, the group shows that they had the potential to be a MAJOR act, yet for all of their talent they fell through the cracks. Perhaps the music was too dark and uncommercial...
For their third RCA release, the label took no chances and enlisted Brill Building duo Mann/ Weil to provide the VERY catchy "We Got A Long Way To Go". Although the song is far more commercial than their previous offerings, the sound of the record is still unmistably Stained Glass. The record proved to be a MASSIVE local hit in San Jose, but it never took off nationally. The group had one final shot with the masterpiece ("A Scene In Between") and then their Beatle-esque roots were shed. Sadly, Jim McPherson died in 1985, although he had massive success as co-writer (with quicksilver's David Frieberg) of "Jane", a massive hit for Jefferson Starship.
"One of underground rock’s most unusual stories of the 1970s, the tale of an obscure debut LP by a Detroit singer-songwriter named Rodriguez becoming a source of hope and inspiration to the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa, is the basis for the thought-provoking new film, SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN. The original motion picture soundtrack album will be available starting July 24th through Legacy Recordings, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. The vinyl version of the soundtrack will be released by Light In The Attic Records."
If you've never heard Rodriguez you definitely should check him out. Link.
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.
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).
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