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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2021 9:49:35 GMT -5
Picture this. It's an October evening and you've just arrived home by bus after another less than enthralling day's work. You've eaten and then you retire upstairs to your room because you know your favourite radio station is about to premiere a very special new single on the UK airwaves. You turn off the light and settle down. What you hear conjures up visions of precious stones glowing in dark colours (there is no Internet or MTV to influence what you see in your mind's eye). The song you hear exceeds your wildest dreams -- it is called "Good Vibrations". Aw man, I envy that experience. It must have been surreal! Sadly my first exposure to GV (at least part of it) was many years later on the Sunkist commercial.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2021 9:53:35 GMT -5
Here's another one from '66:
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Post by jk on Jul 4, 2021 15:42:36 GMT -5
Picture this. It's an October evening and you've just arrived home by bus after another less than enthralling day's work. You've eaten and then you retire upstairs to your room because you know your favourite radio station is about to premiere a very special new single on the UK airwaves. You turn off the light and settle down. What you hear conjures up visions of precious stones glowing in dark colours (there is no Internet or MTV to influence what you see in your mind's eye). The song you hear exceeds your wildest dreams -- it is called "Good Vibrations". Aw man, I envy that experience. It must have been surreal! Sadly my first exposure to GV (at least part of it) was many years later on the Sunkist commercial. Yes, being of a certain age does have its advantages, it seems. I wish I could pinpoint the exact day. It feels like it was a Friday, the end of most folks' working week, although I worked Saturdays as well at that time. It was AGD who pointed me at Radio London as the most likely source of that first airing. It figures, as that was my radio station of choice in those days. The earliest mention I can find of "GV" at "Big L" is in their Fab Forty list for 16 October (near the bottom): www.radiolondon.co.uk/rl/scrap60/fabforty/oct66/oct663/fab161066.htmlIt doesn't answer my question but it's a fantastic time capsule!
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Post by filledeplage on Jul 5, 2021 7:14:42 GMT -5
Picture this. It's an October evening and you've just arrived home by bus after another less than enthralling day's work. You've eaten and then you retire upstairs to your room because you know your favourite radio station is about to premiere a very special new single on the UK airwaves. You turn off the light and settle down. What you hear conjures up visions of precious stones glowing in dark colours (there is no Internet or MTV to influence what you see in your mind's eye). The song you hear exceeds your wildest dreams -- it is called "Good Vibrations". This is 100% the lens of the 60s and 70s. No outside filters or influencers, besides your ears, listening undisturbed, in the darkness.
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Post by boogieboarder on Jul 6, 2021 10:19:48 GMT -5
My first exposure to “Good Vibrations” was a TV show, possibly Dick Clark’s Americans Bandstand, but I don’t want him to get the blame if he didn’t do it, but they made a huge deal about debuting the new Beach Boys single, and then they cut it off after the second verse, skipping all the interesting places the song went after that. The next day at school, I told my friend I thought the song was OK, but nothing special. He kept asking me “Did you hear the whole song?” I couldn’t see why that mattered, until I later heard the whole record, obviously.
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Post by filledeplage on Jul 6, 2021 12:35:42 GMT -5
My first exposure to “Good Vibrations” was a TV show, possibly Dick Clark’s Americans Bandstand, but I don’t want him to get the blame if he didn’t do it, but they made a huge deal about debuting the new Beach Boys single, and then they cut it off after the second verse, skipping all the interesting places the song went after that. The next day at school, I told my friend I thought the song was OK, but nothing special. He kept asking me “Did you hear the whole song?” I couldn’t see why that mattered, until I later heard the whole record, obviously. Shame on them. Maybe it was not a “dance song.” In their defense - it was a little over 3 and a half minutes which was long for a single. At least they got some exposure.
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Post by jk on Jul 7, 2021 12:31:02 GMT -5
There was quite a slew of "blue-eyed soul" floating around in '66 and Mitch Ryder was out there leading the charge. I'd bought his "Jenny Take A Ride" the year before -- I couldn't believe the groove on that record! "Break Out" ends with some fearsome screams that would have done the Wicked Pickett proud: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_Ryder
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Post by boogieboarder on Jul 7, 2021 21:46:58 GMT -5
In 1965, I was watching the local TV music/dance show in Los Angeles called "The Lloyd Thaxton Show." The host, Lloyd Thaxton, made a big deal about how radio stations and TV shows can't broadcast the entire 6:13 record of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" because of its length, but that they can, and will. Half way through the song, Lloyd Thaxton came on and apologized, saying he was just informed that they had to cut to a commercial after all. I don't know why, but things like that stick in my memory for 56 years. I'm still laughing.
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Post by jk on Jul 8, 2021 6:09:42 GMT -5
In 1965, I was watching the local TV music/dance show in Los Angeles called "The Lloyd Thaxton Show." The host, Lloyd Thaxton, made a big deal about how radio stations and TV shows can't broadcast the entire 6:13 record of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" because of its length, but that they can, and will. Half way through the song, Lloyd Thaxton came on and apologized, saying he was just informed that they had to cut to a commercial after all. I don't know why, but things like that stick in my memory for 56 years. I'm still laughing. Oh goodness. I remember the one time I heard Richard Harris's version of "MacArthur Park" on the radio (it must have been 1968). The deejay soon gave up on it and played another record, leaving "MAP" to play silently. RH was still singing when that record finished so he played a second record! And RH was still singing when that one finished! I also recall there was this strange regulation on BBC radio up to and including the '60s that the pop records played were to be no longer that ten minutes. This meant you could hear "Down By The River" but not "Cowgirl In The Sand"! Crazy stuff -- some ancient Musicians' Union rule no doubt.
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Post by jk on Jul 10, 2021 8:39:09 GMT -5
There's a later "botoxed" version of the Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'" floating around (see the wiki page). You don't want that. This is the one you want, the original UK mono 45: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimme_Some_Lovin%27
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Post by filledeplage on Jul 10, 2021 9:37:35 GMT -5
In 1965, I was watching the local TV music/dance show in Los Angeles called "The Lloyd Thaxton Show." The host, Lloyd Thaxton, made a big deal about how radio stations and TV shows can't broadcast the entire 6:13 record of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" because of its length, but that they can, and will. Half way through the song, Lloyd Thaxton came on and apologized, saying he was just informed that they had to cut to a commercial after all. I don't know why, but things like that stick in my memory for 56 years. I'm still laughing. Oh goodness. I remember the one time I heard Richard Harris's version of "MacArthur Park" on the radio (it must have been 1968). The deejay soon gave up on it and played another record, leaving "MAP" to play silently. RH was still singing when that record finished so he played a second record! And RH was still singing when that one finished! I also recall there was this strange regulation on BBC radio up to and including the '60s that the pop records played were to be no longer that ten minutes. This meant you could hear "Down By The River" but not "Cowgirl In The Sand"! Crazy stuff -- some ancient Musicians' Union rule no doubt. That could be one reason that fm radio - at least, in the States started taking off like a rocket as the go-to place for longer tracks. It was not American Bandstand or Lloyd Thaxton with those pesky commercial slots. Advertisers/sponsors would not like that. They seemed to have no such time constraints. They could play the long cuts or even an album side without being interrupted. And did play stuff such as Pet Sounds and Smiley a side at a time with little commentary. College fm radio was doing much the same.
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Post by jk on Jul 13, 2021 16:00:15 GMT -5
In my opinion, it was "I Feel Free" -- and not its predecessor, the good-timey "Wrapping Paper" -- that marked the start to Cream's UK career. Ginger Baker wore a Viking helmet the first time I saw them perform this song on TOTP. It was songs like this that held the promise of a musically fantastic 1967. But for me at least, '67 lacked the magic of '66 and felt like something of an anticlimax. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresh_Cream
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Post by jk on Jul 16, 2021 6:43:14 GMT -5
A portentous moment in '66 for us UK BB fans was on 20 May when "Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys" (who?? I'd genuinely never heard that name before) made a surprise appearance on that week's Ready, Steady, Go! show with Keith Moon to promote Pet Sounds. Rather than screencapping it (and risk more trouble), I’ve linked Keith’s biography * here*. It should get you to the page in question. As for Moon and company, their several hits that year included this great favourite of mine: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kids_Are_Alright_(song)
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Post by jk on Jul 18, 2021 11:05:24 GMT -5
I bought Blues Magoos' Psychedelic Lollipop on the strength of the album's top ten hit "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet". I was underwhelmed by PL at the time--the copy I bought was a self-titled album for some reason. Recently I gave it a fresh listen on YouTube and was pleasantly surprised. This is their psyched-out version of John D. Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road", best known in the British Beat version by The Nashville Teens: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_Lollipop
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Post by jk on Jul 19, 2021 9:30:59 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Jul 30, 2021 16:34:21 GMT -5
At a time when Brian was at the top of his game as a producer and Uncle Phil was about to create what he regarded as his best work, "River Deep -- Mountain High" (a song I have never liked), the UK's Joe Meek released what was to be his last production, a cover of The Drifters' "Please Stay" by The Cryin' Shames: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Meek
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Post by jasonaustin on Jul 30, 2021 17:26:24 GMT -5
Great thread so far! I was doing a bit of back-and-forth in my mind as to whether "Shapes of Things" or "Eight Miles High" was the first psychedelic hit (they both came out in March and a case can really be made for either) but then it occurred to me that "You're Gonna Miss Me" by the 13th Floor Elevators might have predated both. And just to make it more interesting, this nugget was also released right around the same time (and introduced the world to one Warren Zevon):
Another contender in the early psych sweepstakes could have been "Circles" by Pete Townshend, but plans to release it as a single fell by the wayside when the Who parted ways with Shel Talmy and went with "Substitute" instead.
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Post by jk on Jul 31, 2021 5:42:48 GMT -5
Great thread so far! I was doing a bit of back-and-forth in my mind as to whether "Shapes of Things" or "Eight Miles High" was the first psychedelic hit (they both came out in March and a case can really be made for either) but then it occurred to me that "You're Gonna Miss Me" by the 13th Floor Elevators might have predated both. And just to make it more interesting, this nugget was also released right around the same time (and introduced the world to one Warren Zevon): Another contender in the early psych sweepstakes could have been "Circles" by Pete Townshend, but plans to release it as a single fell by the wayside when the Who parted ways with Shel Talmy and went with "Substitute" instead. Thanks, Jason, not least for the great "nugget"! Regrettably Warren Zevon is just a name to me -- my loss, no doubt. I checked the release dates (assuming the lads and lasses at Wikipedia got them right) and "You're Gonna Miss Me" came first (17 January), followed by "Shapes Of Things" (25 February) and "Eight Miles High" (14 March). I'd been considering posting The Yardbirds' magnificent "Shapes Of Things" for weeks. I suppose I just needed a push. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapes_of_Things
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Post by boogieboarder on Jul 31, 2021 9:34:12 GMT -5
I’d go as far as claiming that the rave up at the end of The Yardbirds’ 1965 studio version of “I’m a Man” could be classified as ushering in the psychedelic era, or even the sitar-like and fuzz guitars on the earlier “Heart Full of Soul.”
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Post by jk on Jul 31, 2021 16:44:37 GMT -5
I’d go as far as claiming that the rave up at the end of The Yardbirds’ 1965 studio version of “I’m a Man” could be classified as ushering in the psychedelic era, or even the sitar-like and fuzz guitars on the earlier “Heart Full of Soul.” I agree there was plenty of great envelope-pushing music in '65 (The Kinks' "See My Friends" is another example). That said, I feel that in that year the process was still underway -- we weren't there yet. I also regard 1966 as the year Tamla Motown reached a peak. If I were to encapsulate that peak in one song, it would be The Four Tops' "Reach Out I'll Be There": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reach_Out_I%27ll_Be_There
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Post by jasonaustin on Jul 31, 2021 23:11:43 GMT -5
Thanks, Jason, not least for the great "nugget"! Regrettably Warren Zevon is just a name to me -- my loss, no doubt. I checked the release dates (assuming the lads and lasses at Wikipedia got them right) and "You're Gonna Miss Me" came first (17 January), followed by "Shapes Of Things" (25 February) and "Eight Miles High" (14 March). I'd been considering posting The Yardbirds' magnificent "Shapes Of Things" for weeks. I suppose I just needed a push. Wow, so I'm guessing "Warewolves of London" wasn't a hit over there? Zevon was a pretty big deal here in the seventies and his albums Warren Zevon and Excitable Boy still hold up for me. Well recommended. Your info from wiki matches up pretty well with what I also uncovered by reading Billboard's charts. It seems in the States at least, "Shapes of Things" hit the charts about two weeks prior to "Eight Miles High", but the Byrds did record earlier versions of both "Eight Miles High" and it's b-side "Why?" at RCA Studios in December of '65. They weren't released at the time since CBS refused to put out songs that weren't cut at their own studios, but apparently McGuinn and Crosby both feel as though the original version was the superior one. Listen here if you haven't heard it:
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Post by jasonaustin on Jul 31, 2021 23:23:03 GMT -5
I’d go as far as claiming that the rave up at the end of The Yardbirds’ 1965 studio version of “I’m a Man” could be classified as ushering in the psychedelic era, or even the sitar-like and fuzz guitars on the earlier “Heart Full of Soul.” Yeah, some of those '65 singles by the Yardies were definitely teetering on psych ("Still I'm Sad" is another good one), alongside the Kinks' "See My Friends" (which jk mentioned above) and maybe even stuff like "Norwegian Wood". There was definitely something hazy and mystical in the air that found its way to both continents around the end of '65. Actually "You're Gonna Miss Me" is another one of those that was teetering-- not full-fledged psych, but more far-out than your typical garage rock. If my info is correct, the Elevators were also the first band to bill themselves as being "psychedelic" (on their business cards). This is just my own take, but I believe rock 'n' roll was originally a fusion of rhythm & blues and country/western, and then when the folk influence hit ca. '65 it morphed briefly into folk rock, unto which the influences of modal jazz and eastern music were the fourth and fifth streams that created psychedelia. So I don't find it conicidental that the Byrds were listening to both John Coltrane and Ravi Shankar on their bus when they came up with "Eight Miles High".
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Post by jasonaustin on Jul 31, 2021 23:27:28 GMT -5
I agree there was plenty of great envelope-pushing music in '65 (The Kinks' "See My Friends" is another example). That said, I feel that in that year the process was still underway -- we weren't there yet. I also regard 1966 as the year Tamla Motown reached a peak. If I were to encapsulate that peak in one song, it would be The Four Tops' "Reach Out I'll Be There": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reach_Out_I%27ll_Be_There Yeah, that Tamla stuff is all great, and if anything a bit underrated by rock snobs today. In other words, I don't think it gets mentioned enough in terms of how it influenced the whole music scene at the time. I hear the influence of the Motown rhythm all over tracks that Curt Boettcher, Terry Melcher and even Brian were creating at that time.
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Post by jk on Aug 1, 2021 5:44:22 GMT -5
Wow, so I'm guessing "Warewolves of London" wasn't a hit over there? Zevon was a pretty big deal here in the seventies and his albums Warren Zevon and Excitable Boy still hold up for me. Well recommended. I lost track of developments in pop during the mid seventies after moving to NL and only chimed in again at the end of the decade. So I missed out on a whole bunch of stuff. I’ll check out Excitable Boy, as that has his big hit on it (which I may well have heard at the time but didn't take in). Thanks for the heads up. Your take on r'n'r makes sense to me! That's it in a nutshell. Well, since "YGMM" is getting a lot of attention, let’s link it. Digging Tommy Hall on electric jug -- if that's not psychedelic (baby), I don't know what is! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_13th_Floor_Elevators
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Post by jk on Aug 1, 2021 14:11:19 GMT -5
Yeah, that Tamla stuff is all great, and if anything a bit underrated by rock snobs today. In other words, I don't think it gets mentioned enough in terms of how it influenced the whole music scene at the time. I hear the influence of the Motown rhythm all over tracks that Curt Boettcher, Terry Melcher and even Brian were creating at that time. Yes, and even The Beatles weren't exempt from the Motown influence. "Getting Better" has a groove not a million miles away from that of The Temptations' "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep"… …and those falsetto "ooh's" leading into the chorus are straight out of The Supremes' "Baby Love".
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