Also: Let's go on a trip that I normally don't go on. I am not some kind of expert on 60s garage rock which is what most of the music on today's One Buck Record is comprised of. Yeah, I tricked you a bit witth the artwork which screams psychedelia, didn't I? But I like to surprise my readership from time to time, hell, even surprise myself a little. I stumbled upon these tracks on this ol' French rock box set I had bought for little money, then never particularly listened to, because it wasn't that good. But with some careful editing...The first two discs were garage rock, which I boiled down to twenty highlights that make up The Trip.
There is of course the 'title song' by gadfly/socialite/svengali/sham/record producer/about a thousand other things Kim Fowley. It's little,more than some of the hip jargon of the time thrown together in a talk sing-song, but it gives a pretty good idea of the pleasues you can find on this Trip. Not professionalism at every step, but a lot of enthusiasm, some musical chops and quite a bit of chutzpah to try to make their musical mark even without the money or skills that other, more famous acts would or could.
The genre is mostly garage rock, but since that is a bit of a catch all term, there's quite a bit of variety here: some surf rock, some psych rock, some folk rock, some sunshine pop, some r&b-inspired mod rock. As said earlier, I'm no expert on the genre or any of the groups and artists here, so I let the insights - if there are any - come from you folks. Of the fine folks here, I am especially taken with Mouse'n'The Traps and their "Public Execution", the most shameless Bob Dylan/"Like A Rolling Stone" imitation I've ever heard. But also: one of the best! It's amazing how close they come to mimic The Zim. Mouse a.k.a. Ronny Weiss later showed up to lead country rock outfit Rio Grande. And "Like A Rolling Stone" also shows up, courtesy of The Creation.
One other great thing about 60s garage bands are of course the names: The Primitives, The Hairy Ones, The Creeps, The Bad Roads, The Mourning Reign. I'm pretty sure that The Primitives were, uh, kind of primitive and The Hairy Ones were hairy. Speaking of: The Hairy Ones were kind of a fake garage band, a British studio project that imported their EP to France and Australia, and is mostly remembered for their guitar players: Jimmy Page and John McLaughlin!
Anyhoo, to quote Mr. Fowley: "Summer time is here, kiddies, and it's time to take a trip...". Hope you enjoy the ride...
The Trip
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Help me out on this one, folks: which garage rock era goodies are worth checking out?
ReplyDeleteSons of Adam / The Other Half / The Fender Four
ReplyDeleteThose three groups have something in common... add Blue Cheer to the mix also.
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DeleteSome of the greatest garage songs, at least in my opinion are the following: Open Up Your Door - Richard & the Young Lions, Going All the Way - The Squires, You're Gonna Miss Me - The Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Talk Talk - The Music Machine, It's a Cry'n Shame The Gentlemen, The World Ain't Round It' Square - The Savages & You Treat Me Bad - The JuJus, just to name a few! - greg
ReplyDeleteIf you interested in the garage band genre, I highly recommend the book; TeenBeat Mayhem by Mike Markesich. It's well worth it the cost, though it may no longer be in print. - greg
ReplyDeleteGee whiz Greg you got some good taste in your "Teenbeat" choices. Yeah the Squires are very kool.
ReplyDeleteThanks Stx! It's one of my favorite genres. I must have 200 to 300 comps of various garage bands, as well as, maybe 50 full albums by individual groups.
DeleteAnd I'm happy to see that The Trip brought out some heretofore unknown commenters. Welcome aboard, gentlemen.
ReplyDeleteI'll be checking out your suggestions, though as you might've seen The Other Half is actually present on the comp...
The Other Half... there's more under the hood than just one tune. All four groups I picked have a communality.
ReplyDeleteGreg... glad to see you have control over your affliction.
@Greg... bet you're a big Love Group fan. Clear Light / Brain Train too. Dude I lent my albums out in the 60's, not a good thing. Lost tons of 45rpm first edition picture sleeve slip covers do to mishandling etc. DAMN (can I say that)
ReplyDeleteHey what's that post above this Trip File... Is that Motley Crew.
Ooooh, careful now, or I'm gonna post some honest-to-goodness hair metal!
DeleteStx, That happened to me once, and only once. Thereafter, I made cassette, copies, now cd copies. My music stays safely with me. I too was raised on all sixties' music having lived through the times and still have most of my albums and lots and lots and lots of 45s in my collection! Back when I was a teenager, my friends and I often traded 45s. It took me years and years to replace The Letter by the Box Tops 45 that I traded for the very hard to find Everybody Knows Matilda by Duke Baxter! - greg
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Delete@Greg... did you know someone called Matilda. I never heard this tune until today on YouTube. Honestly not to my taste. I prefer tunes with attitude... Nice back-story though greg, glad at lest you had foresight in making cassette copies.
ReplyDeleteSay, what happened to "One Buck Guy" I thought he was going to interject some perception and insight into this farrago.
Trip on Greg... thinks for dropping in.
Stx, Nah, I never knew a Matilda, but I did marry a Melissa (Still married to her 47 years later)! The song just spoke to me and still does, as a matter of fact. Another 60's (non garage) song that really speaks to me is; Billy Joe Royal's Cherry Hill Park. Neither ever made it big and maybe was more regional hits, don't really know. Neither is garage band genre, but I like most music styles. Nuff said!
DeleteWhile I don't have the collection that Greg does, I too am a fan of 60s garage/freakbeat/psychepop/nuggets etc. OBG, one you have in your collection is an imposter, in that the Creeps were a recent-vintage Swedish neo-garage band, so 'Darling' is not truly vintage. I can, however, recommend their first three albums (I also am a fan of the garage revival of the 80s that produced a ton of great music).
ReplyDeleteC in California
Ha! Well, that box set I used was a budget thing that has exactly zero annotation, recording or release dates etc. And I'm too much of an amateur to look all these folks up, when we have renowned garage band experts roaming the commentary section here... ;-)
DeleteGlad to hear from yah "C" in California. Yes the garage revival of the 80's. Dude you gotta know of the Swedish group The Wyld Mammoths and the Italian group The Sick Rose... yah they got it right. Both groups first albums are classics. Rok on "C". Hey thanks for step'n out.
ReplyDeleteIs this Charlie from Cali... hey! whats up Chuck.
ReplyDeleteI agree some good retro came out in the 80's
Wyld Mammoths / Sick Rose / The Others.
It took awhile to blow the stink out from the 70s. (Disco)
Remember shot-gunning a doobie down at the square.
See you around "C"... say hello to One Buck Guy for me.
Not Charlie, sorry.
DeleteC in California
I may be biased since it was my first Garage Rock comp but Pebbles, Vol. 2 (not "essentials vol 2") is very hard to beat with The Litter, The Satans, Sons of Adam, The Lyrics, Zakary Thaks and the classic Vox Wah-Wah ad by the Electric Prunes. Nuggets is great too of course but you've probably heard most of those already.
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