New York Spotlight: The Brigands - Would I Still Be Her Big Man?

New York Battle of The Bands takes us to the Brill Building. I think.

I've always loved this song. And, I've always had a suspicion that this band is not really a band. Quite frankly, the song is too well structured to be your typical 60's garage band kicking out one lonely single after the lads pooled all their money together to go down to the big city to record that song that makes everybody get up and dance. And a major label like Epic? And, the Resnick brothers? Didn't they write Yummy, Yummy, that god-awful bubble gum pop song? All the circumstantial evidence points to "studio" band. Add to that the fact that nobody has ever come up with a band flier or a story of playing with the Brigands at the Battle of the Bands at some high school in Yonkers and it is pretty clear that the Brigands were but only a Tin Pan Alley creation.

But that shouldn't stop us from giving Would I Still Be Her Big Man? a big wet kiss. Mwuaa! Released in 1966 (of course!) on Epic Records, Would I Still Be Her Big Man? details the double life and troubled mind of our hero who finds himself sweating from 9-5 in a factory during the day and dressing in top-notch suits at night just to give the girl he loves the things she wants. But if she finds out that he is just a hard working blue collar chump, then what? Like us, our protagonist is only left to wonder:

Ahh, baby likes to eat in fancy restaurants. Well she's always had the things she wants. I'm afraid she'll say goodbye when she finds out I'm just a poor guy. I wonder, I wonder, would I still be her big man?

Dude. Man up! If this she-devil doesn't love you for your cool guitar-riff that repeats throughout the song, then you need to dump her. Not only is that guitar riff nicely fuzzed, you have great tambourine work and a bitchin' little key change to keep us snapping our fingers and shuffling our feet. You are a 7" record, nicely rounded, on a great label. You need to realize that you are loved. If this gold-digger doesn't love you for that and that alone, then someone else will. And that person will still treasure you 45 years later. They may even covet you on eBay. And maybe -- just maybe -- someday they will write about you on their way cool music blog.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

New York Spotlight: The Blues Magoos - We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet and Gotta Get Away

Our regional Battle of the Bands turns to the state of New York. And we start today with a group that actually was able to make some waves nationally. 

The Blues Magoos hailed from The Bronx in New York City. The band was Ralph Scala, Emil "Peppy" Thielhelm, Ron Gilbert, Mike Esposito and Geoff Daking. The band's first release was on Verve Records (as Bloos Magoos) but did little. Mercury Records swooped in and signed the band and took them into a studio to record an LP in 1966. The second single from the album, released in October of 1966, was their biggest hit, (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet. The song was written by the lead guitarist, the organ player and the bassist and lifted a riff from Ricky Nelson's unique version of Summertime. But they took that riff and made it front and center of a musical explosion that simply soars. Somewhat improbably, the song became a national hit, reaching #5 in the US and getting The Blues Magoos a spot opening for The Who and Herman's Hermits as well as a spot on the very important Smothers Brothers show. 

The Flip-Side of We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet is the strong number, Gotta Get Away. Both sides demonstrate just how talented this band was. In particular, the guitar work of lead guitarist, Mike Esposito (second from left in the photo below), is more than a cut above the competition.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

New England Teen Spotlight: And the winner is...

The legendary Executive Committee of On The Flip-Side has meticulously gone through the 10 nominations for "the best 1960s garage record out of New England" and have come to a unanimous decision.

The winner is Connecticut's The Squires with their double sided gem on Atco Records, Going All The Way/Go Ahead. That can be heard here. Congratulations go out to Michael Boyeau who composed both sides, sings lead and plays drums.

Here are the top five finalists:

1. The Squires - Going All The Way

2. The Bold - Gotta Get Some

3. The Others - I Can’t Stand This Love Goodbye

4. The Shames - My World Is Upside Down

5. The Rockin’ Ramrods - She Lied

The Squires will now move on to the next round as they await their counterparts from other parts of the country.

Next up in our regional Battle of The Bands will be the states of New York and New Jersey. Until then, click dreamy pic below (which, contrary to public opinion, is NOT the much vaunted Executive Committee of On The Flip-Side relaxing at our offices high atop Mount Garagemore) to "like" us on Facebook. Yep, you can get On The Flip-Side right there in your news feed.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

New England Spotlight: The Shaggs - My Pal Foot Foot

The New England Battle of the Bands wraps up today with a real killer number.

The Shaggs were three sisters from Fremont, New Hampshire. They were Dorothy "Dot" Wiggin on first guitar and lead vocals, Betty Wiggin on second guitar and Helen Wiggin on drums. The girls apparently had no interest in music, but their paternal grandmother had a vision of musical stardom for the girls after a particularly revealing palm reading. The girl's Dad, Austin Wiggin, removed the girls from school and forced the girls into music as he believed his mom's visions had all come true in the past. The problem was, the Wiggin girls didn't have much experience with music. But don't mind that!

Collectively the Wiggin girls were called The Shaggs, a play off the shaggy hair style craze going around. They played the local Elks Lodge and a few dances. The girls were apparently not well received by the local teens but dad insisted they keep at it. In 1969 he drove them to Revere, Massachusetts to cut an album. Austin, of course, was tapped as the producer.

The girls cut enough groovy material to release an album of originals on Fleetwood Records and one single, mislabeled as The Shags. The A-Side of that single is the trance inducing My Pal Foot Foot. My Pal Foot Foot was written by Dot and tells the tale of her oft-roaming cat whose name, obviously, was Foot Foot.

The song starts with a pretty killer 15-second drum solo from Helen before Dot and Betty come crashing in with their deft guitar work. Then comes the great vocals. The interplay between Dot and Betty, who harmonize about the missing cat like only sisters can, is sublime.

I don't have time to roam
I have things to do
I have to go home
Oh, Foot Foot, where are you? 

{drum solo} 

If Foot Foot didn't like to roam so well
He would still have a place to dwell
Foot Foot please answer me
I know where you are
You are behind that tree

How will the tale of the roaming tail end, you ask? Well, of course, with a drum solo from Helen! Now I think we know why Foot Foot would often roam far from home.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

New England Spotlight: The Barbarians - What The New Breed Say

New England Battle of the Bands is still spinning. The final days of our spotlight takes us to Provincetown, Massachusetts. The band is Bruce Benson, Ronnie Enos, Jerry Causo and Victor Moulton, also known as Moulty. Collectively they are known as The Barbarians.

The Barbarians released four singles and one LP between 1964 and 1966. Today we feature the A-Side of their third single, released on Laurie Records in November of 1965. The song, What The New Breed Say, was written and produced by New York producer, Doug Morris. It has an Ed Cobb thematic feel to it as the singer exacerbates the generation gap. Some nice guitar fills replete with a Steve Cropper rip-off towards the end.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

New England Spotlight: The Rockin' Ramrods - She Lied

Our New England Battle of the Bands keeps us in Boston on this kick-ass Friday.

Sometimes you just need to let the song speak for itself (and for you). So here we go, The Rockin' Ramrods perform their original composition, She Lied! Recorded in 1964 for Bon-Bon Records in their hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. The Rockin' Ramrods were Bob Henderson, Vin Campisi, Ronn Campisi, and Lenny Cirelli.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

New England Teen Spotlight: The Others - I Can't Stand This Love, Goodbye

[Please see comment section below for some updated info from one of the band members for more on this great song]

New England Battle of the Bands takes us to today to tiny little Rhode Island.

Goodbye. What a powerful, multiple-meaning word it is. The intent of the word is entirely in the tone. It can be a flat statement of departing. It can be a sad, sorrow-filled departing. It can be an anger filled statement to end a conversation. Or it can be to the tone of, as sung by Kingston, Rhode Island's The Others, something along the line of "piss off you mean mistreating girl."

The Others were formed by a bunch of University of Rhode Island college students and one student from nearby Brown University: Jim Destout, Mike Brand, Pete Shepley, John Costa and Mike Patalano. On the connections and dollars of one of their As the result of a chance meeting Mike Brand's father had with an established talent manager, Bob Marshall, the Ocean-Staters headed down to New York in June of '65 to cut some demos. Dad's connections was able to pull some strings and get  led to an RCA executive audition who liked what he heard and signed the boys on the spot. Next thing you know The Others are on a major label and opening for The Byrds and The Lovin' Spoonful.
I Can't Stand This Love, Goodbye (written by Brand and Shepley) is the first (and best) single from the boys. It was released by RCA Records in September of 1965. It features a biting guitar riff that plays throughout the song, a nasty little scream leading into a perfect guitar solo and some classic 60's garage lyrics about how all these poor, innocent teenage boys are treated poorly by runaround teenage girls. This world only existed on record, by the way.

Well I hate to leave you but I have to go, goodbye. Well you played me bad, you deserve it so...goodbye. I can't stand this love, so goodbye!

Now, ironically, I first heard this song as performed by punk pilgrims, The Damned (click here to read a Flip-Side article on the Damned). The boys from London once recorded a one-off record under the monicker of Naz Nomad and the Nightmares and this song was one of their standouts. How they came to it, is beyond me. Ironically, that same record, Give Daddy The Knife, Cindy, featured a cover of the Boston based group the Rockin' Ramrods' 1964 recording of their non-hit song, She Lied! That song got a little flip-love from us back in April. Check it out here.

I'm gonna wrap it up but, for full disclosure and for those who want more info on The Others, I suggest you check out this fine interview with drummer Mike Patalano from a site called Fancy Mag. It's got tons of cool pics of The Others.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

New England Spotlight: The Remains - Once Before and Diddy Wah Diddy

The New England Battle Of The Bands just keeps rolling! The bands we have featured in the last five posts have been small potatoes. All but one of those artists only had one release. The other artist, The Blue Beats, two releases. Today we turn our attention to a real, legitimate band.

The Remains hailed from the unofficial capital of New England, Boston, Massachusetts. The members of the band, Barry Tashian, Vern Miller, Billy Briggs and Chip Damiani, all met while Freshmen students at The University of Boston in 1964. From day one the band was in a groove. And the kids at BU knew it. The legend goes: acoustic dorm room rehearsals with kids spilling out into the halls led to the kids in Kenmore Hall setting up a rehearsal spot for the band in the basement. Kids from all over Boston started showing up to hear them groove. Then came the first gigs already filled with adoring fans pouring out into the streets. Epic Records heard of the legend and the band was signed in the waning hours of 1964.

The band released their first single in March of 1965. The Tashian penned Why Do I Cry was sophisticated and catchy. A real gem of production. But we're going to jump ahead and feature the band's third single. And of course, we're going to flip the sides.

The Flip-Side of their March 1966 release was composed by the rhythm section of the band, Vern Miller, the bassist, and Chip Damiani, the drummer. Once Before is a rocket fueled attack that would have made The Yardbirds proud. And damn, it's catchy too! Tashian's vocals are matched beautifully by his edgy guitar tone and wonderful rhythm guitar work and tastefully subtle fills.

The A-Side was a cover of the traditional blues number, Diddy Wah Diddy, and certainly picked up from Bo Diddley's version. The Remains do a great, peppy version that tracks closely with Mr. McDaniels' take on the number. It was a solid choice for the A-Side.

Everything was going great for The Remains. Epic Records moved them to New York, took them into a studio to record a full length album of killer track after killer track. Then they got the call. The Remains were tagged to open for The Beatles on what would prove to be the band's last ever tour. The Remains got a spot performing live on The Ed Sullivan Show. Hullabaloo was next. Everything was looking perfect. But just days before The Remains were to take off on the tour, drummer Chip Damiani decided he didn't want to go. What?!?!?!?! The band soldiered on without him but the remains of the band felt that it wasn't the same without him. So just as their album was released, the band broke up. Sheesh!

Barry Tashian went on to play with numerous Nashville-based acts including performing with Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris and is still active in music today.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

New England Spotlight: The Shames - The Special Ones and My World Is Upside Down

The New England Battle of the Bands competition continues on this Tuesday with a band out of Ipswich, Massachusetts, a town just north of Boston. The band was The Shames (formerly the Cryin' Shames, but that name was taken) and consisted of Denis Trudel on vocals, Gerard Trudel on bass, Joey Amerault on drums, James Amero on lead guitar, and Patty Germoni on organ. That's right, The Shames were rockin' it with a girl in the band. And her nickname was apparently "Beetle". Bitchin'! The Shames played all over New England and, according to Back From The Grave Vol. 6, as far West as Buffalo and even had Bo Diddley in their audience one night. The band kicked out only one record, released on RFT out of Hyannis, Massachusetts, the same tiny town in Cape Cod where they recorded this sloppy-ass gem. And here is the kicker about this 1967 release. They forgot to put their name on the record. D'oh!

The A-Side, The Special Ones, was composed by singer Denis Trudel (second from right in the scanned photo below). The song starts with a sloppy racket of brazen guitar banging away. Trudel laments the life of being a long hair mod in a town of squares. But he stands up for himself, calling themselves The Special Ones (a title that takes on a different meaning when you consider they forgot to put their name on the record!). He even works in the band's original name of The Cryin' Shames into his lyrics. 

The Flip-Side is perhaps the better known of this double sided raver. My World Is Upside Down was co-written by the guitarist (the blonde cat on the left) and starts epically awesome with Trudel (voice cracking like Peter Brady) calling the flock to church before Gerard Trudel rips off a bass solo that would put John Entwistle to Shame (see what I did there?). I say this next thing with 100% sincerity: The loud jangly guitar overwhelming the recording, the drums banging away deep in the background, beyond dodgy harmonies, funky time changes, ridiculously simplistic song structure and the requisite 'woe-is-me' lyrics makes this a garage classic in the first order. It's just the kind of rock-n-roll approach that makes teen-driven garage music from the 60s so damn good. We don't need to be going up, up and away in a beautiful, beautiful balloon. We don't need to be going on an overly complicated musical journey to tell us that 'your's is no digrace'. Nope. We need one diminutive, snot nosed outsider telling us about how he feels like a 'broken limb on a tree'. And in less than 2:40 to boot!

If I recall correctly, San Diego's Tell-Tale Hearts did a spot on cover of this song back in the early to mid 80s. It must have taken their bassist, Mike Stax, hours in front of the turntable to figure out that bass solo!

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

New England Spotlight: The Squires - Going All The Way and Go Ahead

The New England Battle of The Bands continues into this new week. We start the week with a monster double sided record.

The Squires were a bunch of high school buddies out of Bristol, Connecticut (perhaps best known today for being the home of ESPN). In the fall of '66 they loaded into the van and drove to New York to record a few original songs. One of them was the mega gem, Going All the Way, from drummer and singer, Michael Bouyea. Thomas Flannigan was holding the Fender Jazzmaster guitar, John Folick owned a cheap bass that looks to me to be a Kay; and Kurt Robinson from nearby Torrington, played a mean Farfisa organ. The band would later add a drummer and move Bouyea to the front, but that guy isn't on this recording.

The A-Side is the Bouyea composed Going All The Way. The jangly guitar, the lonely bird chirp of the far off organ, the lyrics that exude cockiness, the blazingly fast jazzmaster guitar lead that takes up nearly 1/4 of the entire song. Michael Bouyeau's scream that leads us into said guitar solo. It is perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfect. The Flip-Side is nearly as good. Go Ahead, also composed by Bouyeau, is a classic folk rock, pop number and tells the tale of the 60s garage, time-tested theme of "bad girl does good boy wrong." With all it's suspended chords and efficient 2:07 of length, this could have been an early Byrds number. 

The record was released on Atco Records in September of 1966. But Atco fell down on the job with a monster record on their hands. The Atlantic Records subsidiary did not promote their local gem and the number of pressings of the record is rumored to be 2,500 or less. I want it. 

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

New England Spotlight: The Cobras - I Wanna Be Your Love

New England battle of the bands continues on this bitchin' Friday!

This is one of those killer songs I almost forgot about. Until today when I pulled out an old vinyl comp that had been sitting in my bins for about 25 years untouched. I Wanna Be Your Love is the first song on New England Teen Scene Vol 2.

Little is known about this band, but a bit of digging around on the internet has turned up a few hints. One sight claims the boys are from Smyrna Mills, Maine. This is beyond a small town nestled near the Eastern border of Maine with Canada. How these lads found enough people to form a band is beyond me. But, hey, stranger things have happened. 

More digging shows that The Cobras were a trio. Gary Leavitt was on vocals and guitar. His brother Jay Leavitt on drums. I don't know who was playing that bitchin' bass. The Cobras lone record was released in 1966 (weren't they all?) on Big Beat Records (the label's only release) and produced by a cat named Bobby Herne. He is the same guy that recorded the legendary Shaggs record, Philosophy of the World, in Revere, Massachusetts. Us Flipsters are betting The Cobras made the same trip from the north woods of New England down to Revere to record their disc. We're also betting that dad drove the station wagon.

I Wanne Be Your Love is a wild stomp of a song with a quasi-Bo Diddley beat on crack and wild screaming and demonic Jagger influenced vocals. The bass work is top notch and pounding. I particularly dig the run after the first verse and at the end of the guitar solo. The guitar solo is quite impressive (again...Smyrna Mills?!?!?!?!). Banging drums and some depraved lyrics like "your eyes are colder than ice cream" make this an A+ gem. A Mount Garagemore, if you will. 

I Wanna Be Your Love was written by Levitt-Levitt (note that their names are misspelled). One source shows Gary Leavitt as passing away in 1975. Jay Leavitt is apparently still kickin' around Maine. Contact us Jay, let us know about this recording and clear up some info on this cool record!

New England Spotlight: The Bold - Gotta Get Some

"Gotta get some. Yeah baby!" We're back for more of our battle of the bands in New England.

The year is 1966. The town is Springfield, Massachusetts. Four college kids living in nearby Amherst stride into a studio and spew onto wax their love of college girls, sexual voyeurism, and the need to let it erupt. The song is the very boldly titled Gotta Get Some and the band call themselves, what else, The Bold. A pretty cool and different sounding name in their day. The bold result of this trip to Springfield is one of the best garage rock songs to ever come out of the holy grail year of 1966. Snarly vocals, fuzzed out guitar and an incessant 4/4 rhythm back up some of the best sexual gratification lyrics you will ever hear.

"Gotta get some. (Yeah baby).

Sitting in class, waiting for time to pass

I'm eyeing some girl and getting mad at the world

When I'm out for the day, I meet some nice thing on the way

I said "if you're free come along with me"

(When I get too close and the feeling comes over me)

Gotta Get Some!

On the beach when it's just out of reach

All the girls gather round, you know they're digging my sound

Holding hands in the sand, getting wet, getting tan

I'm so ready to go my mind's gonna blow

(When I get too close and the feeling comes over me)

I Gotta Get Some!

In the night when the feeling is right

And the band is playing you know they are out of sight

I'm dancing with my girl and we're both uptight

you know it can't be wrong the way she turns me on.

(When I get too close and the feeling comes over me)

I Gotta Have My!

After hours when we're hanging around

digging sounds, and crowded pathways, said somebody's tired

well it's too late for home, I know I ought to phone

what can anybody say when you're feeling this way?

(When I get too close and the feeling comes over me)

I Gotta Get Some!

Yeah baby, yeah.

Yeah, I gotta get some!

WoWWWWW"

New England Spotlight: The Blue Beats - Extra Girl and She's The One

We're going to spend a little time looking at records by geographical location. A bit of an old school Battle of the Bands, if you will. We're going to start in New England, since that is where the country started anyway. 

A few weeks back we wrote about The Blue Beats who hailed from Ridgefield, Connecticut, an affluent bedroom community of New York City. (You can read that article here.)  The quartet of Kit Miller, Peter Robbins, Lance Drake and Jack Lee kicked out two nice records for Columbia Records. Today we look at both sides of their first single. Extra Girl was written by Lee and Drake, while the Flip-Side of She's The One was written by Lee and Robbins. The single was released with a picture sleeve on September 6, 1966. The single didn't do too much, which is a little surprising as Extra Girl is quite the catchy number. Both sides, but particularly She's The One, mine that same vocal-first/pained-John Lennon influenced genre that The Merry-Go-Round and The Left Banke also did so well. 

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Elektra Records Spotlight: The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog/1969

It's the last day of wrapping ourselves in the soul of Elektra Records. The last post had us in Detroit, Michigan as Elektra's PR man, Danny Fields, took in a show by the revolutionary MC5. As we noted, Fields called Elektra's President, Jac Holzman, and asked for money to sign MC5 on the spot. At the same time, Fields asked MC5 if they knew of other acts in the area he should take in. The response was a suggestion for Fields to drive down to Ann Arbor, Michigan and check out a brand new band that had grown out of a modestly talented band called The Iguanas. The drummer of that band, James Osterberg, was now the singer of this new band calling themselves The Stooges. The singer was now going by the name Iggy Stooge, a name derived from the trailings of his last band and his new band.  

As a member of The Iguanas, James Osterberg took in two shows in Ann Arbor by The Doors. The drummer with larger aspirations watched as Jim Morrison antagonized the audience with his detached performance. 

So, here’s this guy, out of his head on acid, dressed in leather with his hair all oiled and curled. The stage was tiny and it was really low. It got confrontational. I found it really interesting. I loved the performance [...] Part of me was like, 'Wow, this is great. He’s really pissing people off and he’s lurching around making these guys angry.' People were rushing the stage and Morrison’s going 'Fuck you. You blank, blank, blank.”' You can fill in your sexual comments yourself. The other half of it was that I thought, 'If they’ve got a hit record out and they can get away with this, then I have no fucking excuse not to get out on stage with my band.' It was sort of the case of, 'Hey, I can do that.' There really was some of that in there. (www.classicrockrevisted.com)

Fields was not totally sold but he signed the band for very little money, $5000. It was money from the same wire transfer intended for MC5. The Velvet Underground's John Cale was brought in as producer to work with this band that was hard to put in a category. Sure, you can see how they were influenced by Elektra's biggest band, The Doors, but the delicate musicianship wasn't there. Sure you can see how they were influenced by their friends, The MC5, but the speed wasn't there. Sure you can see how they were influenced by the garage bands of their day, such as The Swamp Rats, but The Stooges were more about the dirge of music. And as such you can see how The Stooges were influenced by John Cale's minimalist band, The Velvet Underground.

With Iggy at the forefront (soon to be rechristened Iggy Pop), Ron Asheton on guitar, his brother Scott Asheton on drums and Dave Alexander on drums, the band banged out a crude, influential album. The first single from the recording sessions was released in June of 1969. The songs were the band composed, I Wanna Be Your Dog on the A-Side and 1969 as the Flip-Side. Not exactly radio friendly material. The single and the album would land with a thud. But over the years the album and the band would grow to the status of legendary as bands like The Ramones, The Damned, Red Kross and The Sex Pistols would all incorporate The Stooges early work into their own recordings. 

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Elektra Records Spotlight: MC5 - Kick Out The Jams

Day five of our Elektra Records love-fest has us traveling to Michigan.

Elektra's PR man, Danny Fields, was visiting the working class city of Detroit in the Summer of 1968 when he took in a show by a Motor City band that had already released two singles on local labels. With The Doors over a year into their legacy, Elektra Records had real skin in the game and could once and for all be considered a real national label. So when Danny Fields came to your show, it was bound to turn some heads. MC5, with their alleged propulsive live shows and radical left political proselytizing had already been lauded by members of Cream and by Rolling Stone Magazine.

Based on one performance, Fields called back to Los Angeles and told Jac Holzman to sign the band on the spot and unheard. Holzman did just that, wiring Fields $15,000 to sign them on the spot. Further, Holzman and producer Paul Rothchild agreed with MC5's and Danny Fields' suggestion to not go into a studio, but rather record their first album entirely live. Over the course of two days -- October 30th and 31st -- MC5 recorded their debut album at the Grand Ballroom in Detroit in front of a live audience.

Individually they were Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith on guitar, Michael Davis on bass, Dennis Thompson on drums and Rob Tyner on vocals. Collectively they were a punch in the face. Elektra picked the second song of their set, Kick Out The Jams, for the band's major label debut released on December 26th, 1968. The release truly marks a seminal moment in rock-n-roll history. MC5 sounded like nobody else. They were creating a brand new sound. A sound that is universally heralded as the father of Punk Rock. The Ramones, The Sex Pistols and, most transparently, The Damned all grew out of the rib that was MC5.

Kick Out The Jams showed just how fast the band evolved from their first recordings dating back to 1966. And it showed how radical Elektra Records was willing to be. The label was already pushing the envelope with the subversive and hard to control, The Doors. Now they were just flat out ripping that envelope up. Despite the label editing the now infamous introduction to Kick Out The Jams for the single release, the record was immediately banned by a major retailer in Detroit who feared MC5's political insurrection would cause a backlash at the department store. MC5 doubled down and took out full page ads denouncing the department store as capitalist pigs. In the end it was too much for Elektra Records and they dropped the band after the first album. But it was too late. The new sound was out - a very Detroit sound, I might add -- and the groundwork for the future of rock-n-roll was set with this simple little release on Elektra Records. So, right now, right now, let's....Kick Out The Jams mother fuckers!

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Elektra Records Spotlight: The Doors - Break on Through and End of the Night

Break On Through

End Of The Night

Day four of our Elektra Records spotlight has us, perhaps predictably, moving from Love to The Doors. The two bands were closely tied and it was in fact members of Love that first brought The Doors to the attention of Jac Holzman and Paul Rothchild in the Spring of 1966. It would be a fateful introduction for all involved.

It was immediately clear to all that Elektra Records had something bigger on hand than anything they had ever had before. The Doors were the complete package: charisma, sound, musicianship, songwriting skills, willing to tour and work hard. Perhaps sensing they had finally got one over on Columbia and Capitol records, Elektra Records put everything they had into the band including preferential treatment for studio time and marketing dollars. Elektra would give the band a picture sleeve for the debut single and they even filmed the band on stage to make a video to promote the new band. Not exactly a common move in 1967. Meanwhile, the agoraphobic Love would languish in the mountains above Hollywood, literally looking down at a billboard promoting The Doors' inaugural album. Arthur Lee and his band would be left to watch The Doors make the circuit of TV shows promoting their explosive debut single, Break On Through.

The prophetically titled Break On Through, primarily composed by guitarist Robbie Krieger, was released in February of 1967, weeks after the release of the album and seven months after the song was recorded. The Flip-Side of the debut single, End Of The Night, also appeared on the debut album. It's a gentle number that really showcased Robbie Krieger's under appreciated guitar skills.  

Shout out to staff engineer Bruce Botnick and producer Paul Rothchild for elevating these recordings to a new level. 

Elektra Records Spotlight: Love - Stephanie Knows Who and Orange Skies

Stephanie Knows Who

Orange Skies

Elektra Records...day three. 

Day one of this series talked about how Elektra President, Jac Holzman, narrowly missed out on the hottest band on the Sunset Strip due to a moment of hesitation (you can read that article here). Day two talked about how staff producer, Paul Rothchild, flew to Chicago to sign a racially-mixed buzz-creating band before they could get stolen away. (you can read that article here). But that band wasn't about to become hit makers. Not by a long shot.

Day three has us here, learning from those two experiences and filled with Love. 

Elektra Records combined their first two forays into the world of rock-n-roll and finally got the rock band they were looking for on their third attempt. A bona fide Sunset Strip sensation (like The Byrds) and racially mixed band (like the Paul Butterfield Blues Band) who created songs like few others could. The band was Love and featured a roadie from The Byrds and a charismatic frontman in Arthur Lee. The band hit it right out of the gate for Elektra Records with their massive reimagining of Burt Bacharach's My Little Red Book. That single charted at No. 52 nationally and finally gave Elektra a rack upon which they could hang their hat. They were real players with a real rock band.

Paul Rothchild and Jac Holzman gave the band great latitude to experiment in the studio. That resulted in one of the wildest (and complicated to record) singles in Love's impressive sophomore release, Lee's A-bomb of a song, 7&7 is.... 

We feature today the first pressing of the band's third single for Elektra Records. This single was released in October of 1966 as Stephanie Knows Who with a Flip-Side of Orange Skies. Two weeks later the single was unceremoniously withdrawn and Stephanie Knows Who was replaced with the more radio friendly, She Comes In Colors. All three songs appeared on the band's wonderful second full length album, Da Capo.

Stephanie Knows Who was written by Arthur Lee and tells the tale of a girl with whom he was rather smitten. According to an interview with Johnny Echols in Ugly Things Magazine, Stephanie had a way about her that had many in the band fawning over her. She used to string along Arthur Lee pretty good and in turn she was his muse for both this song, and the replacement A-Side. The Flip-Side was written by rhythm guitarist, Bryan MacLean, the former roadie for The Byrds. Arthur sings over Bryan's usual saccharine lyrics and is able to pull them off with sincerity. Not easy to do when you have stanzas about cotton candy! Who knows, perhaps Stephanie may have been the muse here again.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Elektra Records Spotlight: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Mellow Down Easy and I Got My Mojo Working

Mellow Down Easy

I Got My Mojo Working

Day two at our look at Elektra Records. Yesterday we looked at the missed opportunity Elektra Records president, Jac Holzman, had in his hands when he released only one song by The Byrds...under the quizzically named The Beefeaters. Columbia Records came and stole the band away from his light grasp on what would become a hit machine and a hugely influential band. It took 11 months before Holzman would get back in the saddle with another release.

In October of 1965 Elektra released the first published recording of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The Chicago band had been turning heads in Chicago for about a year and Holzman and staff producer, Paul Rotchild, were eager to not let another buzz creating band slip away. It also bears noting that the Paul Butterfield Blues Band was a band of three white guys and two black guys. May not seem like a big deal today, but it was in 1965. It was downright unusual and even a little risky for a little known label to market them. Paul Butterfield was the frontman and harmonica player, Elvin Bishop on rhythm guitar, Mike Bloomfield on lead guitar, Jerome Arnold on bass and Sam Lay on drums. The latter two had done time in Howlin' Wolf's house band and thus had some serious street creditionals.

That first Elektra single for The Paul Butterfield Blues Band were two blues covers of Chess Recordings songs. The A-Side was Mellow Down Easy, a number originally recorded by Little Walter in 1954. The Flip-Side is the Muddy Waters standard, I Got My Mojo Working, first laid down in 1957. Sam Lay takes the vocal duties on The Paul Butterfield Blues Band's recording.

[Of note, also on that first 1965 album, was the first recording of Born In Chicago, which we featured just last week by a band called The Blue Beats. Check that out here]

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!