Song of the Week: The Who and Garnet Mimms -- Anytime You Want Me

The Who perform Anytime You Want Me

 Garnet Mimms performs, Anytime You Want Me

On our first post in this week-long look at songs which The Who covered or were inspired by, we looked at the Flip-Side of The Who's third European single (Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere) which was their upbeat cover of Otis Blackwell's Daddy Rolling Stone. Today we look at one that is even more rare. The song is the Flip-Side of the American only release of their Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere. It wasn't released in any other country and preceded the release of their first album. The song is Anytime You Want Me by Philadelphia based soul stirrer, Garnet Mimms.

Garnett Mimms' original composition was released on the United Artist label in February of 1964. The Who's version of the song was released in the US on Decca on June 5, 1965, less than three months after they recorded the number. It's a pretty straight forward cover and gives real insight into The Who's early interests and skills. Interesting note, this single was delayed in it's release in the US as Decca returned the master tape to the UK claiming the tape was damaged and the music was warbled and muddied. It turns out they were talking about Pete's feedback frenzy in the middle of Anyway, Anyhow, Anywere. Ahhh, the joys of dealing with a predominantly C&W label!

I've included an A Cappella version of The Who's take on Anytime You Want Me just to show you how much I love you.

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

P.S. If you dig this Garnet Mimms tune, check out this even better one right here. 

Song Of The Week: The St. Louis Union -- East Side Story

The other week we highlighted the Manchester mod group, The Toggery Five, and their excellent original from 1964, I'm Gonna Jump. Today, we return to Manchester and spin the third and final record from a sextuplet named The St. Louis Union. The song is the blue-eyed soul raver from October of 1966, East Side Story. East Side Story, it should be noted, was written and first recorded by Bob Seger for Hideout Records. (You may recall, this is the same label that hosted The Pleasure Seekers, whom we wrote about just last week.)

Not long after this recording, The St. Louis Union moved to a state of disunion and the members scattered to the wind. Those members were singer Tony Cassidy, guitarist Keith Millar -- who apparently played with Rod Stewart forever --  Saxophonist Lenni Zaksen, organ player Dave Tomlinson, Bassist John Nichols and drummer Dave Webb. I want to give special love to John Nichols who really lays down a beautiful sounding bass line.

Enjoy, we'll see you next time On The Flip-Side.

Song of the Week: The Small Faces - Understanding

From one of all my all time favorite bands comes one of my all time favorite songs of the band. The Small Faces, newly inducted in the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame, released Understanding as the flip-side to the equally stellar All Or Nothing in 1966 on Decca Records. This is perhaps their best single ever. They were the only band to ever rival The Who for the affection of the Mods and they were certainly one of the most talented to hit the stages in their day. Not much happened for them Stateside until they scored a hit when Itchycoo Park hit number 16 in the late Summer of '67.

Click here to listen to the A-Side, All Or Nothing.