Joe Meek Lives!!

Not really but our pal in London Paul Owers has shared a groovy pic of some grafitti that's popped up across the street from the Holloway Road tube station.  Much better than the usual ugly tagger stuff (usually the work of some white middle class moron above the age of 25):

Cool Foreign E.P.'s Part 25: "The Arrival Of The Eyes"

THE EYES-"The Arrival Of The Eyes": The Immediate Pleasure/I'm Rowed Out/When The Night Falls/ My Degeneration E.P. U.K. Phillips 10035 MCE 1966

My Fave Kinks 45 Of All Time!

THE KINKS-Dead End Street/Big Black Smoke U.K. Pye 7N.17222 1966

It's tough for me to pick a favorite Kinks single, but I think the winner would ultimately be this killer two sider from Autumn 1966.

Back in the early 90's I was in a bad way for a few months and "Dead End Street" literally spoke to me, with a two roomed apartment on the second floor, a leaky kitchen sink (and ceiling), no job, no money, no long distance plan for my house phone, no cable, and heat that worked intermittently I was in quite a bad place.  I liked the track even before then but it gave me some sort of "hope" shall we say and it became a mantra to sing to myself when it all got to be too much.  I still see folks walking everywhere in the morning or riding their bikes up the highway while I'm driving to work in a nice warm Mini Cooper and feel like a prat for having it so good and I think back to when I didn't have it so good.  This is probably the first Kinks record to utilize brass with it's subtle trumpet  and the descending bass line/ main riff comes straight from the school of "Sunny Afternoon", lyrically Dickensian at it's best it still holds up all these years on and rates as one of Ray Davie's best fictional social observations, a genre he mastered so well.

On the flip is another great fictional "social observation" by Ray Davies, "Big Black Smoke".  It's a jaunty tale of a small town girl who left her little life for the big city where she wound up turning tricks, giving her money to a cat named Joe and spending the rest on purple hearts and cigarettes (Ray seemed to write a lot about girls leaving home back then, "Polly" and "Rosie Won't You Please Come Home" are two that spring to mind).  Years ago I dated someone who often held this utterly ridiculous idea that speed was okay in moderation and this track rankled her, I didn't date her very long.   Oh back to the song....sorry....it retains a bit of "rocking" that steers it clear of the sort of knees up/music hall sound a lot of  late '66-'67 Kinks records had (never a bad think but always refreshing when they showed they still had the stuff).

The late great Pete Quaife 1966

TRIVIA:Some copies (like mine above) were misprinted as "Deadend Street".

Hear "Dead End Street":

https://youtu.be/XicSL93pYFY?si=4P5AgOaDMlG5ryHy

Hear "Big Black Smoke":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw0IM4Vn7go

Hammond Heroes: Dave Davani

THE DAVE DAVANI FOUR-Tossin' And Turnin'/The Jupe U.K. Parlophone R 5490 1966

This was the third single by the unsung U.K. Hammond r&b Dave Davani, and his second for the Parlophone label.

"Tossin' And Turnin'" is a fairly pedestrian, perhaps even ill advised cover of the Bobby Lewis hit, not terribly interesting by any scope of the imagination. The musical backing is decent enough but the number is dead boring and Davani vocals sound thoroughly uninspired.  But the B-side, "The Jupe", now that's where we're cooking, with gas kids. It's a brilliant organ fronted instrumental piece that's semi jazzy but catchy and fast enough to be danceable. In my estimation it's one of the great U.K. Hammond instrumentals up there with Zoot Money's "The Mound Moves", Georgie Fame's treatment of "Last Night" or The Graham Bond Organization's romp through "Wade In The Water".

The line up at the time of the recording of this single was: Dave Davani (organ, vocals), John Milner (guitar), Beryl Wayne (aka Mrs. Dave Davani,vocals and percussion), Mik Ewan (bass, harmonica) and Chaz Burton (drums).

Both sides were collected on the highly recommended Dave Davani Ace Records CD reissue of his LP "Fused" with bonus singles tracks and liner notes by our old pal Nick Rossi, no stranger to Hammond r&b/jazz.

The Dave Davani Four, 1965 clockwise from bottom left:
John Milner, Mik Ewin, Chaz Burton, Dave Davini & Beryl Wayne

Hear "Tossin' And Turnin'":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CslAVyPKHLQ

Hear "The Jupe":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3eli7_8du8

Blue Note "Mini LP" Jukebox E.P.: Donald Byrd

Can any of you out there in Anorak-land tell us if Blue Note did any other "Mini Lp's" in the 60's?  We'd love to know!

A Collection of Small Faces 60's Picture Sleeves Part

A selection of groovy 60's Small Faces picture sleeve 7's (perhaps some of you now own these after buying them from me):

GERMAN 45

GERMAN 45

DUTCH 45

GERMAN 45

ITALIAN 45

ITALIAN 45

U.S. 45

BELGIAN 45

DANISH 45

DUTCH 45

SPANISH E.P.

PORTUGUESE 45

BELGIAN 45

BELGIAN 45

U.S. 45

BELGIAN P.S.

DANISH 45

AUSTRALIAN 45

The Walkers Of Japan

A collection of 1960's Walker Brothers and related 7" picture sleeves from Japan:

GARY WALKER & THE RAIN 45

THE WALKER BROTHERS E.P.

THE WALKER BROTHERS 45

THE WALKER BROTHERS 45

THE WALKER BROTHERS E.P.

THE WALKER BROTHERS 45

THE CARNABEATS featuring GARY WALKER 45

GARY WALKER and THE RAIN 45

THE WALKER BROTHERS 45

GARY WALKER and THE RAIN 45

Action!

EDDIE WILSON- Shing-A-Ling Stroll/Don't Kick The Teenager Around U.K. Action ACT 4536 1969

What we have hear kids is sort of a "rarity" here at "Anorak Thing", not that this record is "rare", it's just that we rarely focus on soul music and certainly none that's been released after my personal benchmark for this sorta sound as "post-Otis Redding R.I.P."  I 'll explain.  I once read a quote in the 80's by a U.K. mod D.J. named Paul Hallam who said something to the effect that he kept his soul pre-'68 because "after Otis died everything got funky".  I'm inclined to agree and not being down with funk I rarely hear much that grabs me soul-wise later in the decade.  I wound up with this record through a friend many years ago, in truth I always liked the look of the label, though it took me awhile to get around to digging the record.

I can't tell you much about Eddie Wilson or the record other than it was originally released in the U.S. on Back Beat 596 in 1968 (home of my fave Little Carl Carlton).  Today's specimen comes from the famous U.K. soul label Action!.  It was a brainchild of the British mod/soul-r&b DJ supremo Guy Stevens after he pulled the plug on his highly successful (and now highly collectible) U.K. Sue label.

"Shing-A-Ling" stroll is funky and unbeat, it has a "live" feel to it with the intro featuring the sounds of a crowd shouting out as a cowbell kicks in the groove and the bursts of guitar recall Archie Bell and The Drells while the horns have a succinctly "Stax" feel to them.  Coolness. The flip, though totally upbeat and kicking in the musical backing department comes off a bit corny from a lyrical standpoint but if you ignore the words it's a gass, complete with some old early/mid 60's style female backing vocals straight off of a King r&b side.

Hear "Shing-A-Ling Stroll":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnClPV2flho

Hear "Don't Kick The Teenagers Around":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyu4zEnaadU

The Ways And Means

THE WAYS AND MEANS-Breaking Up A Dream/She U.K. Trend TRE 1005 1968

Written by George Alexander of Grapefruit (see "Anorak Thing" November 4, 2010 AND September 8, 2010 entries)  ) and published by the Apple Records company, like many songs that were published by the Beatles company but not actually released on their label (joining the likes of brilliant singles by Legay, The Sands and even Fire's brilliant "Father's Name Was Dad").  "Breaking Up A Dream" was never cut by Grapefruit in the studio but they did perform it once in 1968 BBC session and it was given to the now forgotten Ways And Means for the fledgling (and short lived) Trend label.  The Ways And Means were a group that specialized in more of the "Californian" surf-sunshine pop/harmony sound and had previously released two singles, one on Columbia (that coupled The Beach Boy's "Little Duece Coupe" with Jan & Dean's "Little Old Lady From Pasendena") and another on Pye.  This would be their last.  Presumably they came into contact with George Alexander through his Grapefruit bandmates who'd previously been members of Tony River's backing group The Castaways (who had made a name for themselves by being Britians first "surf-harmony" beat group).

"Breaking Up A Dream" has an almost raga feel to the underlying melody of the track and even the guitar lick at one point reminds me of something The Cedars (a Lebanese band who cut 3 singles in the 60's for Decca that utilized a Middle Eastern feel) would've used .  It's thoroughly not something you'd expect for 1968 sounding alot like a milder freakbeat record from '65-'66 before things got "way out" but with some off kilter harmonies. "She" was reputedly written by Barry Class and like the A-side credits not the composer, but the music publisher in the song writing parentheses (Top Class/Sparta). I can't for the life of me recall what it sounded like!!

"Breaking up A Dream" has appeared on numerous un-legit comps but received it's first legit re-issue on RPM's CD comp "94 Baker Street:The Pop-Psych Sounds Of The Apple Era 1967-1969".

Hear "Breaking Up A Dream":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yemEnIr2xOw

Hear their version of "Little Old Lady From Pasadena":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBhASfjqPvQ

The Riot Squad

THE RIOT SQUAD-I Wanna Talk About My Baby/Gonna Make You Mine U.S. Roulette R-4621 1965

This was The Riot Squad's second 45 and their first of three U.S. releases (it appeared in the U.K. as Pye 7N.15817 in March 1965).  It also came in a picture sleeve (see below) something my white label promo copy did not have. It was however from a time period where the band were led by future solo artist Graham Bonney and under the wing of Kinks associate Larry Page, the band's recordings with the legendary Joe Meek would not begin until early 1966.  Indeed their final single ( "Gotta Be A First Time" b/w "Bitter Sweet Love" U.K. Pye 7N.17237) would also be Meek's final single, coming out a few weeks before his death.

"I Wanna Talk About My Baby" is a mellow  but groovy little track with touches of jazzy sax, a groovy little organ solo and vocals obviously influenced by Georgie Fame's Mose Allison meets King Pleasure vocal style. Atmospheric and cool as hell, this to me exemplifies British 60's "mod jazz".  The flip side is far more upbeat and more rocking with a cool sax solo and organ solo, equally "mod jazz" but also a tad "rock n' roll", or as they called it on the liner notes of a Georgie Fame mid 60's LP "rockhouse".

The Riot Squad at the time of this single's recording were: Graham Bonney (lead vocals), Ron Ryan (guitar/vocals), Brian Davies(bass), Mark Stevens (guitar), Bob Evans (saxophone) and John "Mitch" Mitchell (drums).  For both sides of this single the vocal duties were handled by guitarist Ron Ryan (he'd also sung on the band's debut 45 "Anytime" b/w "Jump" U.K.  Pye 7N.15752 January 1965).

Shortly after the single's release connections with Larry Page allowed them to join our r&b/Blue Beat heroes Mickey Finn & The Blue Men on a spring 1965 tour with The Kinks.  This was cut short due to the infamous Mick Avory's cymbal VS. Dave Davies head incident!

The Riot Squad (Mitch Mitchell far left) 1965

Both sides appeared on Sequel's excellent "Jump!" CD compilation that collects all seven of the band's Pye singles as well as a slew of unreleased Joe Meek produced numbers (including the storming "Yeah Yeah Yeah" cut with Meek's favorite female product, Glenda Collins).

Hear both sides of the 45:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uSKCBTrflc

Rare U.S. picture sleeve copy of the 45 courtesy of:

http://www.somanyrecordssolittletime.com/

ADDENDUM:

We got these e-mails from bassist Brian Davies, cheers for writing Brian, we're always happy to have someone sort our facts out! :

hi,

can someone alter the write up on the riot squad please, the bass player was myself (brian davies)

the blonde one in the photo,  some other write up,s also have a mike martin, he might have been

in the riot squad 2 which was formed after mitch,graham,mark, bob and myself disbanded.

regards

brian davies

By the way, graham and i are still in touch after all the years

hes living in germany where he is a big star, we lost mitch a few years ago,

but sax player bob lives in venezuela and has written a book about the riot squad,

a year after we disbanded we became the biggest selling band over there,

by that time everybody had moved on, graham had his hit record "supergirl"

mitch had joined georgie fame and i joined dave edmunds, mark stevens

we lost touch i think someone said he,s in america, i still play bass now and again

but i am live engineering as well, with "the american drifters" and phantom of

the opera star peter karrie,

Mike Cotton's First R&B 45

THE MIKE COTTON BAND-One Mint Julep/Midnight Flyer U.K. Columbia DB7134 1963

This was legendary U.K. jazz/r&b trumpet legend Mike Cotton's second single. The previous 45 "Swing That Hammer" b/w " Heartaches" U.K. Columbia DB 7029 was released earlier in 1963 and credited to Mike Cotton's Jazzmen, it was more of a "trad jazz" 45 ala Acker Bilk (and garnered them a #30 on the U.K. charts, Mike cottons only visit to the Top 40).  I bought a copy of it for £2 and it was DEAD boring bearing no resemblance whatsoever to his next four brilliant singles on Columbia. 

Our single in question today mark's Mike Cotton's first venture into the jazzy r&b being played by contemporaries like Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds and The Graham Bond Organization.  The version of "One Minute Julep" is fueled by some very strong horns and though not as great as the Ray Charles

The band were, presumably for this single: Mike Cotton (trumpet, harmonica and lead vocals), John Beecham (trombone), Johnny Crocker (clarinet, tenor/alto sax), Stu Morrison (bass), Tony Pitt (guitar), Dave Rowberry (keyboards) and Jimmy Garforth (drums).

"One Mint Julep" appeared on the instrumental CD compilation "Instro-Hipsters A Go-Go 2". Both sides of this 45 appeared as bonus tracks on the bootleg CD reissue of their rare as hens teeth untitled LP on the Rocking Beat label, who though on the never never always turn out a great sounding product!

Hear "One Mint Julep":

https://youtu.be/wyL9PJgGzOo

A Collection of Small Faces 60's Picture Sleeves Part One

A selection of groovy 60's Small Faces picture sleeve 7's from Europe (perhaps some of you own these after buying them from me, I was at least un-foolish enough to retain all of the French E.P.'s):

FRENCH 45



FRENCH E.P.



FRENCH E.P.

FRENCH E.P.

FRENCH E.P.

FRENCH E.P.

BELGIAN 45

GERMAN 45

GERMAN 45

GERMAN 45

GERMAN 45

DUTCH 45

DUTCH 45

BELGIAN 45



DANISH 45

FRENCH 45

FRENCH 45

DANISH 45