Stray Rays: The Truth

THE TRUTH-I Go To Sleep/Baby You've Got It U.K. Pye 7N.17095 1966

This was the fourth 45 by Frank Ailello and Steven Jameson aka The Truth.  On side "A" we have a fairly normal treatment of one of Ray Davie's most famous cast off's "I Go To Sleep".  Long before his paramour Chrissie Hynde and her band The Pretenders cut a version of it the tune was released in the U.K. first by The Applejacks (Decca F 12216 August 1965) and then by Peggy Lee (with a smoky, jazzy version in September 1965 on Capitol CL 15413). The Truth's version in April 1966 was the third (there would be numerous other U.K. versions before The Pretenders got their mits on it).

Strangely The Truth's version is the most faithful to Ray's original living room demo of all the versions I've heard, right down the plonky Joe Meek-ish piano trill and probably my favorite thanks to a stellar arrangement and its swinging yet rocking delivery. "Baby You've Got It" (not to be confused by the Maurice & The Radiants/Action number of the same name) is by far one of the band's strongest numbers.  From its repetitive gritty main riff and total mod/discotheque '66 feel of dancibility it doesn't let up and the raw vocals by the lads are quite soulful.

"Baby You've Got It" was comped on Sequel's "Freakbeat Freakout" CD. Both sides are also available on the Truth CD collection/compilation "Who's Wrong: Mod Bedlam 1965-1969".

Hear "I Go To Sleep":

 http://youtu.be/bHIwBObW21M

Hear "Baby You've Got It":

http://youtu.be/GaL76h6zN0I

U.S. Only U.K. Pop Sike Pressings Part II

THE IDLE RACE-Here We Go Round The Lemon Tree/My Father's Son U.S. Liberty 55997 1967

Here we have what should have been the U.K. debut single by The Idle Race, a band comprised of ex-Nightriders (Dave Pritchard-rhythm guitar,Greg Masters-bass and Roger Spencer-drums) and new member Jeff Lynne (lead vocals/lead guitar).  The Nightriders had previously backed Mike Sheridan and morphed into Sheridan's Lot .  You can see one of our earliest posts at on them at:

http://anorakthing.blogspot.com/2008/12/60s-brum-beat-part-one.html

Lead singer Mike Sheridan moved on and lead guitarist Roy Wood joined The Move and the band (plus new lead guitarist Lynne) reverted back to their Nightriders moniker for one last single in the U.K., a cover of the Kingsmen's "It's Only The Dog" b/w "Your Friend" (a Marty Wilde composition previously cut back in 1964 on Piccadilly by Mal Ryder and the Spirits) on Polydor 56116 in November 1966.  The band soon changed their name and rang in 1967 as The Idle Race (after a spell as The Idyll Race).

The newly christened Idle Race were signed to Liberty records in the U.K. and their ex-band mate Roy Wood duly supplied them with one of his compositions "Here We Go Round The Lemon Tree" to be their debut single and hooked them up with producers Eddie Offord and Gerald Chevin. However with The Move's "Flowers In The Rain" (which was backed with their version of "Here We Go Round The Lemon Tree" ) gaining national attention because of a promotional postcard for the single which featured then Prime Minister Harold Wilson (who successfully sued the band and their manager for libel with all proceeds of the record going to charity) Liberty felt it would be best to distance their new signings from The Move controversy and the single was shelved in favor of Lynne's "Imposter's Of Life's Magazine" which became their U.K. debut (Liberty LBF 15206 October 1967).  The label's U.S. parent company however decided to give it an airing in America which ultimately did not attract any attention and it would not be until the 70's and the advent of E.L.O. that Jeff Lynne would be a household name in the States. Strangely enough U.K. 60's psych-pop legends Jason Crest issued a version in the U.K. on Phillips (BF 1687) after the furor had died down in August 1968 with zero chart response.

The Idle Race's version of "Here We Go Round The Lemon Tree" bears little resemblance to The Move's mild string quartet backed pop psych ditty.  It's tempo is doubled and though it still retains a trace of whimsy with it's nursery rhyme-ish keyboard bits its the heavy bass and crack delivery by the band that drives the number and makes it a mid 60's British pop-psych classic.  It features an ending with an abrupt run off where the number stops as if someone had unplugged the turntable! "My Father's Son" displays the eclectic whimsy the band are known for.  It sounds almost like a '67 Kinks ditty with some bursts of bluesy guitar thrown in amongst the almost Moody Blues '67 pop choral backing vocals.

Both sides can be found on the essential Idle Race double CD compilation "Back To the Story".

Hear "Here We Go Round the Lemon Tree":

http://youtu.be/txC04nK-uIc

Hear "My Father's Son":

http://youtu.be/l3O56okUjYI

Cool Foreign E.P.'s Part 31: More Holy Grail Batman-The Artwoods French E.P.



THE ARTWOODS-Oh My Love/Big City/If I Ever Get My Hands On You/Sweet Mary France Decca 457.076M 1965



Sentimental schlock (but we like it that way)

HERMAN'S HERMITS-My Sentimental Friend/My Lady Germany Columbia C006-90151 1969

By 1969 you'd think Herman's Hermits had all but evaporated but they had not.  Somehow they came through psychedelia unscathed in the U.K., though their U.S. hit days were long gone.  Today's subject, April 1969's "My Sentimental Friend" is a watershed of sorts on varying levels for the band. It was the band's highest charting single in England  (#2) since their debut "I'm Into Something Good" (#1) and though they had at least half a dozen Top Ten U.K. hits still in the wings the band were clearly feeling the strains of five years in the industry.The fact that unlike most previous other U.K. 45's that it did not garner an American release in fact marked the end of any more singles by the band being released in the States (where they were third highest selling U.K. act behind The Beatles and The Rolling Stones).  It also ushered in a period (as evidenced by the b&w TV clip below) where lead singer Peter Noone was being pushed forward that would lead to the eventual billing as "Peter Noone & Herman;s Hermits" for their last 45 together (November 1970's "Lady Barbara") before both parties went their separate ways, Noone to a few solo hits (including a pre-Ziggy era cover of Bowie's "Oh You Pretty Things", #12 in the U.K. in June 1971) and the cabaret/State fair grind for the Hermits.

"My Sentimental Friend" is sort of schlocky.  It's a ballad but the orchestration and the melody get me in the same way The Easybeat's "Hello How are You" (also a schlocky ballad) does.  In fact the arrangement reminds me a lot of the '69 era Bee Gees stuff with it's grandiose production/orchestration. "My Lady" is not one of their best and really doesn't do it for me, it's not The Troggs/Jet Harris track of the same name and it's mood (and this awful flute)reek of variety show and cabaret.

Both tracks are available on EMI's CD compilation of their work "A's, B's and EP's:Mono"


The band miming to a re-recorded version w/ Noone singing live on "This Is Tom Jones" 1969

British R&B Rarities:The Gass

THE GASS-Dream Baby( How Long Must I Dream)/Jitterbug Sid U.K. CBS 202647 1967

I've no idea who The Gass were.  I can tell you they were a kick ass mid/late 60's British soul/r&b band.  They cut three singles from 1965-1967, two for Columbia (including a smoking cover of Jimmy Holiday's "The New Breed") and this, their final on CBS.

You'd think a soulful version of Roy Orbison's "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)" would sound lame, but it works, in fact it works very well.  With it's cool horns, funky organ and very soulful vocals this track could easily be mistaken for a track by our mod/Hammond heroes The Quik, ace.  It's flip, "Jitterbug Syd" is a funky Hammond/sax instrumental, worthy of any host of 60's British r&b acts like Wynder K. Frog, it's more sax than organ but still pretty cool.

Neither side has appeared anywhere, in fact I can't even locate a clip on YouTube right now so you'll have to take my word on its greatness!

Heroes of The Hammond: Alan Hawkshaw and The Mohawks

THE MOHAWKS-Pepsi/Mony Mony U.K. Pama PM 757 1969

Forget all of those dumb-ass stories you've heard over the past two decades:

The Mohawks were NOT a band comprised of white British skinheads.

The Mohawks were NOT a  band of Jamaican studio musicians.

The Mohawks WERE the brainchild of U.K. session organist supreme Alan Hawkshaw who concocted a studio only group featuring a host of U.K. "library" music session musicians to create a slew of funky, organ based instrumentals.  Since no major labels were willing to release this relatively obscure product Hawkshaw licensed the tracks through a small U.K. based label called Pama who were primarily a reggae label.  The rest is history.  Their records were always in demand among so called "skinhead reggae" collector's because of the Pama imprint though I'm still at odds to determine how their groovy organ sound fit along with the likes of Alton Ellis, The Crystalites or The Ethiopians!  Rediscovered in the mid 90's their records found fame amongst collectors of funky U.K. studio/library music as well as fans of funk and break beats (which drove the price of their records even higher).  All of these genres have rendered nearly all of their records, especially U.K. pressings like this one, rather expensive.

"Pepsi" is driven along by some congas, guitar, bass and drums before the Hammond blows in creating a funky groove, with Hawkshaw as usual showing he is the master of the instrument. "Mony Mony", a cover of the hit by Tommy James & The Shondells follows pretty much the same formula through Hawkshaw really lets it rip with his organ trills on this one and there's a bit of female backing vocalists who sing "Mony Mony" during the refrain whilst Alan and Co. do their thing.  The track gets even better when the horns start kicking in making the track a full on Hammond and horns explosion!

Both tracks are available on the excellent Vampi Soul legit CD reissue of The Mohawk's LP "The Champ" .

Hear "Pepsi":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6VOocEwiy0

Hear "Mony Mony":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WmQbHyiWBs

10 Good Reads On the 60's

Personal friends and Internet friends alike will know I'm heavily steeped in the 60's and quite often I can be found with my nose in a book and it's a 75% chance that it's about the 60's (and more often than not, Britain in the 60's).  Over the years I've come upon quite a few good reads on the decade of my birth (and favorite music) that don't actually deal with music but the styles, philosophies, arts, trends and characters that went hand in hand with the music.  Granted there is a lot of overlap on some of the material in these but I've decided that I'd pick ten and tell you why.

1. "Revolt Into Style" by George Melly
Melly was/is sort of an "outsider" of sorts coming from the jazz scene but his grasp of the big picture and excellent style of writing make this read a real treat.  Melly has the street smarts of a hipster but also possesses the savvy to suss out b.s. (ie stating that Swinging London was " a caricature of traditional capitalism"), this gives him an edge to discuss what he saw with an open mind, firsthand in the 60's.

2. "Days In The Life: Voices From The English Underground 1961-1971" by Jonathon Green
Green tells the tale of mods, beats, hippies, freaks, revolutionaries etc, often through quotes of those who were involved from the big names to the everyman it's all here.  Green gives us just enough information without becoming so involved that it becomes a boring read.

3. "London Calling: A Countercultural History of London Since 1945" by Barry Miles
"London Calling" trods the same ground as both of Jonathon Green's books but since Barry Miles (known by his shorted sobriquet "Miles") is a central figure in both books and was "there" when it all "happened" it's good to hear things from his perspective.  What is interesting about "London Calling" is Miles devotes more time to artists and playwrights than Green does in either of his books and manages to keep me interested even when it's on fairly mundane subjects.  And its a perfect companion to both of the Green books!

4. "Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius" by Gary Lachman
Lachman is also known in the rock n' roll world as Gary Valentine of Blondie.  I read this right after I finished "Days in The Life" and Lachman covers some of the way out, weird and scary stuff Green briefly touched upon in "Days in The Life".  The 60's were of course not all peace and love and marches on the U.S. Embassy in Grosvenor Square.  Lachman lifts up the rock that was the decade and shines at light on all the things crawling away, previously hidden from the sun: cults, sex, drugs, trepanning, and yes murder.

5. "All Dressed Up:The Sixties and Counterculture" by Jonathon Green
A bookend to Green's previous book "Days in the Life" that pretty much covers the same ground though in far greater detail on more specific subjects as opposed to more abstract things, which can be both it's strong point and it's downfall.  At times it becomes a tedious at times (especially on the subject of "Anti-Psychiatry", B-O-R-I-N-G) but still a good read.

6. "Ready, Steady Go! Swinging London and the Invention of Cool" by Shawn Levy
A fascinating mish mash of all the big names in "Swinging London" (David Bailey, Terrence Stamp, Michael Caine, Mick Jagger etc), their women, their friends, where they ate, who dressed them, how they became famous and what became of their hanger on's and disgraced associates at the end of the decade etc.

7. "The Sharper Word: A Mod Anthology" by Paolo Hewitt
Former Weller acolyte and sometime modernist literary dogsbody Paolo Hewitt collects bits and blobs from many a read on the cult that is mod.  You've read a lot of it before in it's original form but some was new to my eyes and very neat to have it all in one place. To me this book should do for new/young mods what "Mods" by Richard Barnes did for me in 1981.

8. "Mods " by Richard Barnes
Okay so maybe this one is more of a pictorial essay than a textual one, but you cannot deny the fact that the amount of information Barnes puts out there was a first birds eye view into the whole 60's mod scene and a jumping off point for many, if not all of us. Personally, this was, and in many ways still is, my bible!

9. "Stoned" by Andrew Loog Oldham
Stones Svengali/early manager/producer Oldham offers a fascinating view on the British music and fashion scene in the early to mid 1960's Britain.  "Stoned" is not necessarily a book about The Rolling Stones or even A.L.O. but more of a hawk's eye view of 1960's Britain before Swinging London and Flower Power (with an especially acute view of the mod scene) ending just as The Stones are recording their debut long player. I'm just bummed that it's sequel "Too Stoned" glossed over everything afterwards (especially Immediate Records!) spending more time on his cocaine exile in Connecticut in the early 70's and his life in South America in the 90's!!

10. "Subculture: The Meaning of Style" by Dick Hebdige
More clinical and textbook worthy than all the others I've listed, "S.A.T.M.O.S" still has it's place because its still a fairly comprehensive overview of teds,mods, rockers, skinheads and punks.  Stiff and sociological at times it nonetheless provides some witty views that you'd fail to see if you were "in" and does so in a manner that's even handed and compassionate.