Lost in the Sixties!

[Uncle Obscure]

Despite the insane contract that Columbia Records straddled the Byrds with that had them cranking out albums at breakneck speed, they still managed to release a boatload of terrific records during the sixties. If I were to pick out one LP that best represents their output during this crazy time, it would without a doubt be, Younger Than Yesterday. It was their fourth studio album for the label in a little over two years. It was not the most popular from a sales standpoint, but IMO, it stands the test of time better than any of their other early releases. So many brilliant pop songs and great production throughout. To this day It continues to scream "Sixties" to me!

 

[GOS]

Thanks to this thread, I've just gotten lost waching this Monterey Festival documentary. WOW!!

 

[jefe1]

Im covered on the Byrds. Me and my friend bought the mail order Murry Hill Byrds Never Before album with unreleased songs and new stereo mixes. Then I bought the 4 CD box set with more stuff. The live Byrds cuts from the 1990 Roy Orbison tribute concert? I was there. They played one of the songs twice because they flubbed the beginning and it was being recorded. Then Dylan walked on stage to play with them....
I have the expanded CDs with more bonus tracks as above.

@Uncle Obscure is like the neighborhood drug dealer. The first few hits are free. Then when you need more......

Im going to lose my job if I stay on this thread.

 

[jamoke]

Thanks to this thread, I've just gotten lost watching this Monterey Festival documentary. WOW!!

Dammit. you're right.
Gonna have to re-watch the Criterion Blu-Ray tonight.

This was the festival that launched a thousand ships!

 

[Quad Linda]

We Ain't Got Nothing Yet - Blues Magoos




Baby, I'm Yours - Barbara Lewis
Penned by Van McCoy (the Hustle)




Gonna Leave - Lee Michaels




Working in the Coal Mine - Lee Dorsey

 

[DuncanS]

We Ain't Got Nothing Yet - Blues Magoos




Baby, I'm Yours - Barbara Lewis
Penned by Van McCoy (the Hustle)




Gonna Leave - Lee Michaels




Working in the Coal Mine - Lee Dorsey

I remember hearing Lee Dorsey's Working in the Coal Mine on this side of the pond (in 1966 I'd have been 9 and had a transistor radio!), don't recollect hearing the others! The new video is presented by ex-Squeeze keyboardist Jools Holland.

 

[Uncle Obscure]

I call this a One Hit Blunder. On the Dot Records label of all things, Hamilton Streetcar comes rumbling into your music room. This landed with a thud in 1969. To me it always sounded like a bunch of studio session players and a horn section with a David Clayton Thomas wannabe type singer, well...you get the idea. To call this "The Best Of" is a joke, too, since they only had one album. But, I'm crazy and old and I hate to admit it, but it's a guilty pleasure. Most likely the best thing about Hamilton Streetcar is their groovy album cover.

 

[Uncle Obscure]

Holy cow! Now That Everything's Been Said is an exquisite little album. There are few singer/songwriters as talented as Carole King and she put those talents to fantastic use in 1968 with the release of her group (The City) and their one and only LP. A few of the songs on this record (all were King co-penned except one) would resurface by other artists throughout the seventies. For instance, Brian Wilson produced a lovely cover version of the album's title track for his wife's (at the time) group, Spring in 1972. "Snow Queen" is another classic. Clearly this is one of the more important records to come out in the sixties and it is well worthy your attention.

 

[GOS]

Holy cow! Now That Everything's Been Said is an exquisite little album. There are few singer/songwriters as talented as Carole King and she put those talents to fantastic use in 1968 with the release of her group (The City) and their one and only LP. A few of the songs on this record (all were King co-penned except one) would resurface by other artists throughout the seventies. For instance, Brian Wilson produced a lovely cover version of the album's title track for his wife's (at the time) group, Spring in 1972. "Snow Queen" is another classic. Clearly this is one of the more important records to come out in the sixties and it is well worthy your attention.

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The City - Snow Queen (1968)
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The City - Now That Everything's Been Said (1968)
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The City - I Wasn't Born to Follow (1968)
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The City - That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho) (1968)
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How the hell have I never heard of this band???

 

[Uncle Obscure]

How the hell have I never heard of this band???

Hahaha! Well it was largely out of circulation for decades. I bought the OG vinyl on Ode in '68 when it came out and pffft...Nothing. If I recall correctly, I probably blind bought it because I was into Spirit and I would take a chance on a label release if I liked a band that was on it. Ah, the good old days when you could walk into a store and scoop up a new album for $2-$3 bucks. The crazy thing is that all of this stuff I've been posting about is music I played on the air in the late '60s - early '70s. I am definitely an old fart. LOL!

 

[jefe1]

I bet you have a lot of promo lps from your radio station days...

 

[4-earredwonder]

The Free Design, 1967 debut album, Kites Are Fun...magnificent sound! 'Nuff said.

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The Free Design - Never Tell The World (1967)
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The Free Design - Kites Are Fun (1967)
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The Free Design - I Found Love (1967)
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An absolutely amazing group ....I have Kites Are Fun on QUAD Open reel but haven't spun it in decades. And I'll go one step further. This 4 disc Free Design compilation from El Records with remastered sound is, IMO, indispensable and won't break the bank. Contains 6 full albums and bonus tracks. Very Highly Recommended!

https://www.amazon.com/Butterflies-Are-Free-Recordings-1967-1972/dp/B08JDYXS2V/ref=sr_1_1?crid=194IDVPLB0PE6&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2xnmWw47faRGS4a0ZKyS1cZ6deSU14meik2vuQny71cfLXtr2K4WvEz8ydkqhsvl_9ze1-4h15eT_msVEzdxeZeALXRgHj_0gvfePnsxjJksJcWHGX5IwzzyNbBDLLowi22LDe9D4UtEbO8ygmOpbcPWaYYJwKEwhV8q3vhpOH7_BTQ1rsFaZPSNVmWhibu5vTPR8qDJpyJsEcFNwH7g49PMDL2LJg6lhUv7PYbCgvo.8M5-C8biXePoHua4yMDimXe3WSKy_F_NODqjIbIIIr4&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+free+design&qid=1708649722&s=music&sprefix=the+free+design,popular,90&sr=1-1

 

[Bruce00]

Ah, the good old days when you could walk into a store and scoop up a new album for $2-$3 bucks. The crazy thing is that all of this stuff I've been posting about is music I played on the air in the late '60s - early '70s. I am definitely an old fart. LOL!

Good ole days indeed.......
One of my best memories was getting paid on Fridays, run to the bank to cash my paycheck, then head to the record store to buy an album. Sometimes it would be an artists album I had to have or someone I never heard of, playing on the shops system. Thats how I was introduced to Rory Gallagher

 

[Uncle Obscure]

I bet you have a lot of promo lps from your radio station days...

Actually, no. I helped two different radio stations get off the ground way back when and in the process, nearly all of my vinyl got absorbed by them. After that I migrated to CD and hi-res audio and never looked back. I do still have at least one promo album. If you squint really hard at my avatar on the left, that's me sitting with Talking Heads after an interview holding a freshly autographed promo copy of Talking Heads: 77.

 

[Uncle Obscure]

Hey! We gotta do some Turtles, and I think The Battle Of The Bands from 1968 is a great place to start, when the hits were coming fast and furious!

 

[user 15634]

I have that one and the follow up "The 70's" on DVD. I haven't watched them in a long time. They were decent enough to watch and had a good smattering of music.

It does sound like it's been a while since you've seen this because it was filled with music from the decade. When asked about the selection of music the director said it was the soundtrack of our lives and indeed it was. I think that's why we all enjoy discussing and sharing of music here.

My two memories were, one, that was the first time I remember seeing Julia Stiles, and two, if it happened in the 60s then it happened to this particular family. This one family seemed to be at the nexus of the 60's. Every event, every fad, every counter culture cliche', touched their lives.

Having lived through these times everybody I knew was at the nexus of these historical and social events. As for the family it illustrated the affect of these events on a composite of a white American family. It also had a black family and how they were affected.

Reminded me of Forrest Gump.

There are some historical situations Forrest experienced. Forrest was fictitious and those of us who lived through the sixties are not. I loved the film "The Sixties" because I could related to so many of the experiences of the two families.

I may have to try to find them in one of my boxes and watch them again. I'd forgotten all about them.

Please do watch the Sixties you may change your mind.

This movie was a much better one and is still available on Amazon....

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As for "1969", I also like this movie but it really only covers the draft and the war and a little LSD and only 1 year. Looking back the 60's was one of the most significant decades in history. If you haven't seen this I once again encourage you to watch it, you may see yourself, friends and family here.

YouTube: part one:
part two:

 

[John Svensson]

Battle of the Bands is a fantastic album! While more a child of the 70's, I listen to much more 60's music than from any other decade. Maybe because it was my initial memories of music in general, or maybe because it was just way more groovy. There, I used the G word. Byrds? I have all the LPs, if it was in mono, I have the mono also. Sprang for the 400 page photo book also from a couple years back.

 

[Bill B]

Please do watch the Sixties you may change your mind.

Change my mind about what?
It seems you've read into my comment beyond what is written.

 

[Uncle Obscure]

An absolutely amazing group ....I have Kites Are Fun on QUAD Open reel but haven't spun it in decades. And I'll go one step further. This 4 disc Free Design compilation from El Records with remastered sound is, IMO, indispensable and won't break the bank. Contains 6 full albums and bonus tracks. Very Highly Recommended!

https://www.amazon.com/Butterflies-Are-Free-Recordings-1967-1972/dp/B08JDYXS2V/ref=sr_1_1?crid=194IDVPLB0PE6&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2xnmWw47faRGS4a0ZKyS1cZ6deSU14meik2vuQny71cfLXtr2K4WvEz8ydkqhsvl_9ze1-4h15eT_msVEzdxeZeALXRgHj_0gvfePnsxjJksJcWHGX5IwzzyNbBDLLowi22LDe9D4UtEbO8ygmOpbcPWaYYJwKEwhV8q3vhpOH7_BTQ1rsFaZPSNVmWhibu5vTPR8qDJpyJsEcFNwH7g49PMDL2LJg6lhUv7PYbCgvo.8M5-C8biXePoHua4yMDimXe3WSKy_F_NODqjIbIIIr4&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+free+design&qid=1708649722&s=music&sprefix=the+free+design,popular,90&sr=1-1

Thank you for this! It's hard to tell from the pics in the Amazon listing. Is this a typical Cherry Red clamshell box with mini LP sleeves? Also, you said you liked the mastering. I genuinely hated the Toys In The Attic reissue. Compressed and harsh. I don't know if you have it, but how do you think this compares to the original Varase CD Kites Are Fun release? That remains my benchmark. I'd like to get something of comparable sound quality to round out the rest of their discography.

 

[barfle]

Holy cow! Now That Everything's Been Said is an exquisite little album. There are few singer/songwriters as talented as Carole King and she put those talents to fantastic use in 1968 with the release of her group (The City) and their one and only LP. A few of the songs on this record (all were King co-penned except one) would resurface by other artists throughout the seventies. For instance, Brian Wilson produced a lovely cover version of the album's title track for his wife's (at the time) group, Spring in 1972. "Snow Queen" is another classic. Clearly this is one of the more important records to come out in the sixties and it is well worthy your attention.

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The City - Snow Queen (1968)
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The City - Now That Everything's Been Said (1968)
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The City - I Wasn't Born to Follow (1968)
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The City - That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho) (1968)
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Yet another one for my “gotta get” list.

Damn, I won’t be able to afford dinner if this keeps up.