Which leads us to business. To wit:
...and your favorite obscure British Invasion album track by a solo artist or group that either had hits in America or didn't is...???
I should add that the above Animals selection, which I have always found aboslutely delightful -- particularly when lead singer Eric Burdon talks about Diddley's "GORGEOUS sister" The Duchess -- was once a topic of some disagreement from my old friend Eric C. Boardman.
[That's him in the pith helmet, stage right.]
Eric once borrowed said Animals record from me when we were living across the hall from each other at a dorm in Lake Forest College in the fall of 1965.
And he returned it to me with the ball-point-pen-written phrase "completely sucks" appended after the title of said song on the back of the album sleeve.
And yes -- we're still talking to each other after all those years, BTW.
Okay -- in any event...what would YOUR choices be?
And have a great weekend, everybody!!!
Could there be any other track for me than “Good Times” by The Easybeats. All time rock and roll magic that should have been a huge hit. Does not suck!
ReplyDeleteCaptain Al
Can't argue with that one. 😎
DeleteDo The Easybeats qualify as British invaders when two of the band were Dutch and another Scottish, and the band formed in Australia?
Delete- Paul in DK
And wasn't "Good Times" a hit?
Delete“Good Times” wasn’t anywhere near a hit either in The USA or The UK.
DeleteI Would grandfather in The Easybeats as Australia is part of the British Empire.
Captain Al
Also “Good Times” was recorded while The Easybeats were camped out in The UK.
DeleteCaptain Al
Obscure, yes - but it still brings a smile to my face over half a century later - my choice is "I Love My Shirt" by Donovan - from the album Barabajagal - unlike the title song, which is squarely in the blues/rock stream - w. Jimmy Page solo - "Shirt" is English music hall. But good, though.
ReplyDeleteThey were signed to a British record label and made their first international splash over there, so I'm gonna allow it. 😎
ReplyDeleteBlossom Toes- Postcard
ReplyDeleteKInks - This Is Where I Belong - a single in UK, and on Kinks Kronikles in US. Kronikles is essential Kinks, you almost can't be a fan in the US without it.
ReplyDeleteThe Who - Armenia City in the Sky or Early Morning Cold Taxi are both wonderful.
ReplyDelete- Paul in DK
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ReplyDeleteCleveland Jeff - I knew next to nothing about the Kinks except the hits when I bought Kinks Kronikles my freshman year of college - I'd never heard anything like it - in an era that enshrined the extended solo as the heart of "real" rock'n'roll, here were perfect little 3 minute pop masterpieces. It blew my mind and I played those 2 records to DEATH!
ReplyDeleteThe Hollies - Heading For A Fall
ReplyDeleteThe Who - Run Run Run
The Rolling Stones - Connection
One more: The Animals - All Night Long (from ANIMALISMS)
ReplyDeleteTwo immediately come to mind! #1..."(Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me?" by those fabulous rowdy ravers The Small Faces, from their first Immediate Records label LP. "I see many flowers breaking through the concrete; Listen everybody, I can hear them breathing." My God, those lads must have been dropping the same, best LSD that The Beatles were! And hats off to Ian McLagan, who added splashes-of-cool mellotron to the song, one of the earliest examples of using that instrument in a rock song. #2...Next, let's slow the tempo down with the gorgeous "Young And Innocent Days," by The Kinks, from their ground breaking rock opera LP "Arthur." God save The Kinks!
ReplyDeleteOh god...id totally forgotten Young and Innocent Days. Beyond gorgeous....
DeleteGummo,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts on Kronikles. When you say "the hits" you mean their 64-66 hits of course as they were invisible in the US from 66-70. It was one of very few compilations that ever made it onto a Rolling Stone list of 500 greatest albums. It contained 13 songs that had never been heard in the US, plus great songs from their neglected (in the US) Face To Face and Something Else albums, neither of which broke the top 100 on the charts. They didn't make a weak record until 72-73.
I'd say yes, 64-66, plus "Victoria" and "Lola." Other than that, it was all new to me!
ReplyDeleteThanks to some guy's rave in Stereo Review, I picked up The Move's 'Split Ends' and proceeded to wear out 'Do Ya.'
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, the 'Kink Kronikles' is the Rosetta Stone of Kinkdom.
Time of the Season?
ReplyDelete“I Am Waiting” by the Rolling Stones on Aftermath. I wouldn’t call it obscure but it is a deep track.
ReplyDeleteYardbirds - "You're a Better Man Than I"
ReplyDeleteExsqueeze me -- nobody has nominated the Hollies' "Tell Me to My Face" yet?
ReplyDeleteSticking with "Animal Tracks," there's been insufficient generational love imo for "For Miss Caulker," the neglected flip of "Bring It on Home to Me." Though the whole LP aside from the hits is gem filled, e.g.. "Roberta," "Bury My Body," and "Take It Easy Baby."
ReplyDeleteRe your friend's comment that the album sucked: i think he was just jealous that those Newcastle lads were way more popular than his own group Eric Boardman & The Animals :-)
ReplyDelete