United Travel Service Gypsy Eyes

I came across this track on the recent compilation that was distroed on GaragePunk Forums called Extra Terrestrial Sojourn #2. Garagebeatnik, made a nice sounding comp. You are in his listening room, feeling the needle drop on each disc.

I know nothing about this except, this catalog number Ridon 860. An online resource dates this 45 to 68. "Gypsy Eyes" looks to be previously uncomped as well.

Please find a button below to hear or d/l a 160kbps file.

The start with the jangle punctuated by the bass drum kick is quite cool. I like story songs from this point in time, like Fortune Teller. "Those eyes... sharp as a knife."

The guitar break is brief, swirling and distorted, but keeps breaking under the vocal.

I think that you will dig it. A moody track for a rainy day in Chicago.

The Bachs Live @ Skokie Valley Jr. High 1967

Wow, a live tape from the Bachs just appeared in my post box. The fidelity is not really that bad considering all that is involved-40 year old tape, garage band, recording technology, and recording at a Jr High. There is hiss and the varying sound levels that would make an audiophile cringe. But hey, I survived through most of the original Pebbles comps.

I wrote about a cdr that I got of their only release Out of the Bachs... a while back, so along with this cdr, I think that you can get pretty much the complete Bachs story. These lads hailed from the Lake Bluff and Lake Forest towns (30 miles north of Chicago) in 66-67 and they attended Lake Forest High School.

There is very little overlap with the material @ Skokie and their LP. Although, they slyly slip You're Mine from the LP into Run for Your Life. The multiple part harmonies come through on this original. The cymbal bashing is epic.

The Bachs intro Fortune Teller as a new track by The Rolling Stones, on Got Live If You Want It. Cool. They also perform an original tune called Silhouetted Summer Dream that doesn't appear on Out of The...

They mine cover material pretty extensively. Live for Today uses their multiple voices pretty well, I think, even though I am not a big fan of the song. The Bachs kick out the jams on Stepping Stone, I can detect a boss guitar tone buried in the "mix." The level of sarcasm and angst in the vocal delivery is most excellent.

That's The Way It Goes takes the festivities in another direction. It starts in a moody mode and then erupts for a few bars of Bachs vocal fury, and then quiets it back down to moodiness. Then there is a guitar break that unfortunately is way down in the mix. The counter to this song is their take on Just Like Me, that shows signs of being a great version. It features a wiggly guitar break, but this song sounds more muffled than some of the others.

Their take on Satisfaction, appears to have the F word thrown in for good (bad?) measure. I wonder if the chaperone heard that?

I think that this tape allows the listener to step back in time to feel and hear what a "real" North Shore garage band sounded like back in 67, and recorded in a school as well. Quite authentic.

Earth Day 2007 Vinyl Finds

Well, I did something environmentally friendly yesterday for Earth Day, I rescued some old vinyl from the landfill. Recycle, Reuse, Repeat.

I made the venture to the Great White North on the warmest day of 2007, as it was 85 degrees and very sunny. Vestax portable in tow, the quest was funk, soul and garage 45s. The garage ones are hard to find. But I always manage to score a couple.

While I don't feel like sharing my source for these 45s, I will share a list and the prices paid. Despite the location, I feel that at least the first set of discs mentioned below were found "in the wild." While the conditions were great and the prices were low, it took a couple of hours digging through boxes of un sleeved 45s to turn them up.

Archie Bell and The Drells Tighten Up If you have ever heard a funk comp, you have heard this disc , solid. Part II is on the flip.
Jimmy Castor Bunch The Bertha Butt Boogie, He even name checks his other "hit" on this one- Troglodyte...
Jimmy and Booby Purity Wish You Didn't Have to Go, This seems an attempt to hit the gold that is their previous side I'll Be Your Puppet. The bass on this disc will not let you down.
Wilson Pickett Funky Broadway Dot ever think it is only about Midnight Hour with Mr. Pickett, this track is a solid winner.
Booker T & The MGs Green Onions
Michael & The Messengers Midnight Hour Solid garage R&B disc by these Chicago(?) lads, on USA records, home of both The Cherry Slush and Don't Wanna Cry by The Buckinghams.

All of the above records cost a total of US$1.25. The conditions range from VG to NM. Some solid cranking options.

Here are some more sides that I scored:

Bob Seger System The Last Song. I liked the flip Ivory better. Seger liked to drive the R&B. Not so much garage, and definitely not Like a Rock.
George Semper Rhythm Committee Its Your Thing This one is credited to the Isley Brothers. The other side sucks but this one is a sold funky number that also features a nice organ break.
Booker T & The MGs Time is Tight. Mint copy with the cool Stax snapping fingers sleeve. You can't go wrong with any of their stuff can you?
Bob Seger System Heavy Music (PT I & II) This is a driver, another reason to totally hate Mr. Silver Bullet. Found listed under "Non Chart Northern Soul." Um, wrong.

The above discs were US$8.00. I feel as I am finally starting to get my legs under me. I have bought only one CD in 2007. Finding awesome 45s feeds the audio jones and the CD Reference System prefers 45s. The low end doesn't even compare.

I heard some bottom feeders saying that it "was starting to dry up." And that they may need to head to Chicago to find more vinyl. Good luck with that. Even scratchy 45s are US$5 here.

Music Machine Ultimate Turn On

Take your pick-- black or white or mono or stereo. Much like this quite essential 2 CD collection that came out on Big Beat last year. Their LP is featured in both flavors (mono vs stereo) on disc one of this set.

I have their 45s and an 80s or early 90s reissue of their LP Turn On, so I waited a while to track this one down.

I will say that Talk Talk, one of my top ten songs of all time does smack of fuzz and distortion in a glorious bath of noise on this digital version. A clean 45 would have the edge, but I digress as usual.

The guitar break is quite killer on their reading of The Beatles Tax Man. Nice crunch from the guitar behind the vocals. This mix does sound nice.

The Machine turns back into the noise with Masculine Intuition, that features tasty Vox organ and a tough bass pulse punctuated by distortion in the trebley register on the guitar. One of my fave codas with the bass drum isolated and pounding to the end.

They pull it back for The People in Me. Still a strong organ driven workout, just not as tough as Masculine.

Not a fan of their take on Hey Joe, methinks The Stillroven kill that song. Except that backgound fuzz wash towards the end of the track just nails it in my book.

The Eagle Never Hunts The Fly is a neccessary exploration into the deep and darkness. Great off time weirdness, screeching guitars, and general mayhem ensues. The vocal sounds especially tough over all of the Vox guitars and related distortion equipment. Check!

Disc two contains a ton of other stuff- demos, rehearsals, etc. I might dig into that a bit in the future.

I have never been a big fan of the selection of cover material for this LP, probably one of the reasons, that when I need a MM fix, I go digging in the crates. But the one two punch of Talk Talk and Trouble, on side one of Turn On, are hard to beat with any record, period. This is essential listening for anyone who even thinks they might like "garage" music.

The Index

I got a burn of their 1st 2 LPs. These are legendary to the garageistes out there. An original of of the second album is in the neighborhood of US$3000, I think.

Listening to the 1st track, on LP #1, (pictured above in ragged glory) all I can say is that they are not The Bachs.

The second track, I Can't See Nobody, is a thin moody track with multiple vocal parts. "My eyes can only look at you," they say. Quite an improvement over the lead track.

Now their sloppy, reverb drenched version of the nugget Spoonful, is bordering on genius. The outro of Spoonful repeated over and over is too much.

Then they dig into a version of 8 Miles High that sounds more in tune with the Ventures in Space as opposed to the folk stylings of Mssr. McGuinn, Crosby et Clark. The hook, is driven through reverb abuse. I detect Fender Pro Reverb on overdrive. Doesn't better the original, but their chiming vocals help to make it work. Set the controls for warp, gents.

Side two starts with a track called New York Mine Disaster.

The energy level goes way up as does the tempo with Paradise Beach. The guitar is an acoustic this time. The guitar break with an acoustic, with nary a folk feel is cool. Bring it on.

Break Out is a freak out jam that kicks back into electrical territory and features more overdriven tones, this time bordering on feedback. The bass sits and percolates in the pocket and the drums are beating a propulsive pattern.

The Index comes back to earth with another acoustic number, I Love You. Here the cymbals provide accent and a response to the repeating guitar loop. The break here once again is acoustic and not annoying. Dare I say it, it seems that they are providing Mood here.

Rainy Starless Nights closes the set. Vocalist John Ford sounds like he means what he sings. The loud reverb crash at the end must be positioned to give the listener a bad trip.

This LP will surely grow on me. I may have to take back that Bachs comment above. My burned copy is sourced from a rough copy of the original disc. I would love to hear a better copy.

The Five Americans Dont You Dare Blame Me

Here is an HBR (#468) single that I picked up over the weekend at a location to remain unidentified. According to the 'Americans discog, this was released in the halcion year of 66, also the best year of the Ford Mustang, but I digress.

Don't You Dare Blame Me starts up with a great tweaked intro freaky warbled organ, that busts into a stomper- this one driven by a stomping bass line...

It has one cool disorted break that ends and the trebly organ comes up and does a break.

"Dont Blame Me for What you've done," the vocals proclaim. The song ends quite abruptly. The mood served up by the track is altered and odd. The lads seem a bit off here.

Shocking how much the a side EVOL Not Love sucks. It charted as high as the Top 40, according to thier site. This is truly a single sided record, but kills it in that regard. Flip this one over and groove, easily the best song they tracked.