Marie's garage extravaganza
 

So I've developed an interest in 60s garage rock recently, digging through the various compilation series of old 7''s. There's a lot of great stuff in there about which I need to vent my enthusiasm, and I want to put together a selection of my favourites in one place, so I decided I want to dedicate this journal to that.
So here goes, put on your dancing shoes and get ready to jive or pogo or do any other dance of you choice
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Cathy Rich – Wild Thing

An amazing psychedelic cover version of the Troggs song. It has the gnarliest opening I’ve ever heard in a 60s garage rock song, which doesn’t seem to relate to the rest of the music at first, but still works. It’s like a psychedelic alarm going off. Then we get a funky version of Wild Thing, with added swing and background organ. The riff sounds surprisingly rich and warm. After two verses comes the greatest addition to the original song: another gnarly little psych wave (suddenly the opening makes sense), followed by the familiar riff in a different key, and the lyrics:
Wild thing my name is Cathy
And I’m wild
Wild, wild, wild, wild…
All this amidst a growing psychedelic chaos. And yes, in my mind this song is part of the Wuthering Heights universe and no one can convince me otherwise.

that was a groovy tune^

It truly is, thanks dude
More grooviness to follow

I spammed the boards with this track a few days ago but I want to write about it here so:
Thee Midniters - Jump, Jive and Harmonize

This absolute beast of a song feels like someone kicks a door open in your face, but in a way which makes you dance. It gets right to it: a catchy riff to which a delicious second layer is added, the drums just give some massive thuds, and then we get a ****ing organ on top of it all (high pitched like an angry insect) to make things even better. Later on even more fun is added with a percussion + harmonica intermezzo. The lyrics are basic, but who cares. This grooves so hard.

Customs Five – Let’s go in 69

A hilarious, crude little stomper about sex. The riff is so thick and bare it’s a work of art, and it gets even better because it’s juxtaposed with light, cymbal-rich percussion, and because each ‘chorus’ (you can hardly call it that) is a beautiful ascending harmony. This is one song where the instrumental bridge is actually kind of boring and standard, but that only heightens the fun when you get back to another verse.

^ Ha ha I love this one, Marie (although I'd better not play it too loud around here LOL). Your description is spot-on! I was just reading Lenny Kaye's tribute to Sylvain Sylvain, which led me to think of Lenny's curation of the Nuggets collection (which I have), which led me to sighting your journal up here. Very cool. :cool:

Thanks! People in the 60s trying (not so) subtly to sneak lewdness into their lyrics always cracks me up

oh hi Ori
:love:

The Girls – Chico’s Girl
A little gem by four sisters from LA. The lyrics are oddly sweet and moving to me: a girl singing about her tough boyfriend who’s sweet side only she gets to see. It opens with a great piano riff, which leads up to a key moment: a warm, triumphant high-pitched layer is added to the music and one of the girls asserts:
And I should know
‘cause I’m Chico’s girl
It’s so cute and just nails the feeling of loyalty and pride for loved ones. After the second verse we get a chorus which morphs back into the next verse via a delightful, brilliant hook. And as if that’s not enough inventiveness, the next chorus does something different, tying up the song with an unexpected harmony between riff and vocals. Also, the percussion is great, with its subtle little rattle.

The Vaqueros – Growing Pains

One of the gems from the 7th Teenage Shutdown volume, which is by far my favourite garage rock compilation. A surprisingly teen-angsty little wonder of a song with a fuzzy riff, harmonies, and an aching chorus in a sudden, almost Middle-Eastern sounding minor key, which ends in a neat little drum shuffle. I think the band consists of teenagers, and they sound young, but at the same time their vocals are quite mature and full, idk how to describe it.

The Shandels – Shades Of Blue
This song is a ｍｏｏｄ for me. It reminds me of some lost music from my childhood which I can’t remember. Just the melancholy undertone of the melody and the combination of organ (?) and vocals (with harmonies of course!) does something to me. Of course, like so many of these songs, this one also has an instrumental interlude with some lovely organ interplay.

The Starlites – Wait For Me
This gives me early Kinks vibes: both because of the voice of the singer and the minimal All-Day-And-All-Of-The-Night-Type riff, which is made extra memorable by Baroque-like little frills. It goes very well together with the vocal harmonies of the chorus. There’s also a fun fuzzy little intermezzo.

War Lords – Real Fine Lady
Bouncier than a trampoline. Great vocals too, from the ‘Hey!’ kicking off every verse to the bellowed ‘AND I DOOON'T WANT YOUR LOOVIIING ANY MOOOORE’. The chord progression which opens the song contrasts in a fun way with the energy of the rest of it. And it seems to have been written by someone named Popelka, which is a ****ing cool name.

JD Rogues - Why Did God Make Girls?
ｍｏｏｄ
honestly musically it's pretty bland but the lyrics are top shelf lol

The Hangmen - Faces
A strange one, in a good way. Groovy verses with a great bass (also the dynamic between the bass and guitar). Then suddenly this warm sounding chord and just the weirdest riff. The lyrics seem to be pseudo-enlightened psychedelic nonsense ('how long can you laugh before you cry/how long can you live before you die'), which adds just the right sprinkle of goofiness.

Classics - I'm Hurtin
This one is a gem of amateurishness. It sounds like someone singing and making a racket with some homemade percussion instruments in his bedroom with a production which sounds like it was recorded from a different room à la Raw Power. I love his voice and delivery too.

The Pussycats - I Want Your Love
I love this; the heartbeat-like rhythm (partly generated by the backup whoo-hoo's), the exciting harmonic crescendo at every chorus, and then the sudden amazing release and jubilant orchestral bit, ending in a trumpet cry. What a song.

Silvye-Anne - Un Tour Dehors
A swinging jazzy French cover of Day Tripper. The little bass bit at 0:20 is delightful.

^^It's the bongos for me. Cute.

Can I slide a garage favorite in here? :)

Definitely, anything involving Janis is welcome in this thread. Piece of my Heart is one of my favourite songs of hers

harmonies and almost twinkling guitars
The Lykes Of Us - Tell Me Why Your Light Shines

Are you familiar with the Pebbles' series? That's where I really got into garage rock (believe it or not, back in 1980, it was also known as 60's punk rock)

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I am! But not as familiar as with some of the other garage series. What is your favourite pebbles record?

Any of the first eight albums I would consider classics (one album was devoted to surf music and another to the British blues boom). If you're asking what my favorite track is, I'd probably go with I Never Loved Her by the Starfires. Honorable mentions would include Move by the State of Mind and I Can't Stand This Love Goodbye by the Others. You can hear them all now on YouTube, of course.

There was also a volume (either three or four- surf would have been the other) that was dedicated to garage psychedelia. Very way out there, and absolutely fantastic.

thanks, that sounds awesome! I'll check it out

The Six Pents - Your Girl Too
notable for being one of the rare garage songs that advocats treating girls well, but perhaps more importantly, it's a delight. The harmonies!