"Did you ever dream about a place you never really recall being to before? A place that maybe only exists in your imagination? Some place far away, half remembered when you wake up. When you were there, though, you knew the language. You knew your way around. That was the sixties....
No. It wasn't that either. It was just '66 and early '67. That's all there was....."
Showing posts with label 60's Garage Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 60's Garage Music. Show all posts
New Untouchables Brighton Mod Weekender is traditionally a high point of my summer. Especially since Brighton's own (once great) Mod/Psych scene went from being rubbish to being virtually non-existent in the last 2-3 years. This will be my last ever summer in Brighton, therefore I was determined to enjoy NUTs weekender even more than usual.
As regular readers of this blog probably know, it is not the 'Mod' part that I love the most about those weekenders. Having literally no interest in scooters, I usually skip daytime events at the seafront. In the evenings, not being a fan of soul music, I hardly ever pop in to the main room at Komedia, which is usually full of ageing blokes with Paul Weller haircuts. No, to me, the back room at the Studio Bar at Komedia is where the action is - a place where on Saturday and Sunday you can hear some of the best 60's Freakbeat, Garage and Psychedelia.
I always talk about NUTs events with a mixture of love and hate. I love dancing to my favourite obscure Psych tracks in clubs. Moustrap (Fuzz For Freaks) in London - bi-monthly clubnight organised by NUTs is the best 60's psych night in the country and I discovered some of my favourite tracks there. But, every now and then, I find some things about NUTs slightly annoying, like for example, unnecessarily strict djing rules - original 60's 7-inches only and no re-issues/compilations allowed. Ok, I understand why they wouldn't want dj's to use LP's - there is a discernible difference in sound (although I wouldn't say it sounds worse, but maybe it's just me). But why no re-issues? Does it really take away so much authenticity? DJ's are also afraid of playing too obvious or too popular tracks. They don't seem to understand that expensive and rare does not equal the best. Or even good for that matter. Also, having seen some of the dj's multiple times before, I can say that the sets of some of them have become a little too predictable - every time I see them they play the same records. Of course, if you only buy 7-inches priced £500+, how many new records per year are you gonna get? Not too many probably.... But then again maybe I am not the best person to talk about these things. You see, I belong to a very rare breed - passionate 60's music fan NOT interested in vinyl. I don't mind it, but I never saw it as a superior format. If dj's at The Mousetrap were playing the same tracks they always play, but from their Ipod's instead of vinyl, I'd still come. I love the tune, not the format (I'll probably get banned for saying this, though).
Anyway, on Brighton weekenders, Sundays are traditionally the best for psychedelia. This year, I would say it was Saturday. Sunday turned out to be a bit of an anticlimax. Still, I had a great time that weekend, and I certainly encourage anybody who's into Psych/Garage and, most of all, Soul to come and check out Brighton Mod Weekender in 2014.
I stopped taking photos on my nights out long time ago, so here, I am using some from New Untouchables website. The photos were all taken by Carlo Sesto.
That's me on the right..
I'll end with some photos of my now ex-girlfriend in her amazing original Biba dress..
Also, I heard this great tune for the first time at this year's weekender - 'Kicks And Chicks' by The Zipps - I've been listening to it on repeat ever since..
As Eddie Cochrane used to sing, There ain't no cure for the summertime blues....I must admit, I'm generally not too keen on summer. I'm terrible at dealing with heat, and I hate when weather forces me to wear just a t-shirt. Unlike the last two or three years, this year, we exceptionally do have an actual summer in Britain, with sun and heat and all, and frankly, I've had enough. On a more personal note, bad things in my life always seem to happen in summer, which would probably explain my dislike of it. This summer is no exception. So far, it has been rather dreadful, to put it mildly...
That it not to say it was completely rubbish. One of the high points was on Friday, when I sneaked in without a ticket to Patti Smith gig. She played a low-fi gig in a church in Brighton literally five minutes away from where I live. Tickets (£30 a pop) sold out really quickly, but thanks to kindness of friends, some masterful deception, and knowing the weak points of the venue, I have found myself inside shortly before Patti Smith went onstage. Any guilt I might have had about robbing Patti of £30 evaporated when she read an excerpt from her book Just Kids (an account of her life as a poverty - stricken bohemian in late 60's/early 70's New York), in which she talked about Robert Mapplethorne stealing that William Blake print (I'll spare you the details, read the book if you're interested). After that, I couldn't help but think that me sneaking into that gig was something that Patti - or her younger self, at least - would have approved of. Or so I like to tell myself. Funnily enough, she did a cover of Eddie Cochrane's Summertime Blues...
Anecdotes about my mischief aside, let me get to the point. Since usual summer playlists consist of 'feelgood' songs, I feel like doing something exactly opposite. Here I compiled a list of my my favourite dark songs from the 1960's. First, a couple of rules - what do I consider to be a 'dark' song? Well, it either has to have minor chord changes, or lyrics that talk about dark side of human nature or world in general. Something that makes you feel a bit uneasy. The songs I picked are 'dark' but not necessarily depressing. You can even dance to most of them. Overall, I would say that anger and confusion - rather that sadness - are prevailing emotions in the songs. The list is based purely on my personal taste, I don't claim the songs to be 'the best' - just the ones I like the most. Also, I tried to avoid 'too obvious' choices, like The Doors or Velvet Underground - in this blog I like to champion the obscure and the overlooked, not the overexposed (unless it's Syd Barrett or Brian Jones, that is). Unusually for me, most of the bands I included are American, rather than British. It's strange, I never intended this blog to be exclusively about Britain in the 1960's, it's just that British Psychedelia and Swinging London era are a part of the 1960's I am most passionate about. But hopefully, brief departure from those themes will provide a much-needed breath of fresh air to this blog.
So, for those of you who like me, can't quite get into summer spirit, I present a look at the 1960's from a darker perspective...
10. 'SEARCHING ' - THE OMENS (1966)
I don't know much about The Omens - they were one of countless bands that were being formed in the mid-1960's across America by kids, inspired by Beatles or Stones. I am not sure whether they ever released any other single that 'Searching ' or whether they ever played outside their hometown - wherever it was. Although there's nothing original about the lyrics to 'Searching ' the same cannot be said about that great apocalyptic riff and psychedelic solos on guitar and organ. For 60's Garage aficionados, this is an undisputed classic and instant dancefloor filler at every Psych/Beat/Garage clubnight today..
9. 'MY BROTHER, THE MAN' - WE THE PEOPLE (1967)
Some of the best music recorded in 1960's never found its way to charts. Take We The People - brilliant band from Orlando led by certain Wayne Proctor. They released quite a few great singles between 1966 and 1969. Their song 'In The Past' should have been a huge hit. Same with 'You Burn Me Up And Down' , 'Mirror Of Your Mind' (which charted locally, apparently) and indeed 'My Brother, The Man' - which was a track from We The People's sole album Too Much Noise (1968). Just like in 'Searching' by The Omens, the power of the song is in this rather sinister riff. Commercial success might have eluded We The People, but with time they acquired a status of a cool, obscure band it is fashionable to list as an influence. Especially since London Psych/Mod/Goth heroes The Horrors paid tribute to We The People by stealing the riff from 'My Brother, The Man' for their own song 'Count In Fives' in 2007.
8. 'WHEN THE SHIP COMES IN' - BOB DYLAN (1964)
Hmm...Did I say 'no obvious choices'? Well, I lied..... But let's face it, when it comes to painting a bleak picture of reality, who can surpass protest-era Dylan? 'When The Ship Comes In' is a track from 1964 album The Times They Are-A-Changing. Reportedly, it was written one night after Dylan, while touring America with Joan Baez, was refused a hotel room due to his 'scruffy appearance'. A receptionist wouldn't give him a room unless Baez vouched for his 'good character'. Most of us mere mortals would probably demand to see manager and give him hard time, but Dylan sat in the lobby, and he quickly composed this little masterpiece about social injustice and the new order violently replacing the old one. Simple and pretty short (for Dylan's standards) song, but it contains more rage and anger than all the Clash, Sex Pistols and Dead Kennedys records put together. The new world anticipated by Dylan, failed to materialise. Perhaps that's what prompted him to abandon protest songs in favour of more introspective material in the mid-1960's. But that failure only makes this song still relevant today.
It won't let me insert a video, listen to it here.
7. 'STORMY' - THE JESTERS OF NEWPORT (1966)
Another obscure corker from American Mid-West. It starts off with a motif from 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King' by Edvard Grieg played on farfisa organ and then it descends into messy garage-rock madness. With the wild, howling vocals and distorted guitar, this song makes The Stones sound like Rosemary Clooney. I'm not sure whether The Jesters Of Newport ever recorded anything else, but they certainly deserve to be remembered for this brilliant song, which can be heard on Back From The Grave Vol. 5 compilation.
Electro pioneers Silver Apples were one of those bands who were so far ahead of their time, that nobody really 'got them' at the time of their existence. This New York duo consisting of synth player Simeon Oliver Coxe and drummer Danny Taylor released two albums between 1968 and 1969. Their eponymous first LP can only be described as a musical equivalent of insanity. You'll hear sounds you didn't even know were possible to make - well, certainly not in 1968, at least. ' A Pox On You' might not be their best song (to me it's 'You're Not Fooling Me'), but it's definitely the most sinister-sounding one. Silver Apples were thoroughly misunderstood and forgotten for many years, while the credit for many things they did first, went instead to much less impressive band from mid-1970's - Suicide. Luckily, in the last few years, Silver Apples were rediscovered and quickly achieved cult status in certain circles. Today, every Shoreditch hipster owns a vinyl reissue of their first album, and claims to have been into them before you were.
5. '1906' - THE WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND (1967)
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band were a bizarre creation. The band consisted of Bob Markley - failed crooner and TV presenter in his mid thirties, and teenage brothers Shaun and Danny Harris. The band was put together and masterminded by legendary LA producer Kim Fowley in order to cash up on flower-power phenomenon. TWCPAEB released four albums between 1966 and 1970. Their brand of sitar-led psychedelic rock was nice, but rather unremarkable. Not 'Pop Art' at all and certainly not 'Experimental'. The West Coast Hippie Bandwagon Chasers - that would be much more suitable name for this band. Nevertheless, they had their three minutes of genius with '1906' - B-side of their 1967 single 'Shifting Sands'. The song sounds nothing like the rest of their material - it's fast, it has great riff and melody. I don't know whether the title of the song is supposed to be a reference to 1906 earthquake in San Francisco which destroyed 80% of the city - lyrics (which are spoken, and in the background) seem to be more about bad drug experience. Whatever it's about, it's one of the greatest dark songs of 1960's. Today it can be heard as a bonus track on the reissue of TWCPAEB's third album A Child's Guide To Good And Evil (1968), the cover of which you can see at the top of this post.
4. 'WHEN THE WIND ARISES' - THE ROKES (1968)
The Rokes were a band from London active mostly in Italy, where they had a hit with an Italian-language version of 'When You Walk In The Room'. Although they released a few singles in UK, none of them ever charted. 'When The Wind Arises' is a B-side of their final UK single 'The Works Of Bartholomew'. It is a very powerful and theatrical piece of psychedelic rock - a kind of song you'd want to hear while walking at the edge of the cliff during stormy night (my favourite pastime). I first heard it on Real Life Permanent Dream box set, and it's been one of my favourite songs ever since.
3. 'SKITZO BLUES' - SILK (1969)
A great piece of heavy, farfisa-led psych from America. Silk were a band from Cleveland signed to ABC. They released their sole LP Smooth As Raw Silk in 1969. 'Skitzo Blues' is a track from that album, and it can also be heard on Bevis Frond -curated psych compilation The Room Of Loud Sound.
Prog Rock......the overblown, self-indulgent excesses of ELP, Yes or Genesis in the mid-1970's had made prog terminally uncool. People almost forget that during its early years - between 1967 and 1971, prog was one of the most exciting genres. Back then, prog was less about long solos and showing-off and more about taking music into the exciting unknown directions. The living proof of that is this great track by Tractor - British band from Rochdale, Lancashire. The long, electronic intro builds up until you're hit with this amazing riff which takes you on a 7 minute dark odyssey. I first heard 'All Ends Up' at the Mousetrap about a year ago, and I must say it sounds even more impressive in the club with a proper soundsystem. I'd listen to this song on the loop for the next few weeks. Even now, I am still not bored with it. Great track from a band which should have been much bigger.
1. 'STRANGE HOUSE' - THE ATTACK (1967)
Now, I don't think I would be able to pick 'my favourite song ever', but I could certainly narrow the choices down to five, and this song would definitely be one of my top five. To me, it's one of the most perfect songs ever - it has everything: powerful, sinister riff, distorted vocals, great lyrics and overall weird and wonderful atmosphere. This song captures bad drug experience so well, that after hearing it, you will never have to even do drugs to know what it's like..
As for The Attack, they were a Mod band from London which was caught in the rapidly changing trends. They started off playing soul music - their single 'Anymore Than I Do' is a Mod classic - before moving on psychedelia in the late 1966. Despite having few good singles such as 'Too Old' , commercial success never came and The Attack disbanded in early 1968. Their guitarist Davey O'List went on to join The Nice, and remaining members formed heavy psych band Andromeda. 'Strange House' remains their finest hour and a cult classic - especially since London Psych/Mod/Goth heroes The Horrors paid tribute to The Attack by stealing the title and naming their debut album Strange House in 2007.
Conclusion: Punk...Goth...Electro...all these genres already existed in 1960's, before the terms were coined.
So, that's it. Hope you enjoyed this little list. I welcome any additions - Can you think of any other great dark songs from 1960's? Other than Doors or Velvet Underground?
Small correction: All Ends Up by Tractor is actually from 1972, not 1969 as I initially thought. But frankly I just can't be arsed to change it. It's still a great song which you need to hear.
The laptop/scanner situation is finally sorted (for now, at least) so I can resume blogging. Here's some photos of my girlfriend, myself and random stuff from her flat. Also, I've enclosed some songs I've been listening to all the time in the past few weeks...
My girlfriend in her original 1970's Biba top...
some of her other Biba stuff...
Me in my favourite kaftan..
"The Wedding Of Ramona Blair" by The Mirage - great piece of British Pop-Psych from 1967. This song sounds like a lost recording of Sgt. Pepper - era Beatles...
"Guess I Was Dreaming" by The Fairytale - another British Popsike song from 1967. I've only first heard it last week at the Cave Club in London, and I thought it was the best song ever...When listened to it again, sober, I was less impressed. But I still think it's worth a listen..
My girlfriend in her vintage 60's dress (no label on it, unfortunately..) I love the Regency-style cuffs...
Brighton Seafront..
"In The Deep End" by The Artwoods. Mod/Psych from 1967
Clara Bow - inspired outfit..
And I'll end with this great psychedelic freakout from Eyes Of Blue - "Prodigal Son" from (of course) 1967...
Chrissie Shrimpton and Thane Russal photographed in 1966 by Richard Avedon.
Thane Russal, whose real name was Doug Gibbons, was an Australian singer lived and recorded in Britain in the mid-1960's.His most memorable song is the dynamic version of Otis Redding's 'Security' recorded in 1966. In my modest opinion, Thane Russal's version is FAR superior to the original, which sounds pretty generic by comparison (Sorry, Otis Redding's fans..). The brass section from Otis's version is here replaced by melodic guitar riff, and instead of Otis's soulful vocals, we get angry, Mick Jagger-esque snarl of Thane Russal. Indeed, this version could almost pass for a lost Stones song...
'Security' was a minor hit in Britain in 1966. John Peel was a fan of the single and played it often on his radio show Perfumed Garden. Thane Russal And Three, as his backing band was called, toured with P.J. Proby, The Searchers, and fellow Mod bands - The Who, The Sorrows and The Action. They also supported Pink Floyd in Italy. Today, 'Security' is a cult classic for Mod/Psych fans.
Intersting piece of trivia - 'Security' was produced by certain Paul Raven - real name Paul Gadd - who would later achieve fame (and infamy) as Gary Glitter.
Here are some photos of Thane Russal and Three from 1965-1966..
The Three: (from left) Mick Brill, Martin Fisher, Allan Collins and Pete Huish (that's four, surely). Evidently the boys were customers of I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet boutique.
Martin Fisher
Martin Fisher
Mick Brill and Martin Fisher
And the man himself - Doug Gibbons A.K.A. Thane Russal
One of my favorite songs at the moment is 'Hold On' by Mod/Psych singer Sharon Tandy. I recently discovered this video of her performing it on German TV show The Beat Club in 1968. It is worth watching not only because it is a great song, but also because of how great she looks in this footage.
Sharon Tandy recorded 'Hold On' with Fleur De Lys as her backing band. They provide psychedelic vibe to this soul song.
The single 'Hold On' (with 'Stay With Me' as a B-side) released in 1968 was a minor hit in Britain. But Sharon Tandy's career, despite her great voice and great look, never quite took off. After few flop singles, she returned to her native South Africa in the early 1970's.
'Hold On', which regularly pops up on various compilations, provided her with a cult-ish status among Mods and 60's Psych fans.
Perhaps it's because of Easter - a family holiday - but I feel it
may be the right time to do a post devoted to a country in which I was born - Poland.
Or maybe I'm getting temporarily bored with the stuff I usually write about.
Either way, I think a little change may be refreshing.
Music, fashion and
culture of Swinging Sixties Britain has been my biggest passion since my
mid-teens.But I often wondered what did that decade look like in Poland.
My parents couldn't be of much help there - in 1970 they were both still in
their early teens, too young to remember anything significant (and by that I
mean what they were wearing or what music were they into). What they do
remember, is that the reality generally was rather dull and gray.
Anyway, in the last year or so, thanks to the miracle of
Internet, I have discovered - much to my surprise - that Poland
actually had a pretty vibrant Rock n' roll/Beat/Garage/Psych scene, especially
from 1965 onwards (not that I've ever heard of any of those bands when I actually lived in Poland). In the recent issue of Shindig! magazine, there was a great article on the subject, although I did not entirely agree with the choice of bands covered. So here I gonna do it my own way. Of course, I have advantage in the fact that I can actuallyl understand Polish language (I am not so confident about speaking, though. I haven't had conversation in Polish for several years) which allows me the full appreciation of this stuff. But, to those who are regular readers of this blog, I can guarantee that once you get past unpronounceable band names and strangely sounding lyrics, there is a great music there to be enjoyed. So let me take a break from my usual ramblings about Swinging Sixties London, to see what the sixties were like on the wrong side of the iron curtain.
For the young music fans in 1960's Poland, the biggest problem was a limited availability of Western records. Although The Beatles, Stones, etc. were as popular in Poland as anywhere else in Europe, their records were not being sold in record shops. The singles were largely available on so-called 'music-postards' (a sort of floppy rectangular picture disc), but it took a lot of effort to find albums. Usually black market was your best bet. It also helped if you, or somebody you knew had family or friends abroad.
Live performances of Western artists were also limited. I am not sure whether it was a case of needing a permission from authorities, or a case of bands not being that bothered about playing Poland, or a little bit of both. The fact is, some of the big English bands of the 1960's did make it to Poland - In 1965 and 1966 The Hollies, The Animals and even London Mod/Psych heroes The Artwoods all successfully toured there.
Article (NME? Melody Maker?) about The Artwoods' communication problems in Poland, 1966 (via Punks In Parkas)
Then, in 1967, a miracle happened. On 13th of April The Rolling Stones came to play one-off gig in Warsaw. It was their only ever gig behind iron curtain (although they did returned to Poland twice after the curtain fell down). In Poland, this gig has a legend of its own. Anybody who lived in Warsaw at the time and was age between 12 - 30, claims to have been at that gig. Unfortunately, the capacity of the venue was only about 3000, so a lot of people did not manage to get a ticket. They showed up on the night anyway, just to be in the proximity of their idols, and caused a riot outside Warsaw's Kongresowa Hall.
A brief footage of that gig from Polish news report. The newsreader says something like: Thousands of fans gathered outside Kongresowa Hall to see band The Rolling Stones. There wasn't enough tickets for everybody. Those lucky enough to get a ticket couldn't hear anything anyway. But it doesn't matter, because this a kind of gig you experience, rather than listen to.
To a Polish audience The Stones - at the time in the middle of their psychedelic phase - seemed exotic, to say the least. The Stones themselves also experienced a little bit of cultural shock. This is how Bill Wyman remembers that gig: Warsaw was depressingly gray and dismal. On our drive to the best hotel in town, we noticed that the streets seemed strangely quiet with very little traffic and pedestrians.After checking in, I found my room to be triangular with a huge circular concrete pillar in the centre of the room.(...) Everybody was in and out of each other's rooms to see who had the best one - none of them were very good.(...) There were large crowds of kids in front of our hotel as we left, held back by the police. They were chanting: Long Live The Stones! (...) Once inside (the concert venue), we found that the tickets for our show had not been put on sale. They were given to loyal party members. This meant all the real fans were outside, unable to get tickets, but the audience seemed to get into it as we went along. Towards the end of our set they began chanting 'Icantgetno, Icantgetno'. It took a while for us to realise that they wanted 'Satisfaction'. (Bill Wyman, Rolling With The Stones, Dorling Kindersley, 2002, p 270).
Bill Wyman was wrong, though. Although some tickets were indeed given to party members, they were definitely put on general sale as well. They were expensive and got snapped up quickly, but quite a few 'true fans' did get to see The Stones (and the footage above seems to confirm it).
Interesting thing about that gig was that during the soundcheck, it turned out that Stones' instruments couldn't be connected to Polish electricity (something to do with a different voltage, apparently) So during the concert The Rolling Stones were using guitars and amps which belonged to a support act - a Polish beat group called Niebiesko-Czarni.
Brian Jones and members of Niebiesko-Czarni, 13.04.1967
Niebiesko-Czarni (The Black n' Blue's) were one of the first and most important Polish groups of the 1960's. They formed in 1962 around guitarist/lead singer Wojtek Korda and initially they played various forms of Twist and Rock n' Roll. In the mid-1960's they were joined by a femle lead singer Ada Rusowicz, and their career really took off.
Niebiesko-Czarni performing on Polish TV in 1966
Onstage, Niebiesko-Czarni wore blue turtlenecks and black trousers - hence their name. They had a string of successful singles, and they recorded two albums between 1965 and 1967. Then, just like the groups in Western Europe, Niebiesko-Czarni 'went psychedelic'. Blue turtlenecks were replaced by beads and kaftans.
Niebiesko-Czarni, 1968
Ada Rusowicz
Cover of the album Twarze ('The Faces') by Niebiesko-Czarni, 1968.
Their sound, as well as their look became more interesting. They recorded two psychedelic-tinged albums - Twarze in 1968 and Mamy Dla Was Kwiaty ('We've Got Flowers For You' - with a great cover which you can see at the top of the post) in 1969.I haven't heard any of the those albums in their entirety, but if the title track of the second one is anything to go by, it must be pretty good. Very influenced by what was going on in England at the time, especially S.F. Sorrow by The Pretty Things.
The revolving-door line-up changes of Niebiesko-Czarni made them almost 'a school for future pop stars'. Quite a few ex-members of this band became went on to bigger things. One of them was guitarist/lead singer Krzysztof Klenczon who quit in 1965 and took over vocals in a band called Czerwone Gitary ('The Red Guitars' - and no, it was not a reference to a political situation of Poland). If there is any band that deserves a title of 'Polish Beatles', it's Czerwone Gitary. And it's not just a scale of their popularity. Musically they were very, very heavily influenced by the Fab Four. But even if they were copyists, they were good copyists.Some Poles like to claim that if The Red Guitars lived in England and sang the same songs in English, they would have been as big as The Beatles. That's a bit of a stretch - they weren't that good - but they certainly would have given The Hollies or The Zombies a run for their money.
Here's Czerwone Gitary doing one of their biggest hits - 'Nie Zadzieraj Nosa' (a Polish idiom meaning as much as 'don't be so stuck-up') - a song from 1968 with a very triumphant chorus in the style of 'She Loves You' or 'Twist and Shout'. They were clearly very uncomfortable having to mime to their song on the TV , which shows through their exaggerated dance movements...
Here's another one - a nice ballad titled 'Historia Jednej Znajomosci' ('A Story of a Brief Aquintanship'). There is something about that song that really catches both, teenage blues and gray Polish reality.
That's just two of their many successful singles. In the 1960's every country tried to produce 'their own Beatles'. Czerwone Gitary were one of the few European bands that for a brief period almost managed to match the efforts of the Fab Four. They remained popular throughout the 1970's although their leader Krzysztof Klenczon left in 1972. He moved to USA, where sadly, he died in a car accident in early 1980's.
Now, on to my favorite part - Freakbeat and Garage. I'll start with a band called Chocholy ('The Hollows') doing an aggressive Rhythm n' Blues number titled 'Amor A Kysz' (Stay Away, Cupid!) which wouldn't sound out of place in London's Marquee club. (song from 1965)
Chocholy were a popular R n'B group. When their lead singer Wojciech Gassowski quit in 1967, they changed name to Akwarele ('The Watercolours') and became a backing band for a popular Prog-rocker Czeslaw Niemen (a former member of Niebiesko-Czarni).
Here's another great track - Stale To Samo ('Always The Same') by appropriately named Dzikusy (The Wild-Ones). Their Farfisa-led Freakbeat wasn't million miles away from what teenagers across America were doing around the same time (1966).I couldn't paste it in here, so just click on the link.
Another great Polish band from that time that crossed into Freakbeat territory were Polanie ('The Polans' - named after medieval tribe - the fore-fathers of Poles). They were heavily inspired by aggresive, organ-led R n' B of The Animals. One of their best tracks was 'Nie Zawroce' (I Won't Turn Back') which combined R n'B with heavy soul.
Polanie covered a lot of British Mod/Psych songs like 'Cool Jerk' by The Creation or 'Can You Hear Me?' by The Artwoods. Here's their absolutely insane version of Animals' 'I'm Crying'.
When The Animals toured Poland in 1966, Polanie were a support act. Reportedly, Eric Burdon was very impressed with the energy of their live performances, and he invited Polanie To Britain to tour with The Animals. These plans came to nothing when Polanie couldn't get UK visas. Still, they were one of the few Polish bands which toured Western Europe - France and West Germany (where they supported The Animals again).
In the last few years some few compilations of Polish Beat/Garage/Psyche were released in Britain - two volumes of Wrenchin' The Wires and Working Class Devils (rubbish title, if you ask me..). They contain some great gems from the Polish 60's beat scene.
Now I am gonna move into late-60's Hippie territory. In Poland, the undisputed leaders in that field was a band called Breakout.The band was led by Tadeusz Nalepa, who was thought to be the greatest blues/rock guitarist in Poland. They started in a mid-1960's as a beat combo called Blackout, changing their name to Breakout after they were joined by a female lead singer Mira Kubasinska. Their music was a mix of heavy blues and psyche with progressive undertones and pop sensibility. Think Hendrix jamming with Jefferson Airplane or a much heavier version of Shocking Blue..
Here's Breakout doing their 1969 hit 'Poszlabym Za Toba' (I Would Follow You)
Another good song by Breakout was called 'Gdybys Kochal, Hej!' ('If You Only Loved Me, Hey!'). I don't know whether Tadeusz Nalepa and Mira Kubasinska were a couple, but in this video they they seem like they have a Sonny Bono/Cher thing going on. Bassist clearly has a lot of fun hiding behind the tree. The main riff clearly owes a lot to Hendrix's version of 'Hey Joe'.
Breakout continued to record great music after the departure of Mira Kubasinska in 1971. That year, they released an album, unimaginatively titled Blues. It is a great heavy blues-rock album full of fiery guitar solos complemented by Hammond organ and soulful vocals of Tadeusz Nalepa. One of the best songs on the album was called 'Pomaluj Moje Sny' ('Paint My Dreams').
Since I crossed into early 1970's, I want to mention two other important Polish bands from that period. First one is a progressive rock band called Klan. Their 1971 album 'Mrowisko' ('The Hive') is a mix of psychedelic heavy rock and jazz. It resembles early stuff of The Soft Machine or Colosseum, but it's much less self-indulgent. I'm not sure wheter the band got much recognition for it, as they seem to be pretty obscure even in Poland, which is a shame, because 'Mrowisko' is one of the best Polish records of the time.
Cover of 'Mrowisko' by Klan, 1971 (listen to the album here)
Another Polish band from that time worth mentioning was Nurt ('The Stream'). Their only album, released in 1972, was also a mix of Heavy Psyche, Prog and Jazz, but with a lot of emphasis on 'Heavy'. I was pretty blown away by virtuoso musicianship of Nurt (especially their guitarist). Unlike a lot of Prog albums from early 1970's, this one avoids a trap of being overly self-indulgent or boring.
This is a song called 'Pisze Kreda Po Asfalcie' ('I Write On Asphalth With a Chalk') from Nurt's self-titled 1972 album..
I'll end with something from the mid-Sixties..
This charming lady is a pop singer Helena Majdaniec. She was sort of a Polish Cilla Black or Sandie Shaw. After having a string of incredibly twee pop hits in Poland, she emigrated to France, where she continued her musical career, apparently achieving considerable popularity in continental Europe. Here's a footage of her performing a song in English on German TV in 1966. The audio is pretty bad and the song is not particularly good, but she and her French backing band, as well as he audience look absolutely amazing..
Make no mistake, the life in Socialist Poland in the 1960's was far from perfect. But that didn't stop the youth of that country from producing their own interesting music or, as I intend to show in part two of my 'Polish Special' , films and fashion icons.
