THE DEFINITIVE JANGLE OF FOLK ROCK - Mr. Tambourine Man (The Byrds)

 

Rich here, continuing to write about the songs the define their genre. This time, I'm making a case that The Byrds 1965 recording of "Mr. Tambourine Man" is the definitive Folk Rock song. Not songwriter Bob Dylan's original, folky acoustic version of the song, but rather the electrified rock version by The Byrds, with its gleaming vocal harmonies and the sparkling jangle of Jim McGuinn's electric 12-string guitar. 

 

Now it's true that before The Byrds, there had been a handful of proto-folk rock records that featured harmony and jangly guitars -- "Just a Little" and "Laugh Laugh" by The Beau Brummels and "Needles & Pins" by The Searchers come to mind. And George Harrison's electric 12-string guitar (a gift from Rickenbacker Guitar Makers, the second they'd ever made at the time) had been featured on Beatles records for well over a year. 

 

And folk musician Jim McGuinn (later known as Roger McGuinn) was paying attention. He loved The Beatles, and as an accomplished acoustic 12-string guitarist himself, he was particularly fascinated by Harrison's use of an electric 12-string guitar. So when McGuinn teamed up with a couple other like-minded folkies (Gene Clark and David Crosby) to start the band that would evolve into The Byrds, he traded in his acoustic guitar for an electric Rickenbacker 12-string. 

 

After hearing an early demo of Bob Dylan's new folk song "Mr. Tambourine Man," The Byrds set about to recording it as their debut single. McGuinn changed the time signature of the song, Clark & Crosby would add their ethereal harmonies to Jim's voice, and McGuinn created the song's signature melodic introduction featuring the sound of his heavily compressed electric 12-string guitar that emphasized the instrument's jangly high frequencies. And once bass and drums were part of the mix, "Mr. Tambourine Man" was no longer the folk song it had been born as.

 

The results were electrifying. The Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man" was unlike anything else on the charts at the time. It became a Number One hit and helped to break the stranglehold of The British Invasion bands that had dominated the American record charts for almost a year-and-a-half. The Press dubbed the new sound "Folk Rock," and, suddenly, there were other folk-rock groups all over the airwaves. Even The Beatles paid attention, filling their next album "Rubber Soul" with folk rock-ish songs. 

 

And "Mr. Tambourine Man" started it all.

THE BYRDS - "Mr. Tambourine Man" 

TAV FALCO'S PANTHER BURNS - "The Unreleased Sessions" (1992)

 

Hallelujah! Christmas comes early this year!

Leave it to the French to be cool enough to release an album like this!

Here it is, from 1992, a record by Tav Falco And The Panther Burns titled "The Unreleased Sessions." 

This song has the phenomenal Alex Chilton and Jim Dickinson on it, and it sounds like Tav, Alex, and Jim are all playing different songs in some places.

I'm not quite sure how something could be this disjointed and still stay together, but with talent like this, I guess it's obviously possible! 

TAV FALCO'S PANTHER BURNS - "The Bug" 

MERLE HAGGARD AND THE STRANGERS - "His 30th Album" (1974)

 

Sometimes I struggle to pick out these songs, and sometimes it's just real easy. 

Tonight's an easy night!

Merle Haggard was real, and as far as I know, was one of the few country performers who had a sax player in his band.

What they call country music today is so slick and polished I can't listen to it for even a minute, but Merle Haggard, that's another topic. 

If there's a song with a hoot, or a holler, or a whistle in it, then that's for me.

It just sure sounds like they're having one Helluva good time! 

MERLE HAGGARD AND THE STRANGERS - "Old Man From The Mountain" 

DAVE STURGEON - "Wild 'n' Tender" (1967)

 

This album is just one of those things you need to know exists. Is it great? I'll leave that up to you, but one thing is that it's pretty dang unique.

I mean, this guy Dane Sturgeon is so obscure, you can't even find anything about him on Wikipedia.

 

And I quote from "Forced Exposure

"...like Del Shannon singing with Joe Meek's Blue Men on the dark side of the moon."

I can't come up with a better explanation than that! 

DANE STURGEON - "Ghost Of BardsleyRoad"  

DFX2 - "Emotion" (1983)

 

The best band to never be The Rolling Stones in the early 1980's, DFX2 were from San Diego, California, and released this record in 1983. Some smart record executive should have released this song as the flip side of The Rolling Stones' "Emotional Rescue." Now that would have been a cool package!

DFX2 - "Emotion" 

LOCAL OPERATOR - "Law & Order" (1979)

 

So, the story goes that Law and Order were originally a band from Denmark and when Rhythm Guitar player and vocalist Jo Broadbery moved to the UK, he took the band name with him so the rest of the band continued as The Operators.

 

The first time I heard Local Operator was on this various artist's LP called "The Moonlight Tapes."

Great band, but they broke up in 1980 when Virgin Records dropped them from the label.

LOCAL OPERATOR - "Law & Order"

BOB BROZMAN - "Blue Hula Stomp" (1981)

 

Bob Brozman released this excellent LP in 1981 called "Blue Hula Stomp."

 

This is the kind of music that we should all be listening to every day, and just enjoying life like this!

BOB BROZMAN - "Blue Hula Stomp Medley" 

Songs That Tell You Why They're Clever - I Bought A Flat Guitar Tutor (10cc)

 

Rich here to admit that I'm a sucker for a particular type of clever song in which the singer self-knowingly-and-with-a-wink tells you exactly what's musically clever about the song being sung.

 

This kind of "telegraphing" of a songwriter's intentions isn't anything new. Way back in 1944 Cole Porter wrote the line "There's no love song finer / but how strange the change from major to minor" just as "Ev'rytime We Say Goodbye" transitioned from a major to a minor key. Very clever, Cole!

 

Later, in 1974, UK composer & singer Brian Protheroe did something similar in "Changing My Tune," in which nearly every line of the song describes its melodic movements: "Changing my tune slower now / Choosing my pitch lower now / I wrote a key change for you nobody could hear / Wanted to teach you the chord, nobody came near."

 

And then there's the band 10cc -- the Seventies band who made a whole career out of being clever. Their 1977 album "Deceptive Bends" contained the under-two-minute track "I Bought A Flat Guitar Tutor" in which the punning title gave away the somewhat jazzy song's intentions -- i.e., that it's not only about buying a flat on the sea (as the song moves from an A-flat to a C chord), but that the song also served as a tutor for all the chords needed to play it on guitar, as revealed in the video below:

10cc - "I Bought A Flat Guitar Tutor"

RED SIMPSON - "The Man Behind The Badge" (1966)

 

Red Simpson recorded this album called "The Man Behind The Badge" in 1966, and it's got some good advice on it for all you holiday travelers.

Watch out for this guy!! 

Red Simpson - "The Highway Patrol" 

THE PERFECTORS - "Mysterons" (1977)

 

The Perfectors were another underrated UK band.

They recorded a couple of singles in the late 70's, but this song did not appear until 2003, when it was on this CD called "Bored Teenagers Vol. 3, 16 Great British Punk Originals '77-82."

Their picture was the band featured on the cover.

If you didn't know better, you might think this was some lost Joe Jackson song, because it's that good!

THE PERFECTORS - "Mysterons"

TOOTER BOATMAN - "Rockin" (1958)

 

How can you go wrong with a guy named Tooter? It just ain't possible!

Tooter Boatman released a couple of singles in the late 50's but what was known of his full catalogue didn't come out until the 1980's in the Netherlands.

William McCon Boatman Jr. was from Texas, and his life ended abruptly at the age of 28 when he was killed by a hit and run driver on some country road.

If you're hungover from a weekend of partying, here's some musical hair of the dog for you!

TOOTER BOATMAN - "Beer Rock, Part 2" 

HEAVEN 17 - "Penthouse And Pavement" (1981)

 

The name "Heaven 17" is derived from the movie "A Clockwork Orange,"where Heaven 17 is mentioned as one of the bands in the record store scene.

Heaven 17 was formed as a side project of B.E.F., aka The British Electric Foundation.

This album titled "Penthouse And Pavement came out in 1981 and was chock full of good music like this! 

HEAVEN 17 - "Play To Win" 

THE GAS - "Ignore Me" (1981)

 

The Gas was another good UK band that never got the recognition they deserved!

Here's the thing, for every UK Punk band that had some real success, there were probably a hundred more that didn't. 

 

The Gas released two albums and five singles between the years of 1980 and 1982.

Here's a good example of just how good they were.

It's unfortunate that they had a single with this title, and that's just what most of the record buying public did.

THE GAS - "Ignore Me" 

THE CHOSEN - "Something For The Weekend" (1996)

 

Tell me after listening to this why The Chosen weren't a big hit! Hell, I don't know, this song has everything!

From their 1996 release called "Something For The Weekend," here's a really cool song by the boys from Irvine, Scotland.

The weekend should be every day! 

THE CHOSEN - "Bargain Basement Lover" 

THE DEFINITIVE VOCAL SURF SONG - "Surfin' U.S.A." (The Beach Boys)

 

Rich here to follow up on a question I raised on 9-25-25 when I asked the question of what particular songs might be said to define an entire genre. At that time I stated that Dick Dale's "Miserlou" (1962) defined the sound of what would be called "Surf Guitar" and that every instrumental surf-rock band thereafter would in some way attempt to imitate Dick's reverb-drenched double-picked guitar playing. 

 

But it wasn't only instrumental groups that were influenced by the new surf craze. Attending many of the parties featuring Dick Dale and his band was a young surfer, Dennis Wilson, whose older brother Brian was putting together a vocal group called The Pendletones that was comprised of himself, his brothers, a cousin, and a next-door neighbor. Brian, still a teenager himself, was casting about for subject matter for the nascent songs he was writing for the group, and Dennis told Brian and the band that Surfing was the latest and biggest craze in Southern California.

 

Shortly thereafter, The Pendletones -- now renamed The Beach Boys -- recorded a couple of songs that addressed the surfing craze, a doo-wop-oriented song called "Surfin'" (1961) and the more rockabilly-influenced "Surfin' Safari" (1962). Both records were minor-though-only-local hit records in L.A. But in 1963 -- once they incorporated Dick Dale-styled guitar sounds and rewrote Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" -- The Beach Boys burst into the national teenage consciousness with their Number 3-charting "Surfin' USA." 

 

And thus it was that "Surfin' USA," with its combination of The Beach Boys' lyrics and close harmonies, along with their Dick Dale-inspired instrumentation, brought the Surf Craze to Teenage America.

THE BEACH BOYS - "Surfin' U.S.A."  

BRAKES - "Why You Kicka My Donkey?" (1979)

 

Brakes were a band that performed around London in the late 70's, early 80's, and they released this album called "For Why You Kicka My Donkey?" in 1979.

 

They released this single off of that album the following year in 1980.

I think you'll like it! If not, don't blame me, blame them!

BRAKES - "Blame It On The Brakes"

THE CIRCLES - "Angry Voices" (1980)

 

The Circles (Cool Name) were from West Midlands, UK. They never made a full album, but they did have a few singles in the late 70's, early 80's that were pretty good, like this one.

THE CIRCLES - "Angry Voices"

THE VALENTINES - "Every Day I Have To Cry" (1967)

 

Hard to believe that before AC/DC, Bon Scott was in a band called the Valentines from 1966 to 1970. The Valentines recorded a single in 1967 that was originally recorded by Steve Alaimo in 1962 that made it to number 46 on the charts.

It was written by Arthur Alexander of "Anna" fame, but Arthur didn't record his version until 1975. 

Some songs are written so well, no matter who records them, they're gonna sound good! 

Here's a fine example!

THE VALENTINES - "Every Day I Have To Cry"

THE SWEETLES - "Ich Wünsch' Mir Zum Geburtstag Einen Beatle" (1964)

 

The Sweetles were an all female Beatles tribute band from Germany, and in 1964 they had a top 40 hit there with "Ich Wünsch' Mir Zum Geburtstag Einen Beatle."

Die Sweetles - "I Want A Beatle For My Birthday." 

THUMPASAURUS - "The Book Of Thump" (2018)

 

Thumpasaurus is a hilarious funk band, and this 2018 album of theirs titled "The Book Of Thump"  has some great music on it, and you can just tell by some of the song titles like "In The Beginning There Was Thump," "Mental Karate," and "Space Barn," but a real fave of mine is this one!

THUMPASAURUS - "I'm Too Funky" 

CHRIS SPEDDING & THE VIBRATORS - "Pogo Dancing" (1977)

 

This hilarious single by Chris Spedding working with the band The Vibrators came out in 1977. It wasn't released in the U.S.

 

 In case you don't know, Chris Spedding produced the first Sex Pistols album in 1976, so as far as punk music goes, he kind of knows what he's doing!

 

Add the awesome band known as The Vibrators to the mix, and this should have been an instant hit, but then there's always that other thing,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

CHRIS SPEDDING & THE VIBRATORS - "Pogo Dancing"

THE BYRDS - "Mind Gardens" (1967)

 

Rich here, reflecting on David Crosby, who was the archetypal hippie musician who always got noticed in whatever band he was in . . . and often alienated his bandmates for his boorish behaviour and obliviating. Even his best friend, Graham Nash, found him infuriating.

 

But like him or hate him, David Crosby had the uncanny ability to harmonize with almost anyone, and he wrote some of the most head-scratching songs of the Sixties.

 

Take, for instance, "Mind Gardens," from The Byrds groundbreaking album "Younger Than Yesterday" (1967). David thought "Mind Gardens" would prove what a genius he was. But the song alienated his fellow band members, and it's one of the few songs in the Byrds catalog that didn't involve the singing of Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman. 

 

And it's one of the most un-melodic songs ever written for a major Sixties pop group. 

 

But I'll admit it -- after about 25 listens to the sonic experimentations of "Mind Gardens," I finally came to enjoy it. The rest of the band didn't, however, and early in the sessions for their next album, David Crosby got fired from The Byrds.

THE BYRDS - "Mind Gardens" 

THE BEARS - "On Me" (1978)

 

The Bears were a fairly short lived punk band from Watford UK. Showing what kind of sense of humor they had, the band formed in 1976, and were called Smarter And The Average Bears.

They only ever released a couple of singles, but there was an album put out by Tigerbeat in 1987 that included more songs they had recorded, but it's rare and expensive.

THE BEARS - "On Me" 

LITTLE IKE - "She Can Rock" (1959)

 

His real name was Isaac Hamilton, but for recording purposes he was known as Little Ike.

I don't have a whole lot of information about Little Ike, so we'll just let him music speak for itself!

From 1959, on the Champion Label, here's a good stomper!

LITTLE IKE - "She Can Rock" 

LOU REED - "Transformer" (1972)

 

I don't know about you, but I miss Lou Reed!

 The guy really couldn't sing worth a damn but did he ever let that stop him!

No way! 

It's guys like Lou who made me think I could sing too, so years ago I came up with my alternative persona as Lee Rude. 

Did it work? Of course not! 

Here's a great song from Lou's 1972 LP "Tansformer."

LOU REED - "Hangin' Round" 

MARY MARY - "The Sound" (2008)

 

It's Sunday so it's time to feel the spirit and get into this 2008 cut by Mary Mary from their album titled "The Sound."

I had no idea who Mary Mary were until a couple of days ago when I heard this song. I thought it was some 80's UK band.

Just doesn't matter when a song is this joyful and catchy.

These two sisters, Erica Atkins-Campbell and Trecina 'Tina' Atkins-Campbell have something special going on, and this is Gospel music for the ages.

MARY MARY - "The Sound" 

THE COLLINS KIDS - "Hot Rod" (1958)

 

It's a "Siblings Weekend," so I'm going to start off with an amazing song from The Collins Kids! 

 

The Collins Kids were a brother and sister act from Oklahoma.

In the 1950s Lawrencine May 'Lorrie' Collins, and her little brother Larry, had hits "Hop, Skip and Jump," "Beetle Bug Bop," and "Hoy Hoy,"and their infectious singing and playing was undeniable.

 Larry, was also known for playing a double-neck Mosrite guitar.

This song was never officially released or I'm sure it would have been a big hit too. 

THE COLLINS KIDS - "Hot Rod"

MICHAEL NESMITH & THE FIRST NATIONAL BAND - "1st National Dance" (1999)

 

Michael Nesmith was a lot more than just a Monkee, and this 1970 album by Michael Nesmith & The First National Band titled "Loose Salute" more than proves it.

 

Mike and the boys also put out a second great LP in 1970 called "Magnetic South.

In 1999, The Camden Deluxe European label got smart and put out this CD that combined all the music from those two 1970 albums, and also on there is one previously unreleased bonus track.

 Here's a very cool country classic quasi-instrumental that sounds more like Roy Clark than it does The Monkees. 

It's a real toe tapper!! 

MICHAEL NESMITH & THE FIRST NATIONAL BAND - "1st National Dance"

MYRTH - "Gotta Find A Way" (1969)

 

Rich here taking you back to 1969 when the second Blood, Sweat & Tears album (the first to feature their new lead singer, David Clayton-Thomas) was released. In the aftermath of the album's monstrous success, horn bands became all the rage. It was as if Big Band music had been reborn for the Rock Era, and bands like Chase, the Ides of March, Crow, and even Simon & Garfunkel all had hit singles by adding a screeching horn section to their records. In fact, Simon & Garfunkel borrowed the BS&T horn section for their hit single "Keep the Customer Satisfied." 

 

But except for Chicago, virtually all of the horn-oriented bands came and went and were forgotten during this relatively short-lived period. Chicago went on to become one of the biggest selling American bands of all time. 

But one band who doesn't deserve to be forgotten is Myrth, who recorded one album for RCA in 1969. The album showed off a musically-savvy band whose catchy horn arrangements, pop-friendly songs, and tongue-in-cheek combinations of psychedelia, funk, and jazz should have been widely embraced. Unfortunately, their producer's decision to include the sampled sounds of a mynah bird squawking throughout the album marred the otherwise excellent songs on the album and limited their airplay. Damn, that bird was obnoxious.

MYRTH - "Gotta Find A Way" 

CASPER AND THE COOKIES - "Oh!" (2003)

 

Some songs are just so catchy that I can only listen to them once or twice a year. This 2003 album by Casper And The Cookies titled "Oh!" has one of those kinds of songs on it.

 Be careful! Once this thing gets embedded in your cranium, it takes forever to dislodge it again!

CASPER AND THE COOKIES - "Take It Away, Kathy"

CARNE ASADA - "Full Contact Mariachi" (2004)

 

Been kinda mundane around here lately, so let's see if we can get something cookin' again, and I think I have the recipe right here.

For all you Taco Tuesday people, here's some music from an amazingly awesome album from 2004 titled "Full Contact Mariachi," by a band called Carne Asada. 

And why are Carne Asada so damn good?

It's a joke/prank band put together by filmmaker Rich Wilkes.

The cool thing is whether it's a joke or not, 

esta mũsica es simplemente, es todo!

CARNE ASADA - "Celito Lindo" 

 

This is your lucky day because here's a link where you can watch the documentary made by Rich Wilkes about Carne Asada for free!

"Punk Like Me" rocks in a life is made for taking, grab it by the balls kind of way, and is the funnest and funniest film I've seen lately!

Have a good time!! 

"PUNK LIKE ME"
 

YOUNG JOHN WATSON - "Space Guitar" (1954)

 

The song "Space Guitar" was recorded so long ago, that it was actually first released as a 78 RPM record back in 1954.

 

Johnny "Guitar" Watson was only 19 years old in 1954, and was recording as Young John Watson.

"Space Guitar" was the flip side of a song called "Half Pint-a-Whiskey." Obviously neither of the two songs had any chart success at the time, but "Space Guitar" has been heralded over the years for it's most unusual and unique early use of a guitar.

 

 At one point in his life, Johnny "Guitar" Watson stated  

 “Those things Jimi Hendrix was doing, I started that shit.” 

Nobody in the world was using a guitar like this back in 1954.

There were no effects pedals back then so he had to just manipulate the guitar in his own way, and is Johnny "Guitar" Watson in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Hell No!!! 

YOUNG JOHN WATSON - "Space Guitar"

DON HINSON AND THE RIGAMORTICIANS - "Monster Dance Party" (1964)

 

Yeah, I know Halloween's over, but Monsters and Halloween don't necessarily need to be synonymous. Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Wolfman have nothing to do with the horrors of today or The Rigamorticians!

There were no hit one wonders on this LP but a lot of WTF!" wonders instead. 

DON HINSON AND THE RIGAMORTICIANS  - "Robbin' Graves"

THE JOHNNY OTIS SHOW - "Castin' My Spell" (1959)

 

When you've got a riff as catchy as the one in "Willie And The Hand Jive," why not recycle it?

Or at least, that's the way I feel about it.

It might have been sixty-six years ago, but it still sounds fresh to me! 

THE JOHNNY OTIS SHOW - "Castin' My Spell" 

BIG BEE KORNEGAY - "At The House Of Frankenstein" (1958)

 

In 1958 Big Bee Kornegay recorded a pretty cool single on the Go Records label called "The Fiesta Rock'N Roll," and as cool as that is, I do prefer the flip side just for the subject matter.

 

The 'B' side was called "At The House Of Frankenstein," and it totally rocks enough that it made me want to create this A-I picture.

 

There's not a lot to find out about Big Bee, except that he also recorded a song called "Hocus Pocus Voo Doo" as Big Bob Kornegay, and recorded other songs as Big Daddy And His Boys, Dave And Bob, and The Du Droppers. 

BIG BEE KORNEGAY - "At THE House Of Frankenstein"