THE MAMA'S AND THE PAPA'S - IF YOU CAN BELIEVE YOUR EYES AND EARS, 1966

2013 would be a year, among other things, that I began to fully embrace a handful of overlooked yet wildly popular musicians and groups.  I'll put the MAMA'S AND THE PAPA'S at the top of that list for now.  I'm currently infatuated with the hair raising harmonies of 'Go Where You Wanna Go' from their glorious debut album pictured above.

'three-thousand miles, that's how far you'll go,

and you said to me, 'please don't follow'' 

THE RAINY DAZE - THAT ACAPULCO GOLD / IN MY MIND LIVES A FOREST, 1967

'That Acapulco Gold' is pure novelty which explains how it cracked into the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1967.  The real 'gold' is found on the flip-side which has all of the essential ingredients of that sought after sound, right down to the title!

Songwriters John Carter and Tim Gilbert are probably most recognized for having the writing credits to The Strawberry Alarm Clock's chart topping 'Incense And Peppermints'.

STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK - BAREFOOT IN BALTIMORE / AN ANGRY YOUNG MAN, 1968

ANOTHER PAIR OF IRRESISTIBLE YET OVERLOOKED GEMS FROM THE SAC!

THE GOLDEBRIARS - STRAIGHT AHEAD, 1964

LOTHAR AND THE HAND PEOPLE - L-O-V-E (Ask For It By Name) / ROSE COLORED GLASSES, 1967

Debut 45 from Denver, Colorado band Lothar And The Hand People.  I had no prior knowledge of this strange crew before spotting it on the record shop shelf, but it sure caught my eye and I'm glad it did because both sides are killer.  When I saw 'Rose Colored Glasses' I immediately thought of Milwaukee psychedelic contemporaries The Baroques who recorded a tune of the same title (around the same time) which I am quite fond of.  It turns out Lothar's 'Rose Colored Glasses' is a lovely psych ballad and completely different than the Baroques' bouncy garage rocker of the same name.  There were quite a few 'rose colored' things going on at the time, but were they aware of each other?  I'm thinking not.

'I'm hopelessly lost in the world you've created, 

and I'm just sitting in this one little room

Everything's flowing, and merging and growing,

If I could just say it you'd know what I mean'