THE STANDELLS "MEDICATION"

In late 1965 the Standells hooked up with producer Ed Cobb and struck a deal with Tower Records.  At this point they had already been a band for a few years, released several singles, a live album, and made some television/film appearances, but they were still a few months away from having a big hit with 'Dirty Water'.  That track is OK, but the commercial appeal doesn't really do anything for me.  I need to dig in a little deeper to get my fix if you know what I mean.

The Standells debut studio album on Tower showed up in the summer of 1966 as the 'Dirty Water' single saw a slow but steady rise in the pop charts.  You don't have to dig in very far to find 'Medication', one of my all time fave garage numbers.  It's the lead off track on the LP!  This choice cut receives seldom mention so all the better to highlight it here.

The song starts off abruptly with a cool-as-fuck hazy vibrato fuzz guitar accompanied by droning organ notes and a killer bass riff.  Enter some laid back vocals from Dick Dodd and you have THEE sound.  The songwriting credits go to Minette Alton and Ben DiTosti whose origins are unknown to me.

The other notable rendition of 'Medication' was recorded by The Chocolate Watchband for their 1968 LP The Inner Mystique.  The backing track is alright, but I find Don Bennetts vocals to be cringeworthy at best.  Standells all the way...

THE HIGHER ELEVATION - SUMMER SKIES / COUNTRY CLUB AFFAIR, APRIL 1968

The Higher Elevation can be traced back to Colorado band The Monocles.  After some local success they changed their name and signed a recording deal with Liberty Records out of Los Angeles.  This would be one of three releases on the label.  All the information you could ever need about the Higher Elevation can be found here in an interview with band member Rick Hull.  You can also find some nice bits about the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band on the webpage courtesy of Bob Yeazel who was a member of that band for a brief period.   Back to the record at hand...

'Summer Skies' is an excellent piece of folk-pop with subtle 'Byrdsian' jangle.  It features some breezy sunshine lyrics with a nice bridge and guitar break while clocking in at just over two minutes.  A finely crafted tune produced by Frank Slay who also worked with The Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Rainy Daze.  This track can be found on Fading Yellow Vol. 2 albeit the sound is a bit harsh...  I was lucky enough to find a nice playing copy recently for $2 while digging through several boxes of 45's.

'Country Club Affair' is somewhat forgettable, but features a nice pop melody and a prominent organ sound.  Both tunes were written by songwriting duo Tim Gilbert and John Carter (mispelled Carver on this release) who have been on this blog a few times.

THE KINKS - SEE MY FRIENDS / NEVER MET A GIRL LIKE YOU BEFORE, JULY 1965

I'm excited to bring my first Kinks post to the blog, and it comes at quite a fitting time as this record was first released around this time in July nearly 50 years ago!

See My Friends' first hit the streets in the UK during the summer of '65 and though it was not a smash hit it received considerable recognition on the charts.  The tune is often labeled as an early example of 'raga rock' with it's subtle eastern like guitar drone.  Some even go as far as to say it was the first rock song to integrate indian raga sounds.  I won't make any arguments, but I will say it's a damn fine song and worthy of discussion.  The song is often titled 'See My Friend' due to a misprint on the original UK label.  The record wouldn't see release in the US until late September where it essentially flopped.

On the flip side we have 'Never Met A Girl Like You Before', a simple uptempo rocker with that early Kinks charm.