5:02 - A Whiter Shade of Pale as the Number 1 single of the week; Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Are You Experienced as the number 1 and number 2 albums of the week, respectively: what an era!
Wow, Ray was surprisingly civil in his reviews. I expected more comments like "If you got an extra broom handle, we could make a mop out of that record. I'll still have the ringing in me ears, but at least the floor will be clean."
Most of the others were 'blind dates' where they seem to have been played the records and had to talk about them as they were going along. Here he has a chance to listen to them properly.
I got into them after seeing the use of "Along comes Mary" in the Queen´s Gambit netflix series where Anya Taylor Joy dances to it in a representation of 1966, it seems after losing her virginity and it also seems while smoking her first weed joint
I saw them live and they were playing their instruments and singing so well! Really talented group! Very jazzy harmony. Like Brian Wilson in a lot of ways.
"Give The Sorrows their due, they stick to their guns and do what they want to do" The same could be said about The Kinks. Wonderful band. I was watching a video about Ray and Dave the other day and I never realized how funny they are. Dave was saying he thought he had once nearly killed Ray after one of their sibling Bust-ups 😂🤦♀Great video and music as always, YP. Thank you 😊
Even though The Sorrows after their failure to crack the U.K. charts (with admittedly interesting material) went along with management to become a mediocre Italian crooner pop band ? Ray seemed too polite to his Pye colleagues ?
I have a soft spot for the music of 1967. Thank you for sharing Ray Davies’ singles review. He actually put some thought into his review. I was delighted to see the weekly chart with The Hollies Carrie-Anne at number 3. Remember loving this single and the name itself. I was 12 and remember thinking if I ever had a daughter I will name her Carrie Anne (Spelled like the song minus the hyphen). I got my Carrie Anne!
@@imkluu The charts (at least in the U.S.) weren't so polarized as they became starting in the '70's. The acceptance of crossovers was good for everyone.
Boo,, l saw Graham Nash a few years ago and he performed this song. He said the original title was ‘ Marianne’ ( Marianne Faithful) . They had toured with her and came up with the song. They were advised to change the title to ‘Carrie Anne’ by (l think? ) their manager.
As someone born in the late-90s, the late-60s/early-70s is probably my favourite period for music, and '67 and '69 are probably the apex of pop/rock in the 60s. I'm surprised the Association never had major hits in the UK. "Windy", "Never My Love" and "Cherish" were gigantic hits in the States and Canada and that sunshine pop sound tinged with elements of psychedelic pop, baroque pop and folk rock was popular in the UK in '66/'67. "Windy" the song that Davies reviewed is such a perfectly arranged pop song despite being super repetitive (it works). Easily could be a hit today. Paul Revere and the Raiders had some solid singles. Their getup with the whole Revoluntionary uniforms is very silly by modern standards - no band today could get away with that unless they were doing it ironically Mark Lindsay was the teen idol of the group and it would turn out along with producer Terry Melcher the talent of the group too. They were a little heavier sonically and musically than a lot of the garage rock bands of the mid-60s.
One thing this series really does is point out the differences between the US and UK tastes. Sometimes the artists say it won't be a hit here but it probably will be in the States sounds so condescending to me. Maybe they just know the different markets better than a fan like me. Also, some of the stuff the artists predict will be hits just sounds like garbage to me.
@@davidweiss7411 I don't think it's meant to be condescending, at least not intentionally. Unless you're an underground avant-garde experimental artist who has no desire for commercial success, artists - whether it be by their own or due to the influence of their record label/managers - no matter the era have to keep commerciality in mind when creating albums and singles. They've probably examined the charts or someone have examined the charts for them and gotten a good overview of what's popular at the time. I'm sure even the Beatles were always conscious of what was popular in both the US and the UK. Hell, in a 1975 interview, John Lennon even said that his assistant always gave him the weekly Top 10 in the UK Singles chart just so John could keep up to date with what was popular. And different countries have different tastes in music, whether it due to the culture difference, the way the artist is promoted, what's trendy at the time in a certain country. Also, remember, America is a huge place with a way bigger population than the UK. In order for something to catch on in America and get to No. 1, you gotta have really widespread appeal. Like, in terms of mainstream rock, in the 80s the US leaned more towards hard rock, heavy metal, arena rock and glam metal with a few alternative bands crossing over, while in the UK indie rock/pop, dance-rock, post-punk and new wave/synth-rock were the types of rock music that were popular (though some heavy rock bands did have success there too and vice versa).
@@rockingbirdey Perhaps, but especially here, Ray Davies can be very cheeky, like when he is commenting on the Toys single, saying he now knows why there are so many broken homes in America? With their successes and youth, these artists aren't always trying to be sages. Some of it is all in good fun and I enjoy a good jab as much as anyone, but other times it comes off as egotistical drivel.
When I look back to my 1960's childhood and remember how good the times were then compare it to the world today I could weep! The Sorrow were excellent and how they didn't break through is a mystery. Funny that Ray talks about 50 year old rockers, a very talented chap who performed into his 70's, go Ray! Georgie Fame, great version of Knock On Wood and another chap who continued to play well into his golden years. When one of the finest songwriters the UK has ever produced is reviewing your records you know it's going to be a tough call!
The guitar bits on the Paul Revere record sounded great because the players were Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder (possibly also Glen Campbell), with drummers Hal Blaine, Jim Keltner and Jim Gordon combined and singer Mark Lindsay adding the 'tympani' flourishes on the floor tom. The Raiders were massive, and with the so-called 'Wrecking Crew' of top LA session players (same ones who did the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, and so many others) on the records, the playing was bound to be seriously good...as were many of the songs.
I don't know about this record as the personnel was changing, but the Raiders played on most of their recordings. They toured relentlessly and were on top of their game. In fact, replacements Keith Allison and Freddy Weller often played on sessions as the Wrecking Crew could not be everywhere. Departing guitarist, Drake Levin, also played a bunch of sessions which is supposedly how he ended up playing with Lee Michaels for some time.
As I remember the mood (UK) of the late 60's was a golden period. Great weather, TV, pop music and a general feeling of optimism in the air. I was only a child, but could vividly sense the times. This feeling persisted until around 1973, since when, a slow, but inexorable decline of the feel-good factor. What happened?
Gotta love Ray's astute knowledge of the music biz at the time. He was also right on the mark with the Toys' song. It's Lover's Concerto with different lyrics. Funny comparison of Paul Revere to the Monkees. Both bands were teen idols in the States at the time. Also, most members of both bands are dead now.
No doubt they both were going for the young teen market. But still, both had some very catchy songs, well balanced pop. And there is nothing wrong with that.
In regards to the Raiders, was Ray kinda sarcastic possibly because the Kinks were stopped from touring the US during the British invasion period and it hampered their success? Perhaps he still had a grudge towards the US. So he critiqued the manufactured Beatles imitation group called the Monkees and that in the same way Paul Revere and the Raiders as contrived and gimicky
That's an example of convergent evolution: Paul Revere and the Raiders had been around forever, had serious garage band chops, (they just missed being the band that broke Louie Louie!). They may have ended up costumed teen idols, but they weren't invented by a TV producer! And the Kinks, of course, ended up posing with horses and singing about cricket about a year after this, ie, not exactly above a bit of cosplay.
@@mikesmith2057 mark lindsay was part of the laurel canyon scene as were the monkees. In fact mark had lived at the same house that Polanski and Tate lived but before they did.
Great viewing/listening! But then 1966-1967 is THE sweet spot for me. I love these Blind dates, but if you run out of pop reviewers, I, too, would welcome shows based on Penny Valentine's reviews - or other cdritics of the period.
What a fantastic top twenty in that particular month all those years ago evocative of lots of fleeting memories of when I was young and everyone else was!
Ray was more positive/complementary towards his fellow artists and less hypercritical than most of the other guest reviewers - either that or he just happened to receive a better batch of songs to review.
Well, I prefer to remember Ted for producing Little Feat, Captain Beefheart, Van Morrison, and the Doobie Brothers. Another member of Harpers Bizarre was John Peterson, formerly drummer of the Beau Brummels (how the might have fallen), and Ted produced the 1975 reunion album od the Beau Brummels. Whom I saw touring for that album in a small, usually jazz, club in Boston. A very good memory.
The Sorrows are definitely one of the darkest of the mod "freakbeat" british bands. "Pink, purple yellow and red" clearly starts very dark since it deals with depression, social alienation and even suicidal thoughts but it seems to me what also makes it "psychedelic" is that the protagonist seeks some sort of escape from his "sorrows", probably drugs, and thinks that escape as more of a technicolor experience that will sort of heal him for a moment at least. I agree with Ray that this particular song kind of looks very contradictory emotionally but probably psychologists will say that it is dealing with a person with a "bipolar personality disorder". An argument could be made of it being a "protopunk" or "protogoth" song but the "pink, purple, yellow and red" line makes it more of a "dark" psychedelic song from 1967, even though "dark" psychedelic songs are usually more associated with songs about bad trips while this is a song that instead projects escape from depression as a technicolor experience. Meanwhile the Episode 6 song "Morning dew" I guess takes an early 60s folk song to psychedelic mod rock territory. The version of this song I am familiar from 67 is the Grateful Dead one which is more folky and spacey. Personally I think the Grateful Dead version is more interesting and complex and very good for smoking weed with yet this version is nice too. I like the female vocals in it which is something unusual for british mod and psychedelic songs from this era. Is that Ian GIllan in vocals? He sounds very different from his vocals in Deep Purple
Cool comment. I agree, the Sorrows did have a pretty dark sound. Their song "Take a Heart", which was a minor hit in 1965, also had a dark vibe, especially for 1965. "Morning Dew" by Episdoe Six is an amazing version of the song, I really love it. Several members of the band sing on that song. The girl on keyboards sings some lines, the drummer also sings a few verses and Ian Gillan as well. There's a video on youtube of Episode Six performing the song on Beat Club. You can check it out to see who sings what.
@@YesterdaysPapers I always liked Tim Rose's version of 'Morning Dew.' On his first album (1967), Tim claimed to write the song although I usually see it credited to Bonnie Dobson. But here in the States the first mention of Episode Six was probably in reference to Deep Purple.
Nicely diplomatic on the Cilla Black caterwaulling aural atrocity.A long list of historical crimes against good taste from this banshee.Definitely no mistaking her for Karen Carpenter lol.
@@sandydennylives1392 I didn't say there wasn't. Yes.....today's music is more cash run and therefore more safe, to a large degree...with a helluva lot of frankly terrible stuff being produced. However, for every Beatles, there was an Englebert Humperdinck, for every Jimi Hendrix, there was a 1910 Fruitgum Co. I was just making the point that we tend to hear the very best from that year these days. It's just worth noting there were safe and mediocre tracks around in that era too. Granted, probably far less than today, but they were there. It's worth remembering that The Sound Of Music was top of the album charts for quite a while in 1967.
@@stephendavis5530 The only decent music I can bear of today is Radio 6 indy and world music and the jazz scene. I do like Lana del Ray, there are exceptions to the rule. I hate hip hop and rap, esp the blightly kind. No chart toppers for me ta very much. The Sound of music was a hugely popular film so got there as a result.
"Trouble is, [The Raiders] are all about 50 years old". LOL He was right though. I'm glad that he offhandedly liked them. Was it the uniforms? I was worried that Ray was going to like everything, but then we got to the second half of the video. Whew. Cool that Hollies Evolution was top ten. I think of it as kind of an obscure Hollies LP in the US but it may be my favorite album by them. LOL @ "Alternative Title" by The Monkees. RSG? Glad to see Waterloo Sunset and Here Comes The Nice in the Top 30.
Mark Lindsey was all of 2 years older than Davies, though, Paul Revere had another 4 years on that. Of course, this was the decade in which "Don't trust anyone over 30." had become a catch phrase.
Best song here is 'Him or Me - What's It Gonna Be' by Paul Revere and the Raiders. I've never heard of Nola York before but both sides of her release here are very good. Ray underrates 'My Love Sonata' by the Toys too, although it obviously derivative of their (deserved) big hit
Not a brilliant week but not too bad really. The Sorrows track is one of my favs by them for sure. I much prefer Kicks and Just Like Me by Paul Revere.
It's funny when people who've never seen a vinyl record spinning in real life create a graphic of a vinyl record - they always have the shiny reflection rotating around with the record, as if it's a mark on the surface, rather than a reflection that always stays in the same place relative to the light source as the record turns around.
Somewhat disparaging of Paul Revere and the Raiders, unfairly so. They are all 50? Paul Revere was six years older than Ray, and Mark Lindsay was two years older!
One of the most interesting things about this (and the Blind Date series) is the amount of corny, schmaltzy and anything-but-cool songs that came out in the late 60's. Music and culture documentaries would have you believe everybody was a Head/Hippy with a joint in their hand and a sitar in the basement, but actually the hippies were a bohemian minority, and the rest kept on going as if it was still the bloody 50's. Brings to mind the Blackadder quote "To you, Baldrick, the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people, wasn't it?"
That's very true; for the era gets idealised. Yet the hippies, despite being a minority, did have an impact - through the music obviously, hollywood and the news. My friend, who was a child at the time, said that even here in Australia, normal folk in the suburbs put flower stickers on their car. Well, that might have been as far as their participation in the movement went, but it shows that that was the zeitgeist.
The charts changed as the kids got older and started to have disposable income. I doubt that many of them bought Tom Jones or Engelbert Humperdinck. Moms and dads did. And I always wonder who compiled the charts and what was the basis for ranking. Years later (1978 to be precise), 'Sergeant Pepper" with the Bee Gees was a platinum record - based on the number of copies shipped, but most were returned unsold. It was only when computerized cash registers appeared that an accurate count of albums sold was recorded by Soundscan. Even then, a lot of stores did not report to Soundscan. (I'm talking US here.)
I got dragged in to watch The Sound of Music on a wet afternoon in Morecambe and got really into it(don`t tell anyone),no wonder all those nuns were singing along....
Pretty much agree with everything he says here about the records I know. One thing about The Toys. Gotta represent NYC. A Lover's Concerto was a massive hit-- #2 in US and #5 the UK. Their second single, Attack (which is quite good IMO) reached # 36 in the UK and # 18 In America. All four of their next singles charted in America, although not nearly reaching the success of the first two. I think A Lover's Concerto is a beautifully sung song and damn near perfect. I don't understand what Ray means by " ....and that the British public are not often fooled more than once" I don't think My Love Sonata is a carbon copy of A Lover's Concerto, but it certainly does not scale the heights of the former. Also what does he mean by " Listening to this I now know why there are so many broken homes in America"?
I take it that Ray is saying "I'd divorce my wife too if she sounded like this." Which is oddly nasty in its own right, and then extended to Americans in general to make the joke.
Thank you for pronouncing Ray's surname correctly, YP. There have been many occasions when I've wanted to strangle Ray for insisting that it's "Davis" and not "Dav-EEZ". Also, it's a hoot to see "Seven Rooms Of Gloom" and "Seven Drunken Nights" paired on the chart - suggesting a relationship that must have gone through a really nasty breakup.
I really enjoy these. What's always interesting is hearing them review something mega obscure but it'll always be dashed with some sort of horrible MOR garbage like Vince Hill or some atrocious Petula Clark record.
3:40 Well, this certainly was "A Lover's Concerto" part II . But I don't quite get what that has to do with the divorce rate in the USA at the time. I wonder if Davies, at age 77, has any recollection of the reasoning behind that remark.
Because "love" was sold and commodified repetively. "If even love songs are just recycled stuff no wonder couple relations are so short-lived in the USA"
‘a nice little ballad about photographs” funny because on Kinks’ TheKinksAreTheVillageGreenPreservationSociety from the same year there were two songs about photographs and taking them included…
This series makes me aware of how many successful bands released unsuccessful records that I've never heard of - Gerry Marsden and Billy Fury for instance. In hindsight it feels like successful bands always had hit records because you're not aware of the misses.
I've noticed this wrt the 80s: we've forgotten 99% of the bad stuff that got created (even by good artists), but we've also forgotten 50% of the good stuff that existed as well. Go listen to unedited segments of MTV on youtube or the actual radio (internet archive) from those days and you'll be amazed at what's in there.
Very fine outro, again! The general melodic saturation/fatness of, say, The Creation, rather than the more whimsical eccentricism nowadays more often related to this point in time. Still, totally different from that band's own version of "Hey Joe", thus, another great "alternative past" track!
The nntros, outros and background tracks are all done by this channel’s curator, often exclusively for one specific episode,. They‘ve not been released anywhere else despite numerous requests…. 😏
Interesting going through the top 20 for the week. In some cases I recognize the title but not the artist. In others I recognize the performer but never heard the record. Occasionally I recognize the song and the group, but more often not.
That's funny he thought Paul Revere and the Raiders were "about 50 years old". They were all about the same age as Ray. I guess he meant they'd been around a while and were getting out of date. They'd been popular for all of about three years at this point. That used to be an eternity in the world of Top 40. I also wonder what he meant when he said the Toys' song shows "why there are so many broken homes in America."
@@michaelrochester48 He was born in 1938, so he would have been 29 at this time. Ray was about 23. I guess Revere might have seemed like an elder to him at this time, especially it being the era of the slogan "never trust anyone over 30".
@@FawleyJude To teenagers of the day, even artists in their late 20s were "old", and artists in their 30s were beyond the pale - but I don't recall ever seeing direct references to age in those days, unless those refs (birthdays) were included in the liner notes on LPs.
Glad to hear Ray throw some shade on "Harper's Bazaar", one of the more despised groups by my high school buddies and me at the time. They were equivalent to the omnipresent "Ray Coniff Singers" who also degraded record bins across the US during the last half of the 60's.
Yeah, they were too pop for me, too, but Ted Templeman was the singer and musician and he went on to discover and produce the Doobie Brothers and Van Halen among many others, so he did some really good things in music after HB. Ted's recent book about producing is a great read.
@@mariuspoppFM I've only heard one of their LPs - "Anything Goes" (December 1967) and I thought it was good because they covered songs by Randy Newman ("Snow" & "The Biggest Night Of Her Life") and Van Dyke Parks ("High Coin") which are terrific songs. At the time, I'd never heard of Newman and was only aware of Parks through his connection to the Beach Boys. The LP was a good education for me, but their somewhat limp and 'squishy' vocal stylings got in their way, so I never put any energy into exploring the rest of their catalog.
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" It grows on me ..like a growth " ! God save The Kinks !
Ray and the Kinks did so much for me with their music. His reviews are fair and knowledgeable.
5:02 - A Whiter Shade of Pale as the Number 1 single of the week; Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Are You Experienced as the number 1 and number 2 albums of the week, respectively: what an era!
agree.
That top 30 was incredible! The summer of love must have been insane sitting next to the radio.
‘Twas
It was as an 18 year old teenager, and 72 now, the summer of love never really left me!
I know right.
#10 Paper Sun.
It really was.
Waterloo Sunset is No. 14 of the 500 greatest songs of all time- should have been even higher👍
Ray Davies is a genius. The Kinks were second only to the Beatles for me.
I agree, I love the Stones, Who, Small Faces and all of those bands but the Kinks are firmly at number two for me behind you know who
The Kinks broke big in America long before Stones or Who.
Same with The Animals!
Yeah he really is a genius, one of the greatest songwriters that ever lived in my opinion.
Wow, Ray was surprisingly civil in his reviews. I expected more comments like "If you got an extra broom handle, we could make a mop out of that record. I'll still have the ringing in me ears, but at least the floor will be clean."
I love Ray Davis's sense of humour. He is a genius. 💯
One of the best of all these reviews. Sounds like he actually listened to the songs before reviewing them, unlike some people.
Most of the others were 'blind dates' where they seem to have been played the records and had to talk about them as they were going along. Here he has a chance to listen to them properly.
@@monsieurbertillon9570 exactly, he didn't have to guess the artists like the others do.
Yeah I knew this would be interesting Ray is very serious about his music.
The Association have aged well 😎
@@sg-yq8pm They were a vocal group, of course the wrecking crew was helpful but they were known for their vocals not their instrumentation
I've actually been listening to The Association a lot lately. So many great songs... And I love their harmonies.
@@YesterdaysPapers yeah, they're good.
I got into them after seeing the use of "Along comes Mary" in the Queen´s Gambit netflix series where Anya Taylor Joy dances to it in a representation of 1966, it seems after losing her virginity and it also seems while smoking her first weed joint
I saw them live and they were playing their instruments and singing so well! Really talented group! Very jazzy harmony. Like Brian Wilson in a lot of ways.
"Give The Sorrows their due, they stick to their guns and do what they want to do" The same could be said about The Kinks. Wonderful band. I was watching a video about Ray and Dave the other day and I never realized how funny they are. Dave was saying he thought he had once nearly killed Ray after one of their sibling Bust-ups 😂🤦♀Great video and music as always, YP. Thank you 😊
Thanks, Sophie! I agree, what he said about the Sorrows could apply to the Kinks.
@@YesterdaysPapers 💖
Even though The Sorrows after their failure to crack the U.K. charts (with admittedly interesting material) went along with management to become a mediocre Italian crooner pop band ? Ray seemed too polite to his Pye colleagues ?
@@PAULLONDEN Well, as an Italian, I can't say I take issue with Italian Crooner bands 😂
@@YesterdaysPapers thanks for your heart reaction, means a lot to me. Could you put it again? I lost it after correcting a typo :'(
I have a soft spot for the music of 1967. Thank you for sharing Ray Davies’ singles review. He actually put some thought into his review. I was delighted to see the weekly chart with The Hollies Carrie-Anne at number 3. Remember loving this single and the name itself. I was 12 and remember thinking if I ever had a daughter I will name her Carrie Anne (Spelled like the song minus the hyphen). I got my Carrie Anne!
66 to 68 had the best rock music so far, IMO, 67 being the middle and turning point for a lot of rock music genres.
@@imkluu The charts (at least in the U.S.) weren't so polarized as they became starting in the '70's. The acceptance of crossovers was good for everyone.
Boo,, l saw Graham Nash a few years ago and he performed this song. He said the original title was ‘ Marianne’ ( Marianne Faithful) . They had toured with her and came up with the song. They were advised to change the title to ‘Carrie Anne’ by (l think? ) their manager.
As someone born in the late-90s, the late-60s/early-70s is probably my favourite period for music, and '67 and '69 are probably the apex of pop/rock in the 60s.
I'm surprised the Association never had major hits in the UK. "Windy", "Never My Love" and "Cherish" were gigantic hits in the States and Canada and that sunshine pop sound tinged with elements of psychedelic pop, baroque pop and folk rock was popular in the UK in '66/'67. "Windy" the song that Davies reviewed is such a perfectly arranged pop song despite being super repetitive (it works). Easily could be a hit today.
Paul Revere and the Raiders had some solid singles. Their getup with the whole Revoluntionary uniforms is very silly by modern standards - no band today could get away with that unless they were doing it ironically Mark Lindsay was the teen idol of the group and it would turn out along with producer Terry Melcher the talent of the group too. They were a little heavier sonically and musically than a lot of the garage rock bands of the mid-60s.
All well said!
One thing this series really does is point out the differences between the US and UK tastes. Sometimes the artists say it won't be a hit here but it probably will be in the States sounds so condescending to me. Maybe they just know the different markets better than a fan like me. Also, some of the stuff the artists predict will be hits just sounds like garbage to me.
@@davidweiss7411 I don't think it's meant to be condescending, at least not intentionally. Unless you're an underground avant-garde experimental artist who has no desire for commercial success, artists - whether it be by their own or due to the influence of their record label/managers - no matter the era have to keep commerciality in mind when creating albums and singles. They've probably examined the charts or someone have examined the charts for them and gotten a good overview of what's popular at the time. I'm sure even the Beatles were always conscious of what was popular in both the US and the UK. Hell, in a 1975 interview, John Lennon even said that his assistant always gave him the weekly Top 10 in the UK Singles chart just so John could keep up to date with what was popular.
And different countries have different tastes in music, whether it due to the culture difference, the way the artist is promoted, what's trendy at the time in a certain country. Also, remember, America is a huge place with a way bigger population than the UK. In order for something to catch on in America and get to No. 1, you gotta have really widespread appeal.
Like, in terms of mainstream rock, in the 80s the US leaned more towards hard rock, heavy metal, arena rock and glam metal with a few alternative bands crossing over, while in the UK indie rock/pop, dance-rock, post-punk and new wave/synth-rock were the types of rock music that were popular (though some heavy rock bands did have success there too and vice versa).
@@rockingbirdey Perhaps, but especially here, Ray Davies can be very cheeky, like when he is commenting on the Toys single, saying he now knows why there are so many broken homes in America? With their successes and youth, these artists aren't always trying to be sages. Some of it is all in good fun and I enjoy a good jab as much as anyone, but other times it comes off as egotistical drivel.
When I look back to my 1960's childhood and remember how good the times were then compare it to the world today I could weep!
The Sorrow were excellent and how they didn't break through is a mystery.
Funny that Ray talks about 50 year old rockers, a very talented chap who performed into his 70's, go Ray!
Georgie Fame, great version of Knock On Wood and another chap who continued to play well into his golden years.
When one of the finest songwriters the UK has ever produced is reviewing your records you know it's going to be a tough call!
God save the Kinks!..loved Ray's reviews, it would be great to see some Penny Valentine reviews also!
Hilarious. Ray was, is, and always will be very clever.
Ray is absolutely hilarious. I enjoyed this. Thanks.
The guitar bits on the Paul Revere record sounded great because the players were Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder (possibly also Glen Campbell), with drummers Hal Blaine, Jim Keltner and Jim Gordon combined and singer Mark Lindsay adding the 'tympani' flourishes on the floor tom. The Raiders were massive, and with the so-called 'Wrecking Crew' of top LA session players (same ones who did the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, and so many others) on the records, the playing was bound to be seriously good...as were many of the songs.
I don't know about this record as the personnel was changing, but the Raiders played on most of their recordings. They toured relentlessly and were on top of their game. In fact, replacements Keith Allison and Freddy Weller often played on sessions as the Wrecking Crew could not be everywhere. Departing guitarist, Drake Levin, also played a bunch of sessions which is supposedly how he ended up playing with Lee Michaels for some time.
Well there was Windy and then the rest. Shame Ray and the UK didn't like it. Became a US #1 in July 1967.
Ray did like the song, just not as much as "Along Comes Mary"
As I remember the mood (UK) of the late 60's was a golden period. Great weather, TV, pop music and a general feeling of optimism in the air. I was only a child, but could vividly sense the times.
This feeling persisted until around 1973, since when, a slow, but inexorable decline of the feel-good factor. What happened?
Socialism? Lol
God save the Kinks
Sunny afternoon , and hey Joe.
Gotta love Ray's astute knowledge of the music biz at the time. He was also right on the mark with the Toys' song. It's Lover's Concerto with different lyrics. Funny comparison of Paul Revere to the Monkees. Both bands were teen idols in the States at the time. Also, most members of both bands are dead now.
Micky Dolenz has toured with Mark Lindsay quite a few times throughout the years too.
No doubt they both were going for the young teen market. But still, both had some very catchy songs, well balanced pop. And there is nothing wrong with that.
In regards to the Raiders, was Ray kinda sarcastic possibly because the Kinks were stopped from touring the US during the British invasion period and it hampered their success? Perhaps he still had a grudge towards the US. So he critiqued the manufactured Beatles imitation group called the Monkees and that in the same way Paul Revere and the Raiders as contrived and gimicky
That's an example of convergent evolution: Paul Revere and the Raiders had been around forever, had serious garage band chops, (they just missed being the band that broke Louie Louie!). They may have ended up costumed teen idols, but they weren't invented by a TV producer!
And the Kinks, of course, ended up posing with horses and singing about cricket about a year after this, ie, not exactly above a bit of cosplay.
@@mikesmith2057 mark lindsay was part of the laurel canyon scene as were the monkees. In fact mark had lived at the same house that Polanski and Tate lived but before they did.
Mr. Davies, as per, always had great taste. And I have a few singles to look for. Thank you for this!
Ray has always been a clever bloke.
I wish this channel were bigger. It is really cool, the intro is great and your voice is awesome.
Made me smile that the Dubliners were no6 in the LP's top ten - with 'drop of the hard stuff'
A lot of Irish ex pats must have been buying this.
A British musical icon
I like to think of Ray's song, Picture Book, as his answer to Nola York's single, Photographs..he couldn't say enough about it
Maybe it is his answer to "Photograph". I'm guessing "Picture Book" was probably written more or less around that time.
Yesterday's Papers - Then Ray is definitely flexing on Nola with his brilliant, "People Take Pictures Of Each Other".
God save Ray Davies
Great viewing/listening! But then 1966-1967 is THE sweet spot for me. I love these Blind dates, but if you run out of pop reviewers, I, too, would welcome shows based on Penny Valentine's reviews - or other cdritics of the period.
What a fantastic top twenty in that particular month all those years ago evocative of lots of fleeting memories of when I was young and everyone else was!
Does anyone else feel groovy after a mini binge on these?,i am fighting the urge to buy loon pants and an afghan coat,i already have some beads.
As usual, nice work!
I was really taken by 'Morning Dew' by Episode Six. Enough to look it up and then proceed to listen to it a bunch of times in a row.
The original was great
Featured Ian Gillan
God save the kinks❤️
"Listening to this I know why there are so many broken homes in America"! Ouch.
Ray was more positive/complementary towards his fellow artists and less hypercritical than most of the other guest reviewers - either that or he just happened to receive a better batch of songs to review.
Ted Tenpleman of Harpers Bazarre Later became a respected producer of groups like Van Halen!
Amazing, didn’t know that!
Sounds like Ripleys believe it or not!👱
Well, I prefer to remember Ted for producing Little Feat, Captain Beefheart, Van Morrison, and the Doobie Brothers. Another member of Harpers Bizarre was John Peterson, formerly drummer of the Beau Brummels (how the might have fallen), and Ted produced the 1975 reunion album od the Beau Brummels. Whom I saw touring for that album in a small, usually jazz, club in Boston. A very good memory.
Ray always so charming clever and funny. Wow Topol on the British singles chart, who knew.
(at #14)
The Sorrows are definitely one of the darkest of the mod "freakbeat" british bands. "Pink, purple yellow and red" clearly starts very dark since it deals with depression, social alienation and even suicidal thoughts but it seems to me what also makes it "psychedelic" is that the protagonist seeks some sort of escape from his "sorrows", probably drugs, and thinks that escape as more of a technicolor experience that will sort of heal him for a moment at least. I agree with Ray that this particular song kind of looks very contradictory emotionally but probably psychologists will say that it is dealing with a person with a "bipolar personality disorder". An argument could be made of it being a "protopunk" or "protogoth" song but the "pink, purple, yellow and red" line makes it more of a "dark" psychedelic song from 1967, even though "dark" psychedelic songs are usually more associated with songs about bad trips while this is a song that instead projects escape from depression as a technicolor experience. Meanwhile the Episode 6 song "Morning dew" I guess takes an early 60s folk song to psychedelic mod rock territory. The version of this song I am familiar from 67 is the Grateful Dead one which is more folky and spacey. Personally I think the Grateful Dead version is more interesting and complex and very good for smoking weed with yet this version is nice too. I like the female vocals in it which is something unusual for british mod and psychedelic songs from this era. Is that Ian GIllan in vocals? He sounds very different from his vocals in Deep Purple
Cool comment. I agree, the Sorrows did have a pretty dark sound. Their song "Take a Heart", which was a minor hit in 1965, also had a dark vibe, especially for 1965. "Morning Dew" by Episdoe Six is an amazing version of the song, I really love it. Several members of the band sing on that song. The girl on keyboards sings some lines, the drummer also sings a few verses and Ian Gillan as well. There's a video on youtube of Episode Six performing the song on Beat Club. You can check it out to see who sings what.
The Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart on vocals did a nice version the next year.
@@ExplodingPsyche Yep. I love their cover as well.
@@YesterdaysPapers I always liked Tim Rose's version of 'Morning Dew.' On his first album (1967), Tim claimed to write the song although I usually see it credited to Bonnie Dobson. But here in the States the first mention of Episode Six was probably in reference to Deep Purple.
Windy by The Association went to No. 1 in the US.
Episode Six is new to me, this is a real find.
Nicely diplomatic on the Cilla Black caterwaulling aural atrocity.A long list of historical crimes against good taste from this banshee.Definitely no mistaking her for Karen Carpenter lol.
Amen Brother!
Great stuff! Ray is surprisingly honest, and fair too. Despite the odd mediochre song, this year must have been the best ever year for melody!
You are doing a real nice job in digging out yesterday's papers and make them shine.
It just shows you that, even in 1967, the zenith of rock and pop creativity, there was still a lot of mediocrity around.
100%
There's always some mediocrity - but what about that chart at the end, classic after classic, and that was just one random week in 1967
As opposed to almost nothing that isn't mediocre today.
@@sandydennylives1392 I didn't say there wasn't. Yes.....today's music is more cash run and therefore more safe, to a large degree...with a helluva lot of frankly terrible stuff being produced. However, for every Beatles, there was an Englebert Humperdinck, for every Jimi Hendrix, there was a 1910 Fruitgum Co. I was just making the point that we tend to hear the very best from that year these days. It's just worth noting there were safe and mediocre tracks around in that era too. Granted, probably far less than today, but they were there. It's worth remembering that The Sound Of Music was top of the album charts for quite a while in 1967.
@@stephendavis5530 The only decent music I can bear of today is Radio 6 indy and world music and the jazz scene. I do like Lana del Ray, there are exceptions to the rule. I hate hip hop and rap, esp the blightly kind. No chart toppers for me ta very much. The Sound of music was a hugely popular film so got there as a result.
*2:11** Ian Gillan and Roger Glover of **_Episode Six,_** soon to replace Rod Evans and Nick Semper in **_Deep Purple!_*
Association and Harpers Bizarre awesome
Paul Revere was the oldest member of Paul Revere and the Raiders and I think he was about 32 when the single was made. Him or Me was an awesome record
I love that song. I love those Paul Revere albums from 1966-1968.
The Raiders were one of the better American bands in 1967, regardless of age.
@@accam6734 Mostly thanks to Terry Melcher and his merry band of ace sessioneers.
Episode Six had Ian Gillan of Deep Purple on lead vocals
Yep. And Roger Glover on bass as well.
Ha, a nice version of Hey Joe with a twist in the end ? I ♥️ it
"Trouble is, [The Raiders] are all about 50 years old". LOL He was right though. I'm glad that he offhandedly liked them. Was it the uniforms?
I was worried that Ray was going to like everything, but then we got to the second half of the video. Whew.
Cool that Hollies Evolution was top ten. I think of it as kind of an obscure Hollies LP in the US but it may be my favorite album by them.
LOL @ "Alternative Title" by The Monkees. RSG?
Glad to see Waterloo Sunset and Here Comes The Nice in the Top 30.
Mark Lindsey was all of 2 years older than Davies, though, Paul Revere had another 4 years on that. Of course, this was the decade in which "Don't trust anyone over 30." had become a catch phrase.
i love Him or me! it's a classic
Me, too. Great song.
Him or Me is such a banger.
i'd like to see some of Penny's reviews please. It would be fun to hear her take on records that became famous.
One of the groups i would have loved too seen.
The underrated gem here after Episode Six is Nola York's track, great Bacharachist arrangement
Best song here is 'Him or Me - What's It Gonna Be' by Paul Revere and the Raiders.
I've never heard of Nola York before but both sides of her release here are very good. Ray underrates 'My Love Sonata' by the Toys too, although it obviously derivative of their (deserved) big hit
Not a brilliant week but not too bad really. The Sorrows track is one of my favs by them for sure.
I much prefer Kicks and Just Like Me by Paul Revere.
"Just Like Me" (November '65) is just like The Kinks.
It's funny when people who've never seen a vinyl record spinning in real life create a graphic of a vinyl record - they always have the shiny reflection rotating around with the record, as if it's a mark on the surface, rather than a reflection that always stays in the same place relative to the light source as the record turns around.
I really dig the UFO headlines at the start,and we`re no further on i feel.
Your voice sounds so familiar. Are you doing YT infocommercials just before other YT sites before their sites begin new content?
Somewhat disparaging of Paul Revere and the Raiders, unfairly so. They are all 50? Paul Revere was six years older than Ray, and Mark Lindsay was two years older!
Voice over really nails the humour of Rays comments
Penny died of cancer January 9th 2003 age 59
One of the most interesting things about this (and the Blind Date series) is the amount of corny, schmaltzy and anything-but-cool songs that came out in the late 60's. Music and culture documentaries would have you believe everybody was a Head/Hippy with a joint in their hand and a sitar in the basement, but actually the hippies were a bohemian minority, and the rest kept on going as if it was still the bloody 50's. Brings to mind the Blackadder quote "To you, Baldrick, the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people, wasn't it?"
Look at the Woodstock movie. The majority are average college students and young adults. There weren't that many "hippies."
That's very true; for the era gets idealised. Yet the hippies, despite being a minority, did have an impact - through the music obviously, hollywood and the news. My friend, who was a child at the time, said that even here in Australia, normal folk in the suburbs put flower stickers on their car. Well, that might have been as far as their participation in the movement went, but it shows that that was the zeitgeist.
The charts changed as the kids got older and started to have disposable income. I doubt that many of them bought Tom Jones or Engelbert Humperdinck. Moms and dads did. And I always wonder who compiled the charts and what was the basis for ranking. Years later (1978 to be precise), 'Sergeant Pepper" with the Bee Gees was a platinum record - based on the number of copies shipped, but most were returned unsold. It was only when computerized cash registers appeared that an accurate count of albums sold was recorded by Soundscan. Even then, a lot of stores did not report to Soundscan. (I'm talking US here.)
What I found very interesting was just how un-groovy the top ten LP's were.
i liked Windy, Him or Me-What's It Gonna Be and songs by episode six and the sorrow. i enjoyed Hey Joe at the end of the clip
“They sound like a fat group of players who never played football.”
funny.
I'd love to crank these groovy vibes but I'd have to cheese it if the Fuzz paid me a visit ! PEACE OUT MAN !
Every time i watch these i start calling chicks,well chicks,sometimes i just get my groove on and mellow out,far out daddyo!
Hey Joe....for once I recognised the end tune.....
I watched 6 of these, spanning a bunch of years, and The Sound of Music is always charting on the UK LP Chart. And/or Marry Poppins.
It was the best selling album in 1965, 1966 and 1968
@@VirreFriberg well, that would explain it. wildly popular.
I got dragged in to watch The Sound of Music on a wet afternoon in Morecambe and got really into it(don`t tell anyone),no wonder all those nuns were singing along....
4 scouse acts in one review:
Cilla Black, Gerry Marsden, Billy Fury and Nola York
Pretty much agree with everything he says here about the records I know.
One thing about The Toys. Gotta represent NYC. A Lover's Concerto was a massive hit-- #2 in US and #5 the UK. Their second single, Attack (which is quite good IMO) reached # 36 in the UK and # 18 In America. All four of their next singles charted in America, although not nearly reaching the success of the first two. I think A Lover's Concerto is a beautifully sung song and damn near perfect. I don't understand what Ray means by " ....and that the British public are not often fooled more than once" I don't think My Love Sonata is a carbon copy of A Lover's Concerto, but it certainly does not scale the heights of the former. Also what does he mean by " Listening to this I now know why there are so many broken homes in America"?
I guess it was just his sense of humour.
I take it that Ray is saying "I'd divorce my wife too if she sounded like this."
Which is oddly nasty in its own right, and then extended to Americans in general to make the joke.
@@mikesmith2057 Sounds more like "If even love songs are just recycled stuff, no wonder couple relations are so short-lived in the USA" to me
How Much More of The Monkees? :0)
First three songs are the best.
who grimaced when they learned Ray was reviewing these singles?
I did lol. But he was kind here 😂
Me, too! I cringed and thought "Oh no! What fresh HELL am I about to listen to?" - but I love Ray, even at his crankiest.
@@total.stranger Ray reminds me a bit of Roger Waters, very cranky, but I can't help but like him.
I didn't. I usually read more assh0le takes in the comment section on the average
Not me. I've always loved Ray's sardonic perspective on life.
Thank you for pronouncing Ray's surname correctly, YP. There have been many occasions when I've wanted to strangle Ray for insisting that it's "Davis" and not "Dav-EEZ".
Also, it's a hoot to see "Seven Rooms Of Gloom" and "Seven Drunken Nights" paired on the chart - suggesting a relationship that must have gone through a really nasty breakup.
Davis’ prediction @ 1:30 of the Association was greatly inaccurate. Windy became #1 in America.
It wasn't a hit in Britain, though.
@@YesterdaysPapers Unfortunately.
Windy stayed at #1 for weeks in America during July 1967.
I really enjoy these. What's always interesting is hearing them review something mega obscure but it'll always be dashed with some sort of horrible MOR garbage like Vince Hill or some atrocious Petula Clark record.
he was being nice by not mentioning Cyril's voice.
the trouble is... They're all about 50 years old!! Oh no!!! I wonder if Jagger and Richards care to comment..
3:40 Well, this certainly was "A Lover's Concerto" part II . But I don't quite get what that has to do with the divorce rate in the USA at the time. I wonder if Davies, at age 77, has any recollection of the reasoning behind that remark.
Because "love" was sold and commodified repetively. "If even love songs are just recycled stuff no wonder couple relations are so short-lived in the USA"
It's interesting the artists I adore as musician I have not thought much of their takes on contemporaries. Meanwhile Marty Feldman had amazing taste
The crack about Paul Revere and the Raiders all being 50 years old must now make Davies wince. How old was Davies when The Kinks made Come Dancing?
38
The Raiders had the best single of the week--despite their advanced age!
Love the reader. No emotion so the quotes have maximum meaning.
‘a nice little ballad about photographs” funny because on Kinks’ TheKinksAreTheVillageGreenPreservationSociety from the same year there were two songs about photographs and taking them included…
Maybe the ballad about photographs inspired those two Kinks songs, who knows?
@@YesterdaysPapers highly likely
This series makes me aware of how many successful bands released unsuccessful records that I've never heard of - Gerry Marsden and Billy Fury for instance. In hindsight it feels like successful bands always had hit records because you're not aware of the misses.
I wasn't even aware Gerry Marsden had a solo career after The Pacemakers.
I've noticed this wrt the 80s: we've forgotten 99% of the bad stuff that got created (even by good artists), but we've also forgotten 50% of the good stuff that existed as well.
Go listen to unedited segments of MTV on youtube or the actual radio (internet archive) from those days and you'll be amazed at what's in there.
@@mikesmith2057 Why not make a youtube video about it?
To think those who were really cool were listening to Tyrannosaurus Rex.
............' forget this record though.,'......
Very fine outro, again!
The general melodic saturation/fatness of, say, The Creation, rather than the more whimsical eccentricism nowadays more often related to this point in time.
Still, totally different from that band's own version of "Hey Joe", thus, another great "alternative past" track!
Thanks!
Totally agree. Hey Joe is one of those songs I've never really liked, but I love this instrumental take on it.
Who was this track performed by? Thank you
The nntros, outros and background tracks are all done by this channel’s curator, often exclusively for one specific episode,. They‘ve not been released anywhere else despite numerous requests…. 😏
@@oleplanthafer7034 Wow! It is such a great piece! Thank you for educating me on this.
Sounds like Ray is still a little peeved at the US during the interview
Too bad Dave wasn't in the room as well. I could imagine all the bickering between the two of them over the choices.
There’s another one of these where Dave was the reviewer
Dude misses it on almost every song
Interesting going through the top 20 for the week. In some cases I recognize the title but not the artist. In others I recognize the performer but never heard the record. Occasionally I recognize the song and the group, but more often not.
That's funny he thought Paul Revere and the Raiders were "about 50 years old". They were all about the same age as Ray. I guess he meant they'd been around a while and were getting out of date. They'd been popular for all of about three years at this point. That used to be an eternity in the world of Top 40.
I also wonder what he meant when he said the Toys' song shows "why there are so many broken homes in America."
Paul Revere was in his early 30s by that point but that was hardly old
Merely an ironic, subversive Ray witticism.
@@michaelrochester48 He was born in 1938, so he would have been 29 at this time. Ray was about 23. I guess Revere might have seemed like an elder to him at this time, especially it being the era of the slogan "never trust anyone over 30".
@@FawleyJude To teenagers of the day, even artists in their late 20s were "old", and artists in their 30s were beyond the pale - but I don't recall ever seeing direct references to age in those days, unless those refs (birthdays) were included in the liner notes on LPs.
Sounds like "If even love songs are just recycled stuff no wonder couple relations are so short-lived in the USA" to me
Glad to hear Ray throw some shade on "Harper's Bazaar", one of the more despised groups by my high school buddies and me at the time. They were equivalent to the omnipresent "Ray Coniff Singers" who also degraded record bins across the US during the last half of the 60's.
"....Ray Coniff Singers" who also degraded record bins across the US during the last half of the 60's." LOL
Yeah, they were too pop for me, too, but Ted Templeman was the singer and musician and he went on to discover and produce the Doobie Brothers and Van Halen among many others, so he did some really good things in music after HB. Ted's recent book about producing is a great read.
@@Doones51 That's interesting. Thanks for the information!
Their albums are intriguing tho
@@mariuspoppFM I've only heard one of their LPs - "Anything Goes" (December 1967) and I thought it was good because they covered songs by Randy Newman ("Snow" & "The Biggest Night Of Her Life") and Van Dyke Parks ("High Coin") which are terrific songs. At the time, I'd never heard of Newman and was only aware of Parks through his connection to the Beach Boys. The LP was a good education for me, but their somewhat limp and 'squishy' vocal stylings got in their way, so I never put any energy into exploring the rest of their catalog.
No one at the time would have realised that hidden in Episode Six was one of the great rock singers- Gillan
Off topic, but does anyone have the link to the Jimi Hendrix blind date video?
All here: ruclips.net/user/YesterdaysPapersvideos
@@nathalieplum2137 Try looking for it yourself: it's not there. I think the channel made it unlisted for some reason.
It's unlisted because a couple of my Hendrix videos got taken down. Here it is: ruclips.net/video/D9dlSflh4iU/видео.html
@@YesterdaysPapers Cheers!
He thought Cilla's was one of the top two? Yea God's! Your opinion of him changed? Yep. Me too.
No, everyone is entitled to some mistakes
I think it may have been a pre amble to a snogging session with Cilla,very diplomatic.
@@ufoclips1 makes sense, Davies was already married tho