Dark Clouds, Vol. 6

image from Pacific Northwest Bands

There it happened again...
The sixth volume of the epic Dark Clouds series: an array of moody garage music recorded in the mid-to-late-60s! If you want to start from the beginning of the hexalogy, you can download Vols. 1-3, Vol. 4 and Vol. 5.

So this is what I came up with for Vol. 6: a nice little mix of uncomped rarities to appease the garage gods, and a few of my absolute favorites (psst, the Amoebas and the Weads) to welcome my friends who are just delving into this profound musical realm.

This is the real deal. No sophisticated production, no pretension. Just raw, real, emotive performances. Record hiss, crackle and pop, and anomalous (okay, at times downright off-pitch) vocals galore. I can't tell you how much of a joy and surprise it is to continually stumble upon and unveil these types of nuggets. I hope you enjoy! Please feel free to contact me if you can provide additional band info or corrections. Thank you!


01 The Ascensions - "All Alone" [Gemini 100] (1967) Philadelphia, PA
02 The Wild Cherries - "I Cried Once" [Shoestring 112] (1966) Hampton, VA
03 The Soule Survivors - "Shadows" [River 1306] (1967] Biloxi, MS
04 The Amoebas - "Look At The Moon" [unknown] (1964) Baltimore, MD
05 Sleepy Hollow - "Dark Of The Night" [unknown] (1967) Bridgeport, CT
06 The Intruders - "Bringin' Me Down" [Claremont 665] (1966) Rockford, IL
07 The Royal Knights - "I Don't Want To Go" [Snap SN-005] (196?) USA
08 Lindy Blaskey & The LaVelles - "My Baby Done Left Me" [Space 0003] (1965) Albuquerque, NM
09 The Nomadds - "I'm In Transit" [Radex MLP 6521] (1965) Freeport, IL
10 Billy & The Kids - "It's Not The Same" [Julian 104] (1965) Wenatchee, WA
11 The Squires - "I Can't Do It" [Atco] (1966) Bristol, CT
12 The Counts - "I Will Lose My Mind" [Kingston 19693/4] (1969) Valley View, PA 
13 The Swaydes - "Why" [Paris Tower 108] (1967) Tampa, FL
14 Druids - "Old Willow" [Columbia 4-43639] (1966) Scranton, PA
15 Public Nuisance - "Time Can't Wait" [demo] (1968) Sacramento, CA
16 The Meen - "Say You Love Me" [Varmint VPB-103] (1967) USA
17 The Newports - "Feelin' Low" [Zebb 155] (196?) Ormond Beach, FL
18 The Jades - "I Cried" [Holiday H-101] (1966) Union, KT
19 The Weads - "Don't Call My Name" [Duane 1042] (1965) Stonybrook, NY
20 Road's End - "When I Look At You" [Brahma 621661/2] (1966) New York, NY
21 The Kan Dells - "Do You Know" [Bear 1971] (1965) Minneapolis, MN 
22 The Grapes - "You'd Better Come Home" [Purple 110] (196?) La Porte, IN
23 The Second Generation - "Baby I Need You" [Klan] (196?) USA
24 The Dukes - "Take Your Love" [Signett 3265] (1967) Goshen, IN
25 The Society - "One Way Ride" [Feature 817R-112] (1966) Janesville, WI
26 Low Ebb - "Somewhere" [Patten Bennett 1001] (1965) MI
27 The Willing Mind - "Decide" [Night Owl 6912] (1969) Horicon, WI
28 The Alexander Rabbit - "I Didn't Even Thank Her" [A&M 1101] (1969) Trenton, NJ
29 The Mirror's Image - "If You Are Nowhere Now" [Catamount 01000] (196?) NJ
30 The Members - "I'll Get By Without You" [Label 102] (1966) St. Petersburg, FL


Grab Dark Clouds, Vol. VI -------> Over here!

still from Frank Capra's The Miracle Woman (1932)

A warm, fuzzy and prosperous 2013 to all of you!
xoxo

Dark Clouds, Vol. 5: An Ode To Winter

(still from the 1948 weeper, Portrait of Jennie, dir. William Dieterle)

Hi friends! So for months I've had the idea floating around for a wintery themed mix, but was waiting for the weather to get cold, rainy, windy, just super duper gnarly so I'd have some kind of inspiration to draw upon. And I'm still waiting! I should know by now, being a native/naive Californian, that not a chance in hell was Mother Nature gonna grant us such prolonged weather. We might as well be ground zero for global warming! Not that I don't mind one bit, but I'd one day love to stare sullenly out the window at a torrential storm or play in the snow like most normal kids do... not admire colorful, fiery sunsets from my 15th floor office building or shuffle around the beach in ironic graphic tees, BBQing, sipping icy Tecates at the end of January/beginning of February. Siiiigh. But I digress...

Oakland did get several hours of rain and apocalyptic-like fog last week. And for that, I was ever so grateful to use that precious time to assemble a slightly eclectic mix of seasonal moody tunes for you, opening with the predictably distressing "Lonely Winter" (a song later covered by the Bee Gees), and drawing to an optimistic close, finishing with the haunting yet encouraging chorus on "Need Some Sunshine." This mix is slightly distinguished from its Dark Clouds peers in 1) genre: garage rock reigns, but I had to throw in some soft/sunshiny, folk rock, and a Joe Meek production that were just too rad to pass, and 2) location: with the occasional Canadian exception, you might've noticed my unintentional sense of patriotism in past mixes. But for this one I've gone global (thanks to a newly renewed passport) - bowing down to England, Norway and Australia! 

01 Steve & the Board - "Lonely Winter" [Spin EL 31997] (1966) Sydney, AU
02 Hollie Helloms & the Rhythm Kings - "Don't Blame It On the Rain" [Major 1015] (196?) Waynesboro, VA
03 The Whether Bureau - "White and Frosty" [Laurie 3431] (1968) New York, NY
04 The Unrelated Segments - "It's Gonna Rain" [Liberty 55992] (1966) Detroit, MI
05 Nocturnal Day Dream - "Dark Dreary Night" [Unknown] (196?) U.S.A.
06 Firebeats Inc. - "This Rain" [His Master's Voice NCLP 5] (1966) Oslo, Norway
07 The Rainy Daze - "Snow and Ice and Burning Sand" [UNI 73002] (1967) Denver, CO
08 The Kasuals - "Listen to the Rain" [GMA 4] (1964) Chicago, IL
09 The Early Americans - "It's So Cold Outside" [Paris Tower 106] (1967) Tampa, FL
10 John Leyton - "Wild Wind" [Top Rank International JAR 585] (1961) Essex, UK
11 The Fredric - "Saturday Morning With Rain" [Forte 80461] (1968) Grand Rapids, MI
12 Jan & Lorraine - "Snow Roses" [ABCS 691] (1969) London, UK
13 Brigadune - "Misty Mornin'" [Verve VK 10655] (1971) Los Angeles, CA
14 The New Dawn - "It's Rainin'" [Garland GR 70-4569] (1970) Salem, OR
15 Teen Tones - "Long Cold Winter" [T&T 2487/8] (1964) South Bend, IN
16 The Sinners - "Only On A Rainy Day" [Craig 210] (1966) PA
17 Sunset Love - "Winter's Day" [Collectables 0665] (1968) Odessa, TX
18 The Rising Storm - "The Rain Falls Down" [Remnant BBA 3571] (1966) Andover, MA
19 Philamore Lincoln - "The North Wind Blew South" [Epic BN 26497] (1970) UK
20 The Ill Winds - "Fear of the Rain" [Reprise 0423] (1965) Los Angeles, CA
21 The Rock Garden - "The Wind Is My Keeper" [Revise 300] (1967) Camden, AR
22 Electric Train - "Thru Winter and Sunshine" [Moxie M 106] (196?) Marin County, CA
23 The Magic Mushrooms - "Let The Rain Be Me" [East Coast 1001] (1968) Philadelphia, PA
24 The Morning Dew - "Winter Dreams" [Audio House Acetate] (1966) Topeka, KS
25 The Omen & Their Luv - "Need Some Sunshine" [Daisy 4825] (196?) Tuscaloosa, AL

Download 'Dark Clouds Vol. 5: An Ode To Winter' --> HERE!!
Download Vols. 1-3 --> right here
Download Vol. 4 --> and here

Hope you enjoy! Feedback (be it good, bad, constructive, creepy, off-topic, etc.) is always welcome. Thanks!

Check out Cosmic Bonfire, the mixtape I made for the Bold Italic

Happy New Year, friends! I've rung in the new year with some cross-pollinating, and created a mystic, lite-psych mix (of mostly old and several new) for San Francisco's Bold Italic, Mixtape Monday series -

http://www.thebolditalic.com/blog_posts/1586-mixtape-mondays-cosmic-bonfire

Thanks to Nikki Grattan for the beautiful photo and write-up!

Enjoy!