alternative sixties: part 1

Given that I recently posted a comprehensive survey of the music of the 1950s, you might expect a similar overview of the music of the following decade. However, even if you weren’t around in the 1960s, you’ve probably already heard at least some of the music of bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys, so I thought that I would try to compile a list of recordings that people may not have heard before but that are nevertheless worth a listen.

Such an endeavour is probably impossible, but not one of the 40 songs on my list was a significant hit in the UK, although most were successful on the other side of the Atlantic. In fact, only two of the 40 are by British artists.

As with my 1950s list, the records are presented in approximately chronological order, with a short comment on each one and a YouTube link should you want to check that particular song out. You will notice that there are no recordings listed for 1968 or 1969, mainly because I worked abroad during those years and had limited opportunities to listen to contemporary music.

The Hollywood Argyles—Alley Oop (1960)
This song was covered by the Beach Boys on their cod live album Party. It is essentially a novelty record, the subject of which should be familiar to American listeners:

There’s a man in the funny papers we all know,

I don’t think that Alley Oop, a cartoon strip about a stereotypical caveman, was ever published in the UK.

Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs—Stay (1960)
Following covers of Coasters songs for their first two singles, the Hollies then released their version of Stay as a follow-up. This is the original.

The Isley Brothers—Twist and Shout (1961)
The Beatles had a major hit in 1963 with an EP on which this was the title track, but this is the original—and the Isley Brothers’ last significant recording before being consumed by the Tamla-Motown hit ‘factory’.

The Tokens—The Lion Sleeps Tonight (1961)
The original of this song was written and recorded in South Africa in the Zulu language, and the English-language version was recorded by several artists in the late 1950s, but it is usually associated with doo-wop group the Tokens, who had a #1 hit in the USA. The version by Tight Fit, which was a #1 hit in the UK in 1982, sounded, to my ears, like an exact copy of the Tokens’ version.

Ike and Tina Turner—It’s Gonna Work Out Fine (1961)
This is what Ike and Tina Turner sounded like before they fell into the megalomaniac clutches of producer Phil Spector, who ruined everything he touched (cf. the original release of the Beatles’ Let It Be, John Lennon’s Imagine and the Ramones’ later output). At least Ike and Tina did show a return to form with Nutbush City Limits in 1973.

The Regents—Barbara Ann (1961)
The Beach Boys released their version of this song, from the Party album, as a single, but they should have stuck to Brian Wilson songs and left this to a real doo-wop group like the Regents.

The Dovells—Bristol Stomp (1961)
It may be 1961, but this up-tempo number is right out of the 1950s doo-wop playbook.

The Contours—Do You Love Me (1962)
If I were to choose just one record from Tamla-Motown as ‘absolutely atypical’ of this label’s output, this would be it. Brian Poole and the Tremeloes had a #1 hit in the UK with an execrable cover, and the version by the Dave Clark Five, also a hit, wasn’t much better. This is the original, and the probable reason it wasn’t a hit in the UK is that it was released on the obscure Oriole American label.

Richie Barrett—Some Other Guy (1962)
This song was a staple of the live performances of many British bands in the early 1960s, but the only recording of which I’m aware was by the Big Three, who were considered the best of the Liverpool bands when playing live by all the other Liverpool bands of the period. However, they were a flop nationally!

The B-side of this record was Tricky Dicky, about a notorious career criminal, which may explain why this sobriquet was attached to Richard Nixon towards the end of the decade.

The Exciters—Do Wah Diddy (1962)
This is yet another song that hit #1 on the UK charts in a cover version, in this case by Manfred Mann, who as an all-male band had to doctor the lyric—the Exciters were a female vocal group, and their version does sound more natural.

The Rivingtons—Papa Oom Mow Mow (1962)
This is yet another song that was covered by the Beach Boys on their Party album, and the comment that I attached to Barbara Ann (above) also applies here.

Arthur Alexander—A Shot of Rhythm and Blues (1962)
The Beatles (Anna) and the Rolling Stones (You Better Move On) both recorded Arthur Alexander ballads on their respective debut albums, but although this up-tempo number was a staple of live performances at the time, I’m aware of just one cover recording, by Gerry and the Pacemakers. That wasn’t bad, but you should check out the original.

The Routers—Let’s Go (Pony) (1962)
You’re probably familiar with a particular hand-clapping routine much used by football crowds:

clap-clap, clap-clap-clap, clap-clap-clap-clap [two-syllable shout]

But did you ever wonder where it came from? It’s this record!

The Rockin’ Rebels—Wild Weekend (1962)
When I was a teenager, the proprietor of the coffee bar that I frequented after school and at weekends regarded me as knowledgeable about contemporary music and trusted my recommendations as to what records to buy for his jukebox. I was pretty good at picking records that would become big national hits, but I suggested this instrumental just because I liked it. It turned out to be very popular with the coffee bar’s young patrons.

Little Stevie Wonder—Fingertips (Part 1) (1963)
Despite receiving a rave review in Record Mirror, this Motown track also failed to hit the UK charts, mainly because of a poor distribution deal. This is an instrumental track (harmonica, with vocal interjections), and Stevie Wonder never released anything remotely similar in his later career.

Marvin Gaye—Can I Get a Witness (1963)
By the time this heavily gospel-influenced recording appeared, Motown had secured a distribution deal with EMI for it to be released on the Stateside label, but it still wasn’t a hit, even though I bought a copy at the time. In fact, I bought a demo recording, because my local record shop used to sell demo records, provided free by travelling sales reps, for just half a crown (12.5p), a third of the price of regular records.

There is a delicious irony here. Many years later, I was browsing in a bookshop when I came across a catalogue that listed how much you could expect to pay for old records. I looked up Can I Get a Witness and discovered that you could expect to pay £2 for a copy. However, a demo version would set you back £50!

The Kingsmen—Louie Louie (1963)
There is an urban legend that the FBI spent 18 months trying to decipher the lyric of this song, which in this version of a song that had been around since the 1950s is all but unintelligible. Apparently, the FBI believed that it contained a subversive message, but that was probably down to the paranoia of J. Edgar Hoover, the bureau’s director at the time.

Inez and Charlie Foxx—Mockingbird (1963)
This is the only song by Inez and Charlie Foxx that I’m familiar with, but it’s unusual in style–and certainly worth a listen.

Randy and the Rainbows—Denise (1963)
This song was covered by new wave band Blondie in 1977, who didn’t add anything to the original apart from an obvious gender reversal.

The Righteous Brothers—Little Latin Lupe Lu (1963)
The Righteous Brothers were another duo that had their biggest hit with a Phil Spector-produced monstrosity. This is what they had sounded like before this. Much better, in my opinion, especially if you heard this one first, as I did.

Rufus Thomas—Walking the Dog (1963)
Rufus Thomas was recorded by Stax Records of Memphis and was already 46 years old when this song, with a lyric based on traditional nursery rhymes, was released. He was a mentor to a young Otis Redding, who overshadowed him musically and commercially in the next few years.

List continues in Part 2 (1964–67)