The Byrds -"Mr. Tambourine Man" Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, 1965 (Columbia)

I first heard this album when I was 10 or 11 years old.  Even as a child, and living in Los Angeles, one could not avoid The Byrds either on the radio, and it would have been odd if one didn't have a copy of "Mr. Tambourine Man" in their possession.   Still, even though I enjoyed this album, I never really loved it.  Over the years, I have lost my copy, but I keep seeing the record in its various formats for decades, and I wonder if I should re-entry this work, by purchasing it.   I was at Mono Records in Glendale/Eagle Rock, and without a thought, in my head, I picked up an used copy for $5, which is not an expensive ride to my distant past.

For decades I had a distant relationship to The Byrds.  Most, if not all of my friends think very highly of this band, but still, there is something off-putting, and I think it has to do with their musical relationship with Bob Dylan.   It sort of reminded me when someone like Pat Boone covered a rock n' roll classic.   It's water-down Dylan.   Or Dylan with a "better voice, and comfortable clothing.

On the other hand, the songwriting talents of The Byrds, especially Gene Clark is remarkable.   There is something about his voice that gets to the subject matter of a song, and he knows how to deliver the pathos to a listener.   Also noted, the old standard "We'll Meet Again" is not only a beautiful song but a perfect ending for an album.  I suspect this album is going to be on my mind throughout my life.  In that sense, it's a gift that keeps on giving.

Chris Andrews - "Yesterday Man" b/w "Too Bad You Don't Want Me" 45 rpm 7" Single, 1965 (Atco)

Chris Andrews is a bit of a mystery to me.  I first came upon his name when I look at the credits for Sandie Shaw songs during the early 1960s.  He wrote all her major hits, and I'm a fan of her work.  The second time I became aware of this songwriter's talent was when I heard Robert Wyatt's 1973 version of "Yesterday Man," which is one of my favorite Wyatt recordings.   Chris Andrews wrote that song as well, and I think it's the best I have heard of his songwriting.  

Wyatt's version is slow, mournful, with a touch of regret and of course, romantic angst.  Chris Andrews recorded his own version of the song in 1965 and of course, it's upbeat with a strong Ska rhythm going through it, but the chorus has that Sandie Shaw sound.  It's particular talent of Andrews to add a clatter of vocals that are busy and frantic at the same time.  I like his approach to his song.  If I have to choose between the two, it would be the Wyatt version, just because he can milk the pathos deeply and profoundly.  Yet there is something sinister in the happy-go-lucky Andrews conveying the fact that he is genuinely a Yesterday Man in some woman's life.  In other words, a great tune. 

Peggy Lee - "Then Was Then and Now is Now" Vinyl, Lp, Album, U.S., 1965 (Capitol)

Peggy Lee is one of my favorite singers. What I find appealing is her tone, richness, emotional coolness and a sense of an older soul giving advice to the listener.  She has been around the block and wears the experience well.  It took me a year to find a decent copy of this album "Then Was Then and Now is Now."  For one, it's an amazing title for an album, and two, she covers Ray Davies, of the Kinks, "I Go To Sleep."  As far as I know, and without cheat sheets here, The Pretenders, Cher, and Peggy Lee, of course, have covered this song.  The Kinks did a version, but I believe it was a demo, and never officially released on a Kinks album.  Nevertheless, an incredible song and Peggy's version is exceptional. 

Throughout the album, the arrangements by Sid Feller, as well as Billy May, who did the classic Ray Charles recordings such as "Georgia on My Mind" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" is both very sensitive as well as working with the smoky tone of Peggy's vocals. David Cavanaugh, who was a staff producer at Capitol Records, and worked on the legendary Sinatra albums, is also in tune with the Peggy world on "Then Was Then..."   Even although the album was recorded in 1965, Peggy sounds contemporary and totally engage with the now, as the title of the album expresses.   The song choices are obscure but there is not a bad tune on the album.  The only one that I'm aware of beside "I Go To Sleep" is "The Shadow of Your Smile," which I think is the best version I have heard at this time. 

Peggy Lee is a singer that I need to dive more into her recorded catalog.   I did see her live once, sometime in the 1980s, and she impressed me with her taste as well as a grit and a strong soul. A remarkable talent. 

The Byrds - "Turn! Turn! Turn!" b/w "Eight Miles High" 45 rpm Single, Vinyl, Reissue (Columbia)

Without a doubt, the Los Angeles band The Byrds are probably the most respected band in my small world of record fiends.  We had the first Byrds album when it first came out, and I have to presume that my dad bought it.  He didn't play it that much, but I listened to it a lot.   One couldn't avoid the presence of The Byrds in Los Angeles during 1965 and 1966.  For one, the connection they had with Bob Dylan was a serious relationship between those who followed Dylan's career at the time, and also radio stations like KRLA and KHJ played Byrds music a lot.   To this day I have told people I admired The Byrds, and one has to because of their ability to do certain types of musical styles throughout the years.  From folk to psychedelic to country, they seemed to adopt musical landscapes like one changing their kaftan in the morning to work clothes for the ranch by the afternoon.   It's strange for me to write this, but they are probably my most unfavorite Los Angeles band. 

I have admired their recordings, and I have purchased their albums to the point (in its original releases) up to "Younger Than Yesterday."  The truth is I never really cared for these albums.  Perfectly crafted pop songs and some are even beyond that, for instance, the great "Eight Miles High."  A brilliant melody, with incredible guitar work from McGuinn, it's a beautiful piece of music.  I have always taken the song at heart that it is about flying above the ground, and not drugs.  If it was about drugs, I feel that imagery would have cheapened the song.  I prefer the thought of someone reflecting on a flight, or about landing on the ground.  "Turn! Turn! Turn!" an older song by The Byrds, and adopted by Pete Seeger from the Book of Ecclesiastes, is lush and the perfect vocalization is a sound to admire.  My aesthetic is to crush that sort of beauty, and I preferred the sound of the rave-up of The Yardbirds.  To me, that was sound that I could identify with, due to my young angst at the time.  

For decades I have always had a problem with David Crosby.  I don't know him, but he still struck me as an annoying presence in the pop music world.  I never liked his clothing style or hair, nor do I like his voice that much.  The only thing I do like about him (artistically) is that he once made music with Les Baxter, during his exotica days.   Nor do I care for his solo recordings, or the songs he wrote for CSN&Y.   The songs he wrote for The Byrds were horrible.  Saying that I know there are at least three or four generations of music lovers who disagree with me.  I respect that and them as fans and music lovers.  Still, "Eight Miles High" is a work of perfection.  And for that reason alone, I hesitantly admire The Byrds for that single recording. 

The Beatles "Rubber Soul" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissued, Remastered, Mono, 2014/1965

As a gentleman (if I may call myself that) born in 1954, The Beatles were truly a band that I grew up with, as the albums were released.   It's so odd for me to hear such a sophisticated album "Rubber Soul" when I was 11 years old.  How could I possibly understood "Norwegian Wood" at that age, yet, on its original release I played that song over and over again.  Even as a young child I like songs that sounded sad, that somehow I felt was a reflection of my being at the time.   Of all the Beatle albums, "Rubber Soul" is an album that I can listen to in my head by just reading the songs off the back cover.  They're etched not in color, but in black and white, just like the photos on the back cover of the album.  A very contrast black & white, compared to high definition images replaced by "Revolver" their next album. After that, it was all bright technicolor photos of The Beatles from "Sgt. Pepper" to "Abbey Road."

The sound I hear on "Rubber Soul" is four men, who seemed to be older (of course) and perhaps wiser, yet, in reality, it's a record of reflection of men still young.  Almost like a soldier who came from the front lines of a war, young, but bitter from the experience.   In reality, there is not one bad song on this album, yet, it's not my favorite Beatles album anymore.  I recently purchased the album in mono (all the Beatle records I own are in mono, except "Abbey Road") and as I played it, I didn't feel any emotional attachment to "Rubber Soul" whatsoever.  Yet, as a child, it had a huge impact on me by how it brought a sense of sophistication into my world.  If you think of the pop music (almost all great) being made in 1965, especially by the British Invasion bands of the time, "Rubber Soul" in comparison is a rainy day with thick clouds in the sky type of record.  "Michelle" is probably the first time I heard a song that is sung in partly French.   How could I possibly relate to that, except I loved how the language was sung by Paul in that song.  Not exotica in the sense of an American tourist in a foreign part of France, but conveyed a sense of bitter romanticism just by Paul's voice and instrumentation.  

"Rubber Soul" is an important album, and when you think of it as being released in 1965, the Fab Four were somewhat distanced from all the others in the music market at the time.  It reminds me image-wise of Fellini's early film "I, Vitelloni" (1953) when one of the characters at the end of the film moves on from his childhood/teenage friends to a new world, but traveling alone.  In a sense, The Beatles were waving goodbye to their contemporary fellow musicians and some fans, that they are moving on, to territory that is not yet formed or idealized at the time. 

Frank Sinatra - "September of my Years" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1965 (Reprise)

No way in heaven or hell would I have purchased this album in 1965, at the age of 11 or so.  In fact, this album didn't make sense to me till I was in my mid-40s.  I slowly started to buy Sinatra albums when I was in my 30s, which was in the 80s.  I totally ignore Sinatra as an artist in my youth.  The fact that this album came out during the 'youth' explosion of the pop rock world is funny enough.  An album about aging in the era of youth! 

The truth is, this is a major album by a middle-aged singer.   Sinatra grasps the issues of being a Romeo at a later age, and also the ability to look back and reflect on one's life.  That is a hard thing to do for someone who's a teenager or a young adult. On the other hand, one would think this album had a huge impact on Sinatra's generation at this specific 60's era.   Life is often a blur or a Futurist painting, so a work of art that reflects on the passing of time is a profound medium, whatever it's in the literature (Marcel Proust comes to mind) or on the vinyl, this album for instance. 

The visual image of I have of this album, and all Sinatra 1950s to 1960s recordings come with a mental picture of some sort, is of one listening to "September of My Years" around 11:15 in the evening and with one's choice of alcohol.  The orchestration by the great Gordon Jenkins is Wagner like in the textures of the feelings in these set of songs.  All, very much looking back as an older person and commenting on life then and of course, what happened to that life now.   This album is like a book.  Not a beginning, middle, and end type of narrative, but nevertheless it does tell a story of emotions spent and the after-effects of one's attention at the time.  It's a very moving piece of work. My favorite cuts are "It Was a Very Good Year," "The Man in the Looking Glass," and the fave of all faves is "September Song."  In fact, I think this is the best recording or version of this song.  Sinatra as a singer was at the peak of his talent.  I think some of his recordings of the 1960s are very so-so, but this album reads to me like a very personal statement from Sinatra. 

Barbara Lewis - "Baby, I'm Yours" b/w "I Say Love" 45 rpm vinyl single, 1965 (Atlantic Records)

I first heard this song as a child, and I was living in Beverly Glenn, which is a canyon area between Sunset Blvd and the San Fernando Valley.   Songs tend to place one in a specific era or location.  Barbara Lewis' "Baby, I'm Yours" places me in the spring time and even now listening to the record, I can feel the sunshine of that time in March 1965.  We were months away from a natural disaster (our house was destroyed in a mudslide that December), but before that life was good for me.  "Baby I'm Yours" represent the good times for me before the change took its place which to this day still have an affect on me. 

"Baby, I'm Yours" is a song written by Van McCoy, who had hits in the disco era in the 1970s.  Both the A and B-Side was directed by Bert Berns, which is different from the credit "An Ollie McLaughlin Production."  Does that mean Berns was in the studio or was it McLaughlin, or both?  It sounds like a film, and perhaps to Berns and McLaughlin, it was cinematic than aural  - or, it's a work that gives one a visual.  If that's the case, it works for me, because very few songs bring me to my childhood in such a vivid manner.   I can remember the heat and the chocolate Bosco drinks that our neighbor made for us kids on the block.  The romantic yearning of "Baby, I'm Yours" captured my young and curious heart.  I didn't know love, but I did notice the pretty girls I went to school with at Nora Sterry Elementary School.   This is the theme song of that time and place.  Perhaps my personal soundtrack of a memory. 

Nico -"The Last Mile/I'm Not Sayin'" 7" 45 rpm single, vinyl, 1965 (Immediate)

Nico before The Velvet Underground is very much Nico.   The voice.  There is only one woman with a voice like that, and she with her "it" looks is pretty wonderful.   The A-Side is a song by Gordon Lightfoot, with production by the great Andrew Loog Oldham, with arrangement by David Whittaker.  Nico, on this record, and at that time, must have been a darker version of Marianne Faithful.   Or maybe that was in the thoughts of Oldham?  The b-side is much more of an interesting piece of recording.  Jimmy Page produced and co-wrote (with Oldham) "The Last Mile."  Just Page which sounds like a 12-string acoustic guitar and Nico's voice.   This would not be out of place in a future Nico album.  The beauty of Nico is whoever writes the songs, they lose that identity to Nico because her presence and voice are so prominent.    This is not the greatest Nico single/songs but for the completist a must-have.  Now, if I can get the Gainsbourg "Striptease" single by Nico - that will be something. 

The Honeycombs - "All Systems GO!" CD, Mono, Japan (Parlophone) WPCR-16842 (Recorded in 1965, CD 2015)

First of all, ignore this cover.  This is from an early CD release.  The one I have is Japanese and it has 11 bonus tracks.  Re-released in 2015 and remastered at that time in Japan as well.  So, a classy package of the second Honeycombs album, produced by the legendary and great Joe Meek. 

The first album by the Honeycombs (same title as their name) is a masterpiece.   All the songs were written by Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, who worked as a team and sometimes known as "Howard Blaikley."   The essence of The Honeycombs is Denny D'ell's vocals, which has traces of vintage Gene Pitney, but very much his own voice that conveys emotional breakdown and disappointed.  A British soul voice that doesn't adopt from the Black American, but from a crooner's fate in its own hell-hole.   Their drummer Honey Lantree, who besides being a female drummer (unique at that time in the early 60s) is also a good vocalist as well, when she takes a solo vocal time-to-time, and third, and perhaps most important is the contribution by the record producer, Joe Meek.

Listening to a Honeycombs recording from the early 60s is very much like listening to a band produced by Brian Eno in the 1970s.   Meek takes all the aural ingredients from the band and transforms the sound into something compressed and highly electronic.  The vocalist echo effect traces back to the croon via Phil Spector, but Meek makes it totally unique and of course, the sound is from outer space.  There is also the weird electronic keyboard that comes through their recordings which I believe is a Clavioline or Univox.

After the success of The Honeycombs' first single "Have I The Right," they pretty much toured the world, so the second album I imagine is what is left over from the first or material put together quite quickly.  "All Systems GO!" sounds very much like a second album.   Still, a fantastic album, that is not a masterpiece like the first, but it does show a band with a future (which, didn't happen).   One of the great beauty tracks on the album is "Emptiness" a song written by The Kinks' Ray Davies.   A beautiful song that is totally classic Ray.   There are classic performances here.  "Something I Got To Tell You" is a Honey lead vocal, and she is the classic British pop girl singer.  Why she didn't make recordings under her own name is a mystery of sorts, but nevertheless her work as a percussionist/drummer as well as occasional lead vocalist and back-up is always superb. 

"I Can't Stop" is a classic Honeycombs single.  It should have been a mega-hit, but alas, it didn't happen. There are five solo Joe Meek compositions on the album, and all are either great, or of interest.  Meek's work as a songwriter always has a yearning for a better romance or life - it's moving when you know his actual life and what he went through.   For me, I feel The Honeycombs was a perfect vehicle for Meek to do his magic.   The band itself is great, with a wonderful guitarist in Alan Ward, but even the throwaway b-sides that are on this album is enticing as well.   A great find for me in Japan. I bought this CD at Pet Sounds in Meguro Tokyo.