I know it’s not Friday but 1960s record producer Shel Talmy died earlier last week; I saw the notice a bit too late for my posting. A Chicagoan, he moved to Britain in 1962. After blagging his way into a job in the record business in London he was in charge of the mixing desk for the first hits of both the Kinks and The Who. He also produced early David Bowie tracks and Friday on my Mind for the Easybeats, the song after which my category is named, plus Mike D’Abo’s debut as lead singer for Manfred Mann, Just Like a Woman.
The Kinks: You Really Got Me
The Who: Can’t Explain
Sheldon (Shel) Talmy: 11/8/1937-13/1120/24. So it goes.
A recording of The Easybeats’ first performance of Friday on my Mind on Top of the Pops on 24th November 1966 long thought lost to the world has been discovered in Australia. The story is here and includes the relevant clip.
The sheer joy of the lead singer’s performance is delightful to see.
He seems to be singing two lines of the lyric of the chorus in a slightly different order to that on the ’45 single which I bought, though.
Glasgow born George Young, member and songwriter (with Harry Vanda) of The Easybeats, after whose biggest hit this strand on my blog is named, has died.
His contribution to the Easybeats would alone have been enough to secure his standing in the history of rock music – especially Australian rock – but he subsequently was songwriter and producer for others, including AC/DC.
The Easybeats: Heaven and Hell
George Redburn Young: 6/11/1946 – 22/10/2017. So it goes.
I’ve come to this late. Stevie Wright, lead singer of Australian band The Easybeats, whose Friday on my Mind I chose as the first song in my 1960s music category of the same name, died in December. I only saw his obituary in The Guardian earlier this week.
Evie was a solo no 1 hit for him in Australia, possibly the first 11 minute song to reach no 1 anywhere in the world.
The song manages to encompass the three main themes of the love song as a form. Its first two parts are reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac’s Oh Well or Derek and the Dominos’ Layla in that it starts in an up tempo rocking style and then segues into quieter mode. Like Evie both those were split over two sides of the corresponding single release. Evie, however, returns to a higher tempo for its third part.
Stevie Wright: Evie
Stephen Carlton “Stevie” Wright: 20/12/1947 – 27/12/2015. So it goes.
The Music Goes Round My Head wasn’t a big hit (if it was a hit at all.)
It did however bear a resemblance to a slightly later hit by the group which launched Peter Frampton (the Face of 1968 as I recall) into the world, The Herd.
The UK B-side to The Easybeats Friday On My Mind was called Made My Bed, Gotta Lie In It.
This was a recording of the band performing the song live, so the quality wasn’t great. The singer’s voice was decidedly ropy. The song’s key was obviously outside his range.
Edited to add: that video has disappeared so this is a replacement.
The Easybeats: Made My Bed, Gotta Lie In It
Some prat on You Tube has titled another version of what seems to be this same clip Made My Bed, Now I Gotta Lay In It. It’s as if they were chickens!
The Branch Manager at my workplace had the thought that we workers weren’t having enough fun (thank you David Brent) and came up with the glorious idea of having a competition. We were to name our favourite 1960s hit – that is no purely album tracks were allowed – and pay £1 for the privilege of entering it.* A committee was formed to adjudicate the results. The winner was announced and played over the tannoy – wait for it – after work on the day we broke up for Easter. Some fun!
Runner-up was the now ubiquitous but at the time relatively ignored Hi-Ho Silver Lining as by The Jeff Beck Group. It came second to Daydream Believer by the Monkees. You’ll have guessed I wasn’t on the committee. I will admit to a softish spot for the Monkees but Daydream Believer is a bit twee.
Anyway this all got me to thinking which song I would have considered. I soon realised that choosing just one is impossible but if I had to it would probably be Rupert’s People’s Reflections of Charles Brown but really it depends on the mood I’m in.
I’ve already featured a lot of 1960s songs here and any of them could have been contenders. So pick one from Rainbow Chaser, Tiny Goddess or Pentecost Hotel by the true Nirvana, the real Nirvana (see my category and scroll down.)
Or there’s America by The Nice, with which I started off my prog rock musings, plus their The Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon – even if it was a B-side – and The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack,
The Electric Prunes’ I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night and Get Me To The World On Time (both here,)
The Small Faces’ Tin Soldier,
The Who’s I’m A Boy,
Python Lee Jackson’s In A Broken Dream,
Procol Harum’s Homburg,
R Dean Taylor’s Gotta See Jane and Indiana Wants Me.
I would also have included Nights In White Satin by The Moody Blues if it hadn’t been turned into a cliché by excessive re-releasing and overplay.
That’s most, but not all, of the 1960s songs I’ve mentioned before.
But there is a host more, of which I have fond memories and which I might have chosen.
So to start what may be a regular series this is The Easybeats and Friday On My Mind.
*Edited to add:- The money collected was to be split two to one between the respective submitters of the winner and the runner-up.
