ON THE ROAD AGAIN - VOLUME 48

THE WHO Debut Album (mono + DeLuxe Edition)

Original released on LP Brunswick LAT 8616 (mono)

(UK 1965, December 3)

An explosive debut, and the hardest mod pop recorded by anyone. At the time of its release, it also had the most ferociously powerful guitars and drums yet captured on a rock record. Pete Townshend's exhilarating chord crunches and guitar distortions threaten to leap off the grooves on "My Generation" and "Out in the Street"; Keith Moon attacks the drums with a lightning, ruthless finesse throughout. Some Maximum R&B influence lingered in the two James Brown covers, but much of Townshend's original material fused Beatlesque hooks and power chords with anthemic mod lyrics, with "The Good's Gone," "Much Too Much," "La La La Lies," and especially "The Kids Are Alright" being highlights. "A Legal Matter" hinted at more ambitious lyrical concerns, and "The Ox" was instrumental mayhem that pushed the envelope of 1965 amplification with its guitar feedback and nonstop crashing drum rolls. While the execution was sometimes crude, and the songwriting not as sophisticated as it would shortly become, The Who never surpassed the pure energy level of this record.

The history behind the making of "My Generation" is an interesting one.  Initially, The Who recorded an album comprised mostly of cover material, the songs they had been playing in their live set.  Before the album’s scheduled release date, June 1965, advanced copies were forwarded to the music press for review.  When the critics reacted negatively to the lack of original material The Who’s management team, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, along with producer, Shel Tamly, postponed the release and asked Pete Townshend come up with some more songs.  What Pete returned with was solid gold and The Who’s debut LP, "My Generation", was released six months later.  It’s kinda strange when you think about it, but here’s one instance where we may owe music critics some thanks.

JOHNNY RIVERS: "Meanwhile Back At The Whisky À Go Go"

Original released on LP Imperial 12284

(US, 1965)

You'd think that by his third album in this format from this venue, Johnny Rivers would start to get a little redundant, but that wasn't the case, as is obvious from the opening track, "Seventh Son" - Rivers takes an approach that manages to intersect with swamp rock, white soul, and garage punk, all neatly wrapped up in three minutes so potent that it shot into the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100. One doesn't need to check a release date on this album to know that folk-rock was still the happening sound at the time Rivers cut it; he successfully puts his own lean, mean stamp on the sound with his ominous, stripped-down rendition of "Greenback Dollar," presenting a side of the song totally missed by the Kingston Trio, and a version of "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" owes a lot to Dale Hawkins (whose "Suzie Q" also gets covered here) and Chuck Berry. Rivers also presents a powerful white soul sound on this record, reaching back to his New Orleans background for "Land of 1,000 Dances" (as well as "Stagger Lee") and out to Motown on his guitar and bass-driven version of "Stop in the Name of Love." Indeed, one has to wonder how many times a struggling young John Fogerty, living on the other end of California and the far side of success, listened to this record (and also the pounding versions of "Parchman Farm" and "Suzie Q" here) and started germinating his own ideas about an even more suitable song like "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." He also gives a nod to the Beatles, covering their most stripped-down rock & roll number, "I'll Cry Instead" - one of their least-covered songs - in a slightly more loping, relaxed, and soulful manner. (Bruce Eder in AllMusic)

Os NIGHT STARS e Outros Conjuntos Moçambicanos (1965 >>> 1972)

GEORGIE FAME: "20 Beat Classics"

Original released on LP RSO SPELP 45

(UK, 1980)

GEORGIE FAME Debut Album

Original released on LP Columbia (EMI) 33SX 1638

(UK 1965, January 1)

Following on from the blazing live set that was his debut, Georgie Fame's first studio album is one of those discs to which only one appellation can truly be applied - it's dangerous. A blistering romp through Fame & His Blue Flames' live repertoire of the day, fast and loose and driving, it captures one of Britain's best-ever R&B troupes stepping so far beyond the customary precepts of the Beat Boom that, if you were to come to this record without knowing who it was, there's no way you'd ever guess a bunch of (predominantly) Londoners were responsible. To pull out any highlights is to indicate that there are any corresponding low-lights - there aren't. But a "Green Onions" so sweet that you can taste it captures the group in full flame, while Willie Dixon's "I Love the Life I Live" has rarely sounded so supreme. Even the closing "I'm in the Mood for Love" - not a song one normally associates with heads-down blues boogie - is granted a cigarettes'n'alcohol ambience that could choke any passing puritan, and the whole disc adds up to one of the all-time great albums of its, or any other, R&B-blessed era. (Dave Thompson in AllMusic)

CHER Debut Album (in mono)

Original released on LP Imperial 12292

(US 1965, October 16)

After Sonny & Cher hit big with "I Got You Babe," Sonny Bono decided that he would strike while they were hot and got Cher a solo deal with Liberty Records. The angle they took for the 1965 album "All I Really Want to Do" was folk-rock with a tiny bit of girl group pop thrown in. Choosing from the songbooks of writers like Dylan (the title track, "Don't Think Twice," "Blowin' in the Wind"), Pete Seeger ("The Bells of Rhymney"), Jackie DeShannon ("Come and Stay With Me"), as well as Bono himself (the Jack Nitzsche co-write "Needles and Pins," the girl group classic "Dream Baby") and using his Spector-derived production skills to create rich, chiming backgrounds for Cher to sing over, the duo made what turns out to be one of the stronger folk-pop records of the era. Cher isn't the most subtle singer, but she sounds young and full of life on these tracks, like she really believes in what she is singing (a feeling you don't always get on her more lightweight material). No one will mistake her for Joni Mitchell or Sandy Denny, but you shouldn't belittle her efforts as a folksinger, either; "All I Really Want to Do" is proof that she was for real. (Tim Sendra in AllMusic)

CHRISTOPHE: EP "Je Chante Pour Un Ami"

Original released on EP Disc AZ 1018

(FRANCE, 1965)

CHRISTOPHE: EP "Aline"

Original released on EP DiscAZ 1001

(PORTUGAL, July 1965)

CHRISTOPHE: EP "Les Marionnettes"

Original released on EP Disc AZ 999

(FRANCE, 1965)

The HONEYCOMBS: "All Systems Go!"

Original released on LP PYE NPL 18132

(UK, December 1965)

Despite downwardly spiraling commercial fortunes, the Honeycombs recorded a second album in 1965 that featured as many intriguing production flourishes and oddball British pop songs as their first effort. No hits were included on this LP - and be warned that the version of their minor hit single "I Can't Stop" (probably their best song) featured here is an inferior, drastically slower remake. This album also includes a mighty obscure ballad by Ray Davies, "Emptiness," that was never recorded by the Kinks (or any other artist but the Honeycombs, for that matter). It's not much of a song, but it's a find for Kinks fanatics. The record's highlights are the sparkling guitars of "Love in Tokyo" and the soulful ballad "Something I Got to Tell You" (featuring drummer Honey Lantree on vocals), which sounds like an honest-to-god hit-that-never-was. The CD reissue of the album adds eight non-LP cuts from 1965-1966 singles (and three unreleased tracks). The best of these are the tense, overwrought ballad "Should a Man Cry?". (Richie Unterberger in AllMusic)

The ANIMALS Complete French EPs & Singles

SHEILA: "Tous Les Deux" (mono & stereo)

Original released on LP Phillips 77 742

(FRANCE, 1965)

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - VOLUME 47