Psychedelic rock +/- pop Archives - Zero to 180

60s/70s rock +/- pop

Arresting Ads From the Archives of Billboard, Cash Box, Record World & Beat Instrumental

[April 2023 update = streaming audio now included] From browsing back issues of the major music industry trade publications, I’ve discovered that Record World is refreshingly focused on just the music, and not, say, coin-operated amusements (i.e., Cash Box) or circuses, fairs, and the entertainment industry (Billboard). Beat Instrumental from

November 30, 2022 No Comments

"(Baby You Can) Scratch My Egg"

Rusty York’s Cincinnati Indie Label

Billboard, in their January 8, 1972 edition, reported this quirky news item in the Cincinnati division of their “From the Music Capitals Around the World” column: Rusty York, who heads up the Jewel Recording Studio[s] here, learned last week that the new ‘Smash-Up Derby’ commercial [for Cincinnati-based Kenner Products], which he

November 5, 2018 1 Comment

"Dirty Ol' Sam"

King’s Dalliance with Psychedelia — Keith Murphy & the Daze

Keith Murphy & the Daze would help King Records expand its popular reach into the emerging “psychedelic” rock market (following the previous year’s foray into Jamaican ska via Prince Buster). May of 1968 would find the release of King’s first “psych” 45 [as noted previously in “Rare & Unissued King“]

June 18, 2018 No Comments

"High Coin"

Skip Battyn + Van Dyke’s Obscure 45

Not sure how this fascinating production – written and arranged by Van Dyke Parks and sung by Skip Battyn in the magical year of 1967* – came to my attention originally. “High Coin” by Skip Battyn (1965) [*Wrong – recorded in 1965! See comments attached at the end of this

April 11, 2018 2 Comments

"Baby You Come Rollin' Cross My Mind"

Peppermint Trolley: Clavinet ’67

It’s always a thrill when somebody who actually served on the front lines of music history reaches out to help fill in some of the historical gaps. Just last month, Danny Faragher of the Peppermint Trolley Company chimed in on an earlier NRBQ piece that attempts to identify the earliest

May 17, 2016 No Comments

"Come Back to Me"

Psych + Horns = The Gears

Doc Lehman‘s Bangagong! music blog has a poster for a “Festival of Bands” in Columbus, Ohio that took place in 1967 — 34 bands over the course of two evenings, admission just $1: Same Vox as in Vox Guitar-Organ & Vox Phantom guitars? Interesting to note that the first band

August 31, 2015 No Comments

"Never Play a B-Side"

Sasha Caro’s B-Side of Irony

Yesterday’s piece about London’s Chalk Farm Studios omitted the fact that this recording facility had actually begun life as Rayrik Sound – established in 1964 by Bruce “Ray” Rae and Caro “Rick” Minas. And although Clapton and Cream’s debut album had been recorded at Rayrik two years later, the studio

May 5, 2015 No Comments

"Space Walk"

“Space Walk”: Psychedelic Vibes, Man

Paul ‘Ollie‘ Halsall, as previously noted, was one of the rare rock musicians to utilize the vibraphone – an instrument that is often confined to jazz and 1960s pop and northern soul, sadly. The vibes, when placed in the right context, can add such gorgeous tonal color to a song,

January 7, 2015 No Comments

"Lament of the Astral Cowboy"

“Astral Cowboy”: Not Enough Echo

Yesterday’s piece about Sagittarius (et al.) brought to mind one particular Curt Boettcher song that too few people have heard, 1969’s (demo only) “Lament of the Astral Cowboy” — one hundred forty mesmerizing seconds, each one of them echo-filled: Could this be what Gram Parsons had envisioned when he came

December 16, 2014 No Comments

"Sister Marie"

“Sister Marie”: Not Meant for LP

“Sister Marie” – a great song that slipped between the cracks – found belated release as a bonus instrumental on the CD release of Sagittarius anthology Present Tense (1968 Columbia LP, originally): “Sister Marie” [demo] Sagitttarius (1968) According to the liner notes, Gary Usher recorded this backing track with Sagitarrius in mind

December 15, 2014 1 Comment

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

Category: Psychedelic rock +/- pop

Arresting Ads From the Archives of Billboard, Cash Box, Record World & Beat Instrumental

Rusty York’s Cincinnati Indie Label

King’s Dalliance with Psychedelia — Keith Murphy & the Daze

Skip Battyn + Van Dyke’s Obscure 45

Peppermint Trolley: Clavinet ’67

Psych + Horns = The Gears

Sasha Caro’s B-Side of Irony

“Space Walk”: Psychedelic Vibes, Man

“Astral Cowboy”: Not Enough Echo

“Sister Marie”: Not Meant for LP

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