Almanac Music: Some oldies but goldies!

 

 

One of the beauties of social media, for me anyway,  are the treasures that pop up on various feeds etc on my computer via the internet. Most of the feeds are music based and bring back fond memories of times long ago when these songs were first popular. Many of these treasures I save with the intention of watching them at a later date and of course this rarely happens as I never seem to have the time to do so. A message came up on my computer recently from the friendly maths man reminding me I had over three hundred saved clips that I had not as yet viewed. So with a few spare moments on my hands I decided to go through the list and select a few to share with the Footy Almanac community. Some of the clips maybe more obscure than others to viewers and some remembered as long forgotten. I do hope you enjoy listening and watching some of my treasures that popped up of music I have enjoyed overtime.

 

 

‘Lady Jane’  – The Rolling Stones

 

A great song from the Aftermath album released in 1966. Obviously a cleaned up clip and looks great in colour.

 

 

 

 

 

‘La Maison où j’ai grandi’ – Françoise Hardy 

 

A French version of the Verdelle Smith song ‘Tar and Cement’ recorded by Françoise Hardy who recently passed away.

 

 

 

 

 

‘Walk Away Renee’ – The Four Tops

 

One of my all time favourite songs released circa 1968.

 

 

 

 

 

‘Sunshine and I feel Fine’ – Ram Jam Big Band

 

RJBB were big in Melbourne in the late 60s. They had a big sound and I was lucky to see them play many times, mainly at Q Club in Kew where I was living at the time.

 

 

 

 

 

‘The Great Pretender’ – The Platters.

 

A cracking song from one of the great all-time vocal groups. My dad loved this song.

 

 

 

 

 

‘Silver Threads and Golden Needles’ – Linda Ronstadt and The Eagles

 

Linda and the boys crank out a fab version of this classic song.

 

 

 

 

 

‘King Harvest (Has surely come)’ – The Band

 

My favourite band ever, this song from their second album The Band released in 1969.

 

 

 

 

 

‘If Paradise is Half as Nice’ – Amen Corner

 

Big hit in the UK but only received limited success in Australia. Released around 1968. Love the song!

 

 

 

 

 

‘Hold Tight’ – Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich

 

Released in 1966, DDDBMT were successful with many hits from the mid 60s to the early 70s. I remember Molly Meldrum on ‘Kommotion’ miming the song.

 

 

 

 

 

‘Reflections of My Life’ – Marmalade

 

Another group like Amen Corner with success in the UK but very little in Australia. Great song though!

 

 

 

 

 

‘San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)’ – Scott McKenzie

 

From 1967/68 this is in my Top 10 of all time favourite songs. Written by John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas it epitomises The Summer of Love so well.

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‘San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)’ – Scott McKenzie

 

I’ve included this live version from the Monterey Pop Festival of 1968 for comparison.

 

 

 

 

 

‘Surf City’ – Jan and Dean

 

From the early 60s surf scene which was huge at the time and the time when The Stomp was all the craze. I saw my first stomp at Portarlington during summer holidays in the early 60s.

 

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‘The Weight’ – The Band 

 

Another classic song from a classic band recorded live. Brilliant. One of my musical regrets is not seeing them perform live so this helps compensate.

 

 

 

 

 

‘Everlovin’ Man’ The Loved Ones

 

Led by the inimitable Gerry Humphrys and arguably the greatest band Australia has ever produced IMHO. They wrote some of the best songs  ever recorded here. It was unfortunate their time on the scene was so short.

 

 

 

 

 

‘Wars or Hands of Time’ – Masters Apprentices

 

The flip side of their first hit ‘Undecided’ is probably one of the best unknown songs in Australian musical history.

 

 

 

 

 

More from Col Ritchie can be read Here

 

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