Category Archives: Old Fruit

Old Fruit

Old Fruit 16th May 2025

The Renegades – Thirteen Women

It’s a sixties garage rock themed half dozen track selections this week beginning with this, a raucous and still ever-so-slightly cheesy version of a song that, up to that point, was maybe best known as a Bill Haley b-side. It has a special place in my garage rock heart for it was a routine enquiry about this tune, being played by a dealer at a Record Fair, that led to him giving me a cassette tape compilation he’d made of similar tracks which proved to be my gateway to a lifetime of sixties garage and psych collecting. I think it might have been that little keyboard riff that hooked me in with this one? The Renegades were from Birmingham but had their biggest success in Finland and they are just one of hundreds of under-the-radar Beatles / Stones inspired bands from the era who put out killer 45s…. (more to follow, but first)…

The Sonics – Strychnine

This, now legendary in the right circles, band from Tacoma, Washington, produced a raw and ragged, totally aggressive sound that was punk by any other name. Their debut album ‘Here Are The Sonics’ seems so ahead of its time for a 1964 release with singer / main songwriter Gerry Roslie attacking his vocals with a pure venom that must have sent a lightning jolt through any of the middle America populace that encountered this at the time. Original film material is scarce but I am good with this later clip from The Sonics 21st century reformation; if nothing else, the gig they played in London sometime around 2008 remains one of my all time definitive life-affirming gigs…

The Lemon Drops – I live In The Springtime

Chicago’s The Lemon Drops only issued one 45 in 1967 but, despite that, they still managed to release more incredible singles than Spandau Ballet and Heaven 17 combined (in my opinion). In fact this rather delicious fuzzy guitar explosion of sound on the Rembrandt label was something of a curio in its own right because there was a version released, which was actually the more common, or at least more frequently heard version, that was issued as a mix without the bass and drums. The track presented here has the full mix although weirdly the edition without the full range of instruments remains satisfyingly hypnotic and glows with a dawn-of-summer hazy warmth. Just goes to show what a good song it is then doesn’t it?

The Smoke – My Friend Jack

The Smoke were an English psych band from York who played with a pure garage energy and it is indeed a treat to find some film footage of them that captures the Mod edge in their style. This one was an outstanding 1967 45 that effectively bottles the spirit of the period; inevitably it was banned by the BBC and therefore received very limited exposure. Sometimes the British institution could be a little too trigger happy with their black listings, a mere hint of a drug reference needlessly halting a promising tune at birth, but here I suppose you have to admit the lyric goes beyond a vague suggestion of chemical stimulants. At least they had a number 2 hit in Germany though, a great single will always find a way eventually…

Rupert’s People – Dream On My Mind

It is hard to definitively define who Rupert’s People really were or who they were supposed to be. Songwriter Rod Lynton’s original band, the Extraverts, had split but he gained a management contract as part of a new act called Sweet Feeling at which point an acetate, including a song called Charles Brown, was advised to be re-written to the tune of Air on a G String, reflecting the classical ambitions acts like Procol Harum and the Moody Blues were flexing successfully at the time. The band Les Fleur de Lys were involved in the recording but then backed out necessitating the formation of a new group for Lynton’s work, which is where Rupert’s People arrive. By the time of this track they were deep diving into the flowery, childhood memory referencing psychedelia stylings of the period which, bizarrely, left a groovy little psych-rocker like this languishing as a 1967 b-side…

Ty Wagner – I’m A No Count

This was one of only two 45s that fell under the garage umbrella issued by Wagner, ‘I’m A No Count’ being the first from 1966 on the Chattahoochee label. It is an out-and-out sleazy and scuzzy outsider bluesy rock classic; no wonder Jon Spencer was happy to showcase Ty on the, actually quite recent, clip below. What I love about this is how Ty comes across as completely and utterly the cool real deal, he does not break into a smile even for a split second! If you enjoy this you need to check out the original recording (it’s findable, as most things are online nowadays) but for now, let me sign off this weeks dig into the audio / visual archives with a performance that is about as real as you can get…

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Old Fruit

Old Fruit 9th May 2025

Ivor Cutler – Shoplifters

One of the true British eccentrics of the twentieth century, Ivor Cutler could make records that seemed primitive and childlike in their execution but somehow snuck some depth in through the back door of your mind and could have you think about things in a whole new way. He would mostly accompany himself on harmonium, as seen in this clip, and was beloved by the late night outposts of BBC radio, in fact his radio appearances from the late fifties right through to regular appearances on the John Peel Radio One show probably leant him a relevance that his actual record sales may never have afforded him. I give his work some time whenever I come across it…

The Easybeats – Friday On My Mind

If you think talk about pop music being better in the sixties is all just a bit overblown then try and argue against the merits of a track like this. From 1966, these were an Australian beat group who scored big in the charts with one of the most piledriving, adrenalin fuelled, pop rockers imaginable and underneath it all they wrote a great song, with all due consideration given to structure, melody and dynamic punch. Wow! Fab! Groovy! Yeah, I love sixties pop…

Bob Wills – Take Me Back To Tulsa

It’s all about the sound, all about the western swing and the hard to resist rhythm. This is what country was defined by in the forties and fifties when the genre still had its rough and ready roots fully visible. The vocalist here is Luke Wills while bandleader Bob is easily identifiable as he’s the one with the unexpectedly high pitched voice who frequently calls out between the verses. Some ears find Bob Wills a bit much on his recordings because he could not stop calling out, mostly without any need, the music was uplifting and infectious enough in itself, he did not need to whip it up and solicit the attention quite as much as this, but then you could argue that the band would not have been quite so well drilled without his exacting standards…

Albert Lee – Tear It Up

Not that anyone should need convincing about the guitar playing and authenticity of Albert Lee but here is some undeniable evidence of his genius anyway. It was said by a favourite radio DJ of mine once that Rock n Roll is basically just Country music played faster and while that generalisation fails to account for the evolutions in Rock music that would explode in the sixties and seventies, there is an essentially correct element to the roots of the statement. And with a performance like this, it is roots that Albert Lee is working with, ‘Tear It Up’ is a ripper of a performance that pulls in original seeds of country, bluegrass and rockabilly and boils it all up into a barnstorm of raw and ready musical delight… tear it up!

Blossom Dearie – 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)

Blossom, seen here performing on the David Frost show in 1971, could so easily be written about as though she were a contemporary and equal in talent to someone like Nina Simone. She was a fine pianist who rarely showed off her true prowess and a warm, sincere interpreter of popular songs of the day who could pull in a jazzier element without losing touch with the songs soul. She was a demanding performer too who would not settle for anything less than the exact playing conditions she required, so photographers, chatters and smokers would be challenged without room for compromise. But Blossom was a very different beast to Nina, with her childlike voice, grandmotherly warmth and fondness for the twee (as heard here). But a phenomenal talent more than capable of a heart-wrenching performance and an ability to capture both innocence and refinement in the same breath…

Paul Simon – American Tune

So let’s finish this week with a classic selection from the writer of the previous tune. Paul Simon’s ‘American Tune’, heard here in a fifty year old TV performance, sounds like a prayer for America as much as its a weary lament. The sad thing is he could have written it last year as there are lines in there that still retain that level of contemporary relevance. I guess that does at least go to show what a genius songwriter Simon has always been, that a tune like this, which was probably thinking about Watergate and Vietnam, was written with such universal, ageless language that it can still work today. His guitar playing is pretty tasty too, something that maybe gets overlooked a little too much.

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Old Fruit

Old Fruit 2nd May 2025

Genesis – The Musical Box

As a new feature for this website and as a companion piece for the half a dozen Fresh Juice offerings of new music, Old Fruit is a selection of half a dozen older music clips presented here because they either have some current relevance, they are newly discovered archive material or simply that I just like them a lot and want to share. As is the case with this super high quality picture of Genesis in 1974, performing their epic ‘Musical Box’ number for the TV cameras, capturing Peter Gabriel in a moment where his theatrical stage craft was perfectly pitched. It is fair to say that by the end of 1974 his ideas were over stretching a little and fellow band members would complain that costumes and the focus on visuals were over shadowing the music. But equally, they probably would not have won the attention they enjoyed in the early part of the seventies without Gabriel’s weird aura but whatever, it retains a curious eccentric English charm on show to full effect here…

Crowded House – Distant Sun

There have been many songwriters who benefit from comparisons to either Lennon or McCartney but its the ones that get favourable mentions in the same breath as Lennon & McCartney that are the ones to pay special attention to. Neil Finn of Crowded House is one such performer and he has written many hit singles, some like ‘Weather With You’ or ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ shine brightly but ‘Distant Sun’ is truly one of the best even though it slides a little under the radar by comparison. The way it pulls in a spoonful of McCartney melodicism and sprinkles a pinch of Lennon angst is really quite powerful…

The Roches – Mr. Sellack

This three sibling combo were, especially during the eighties, one of the most vital acts on the folk scene. They released albums, some of which (including the 1979 self-titled release that this song is taken from) were produced by Robert Fripp, that would almost unanimously get healthy critical receptions but underwhelm in terms of sales. A travesty really for, as this clip so vividly demonstrates, they were capable of hitting spectacular three part ranges vocally and their songs had a natural lyrical flare, wit and bite. The Roches were a folkin’ phenomenon alright…

Question Mark & The Mysterians – 96 Tears

Question Mark was the stage alter ego of Rudy Martinez and his band, also named after a 1957 Japanese science fiction film of the same name, scored a US number one hit with this their debut single released on the Pa-Go-Go Records label. It has equally been identified as an early influence on the punk scene as much as it has been associated with the Nuggets driven garage rock scene that, like Northern Soul, would start to catch an identity for its genre only when compilations started putting together similarly styled collections under the ‘garage’ banner in the seventies and beyond. Unlike many records that would become garage and psych collectables, this one was actually pretty popular and well known so it has remained an outlier, never appearing on the ‘Nuggets’ series for example. Whatever, it’s a garage psych classic from 1966 so just dig it!

Link Wray – Rumble

Sadly there is no actual 1958 footage that I can find of Link Wray performing his instrumental classic the year it came out, but this 1974 live clip is still pretty amazing. The thunderous crash that introduced this number originally lays to waste any claim sixties acts like The Kinks or Led Zeppelin can make to having invented Heavy Metal, it was already there in the aggressive playing and amped up grungy sound of Link Wray. And look at this film, witness that gum chewing strut, he knew it too!

Roberta Flack – Compared To What

This was the first track on the debut album by Roberta Flack and talk about a statement of intent. Obviously she would end her career with a pair of classic songs that she’ll forever be associated with but this one, for me, best brings the essence of Roberta. It is a sensational fusion of jazz, funk and soul and where the lyric talks of making it real, well look no further, it is all in this piece of film from 1970. Eyes shut, head swaying, totally lost and transported in the performance and the song, it does not get any more real than this!

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