Brian Wilson – I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times
How could this weeks vintage selection of tunes be anything other than a toast to those who are gone in 2025 following a handful of days when the world has lost the genius of Brian Wilson and Sly Stone? Brian may have shone brightest in the sixties when he was still in full command of his natural, musically articulate, talent and imagination but that has long since proven to be a light that will never go out, such was the indelible impact of the sounds he created. There were few contemporaries that The Beatles acknowledged a competitive, respectful empathy towards but, alongside Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson was undoubtedly a prime source of peer group inspiration and his loss to the world of music will only begin to be appreciated now the book is finally closed on his life’s work.
Sly & The Family Stone – Dance To The Music
Lost to the world the same week, another iconic performer and visionary whose period at the top of his game was frustratingly brief. However, the fusion of soul and R&B that kicked the doors of funk down to the ground, not to mention the ahead-of-the-game multi-cultural ethos pounded relentlessly by the Sly Stone led Family Stone surely paved the way for everything soul and electro became over the ensuing fifty years; that funky train cannot be stopped and will never be silenced.
Marianne Faithfull – Vagabond Ways
Most of the obituaries for Marianne focused on her orthodoxy shaking breakthrough in the sixties and her not always so clean-cut connections to the Rolling Stones, it is worth remembering however that she never let go of music as a creative, expressive outlet. Indeed on cuts like this one from 1999, she did a lot to reinforce her perceived public image with songs of this ilk that only served to add to the legend.
Max Romeo – Wet Dream
Arguably the greatest thing about Max Romeo’s classic ‘Wet Dream’ from 1969 was Max’s attempts to explain the clean, innocent meaning of the song years later. You see, according to Max the song had nothing to do with sex and the chorus line “lie down girl let me push it up, push it up” were merely an instruction to his female companion to take cover while he pushed his finger to the ceiling to repair a leaking roof. I’m in full agreement with Max, the song could have been about no other scenario.
Roberta Flack – Compared To What
Her two massive hits ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’ and ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ quite rightly dominated the reverential chat and legacy surrounding Roberta but there was a lot more to admire in this piano pounding, gospel infused, soul powerhouse as this clip of her tearing into the opening track on her debut album surely attests.
Bill Fay – The Never Ending Happening
Bill received a welcome and deserved late career resurrection in which his mellow, richly detailed songwriting enjoyed a 21st century renaissance, a second coming that is all to rare in the music industry. That said, he remains one of the big names among the record collecting community thanks to the scarcity and £100+ rated value of his 1967 Deram label b-side ‘Screams In The Ears’ which has enough timelessness to indelibly stand as one of the essential slices of freakbeat period British psychedelia.
Fruit Tree Records 