I met Gary at Cropredy Festival, lovely bloke. See Emily Play is one of the best Pink Floyd tracks ever. Scott McKenzie sounds ethereal and ghostly in dark 2022. Randy Scarse Git ( Alternative Title) took its name from a line in the Til Death Us Do Part sitcom and was later covered by Carter USM. Gary B. is responsible for playing and singing on one of the finest 45's of the 1960's.
I was unaware that Bowie had done a cover of this… I immediately looked it up and listened to it… Interesting. Bowie certainly managed to out-weird the Floyd - although I suppose that’s hardly surprising
@@BaconTomatoCheese Haha! Bowie cornered the market in weirdness in the early seventies; not just on his own records, he also helped his mates and those he produced or wrote with to pull off the same vibe; T-Rex, Mott the Hoople, Ziggy Pop, Lou Reed and Kraftwerk are among those of note. Even in the eighties you could still see so many imitators (sadly, nowhere near as good as the original) ... Boy George, Gary Numan, Stevie Strange, Duran Duran, The Rah Band ... his influence was ubiquitous. By then he had long since sold out to the mainstream but in so doing paid off the debts that his Visconti and deFries days had left him in. Yes, he was weird but the concept albums from The Man who Sold the World, up to and including, Diamond Dogs, were brilliant and almost as influential, in his circles as Bob Dylan's albums were in his.
All these comments were written without the knowledge that Gary Brooker would be dying soon. So sad, such a great vocalist and musician. Life isn't fair!
It's interesting to think of Gary as a very US influenced musician reacting to the very British-sounding Syd-era Floyd, but then also calling Ray Charles, who's probably his biggest vocal influence, corny. It's a great snapshot of his stylistic insecurities at this particular time.
Ray really liked country & western so he made a couple of c & w records. "Corny" is actually polite for those albums. Unless you like country & western of course.
Mon conosco l'inglese e non ho capito nulla...pero' mi piace molto Gary Brooker e i Procol harum...che connessione c'è tra Gary Brooker e i vari dischi e altri cantanti che si vedono con i dischi nella parte sinistra del video??Sono molto interessata a sapere ma non conoscendo la lingua inglese non sono riuscita a capire...grazie!
Can you spin off your instrumental outros onto its own channel? Many of them are groovy enuf for repeated listening. Are they each edits of extended productions?
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich near the top of the charts yet again. Not my cup of tea at all, but , judging by their record sales, they must have had a hell of a fan base in GB. Don’t know if it’s true, but someone said they were outselling The Beatles ( singles) for a period in the mid 1960s..
@@Themanwhocameback2 yea they were a British band, though they didn't break it in America, they were very well-known around GB and neighboring countries
I'm not huge on DDDBMT (as I call them!) but I think they did have an influence on music. They had a sort of 'hooligan' sound that you can hear later in the glam rock scene with bands like Slade or The Sweet. I bet all those bands had plenty copies of 'Hold Tight!' between them.
@@Philliben1991 Very good points you make about them. They must have been really popular to sell so many records. I recently looked at The Beatles appearing on Swedish TV( 1964 or 1965) . At the end of the programme they were dancing and clapping along to a tune that sounded very like ‘ Hold Tight’ . They were having a ball. Was reading that they toured Europe with Jimi Hendrix. They were top of the bill. Apparently Jimi would jam with them after concerts. They had the look to me of a band that ,given the chance , could probably really rock, but they were stuck performing their middle of the road hits. Today, they appear to be virtually unknown. Dave Dee left them around 1970 and went solo. He then set up a charity that helped underprivileged kids . He did this for many years. Obviously a good man . He died a few years ago. I often wondered if they made it in America, it appears they didn’t.
I’m always amazed that the host/narrator always mispronounces the word “Mama” as if he’s never heard the word pronounced by anyone before. Never EVER have I heard anyone pronounce it MAM-a (like AlaBAMA). He’s never heard the thousands of times American blues and soul songs used the word mama?? Or the group The Mamas and The Papas??
Here in the States Scott's song was either loved or hated. I lot of folks bought it, but those into 'serious,' SF, psychedelia thought it was a cheap grab at cashing in on 'hipness.' But really it is all in your ears whether you like it or not, fads or no fads.
@@garypamatat3167 Well Gary, I guess that YOU do speak for everyone. I stated that a lot of people bought it and a lot of people hated it, but I guess you need the validation of everyone agreeing with you. I put 'serious' in quotation marks as most of those folks were 'sure' that they truly KNEW what was what. All they knew, and it sure seems all you know is that they had the divine revelation of fact. Everyone you know loves San Francisco. Everyone? Your mom and dad? The folks you work with? I worked in a record store for 40 years, and about the only categorical thing I can say is that no person's taste is the same as anyone else's. As I said, it is all in your ears whether you like it or not. As long as you enjoy it, who cares what others think? And it did not reach #1 in the US. It did get to #4 which is very good, but if you are going to type the facts in capitals. please double check your facts.
What an excellent selection, song by song! ''Alternate Tittle'' (by The Monkees)… Where has this song been hidden all my life? Thank you, Yesterday's Papers.👍👍👍
I love this series of videos! I hope you can keep them coming. So many releases of the time that never got much airplay. I was only 9 in '67, but did hear most of the chart and other contemporaneous stuff.
This is brilliant. What a great idea YP is. You select all these revered accomplished rock gods to review tracks of their time and as well as hearing their thoughts on their contemporaries we get turned on to a lot of obscure releases that just got lost along the way. Such an entertaining show you bring to life. I also like how you incorporate the chats for the week which gives a valuable context to the tunes and sounds that were competing in the charts.
"I can tell by the horrible organ sound" oh god 😂 He's throwing shade towards our boy Rick. To be fair though, I think we always have to keep in mind this music was new at the time and they would not have heard anything like it before, there was so much innovation going on in music at that time. I love Pink Floyd but I can imagine how 'out there' they would have sounded back then. On reflection now, I feel that way about Ray Davies' review a few weeks ago, I don't think he was being bitchy, it was just new ground. The backing music at the end of each video ... just keeps getting better 💯💜
It’s funny I actually much prefer farfisa and cheesy organs sounds like that over Hammond. I would much rather listen to Chapter 24 than a whiter shade of pale ahah
Thank you, Sophie! Glad you dig the music! I guess his comment about "the horrible organ sound" was because Hammond organs were a very important part of Procol Harum's music and those were seen as proper organs. Rick played a Farfisa and those organs were seen as cheap, portable organs for garage bands. Many people thought Farfisas were a joke.
@@YesterdaysPapers I 100% agree with you, YP. I've never really thought about it much before but I guess musical snobbery does exist when it comes to instruments. I like the sound of Farfisas. It really shaped Pink Floyd's early work.
@@SophieLovesSunsets There's definitely a lot of musical snobbery when it comes to instruments. I love the sound of Farfisas, too. You're right, it really shaped their ealy work. I love the way Rick Wright adapted the sound of that organ to the kind of psychedelic stuff Pink Floyd were doing.
@@YesterdaysPapers Rick Wright was a genius, and in all honesty, I've always thought he was the glue of Pink Floyd. Such an astute musician, but just like George Harrison, I think he was underestimated quite a lot as "the quiet one".
Whistling Jack Smith was truly an underappreciated artist who incorporated traditional blues with modern jazz and psychedelic overlays. He was discovered busking in a London tube station by a deaf A&R agent for Columbia records who mistook his puckered lips for flirting. The rest as they say is history.
Whistling Jack was ahead of his time. McCartney was heavily influenced by Jack’s whistling style on the fade out to the ‘ Two Of Us’ track ‘ Let lt Be’ album..Jack was one hell of a Whistler , probably the best there’s ever been. Better than Gracie Fields anyway😂
@@terrymurphy2032 Terry, to me George Formby was better than ‘Our Gracie’ . Formby is probably not that well known, when it comes to our American friends, but The Beatles , George in particular , loved him. I think Ray Davies was a fan as well. As everyone knows, George loved to play the ukulele and l think would attend Formby Conventions in Blackpool.. I know someone who purchased an autograph book on eBay , because Formby’s signature was in it. When it arrived in the post, Beatle George’s autograph was in the book as well. The seller hadn’t mentioned it!
Am I the only one that saw “To Sir With Love” as the B side? 😂😂 And was that some kind of a bad joke that the British charts were packed with landmark hit songs but every week they give the celebrities the absolute worst songs to review??? 😅😅😅
Saw Gary Brooker playing a Ray Charles song, Night-time is the Right Time, in '92. It was a charity show at Oxford Apollo, with Ian Paice on drums and Tony Ashton on organ. Gary Moore appeared too. Great evening. Gary Brooker said he'd just seen Ray Charles live. 30 years already!
I remember parts of his review of "See Emily Play" being quoted in a couple of books, but it is good to hear the whole thing in context. One thing to remember is that these are often the very first impressions the reviewer has of the record- that's part of the game, although sometimes it turns out that they have heard the record before.
O.k. let me get this straight. The whistler and the Monkees gets a better critique than Ray Charles and Pink Floyds two greatest singles?!!!Richard Wright, bad keyboard playing? I admire Gary Brookers playing and musicianship, but he obviously never would have made it as a critic! Still my favorite website!!!!!
I don't think he meant Rick was a bad organ player, I think he just didn't like the sound of Farfisa organs. The Hammond organ was a big part of Procol Harum's sound and those were considered proper organs. I think Rick played a Farfisa organ, which were seen as a joke at the time.
Posh? He comes from Hackney. And Hackney before it became hipsterised. He wasn’t mad on “psychedelia” because he thought it was just a fad…..and he was right.
It was written by Papa John Phillips, they could have done it better no doubt, but i think they were all friends with Scott and wanted him to have a hit, and here in the States it was a huge hit.
@@hammer44head Yes, and Scott was later in the Mamas & Papas. I drummed for them when they came through town (they had a keyboard player/musical director but would use local musicians) - John and McKenzie Phillips w/Spanky McFarland and Mr. McKenzie. I even got to play 'San Francisco'. They were a giddy lot, no doubt higher on more than just the music.
@@hammer44head It was a huge number one hit here in the UK as well ~ his only really big one. He followed it up with, Like an Old Time Movie but it was only a minor hit (reaching number 50).
@@willzimjohn - thats cool, i didnt know they were in a group together, i thought they (folkies) were all hanging out together in New York, trying to make it.
I'm guessing the Monkees' "Alternative Title" aka "Alternative Tittle" (according to the 45 sleeve) is a re-titling of Randy Scouse Git, since the British censors wouldn't approve of that name?
Fred Aaron - Your correct, it eventually reached no 1 on the UK charts and also had a 45 release here in Australia as "Alternate Title". However, they didn't release it as a 45 in the USA.
@@robmac6508 the song appeared on quite a few Monkees episodes and was released with its original title, but I guess most American kids like me didn't know the song meant "Horny Liverpool Idiot"
But it's exactly the "horrible organ sound" and that distinctive sound of the first Pink Floyd that is the best Floyd and is still modern! (I'm surely not saying that from Meddle on the Floyd sound is not good, just hinting at where are the gems...)
Interesting critique. He was wrong about Scott McKenzie's San Francisco though. "It won't mean a thing over here" (UK). It actually reached No. 1 in Britain. "For it to mean anything you've got to have beautiful beaches and sunshine", Well it only reached No. 4 in the States.
I thought he was a bit harsh on Pink Floyd. Wrong about Scott MacKenzie. Bitter almost for lots of others. I was disappointed considering he was such a good musician. Not so you though. Great uploads as usual.
Great seeing the Melody Maker singles and albums lists. The Turtles entered at 20 with my favorite song of theirs "She's Rather Be With Me", but watch out I see that dreadful Vikki Carr song entering not far behind.
The man who wrote what was arguably the most beautiful pop song of the Sixties prefers the whistling guy to the Ray Charles track, ha ha! Seriously, I think musicians - especially Brits - held a lot of American blues and soul music to such a high standard that if it wasn't the ultimate, it was just bad. This is not the first review on YP where I've seen this dynamic. To reverse it: a lot of American deejays held the Brits themselves to a super-high standard. If it wasn't Beatles, Stones, Who, or Zep, there was a fair chance that the music just wouldn't get played over here. I'm still amazed at how many songs featured on this channel I don't know - and I spent an 80s youth dedicated to the 1960s and my parents music. I only know Floyd and Bowie's 1960s stuff because I made the effort, going in blind.
To put the record straight, Gary composed the melody, the lyrics were written by the group poet (Keith Reid) and the distinctive baroque organ riff was composed by the keyboardist Matthew Fisher. It's like saying Elton John "wrote" his songs, when in fact he was "the composer" and Bernie Taupin was "the lyricist". Just sticking up for the 'under the radar' lyricists :-) The be fair to Gary though, in my opinion, Ray Charles was a big influence on his singing style.
I'm willing to bet most commentators here displaying their outrage at Brooker dismissing "See Emily Play" are only doing so with hindsight and knowing Pink Floyd's later work. It's not as if the Floyd cared that much for the song themselves. It only stayed in the band's own set list for a few months; the last documented live performance was on 25 November 1967.
See Emily Play was only playable at live shows when Syd was up for it that is why it was never played beyond Nov '67, not because his backing band were displeased with it.
Lennon loved that Procol Harum song, so much so that several of his solo tracks borrow the descending note patterns of "Whiter". Example - "Mind Games", Watching the wheels - the section "I really love to watch them roll"
@@YesterdaysPapers The title song from that album is my all time favorite ... never had much taste for Whiter Shade Of Pale, radio seriously overplayed that one Thanks for your channel !!
i love how, until they visit the states, brits used to think that all of cali had beautiful beaches and sunshine...sf not known for either alternative title=randy scouse git....pretty cool that gary liked early monkees...pretty funny that the monkees put out a single that title couldnt be printed in the charts or on the record god i love lulu saw the dubliners at an irish arts festival here in sf...i liked them...but i was a kid...so what did i know and gary shouldve tried to whistle for an entire record...it's frickin hard
Mark Twain once said that the coldest winter ever spent was a summer in SF. The winds from the Pacific can be brutal. But across the bay, it can feel as hot as Hades. SF had neither beaches nor sunshine.
No disrespect, but the songs from Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett including "See Emily Play" sucked. I know he was revered for some reason, but I am not impressed.
Of course you're fully entitled to your opinion but personally speaking, Barrett era Floyd is my fav. Not a lot of stuff recorded but great all the same.
Garry seemed to be a cool guy back in the days. It's June of 1967, the Hippie era was only beginning, but he was already aware of them. I don't know if he already visited US by that time?
Let's make it clear. Brooker was a huge talent, but he never was a mainstream guy. So it's no wonder for me, that he didn't guess what's going to be a hit.
I don't know why the easybeats bothered with songs like heaven n hell.. They had so many cracking hits with their early stuff in Australia that they should of promoted in the UK and USA instead of this
One of the greatest English singers/songwriters ever. I knew he was going to be disappointed with the Ray Charles record because of the strings and singers.
People who lived in urban areas at that time hated Ray Charles as well as some Motown artists. Music for people who had money to buy albums. Country Ray didn't fly
@@chasjohn57 you're probably right. But maybe if they were produced differently, who knows. Check out Ray's version of 'Ring of Fire' on Cash's TV show. It's great!
@@televinv8062 I had no problem with Ray doing Country, I like all genre's of music, but a lot of black guys in my neighborhood didn't like the Supremes or Stevie Wonder in the '60. And the Supremes did do a country album. Barry Gordy knew where the money was.
After the songs he doesn't know, I'd like him to comment on what he thinks of them once he finds out who he was listening to. same for every episode. I think some do.
Rest in peace, Gary Brooker.
I just came here to reread Gary's reviews after hearing of the very sad news. Loved his voice.
didn't know he died, RIP
why what happened
A lot of great records in the charts that week 🤩
i loved listening to the radio when i was a kid
even top 40 had a huge range of styles
RIP BROOKER.This nostalgia is killing me😉
I met Gary at Cropredy Festival, lovely bloke.
See Emily Play is one of the best Pink Floyd tracks ever.
Scott McKenzie sounds ethereal and ghostly in dark 2022.
Randy Scarse Git ( Alternative Title) took its name from a line in the Til Death Us Do Part sitcom and was later covered by Carter USM.
Gary B. is responsible for playing and singing on one of the finest 45's of the 1960's.
Man what a time!Procul Harem and Jimi in the charts along with the dying strains of doowop.What a wild time to be alive.
To sir, with love the B side! What the heck was the U.K. thinking?
I think the movie haven't came out yet at the time
@@MikeSmith74653 Even stranger is the fact that the film was shelved for a year because the studio had no confidence in it!
Love the Flink Poyd record. Bowie’s Pin Ups album also featured a good version.
Yep, I like Bowie's version.
@@YesterdaysPapers Yes, I can see that you have great taste! 👍
I was unaware that Bowie had done a cover of this… I immediately looked it up and listened to it… Interesting. Bowie certainly managed to out-weird the Floyd - although I suppose that’s hardly surprising
@@BaconTomatoCheese Haha! Bowie cornered the market in weirdness in the early seventies; not just on his own records, he also helped his mates and those he produced or wrote with to pull off the same vibe; T-Rex, Mott the Hoople, Ziggy Pop, Lou Reed and Kraftwerk are among those of note.
Even in the eighties you could still see so many imitators (sadly, nowhere near as good as the original) ... Boy George, Gary Numan, Stevie Strange, Duran Duran, The Rah Band ... his influence was ubiquitous. By then he had long since sold out to the mainstream but in so doing paid off the debts that his Visconti and deFries days had left him in. Yes, he was weird but the concept albums from The Man who Sold the World, up to and including, Diamond Dogs, were brilliant and almost as influential, in his circles as Bob Dylan's albums were in his.
@@oleggorky906 thanks for your comment! By the way, didn’t Klaus Nomi also work with Bowie - and vice versa?
Wish I was alive in that time, must've been some summer.
Twas
Imagine lying on a beach listening to PEPPER!
@@brucemarshall3446 ikr, while listening to Jimi Hendrix and the Floyd
so many good albums released in that summer alone
I've always loved that Scott Mckenzie song.
All these comments were written without the knowledge that Gary Brooker would be dying soon. So sad, such a great vocalist and musician. Life isn't fair!
I must be getting old ... All my youth's idols are dying !!
Love The Easybeats Heaven & Hell. One of their best, in my opinion.
I love that song, too. The Easybeats are very underrated, they wrote plenty of great songs. Love them.
@@YesterdaysPapers absolutely 👍
It's interesting to think of Gary as a very US influenced musician reacting to the very British-sounding Syd-era Floyd, but then also calling Ray Charles, who's probably his biggest vocal influence, corny. It's a great snapshot of his stylistic insecurities at this particular time.
😳
Corny is the record, not RC
Ray really liked country & western so he made a couple of c & w records. "Corny" is actually polite for those albums. Unless you like country & western of course.
Great job mannn! Outstanding! Is there a link to listen to your full productions?
“I couldn’t stand up in front of a thousand people and whistle songs”.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I😂
That bit about the whistling lol
"I couldn't stand up in front of a thousand people and whistle songs." I couldn't do it either.
Mon conosco l'inglese e non ho capito nulla...pero' mi piace molto Gary Brooker e i Procol harum...che connessione c'è tra Gary Brooker e i vari dischi e altri cantanti che si vedono con i dischi nella parte sinistra del video??Sono molto interessata a sapere ma non conoscendo la lingua inglese non sono riuscita a capire...grazie!
What is the song played along with the charts?
"Life is so easy when your record's hot"
What is the song at the end?
It's a song I recorded to go along with that part of the video.
This is just before Sgt Pepper changed the world.
4:52 what song is that??
Can you spin off your instrumental outros onto its own channel? Many of them are groovy enuf for repeated listening. Are they each edits of extended productions?
Thank you, von lmo! Maybe I will in the future. Some of them are edits of extended productions. Others are just short songs.
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich near the top of the charts yet again. Not my cup of tea at all, but , judging by their record sales, they must have had a hell of a fan base in GB. Don’t know if it’s true, but someone said they were outselling The Beatles ( singles) for a period in the mid 1960s..
Who were they and were they Brtish? Never heard of them stateside. We did have Dino. Desi, and Billy.
@@Themanwhocameback2 yea they were a British band, though they didn't break it in America, they were very well-known around GB and neighboring countries
I'm not huge on DDDBMT (as I call them!) but I think they did have an influence on music. They had a sort of 'hooligan' sound that you can hear later in the glam rock scene with bands like Slade or The Sweet. I bet all those bands had plenty copies of 'Hold Tight!' between them.
@@Philliben1991 Very good points you make about them. They must have been really popular to sell so many records. I recently looked at The Beatles appearing on Swedish TV( 1964 or 1965) . At the end of the programme they were dancing and clapping along to a tune that sounded very like ‘ Hold Tight’ . They were having a ball. Was reading that they toured Europe with Jimi Hendrix. They were top of the bill. Apparently Jimi would jam with them after concerts. They had the look to me of a band that ,given the chance , could probably really rock, but they were stuck performing their middle of the road hits. Today, they appear to be virtually unknown. Dave Dee left them around 1970 and went solo. He then set up a charity that helped underprivileged kids . He did this for many years. Obviously a good man . He died a few years ago. I often wondered if they made it in America, it appears they didn’t.
@@calbassist2494 Thanks.
Gary is dead honest here. He is also poking fun at the song he dislikes but at least he does not come off as pompous or trying to be too cerebral.
He was pretty young at that time. Only 22 years off. Maybe he wanted to show off a little.
I’m always amazed that the host/narrator always mispronounces the word “Mama” as if he’s never heard the word pronounced by anyone before. Never EVER have I heard anyone pronounce it MAM-a (like AlaBAMA). He’s never heard the thousands of times American blues and soul songs used the word mama?? Or the group The Mamas and The Papas??
WELL HE WAS COMPLETELY WRONG WITH THE GORGEOUS "SAN FRANCISCO" BY SCOTT MCKENZIE IT WAS NUMBER ONE IN THE USA AND THE UK.
Here in the States Scott's song was either loved or hated. I lot of folks bought it, but those into 'serious,' SF, psychedelia thought it was a cheap grab at cashing in on 'hipness.' But really it is all in your ears whether you like it or not, fads or no fads.
@@wyliesmith4244 you can not speak for everyone. Everyone i know loves San Francisco it is a masterpiece.
@@garypamatat3167 Well Gary, I guess that YOU do speak for everyone. I stated that a lot of people bought it and a lot of people hated it, but I guess you need the validation of everyone agreeing with you. I put 'serious' in quotation marks as most of those folks were 'sure' that they truly KNEW what was what. All they knew, and it sure seems all you know is that they had the divine revelation of fact. Everyone you know loves San Francisco. Everyone? Your mom and dad? The folks you work with? I worked in a record store for 40 years, and about the only categorical thing I can say is that no person's taste is the same as anyone else's. As I said, it is all in your ears whether you like it or not. As long as you enjoy it, who cares what others think?
And it did not reach #1 in the US. It did get to #4 which is very good, but if you are going to type the facts in capitals. please double check your facts.
@@wyliesmith4244 blah blah blah i read the first three words and fell asleep. YOU BORE ME JUST LIKE EVIL GRUMPY TRUMPY.
5:08 That 'The Happening' song is awful! Just dumb! :0)
"What the hell is a psychedelic record, anyway?" 😂😂😂 RIP Gary 💜
Guess he hadn't dropped or smoked.
What's the song at the end?
What's strange to me is " To Sir With Love" was the B side!.
In the States it was the biggest selling single of the YEAR!
lulu had a weird manager
What an excellent selection, song by song!
''Alternate Tittle'' (by The Monkees)… Where has this song been hidden all my life?
Thank you, Yesterday's Papers.👍👍👍
Alternate title was called such because the original title, Randy Scouse Git was thought to be too controversial
It was the closing track for the TV show credits about second season in.
I love this series of videos! I hope you can keep them coming. So many releases of the time that never got much airplay. I was only 9 in '67, but did hear most of the chart and other contemporaneous stuff.
This is brilliant. What a great idea YP is. You select all these revered accomplished rock gods to review tracks of their time and as well as hearing their thoughts on their contemporaries we get turned on to a lot of obscure releases that just got lost along the way. Such an entertaining show you bring to life. I also like how you incorporate the chats for the week which gives a valuable context to the tunes and sounds that were competing in the charts.
The first five singles are great. What a great time for popular music.
"I can tell by the horrible organ sound" oh god 😂 He's throwing shade towards our boy Rick. To be fair though, I think we always have to keep in mind this music was new at the time and they would not have heard anything like it before, there was so much innovation going on in music at that time. I love Pink Floyd but I can imagine how 'out there' they would have sounded back then. On reflection now, I feel that way about Ray Davies' review a few weeks ago, I don't think he was being bitchy, it was just new ground. The backing music at the end of each video ... just keeps getting better 💯💜
It’s funny I actually much prefer farfisa and cheesy organs sounds like that over Hammond. I would much rather listen to Chapter 24 than a whiter shade of pale ahah
Thank you, Sophie! Glad you dig the music! I guess his comment about "the horrible organ sound" was because Hammond organs were a very important part of Procol Harum's music and those were seen as proper organs. Rick played a Farfisa and those organs were seen as cheap, portable organs for garage bands. Many people thought Farfisas were a joke.
@@YesterdaysPapers I 100% agree with you, YP. I've never really thought about it much before but I guess musical snobbery does exist when it comes to instruments. I like the sound of Farfisas. It really shaped Pink Floyd's early work.
@@SophieLovesSunsets There's definitely a lot of musical snobbery when it comes to instruments. I love the sound of Farfisas, too. You're right, it really shaped their ealy work. I love the way Rick Wright adapted the sound of that organ to the kind of psychedelic stuff Pink Floyd were doing.
@@YesterdaysPapers Rick Wright was a genius, and in all honesty, I've always thought he was the glue of Pink Floyd. Such an astute musician, but just like George Harrison, I think he was underestimated quite a lot as "the quiet one".
Whistling Jack Smith was truly an underappreciated artist who incorporated traditional blues with modern jazz and psychedelic overlays. He was discovered busking in a London tube station by a deaf A&R agent for Columbia records who mistook his puckered lips for flirting. The rest as they say is history.
That's pretty cool, I wasn't aware of that. It's pretty hilarious that he was discovered by a deaf A&R agent.
" who mistook his puckered lips for flirting." lol... I'm sure he had the whole deaf crowd under his spell
music only the deaf can truly appreciate
Whistling Jack was ahead of his time. McCartney was heavily influenced by Jack’s whistling style on the fade out to the ‘ Two Of Us’ track ‘ Let lt Be’ album..Jack was one hell of a Whistler , probably the best there’s ever been. Better than Gracie Fields anyway😂
@@terrymurphy2032 Terry, to me George Formby was better than ‘Our Gracie’ . Formby is probably not that well known, when it comes to our American friends, but The Beatles , George in particular , loved him. I think Ray Davies was a fan as well. As everyone knows, George loved to play the ukulele and l think would attend Formby Conventions in Blackpool.. I know someone who purchased an autograph book on eBay , because Formby’s signature was in it. When it arrived in the post, Beatle George’s autograph was in the book as well. The seller hadn’t mentioned it!
Am I the only one that saw “To Sir With Love” as the B side? 😂😂
And was that some kind of a bad joke that the British charts were packed with landmark hit songs but every week they give the celebrities the absolute worst songs to review??? 😅😅😅
Wow ! The Incredible String Band . The folk Beatles . What a blast from the past .
I've read where McCartney said that The 5000 Spirits or The Layers of the Onion was one of his favorite albums of 1967.
Saw Gary Brooker playing a Ray Charles song, Night-time is the Right Time, in '92. It was a charity show at Oxford Apollo, with Ian Paice on drums and Tony Ashton on organ. Gary Moore appeared too. Great evening. Gary Brooker said he'd just seen Ray Charles live. 30 years already!
I remember parts of his review of "See Emily Play" being quoted in a couple of books, but it is good to hear the whole thing in context. One thing to remember is that these are often the very first impressions the reviewer has of the record- that's part of the game, although sometimes it turns out that they have heard the record before.
O.k. let me get this straight. The whistler and the Monkees gets a better critique than Ray Charles and Pink Floyds two greatest singles?!!!Richard Wright, bad keyboard playing? I admire Gary Brookers playing and musicianship, but he obviously never would have made it as a critic! Still my favorite website!!!!!
I don't think he meant Rick was a bad organ player, I think he just didn't like the sound of Farfisa organs. The Hammond organ was a big part of Procol Harum's sound and those were considered proper organs. I think Rick played a Farfisa organ, which were seen as a joke at the time.
I love "See Emily Play", but I'd agree with him that this wasn't Ray Charles' finest moment.
Rick could have made a toy piano sound great! Him and John Cage.
If you think this is weird, listen to Paul McCartney's opinions. Or his list of ten best songgs ever made.
Rick definitely IMPROVED in the latter years. I can get why he did say that
Another excellent Syd Barret penned 45 & the Scott MacKenzie tune aged well - Julian Cope , grooving to it.
Gary has some trouble with all the psychedelia. He himself was on top at the moment and pretty posh.
Posh? He comes from Hackney. And Hackney before it became hipsterised. He wasn’t mad on “psychedelia” because he thought it was just a fad…..and he was right.
Witty guy - he missed his calling as a rock critic
lol at how everybody's always putting down poor Joan Baez. I like the early Pink Floyd sound, and See Emily Play. Hey! Who can hate The Dubliners?
I did not think that Gary was criticizing Baez. He was correct in pointing out her day in the charts was left in the past.
Wow! Melody Maker had some good ear because these Blind Dates feature some amazing musicians!
He's probably talking about the tape loops and backwards guitars.
Incredible String Band had a large but local following. I love their albums. Unique singer songwriter group. Try First Girl I Loved. Single worthy
"A few people go off their bottle in the summer and buy strange things." Lol, so, so very true. Very well put.
Whiter Shade Of Pale, Waterloo Sunset and Here Come the Nice all in the top 20 that week. Good God!
White Shade Of Pale / Waterloo Sunset....
I say ..Kinks !
As far as covering Scott McKenzie, giving it Mamas & the Papas harmonies is a good idea. Thanks, Gary.
It was written by Papa John Phillips, they could have done it better no doubt, but i think they were all friends with Scott and wanted him to have a hit, and here in the States it was a huge hit.
@@hammer44head Yes, and Scott was later in the Mamas & Papas. I drummed for them when they came through town (they had a keyboard player/musical director but would use local musicians) - John and McKenzie Phillips w/Spanky McFarland and Mr. McKenzie. I even got to play 'San Francisco'. They were a giddy lot, no doubt higher on more than just the music.
@@hammer44head I think Fogerty nodded to it with "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"
@@hammer44head It was a huge number one hit here in the UK as well ~ his only really big one. He followed it up with, Like an Old Time Movie but it was only a minor hit (reaching number 50).
@@willzimjohn - thats cool, i didnt know they were in a group together, i thought they (folkies) were all hanging out together in New York, trying to make it.
I'm guessing the Monkees' "Alternative Title" aka "Alternative Tittle" (according to the 45 sleeve) is a re-titling of Randy Scouse Git, since the British censors wouldn't approve of that name?
Fred Aaron - Your correct, it eventually reached no 1 on the UK charts and also had a 45 release here in Australia as "Alternate Title". However, they didn't release it as a 45 in the USA.
@@robmac6508 It's the same tune as Statler Bros.' Flowers on the wall,' I don't know how they weren't sued.
@@robmac6508 the song appeared on quite a few Monkees episodes and was released with its original title, but I guess most American kids like me didn't know the song meant "Horny Liverpool Idiot"
Rick Wright: he said what?
He was pretty smart. Very perceptive.
USA never saw most of these records
Did he say about Pink Floyd "that horrible organ sound"? WTF!
"For it to mean anything, you've got to have beautiful beaches and sunshine, and there's not much of that in Southend." Ha ha!
Just discovered your channel the other day and I've been binge watching everything, keep it up!
Thank you! Glad you enjoy the videos.
But it's exactly the "horrible organ sound" and that distinctive sound of the first Pink Floyd that is the best Floyd and is still modern! (I'm surely not saying that from Meddle on the Floyd sound is not good, just hinting at where are the gems...)
“ that horrible organ sound”-was that a Farfisa?
Interesting critique.
He was wrong about Scott McKenzie's San Francisco though. "It won't mean a thing over here" (UK).
It actually reached No. 1 in Britain.
"For it to mean anything you've got to have beautiful beaches and sunshine", Well it only reached No. 4 in the States.
I thought he was a bit harsh on Pink Floyd. Wrong about Scott MacKenzie. Bitter almost for lots of others. I was disappointed considering he was such a good musician.
Not so you though. Great uploads as usual.
Great seeing the Melody Maker singles and albums lists. The Turtles entered at 20 with my favorite song of theirs "She's Rather Be With Me", but watch out I see that dreadful Vikki Carr song entering not far behind.
I love all this stuff............keep it coming.
The man who wrote what was arguably the most beautiful pop song of the Sixties prefers the whistling guy to the Ray Charles track, ha ha! Seriously, I think musicians - especially Brits - held a lot of American blues and soul music to such a high standard that if it wasn't the ultimate, it was just bad. This is not the first review on YP where I've seen this dynamic. To reverse it: a lot of American deejays held the Brits themselves to a super-high standard. If it wasn't Beatles, Stones, Who, or Zep, there was a fair chance that the music just wouldn't get played over here. I'm still amazed at how many songs featured on this channel I don't know - and I spent an 80s youth dedicated to the 1960s and my parents music. I only know Floyd and Bowie's 1960s stuff because I made the effort, going in blind.
To put the record straight, Gary composed the melody, the lyrics were written by the group poet (Keith Reid) and the distinctive baroque organ riff was composed by the keyboardist Matthew Fisher. It's like saying Elton John "wrote" his songs, when in fact he was "the composer" and Bernie Taupin was "the lyricist". Just sticking up for the 'under the radar' lyricists :-) The be fair to Gary though, in my opinion, Ray Charles was a big influence on his singing style.
@@SuperNevile Correct.
Fisher got shafted.
He has since been granted co- composer credit by a court of law but it isnt retroactive
Just before the so-called summer of love. Hippies on the west coast and riots in Detroit. It was a weird time all around.
Who did the music at the end of the video? I like it a lot. Time capsule.
I recorded the music at the end of the video. Glad you liked it. Thanks!
King Crimson esque
Gary didn't like Richard's sound? I'm betting he was never a Clint Boon fan then?
"Won't do anything here" , one month later reached #1 in UK
I'm willing to bet most commentators here displaying their outrage at Brooker dismissing "See Emily Play" are only doing so with hindsight and knowing Pink Floyd's later work. It's not as if the Floyd cared that much for the song themselves. It only stayed in the band's own set list for a few months; the last documented live performance was on 25 November 1967.
It’s funny tho cause I always loved later Floyd and that’s how I was introduced to them but I actually much prefer Syd era Floyd.
Yes. I have always preferred Bowie's cover, and have suffered the wrath of the Floyd nerds for saying so.
See Emily Play was only playable at live shows when Syd was up for it that is why it was never played beyond Nov '67, not because his backing band were displeased with it.
Lennon loved that Procol Harum song, so much so that several of his solo tracks borrow the descending note patterns of "Whiter".
Example - "Mind Games", Watching the wheels - the section "I really love to watch them roll"
Especially "Imagine". More or less the same chords.
He tends to be a bit negative... a lot of 'good, but' comments.
Kaiser bills Batman actually was a big hit for whistling Jack Smith in the United States. But this one I never heard of
There was a Ford dealer not far from here that used "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" on their commercials for years.
What is the intro song on this video? Does anyone know??
Lulu; great voice.
And, "Respect" is a new release.
"What can you say about a whistling record"? GB said it all there.
What is the name of the ending song?
Nice psych take on the High Wall chord progression at the end. But you need another snare sound!
Amazing channel, what a gem of a find
I like seeing the top singles on both sides of the pond at the end of the video. Interesting to see the differences in what was popular at that time.
This guy was the best. He knew his music. I couldn't stand Pink Floyd in the 60s.
"A Salty Dog" by Procol Harum is one of my all-time favourite albums.
@@YesterdaysPapers
The title song from that album is my all time favorite ... never had much taste for Whiter Shade Of Pale, radio seriously overplayed that one
Thanks for your channel !!
Meow
i love how, until they visit the states, brits used to think that all of cali had beautiful beaches and sunshine...sf not known for either
alternative title=randy scouse git....pretty cool that gary liked early monkees...pretty funny that the monkees put out a single that title couldnt be printed in the charts or on the record
god i love lulu
saw the dubliners at an irish arts festival here in sf...i liked them...but i was a kid...so what did i know
and gary shouldve tried to whistle for an entire record...it's frickin hard
Mark Twain once said that the coldest winter ever spent was a summer in SF. The winds from the Pacific can be brutal. But across the bay, it can feel as hot as Hades. SF had neither beaches nor sunshine.
No disrespect, but the songs from Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett including "See Emily Play" sucked. I know he was revered for some reason, but I am not impressed.
Of course you're fully entitled to your opinion but personally speaking, Barrett era Floyd is my fav. Not a lot of stuff recorded but great all the same.
Mind blowing outro 🎉
Garry seemed to be a cool guy back in the days. It's June of 1967, the Hippie era was only beginning, but he was already aware of them. I don't know if he already visited US by that time?
I don't think he did. Procol Harum's debut single "A Whiter Shade of Pale" had just been released in May.
@@YesterdaysPapers So he was just advanced guy)
That opening tune is perfect for the time period!
"It won't mean a thing over here." Brooker on McKenzie's "San Francisco...later played by Led Zeppelin live in "Dazed & Confused".
What LZ did can not even be considered a cover
Let's make it clear. Brooker was a huge talent, but he never was a mainstream guy. So it's no wonder for me, that he didn't guess what's going to be a hit.
I don't know why the easybeats bothered with songs like heaven n hell.. They had so many cracking hits with their early stuff in Australia that they should of promoted in the UK and USA instead of this
Unctuous faux hippie exploitation sound ?
So it seems to me.
Are you going - - -
One of the greatest English singers/songwriters ever. I knew he was going to be disappointed with the Ray Charles record because of the strings and singers.
People who lived in urban areas at that time hated Ray Charles as well as some Motown artists. Music for people who had money to buy albums. Country Ray didn't fly
@@chasjohn57 you're probably right. But maybe if they were produced differently, who knows. Check out Ray's version of 'Ring of Fire' on Cash's TV show. It's great!
@@televinv8062 I had no problem with Ray doing Country, I like all genre's of music, but a lot of black guys in my neighborhood didn't like the Supremes or Stevie Wonder in the '60. And the Supremes did do a country album. Barry Gordy knew where the money was.
@@chasjohn57 that's interesting.
Did they feel the pop bands were too bland? Selling out?
@@chasjohn57 I was a huge soul fan...MOTOWN and Stax.
I never liked Ray Charles. Esp. in the Sixties he was considered adult contemporary or country.
There's lots of nice beaches in England. Most of his critiques don't match my subjective tastes, but this was still interesting to view.
There were some really groovy and far out numbers in this clip. I was really bummed out when it ended man.
Depressing. Gary Brooks is of course correct in his comments, which makes this selection of songs even more depressing.
I made the huge mistake of trying to drink something while listening to this. Some of this commentary is hysterically funny.
To be a very serious bloke for whistling songs in front of a thousand people.
Never thought of that.
After the songs he doesn't know, I'd like him to comment on what he thinks of them once he finds out who he was listening to. same for every episode. I think some do.
Seems like whistling is a dying art these days