When most of us who were there, regardless of our powers of recall, the psychedelic 60s are fueled by musical memories. Great Britain ruled with Beatles and Stones, trailed by a loopy gaggle that included Donovan, Small Faces, and infant Pink Floyd. Living in the USA meant the Dead, the Airplane, the Electric Flag, the plastic inevitable, the acid test.
But in Brazil, all those inputs were peppered with the home country heroes Os Mutantes. Weird, political, original, they were as psychedelic as the blue sands of Rio in the moonlight. They started in ‘64, regrouped and added and subtracted personnel over the years, but remain a global legend.
Presenting their first song, the gateway audio drug to the endless whirl that Os Mutantes!
BAT MACUMBA Os Mutantes
Rare video from French TV!
Barbara George wrote her single hit basing the melody on one of her church choir faves, “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” The lyrics were pointed at the jerk she had married at 16. It was a blessing as well as a blessing out.
In 1961 “I Know” topped the R&B charts at hit #3 on the US pop charts. As composer, she reaped the benefits of cover versions by Ike and Tina, Fats Domino, Bonnie Raitt, and Cher. British invaders Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas recorded it.
Such a fun song, it’s sleeping now, awaiting a reimagined cover somewhere down the line. How do I know? I Know.
I KNOW. Barbara George
I know (I know)You don't love me, no moNo mo (no mo)No, no mo (no mo)And I, don't wanna be hurtedAny mo (no mo)Any mo (no mo)Say he can't hide the lustful heartEv'rything I did was no joySorry, I can't love you right, babyI don't have to love you at allI know (I know)You don't want me no moNo more (no more)No, no more (no more)And it had been someone elseWho lovin' you mo'(No mo) lovin' you more (no more)Ain't no use sitting here crying, nowAfter seeing you have put me downSo, you don't want me no mo, babyAin't no use in your hanging 'roundI know (I know)You don't want me no moNo mo (no mo)No, no mo (no mo)And it had, to be someone elseWho loving you more (no mo)Loving you more (no mo)Ain't no use seeing me crying, nowAfter seeing you have put me down'Cause you don't want me no more, babyAin't no use in your hanging 'round
Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco turned 79 on Feb 19. His best birthday will always be his 23rd in 1966, when he had the Number One song in the country. On March 3, “Lightnin’ Strikes” went gold, signifying a million sales, mostly to teenage girls who knew exactly where Lou Christie was coming from. And where he wanted to go.
Most of Christie’s hits, heavy with falsetto and naughty romance, are rough and edgy for the times. To date he is the only artist to have a record banned for including the phrase “making out.” Christie loved the bad rich boy persona that emanate from his songs, his album covers, his live performances.
Lou forever comes across as the privileged white teen who shows up late for the chaperoned sweet sixteen birthday house party with a trust fund in the works, rocking a plaid blazer. He’s driving his father’s Jaguar. And at some point of the party he takes two or three cool guys out to the driveway for a smoke and shows them the pistol in the glove box.
Christie and his labels created this image and squeezed it into a very successful career. “Wild Life’s in Season” is a lesser hit for him, but it is such a perfect example of what Lou Christie was all about. The man, the legend, the haircut.
WILD LIFE’S IN SEASON Lou Christie
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“The past is a blast.”
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