Hot on the heels of Cosmarama, this time Nick Saloman ventures across the Atlantic to focus on '60s garage rock from the United States. Saloman leaves no stone unturned in bringing these tracks to CD for the first time, making for another remarkably entertaining compilation.
The blues are a big influence on the music of this time, a connection made explicit by the inclusion of several blues covers. While Group Axis obviously don't have Howling Wolf or Hubert Sumlin in their band, it's amusing to listen to them try to make up for it with swagger and ferocious keyboard and guitar solos on their version of "Smokestack Lightning." Bobby Comstock's cocky version of Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man" is also pretty good, though no match for the original. Bobby Simms & the Simmers seemingly adapt Big Mama Thornton's "They Call Me Big Mama" on their cut "Big Mama," changing the focus of the opening lines from the singer to the singer's girlfriend, but the similarity ends there as the lyrics go in a different direction altogether.
Most of these songs are fixated on themes typical to early rock and roll, especially romantic problems. The Bay Ridge's "Without You," The Outcasts' "You Do Me Wrong," The Outsiders' "Haunted by Your Love," and Jack Eden's "It's Only a Dream" all lament the loss of a woman, while unrequited love is common to Bobby Saint Clair's "Fool That I Am" and Dee Jay & the Runaways' "He's Not Your Friend." Other acts are more concerned with asserting themselves, like the aforementioned Bobby Comstock, Kevin Coughlin's title track, and the zany "Get It On/Wilde Childe Freakout" by Dick "Wilde Childe" Kemp, a DJ in Cleveland who cashed in on his popularity with this one-off single.
That Saloman can continue to mine the '60s and find so many obscure tracks of high quality is testament not only to his curatorial abilities but also to that decade's ability to produce great music. For fans of vintage rock, I Gotta Be Me proves that there's still plenty of fantastic music from that era remaining to be heard.
samples:
- Group Axis - Smokestack Lightning
- Jack Eden - It's Only a Dream
- Dick "Wilde Childe" Kemp - Get It On/Wilde Childe Freakout
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