Good Trip or Bummer? U.S. Psych Bands Doing "Old-Timey" Songs on Their Albums

I suppose, but I think there's a difference between being influenced by old music in a serious way or doing something new with it (the entire 60s folk revivial, Smile, Van Dyke Parks, etc.) and simply doing a stereotypical old-timey song as one of the novelty ingredients in some kind of mandatory form of psychedlic eclecticism.

Somehow missed Stormy's reference to Feel Like I'm Fixin to Die Rag which I love so I guess sometimes it can work for me. For some reason the description "hardcore gay nineties, bicycle-built-for-two music" made me instantly think of the "Dada Dali" part of "Just Another Onion Head" by Todd Rundgren. I like that song too so I guess I'm rethinking my whole stance toward old-timey Americana. The United States of America were definitely crap at it though.

I can't wait for the Mojo Special Edition on the New Vaudville Band/Supercamp/Ian Whitcomb/Dr.West's Medicine Show & Junk Band/Bonzo Dog Band/Etc. It should have a list of the top 100 bonnie & clyde/flapper/vodeodo/23 skidoo/kazoo/megaphone/ukelele tracks that try to ruin what would have otherwise been near perfect psych albums. And I would be happy to write about the influence of David Carroll's Golden Oldies For Today's Teens on Lennon & McCartney.

-- scott seward (skotro...), August 13th, 2004. (scott seward)

"Like a 'trip' ... like meeting John Lennon at Disneyland ... like your first taste of sauted snails ... the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band almost defies description. They must be seen and heard to be believed!

... So, if today's 'psychedelic' and 'electronic' music mirrors the noises, troubles, tension and confusion in the modern world, then the happy, euphoric, vital music of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band lets one settle back and joyously recall the carefree, happy-go-lucky, rapturous world of 1920.

They are sort of a jug band (without jug) and ambassadors of the 1920s without portfolio, able representatives of the old bluesy, ragtime, fun-on-a-date music."

seriously, no mention of "when i'm sixty four?" i figure that's where most of the inspiration for this comes from...

-- Tim Ellison (timelliso...), April 16th, 2005 12:50 AM.

LOLOLOLOL

it seems to me though that most SF bands were rocking the jumbled costume trunk look... strange amulets, long beads, dusty sports jackets over an electric pink shirt. wolfe does a good job of describing the development of this whole ethos in the electric kool-aid acid test.

my guess at the musical aspect? most psych heads came out of the folk scene. "take this hammer" became "take this pill and float down stream..." with the success of the beatles music hall style on songs like "when i'm sixty four", and every U.S. band trying to get hep to some british angle on the rock scene, a veritable eye for an eye was met - we can do Old Timey! and then you've got the trickle down effect to every joe and schmoe and his floating eyeball clobberers. it is often a wrench in the gears on otherwise great psych albums, but sometimes it lends a nice sunny day "butch cassidy and the sundance kid"=bicicyle riding vibe... IF they can pull it off... the american Kaleidoscope comes to mind, as does Chrysalis!!! who actually perfect some kind of amalgam in this haze...

try the worst/best: harper's bizarre - anything goes, which is ALL old-timey garbage, in the worst twee sense. yet i do like the follow-up album "4" a good bit which gets a lot better. their cover of "witchi-tai-to" is fuckin' great.

Worse: Peter Gabriel does it in nineteen seventy-seven on "Excuse Me."

lol at "Magnolia Simms" actually having the record muffle, scratch and "skip back" for a last repeat of the chorus. Mike Nesmith's yodel attempt is cute too.

dunno where else to put this
http://bittersoutherner.com/from-the-southern-perspective/southern-music/when-the-hippies-came-to-nashville

Awesome, thanks for posting. Bought it when it came out, still one of my alltime favorite records.

one of its major virtues (idk if this gets talked about at all) is the beautiful sound they got on this record. It's a happy coincidence that they were able to get so many old school country giants in the same room *and* take advantage of the peak of analog recording technology. Don't get me wrong I love the Carter Family and Flatt & Scruggs etc. but a lot of their classic recordings sound like what they were: rough, primitive, made with one microphone, that kind of thing. But here you get this fantastic, detailed, crystalline recording, you can really hear what everyone is doing.

Yeah, it's beautifully done. I love how they left the little bits of conversation in there too.

Never heard that record, must rectify that.

the chatting is great, doc watson b.s.ing about autoharps with maybelle carter, can't beat that

not US but UK psych. Bill Wyman-produced The End doing "She Said Yeah" with psych barbershop vocals and a nice New Orlean jazz style sax solo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt2Zm-I5Hss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwVu54JKgHY

Tommy James & The Shondells - Papa Rolled His Own

The Mamas and the Papas win this, too, with "Words of Love!"

some of the "old-timey" songs are fucking awful, some of them are quite good (just like the songs they're calling back to!). it depends on the song. "on with the show" by the stones is fucking great. "anything goes" by harper's bizarre is quite good. "granny takes a trip" is winking bullshit.

I wonder how much the Old-Timey vibe (which I think also partially stemmed from folknik interest in the same - hence your Jim Kweskin Jug Bands and so on) went on to inform hippie-derived beardy kids' performers in the 70s and beyond. Thinking of the vo-vodie-oh type quality to "Skinnamarinky Dinky Dink" or whatever, as performed to close out Sharon Lois & Bram's Elephant Show, or IIRC some Sesame Street/Schoolhouse Rock stuff. Did Raffi ever do this?

The Mothers, "Bow Tie Daddy" (all 36 seconds worth)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHWdlN9d35M

Romance Is on the Rise by Genevieve Waite sort of fits here. More of John Phillips (her husband and songwriter) channeling Tin Pan Alley than jug bands, but it sticks to gentle old melodies while maintaining a 1974 glam of satin hot pants and tinsel boas.