Hey
The Blues Magoos, as they exist today, are set to tour
again, though there are no dates posted on their under-construction site, nor
any idea of whether they would be touring outside of the States.
They were one of the first ‘psychedelic’ bands – perhaps as
much because they used the word in the title of their 1966 debut album Psychedelic Lollipop – but they were also
a garage/pop band rather than wholly lysergic, though some of the guitar and
vocal experimentation was truly far-out, especially back then. Part of their
lite-psyche persona comes from the sunshine-pop addition of the word ‘lollipop’
to ‘psychedelic’, as well as song titles like Life Is A Cher O’Bowlies [twee rather than irreverent].
But listen to the fuzz guitar and distorted organ on There’s A Chance We Can Make It, and the
psychedelia is absolutely there with hippie bells a’janglin’. Listen also to Tobacco Road – the hard-core track on
which all teen garage bands would cut their still-growing teeth – and especially
its Vox Continental organ swirls and the rampaging extended guitar solo.
My introduction to them was in Germany in 1966 and I bought
their great single [We Ain’t Got] Nothing
Yet at the US Army Base PX. It has a stunning spiralling guitar that rises above a pulsating
bass line, and the organ background sets a classic sixties sound. The
B-side to this is the equally excellent Gotta
Get Away where the far-outness is in the echoing/answering of the vocals Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey
Hey Hey [yes, 13, and I counted as I sang along], which second time around
leads into another rapid guitar solo.
Man, those were the days.
Man, those were the days.
