The Mascots - This Proud Crowd (1966)

Previously featured on this site, this group was virtually unknown to the English-speaking world in the 1960s. Hailing from Sweden, The Mascots predominately sang in English, but never quite managed to break into the English-speaking market. They released numerous singles in Sweden (with some to large, local success) and even a couple full length albums.

The song below was never released as a single, but was instead featured as the second track on the group’s second album, cleverly titled Ellpee and released in 1966. The song was written by Stefan Ringbom, the group’s lead vocalist and guitarist. The song also featured the rest of the band’s core members: Karl Gunnar Idering on guitar, Anders Forsslund on bass, Rolf “Boffe” Adolfsson on drums, and all of the members performing backing vocals.

Editor's Note: These lyrics are difficult to decipher. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment below.



The Mascots - This Proud Crowd (1966)

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Lyrics:

Moving down the city way
Taking seats there every day
Buying clothes because they’re “in”
Having “out” ones is a sin
Digging new songs every week
And then you are a real
Member of this proud crowd

Old originality
Was once started, it I see
Someone said I shall break out
And then everyone broke out
Forming troops of self-sane people
And becoming all
Members of this proud crowd

You gotta like these things that’s new
That’s what you can do
Maybe they’re too much of things
Oh, forget it, cut my strings
But some things happen, though
It’s not the old way you will know
Maybe that too much at all
I think I’ll do an outlaw

No more thinking for oneself
‘cause one never is oneself
Doing things the others do
Joining parties, getting blue
Having lots of fun, I know
Because I am somehow
A member of this proud crowd

You gotta like these things that’s new
That’s what you can do
Maybe they’re too much of things
Oh, forget it, cut my strings
But some things happen, though
It’s not the old way you will know
Maybe that too much at all
I think I’ll do an outlaw

No more thinking for oneself
‘cause one never is oneself
Doing things the others do
Having parties, getting blue
Having lots of fun, I know
Because I am somehow
A member of this proud crowd

A member of this proud crowd

Carolyn Hester - I'll Fly Away (1961)

Carolyn Hester was born on January 28th, 1937. In high school, she sang “The Kerry Dance” in a play and impressed her physical education teacher, who then introduced her to the female folk singer Susan Reed. Enthralled with folk music, she taught herself to play guitar and moved to New York in 1955 at the age of eighteen. She recorded her first album, Scarlet Ribbons, in 1957 for Coral Records and became associated with the first wave of the “folk revival” movement that included Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Tom Paxton, and many others. In 1961, she had the opportunity to join a folk trio which already included Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, but she declined. The pair eventually chose Mary Travers and the now-trio became the popular Peter, Paul, & Mary. When it came to solo female folk artists, Hester and Joan Baez were at the top. Although Baez may have had the more successful career, Hester has claimed that she and Joan never had a personal nor professional rivalry. According to her, they didn’t even know one another all that well. Although the reign of her popularity began to slow down as early as the mid-sixties, Carolyn Hester never stopped working. Even in recent years, Hester has been continuing to perform with her daughters, Amy and Karla Blume. Her most recent album, We Dream Forever, was released in 2010.

In 1961, Hester was getting ready to record her third album, later to be titled Carolyn Hester (on the Columbia label), and started accumulating musicians. From her first album, she brought the same guitarist, Bruce Langhorne. She also brought a noted bassist, Bill Lee, whose son Spike Lee would later become a famous filmmaker. Finally, Hester gave the harp position to an up and coming talent she had met, Bob Dylan. You’d think she’d have given Dylan the role of harmonica, but that spot was reserved for the person who had played harmonica for her on her first album, her father.

The song heard below is a hymn written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley. Often heard at funerals, it is one of the most recorded gospel songs in history and was created with inspiration from a non-religious ballad. The version heard below was the opening track on Hester’s Carolyn Hester (Columbia) album, which featured 100% traditional songs such as this one. The harmonica on this track was played by Bob Dylan who during the sessions met John Hammond, the man who would eventually sign him to Columbia Records, starting his ascent to super-stardom. For indirectly arranging this meeting, Carolyn Hester has always received a lot of credit for bringing Dylan into the national spotlight.



Carolyn Hester - I'll Fly Away (1961)

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Lyrics:

One bright morning when this world is over
I'll fly away
To that land on God’s celestial shore
I'll fly away
Fly Away

Oh, Lordy, I’ll fly away in the morning
I'll fly away
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by
I'll fly away
Fly away

Just one more weary day and then
I’ll fly away
To that land where joy’s will never end
I’ll fly away
Fly away

Oh, Lordy, I’ll fly away in the morning
I'll fly away
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by
I'll fly away
Fly away

One bright morning when my time is nigh
I'll fly away
Like a bird, o’er these prison walls, I’ll fly
I'll fly away
Fly Away

Oh, Lordy, I’ll fly away in the morning
I'll fly away
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by
I'll fly away
Fly away

Oh, Lordy, I’ll fly away in the morning
I'll fly away
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by
I'll fly away
Fly away

Bob Dylan - Percy's Song (1963)

Bob Dylan’s first album, appropriately titled Bob Dylan, was comprised mostly of traditional folk tunes or tunes written by other folk artists. There were only two songs that were penned by Dylan himself (“Talkin’ New York” and “Song to Woody”). Dylan’s second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, featured nineteen tracks, most of which were written by him, with three borrowing heavily from other artists (“Corrina, Corrina,” “Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance,” and “I Shall Be Free”). Containing many political and some humorous songs, the popularity of the album began Dylan’s legacy as the “spokesman of a generation” as he shot to international stardom. By the time of Dylan’s third album, The Times They Are a-Changin’, he was recording one hundred percent of his own material. Attempting to reach the same success as Freewheelin’, which featured “Blowin’ in the Wind” and other lasting compositions, Dylan laced a-Changin’ with classics such as the eponymous “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” “With God On Our Side,” “Only a Pawn in Their Game,” and more. The album reached number twenty in the United States and number four in the United Kingdom.

With ten tracks being chosen for the release of the album, there was quite a bit of material that had to be set aside. Three days after recording the final track of the song, Dylan performed a concert at Carnegie Hall that featured eight tracks from his soon-to-be-released album, as well as numerous songs that didn’t make the album’s final cut. Heard below is a song written by Dylan in 1963, omitted from the final cut of The Times They Are a-Changin’ and not officially released until the 1985 album Biograph. Although not officially released until 1985, the song was available via bootleg in a very rough version which was full of scratches, clicks, pops, and warps. This version is clean.

The song itself is based on the melody of the song “The Wind and the Rain,” which had been taught to Dylan by his friend, the folksinger Paul Clayton. The lyrics, written by Dylan, tell the story of a man who approaches a judge on behalf of his friend in Joliet Prison having recently been convicted of manslaughter. If you’re not a big fan of Bob Dylan, there’s a cover of this song performed by Fairport Convention which I highly recommend. That version appeared on their third album, Unhalfbricking.



Bob Dylan - Percy's Song (1963)

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Lyrics:

Bad news, bad news
Came to me where I sleep
Turn, turn, turn again
Sayin’, “One of your friends”
“Is in trouble deep”
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

Tell me the trouble
Tell once to my ear
Turn, turn, turn again
Joliet Prison
And ninety-nine years
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

Oh, what is the charge
Of how this came to be?
Turn, turn, turn again
Manslaughter
In the highest of degrees
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

I sat down and wrote
The best words I could write
Turn, turn, turn again
Explaining to the judge
I’d be there on Wednesday night
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

Without a reply
I left by the moon
Turn, turn, turn again
And was in his chambers
By the next afternoon
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

“Could you tell me the facts?”
I said without fear
Turn, turn, turn again
“That a friend of mine”
“Would get ninety-nine years”
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

A crash on the highway
Flew a car into a field
Turn, turn, turn again
There was four persons killed
And he was at the wheel
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

But I know him as good
As I’m knowin’ myself
Turn, turn, turn again
And he wouldn’t harm a life
That belonged to someone else
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

The judge spoke
Out of the side of his mouth
Turn, turn, turn again
Sayin’, “The witness who saw”
“He left little doubt”
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

“That may be true”
“He’s got a sentence to serve”
Turn, turn, turn again
“But ninety-nine years”
“He just don’t deserve”
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

“Too late, too late”
“For his case, it is sealed”
Turn, turn, turn again
“His sentence is passed”
“And it cannot be repealed”
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

“But he ain’t no criminal”
“And his crime it is none”
Turn, turn, turn again
“What happened to him”
“Could happen to anyone”
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

At that the judge jerked forward
And his face it did freeze
Turn, turn, turn again
Sayin’, “Could you kindly leave
My office now, please?”
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

The room was funny
And I stood up so slow
Turn, turn, turn again
With no other choice
Except but for to go
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

I walked down the hallway
And I heard his door slam
Turn, turn, turn again
I walked down the courthouse stairs
And I did not understand
Turn, turn to the rain
And the wind

I played my guitar
Through the night to the day
Turn, turn, turn again
And the only tune
My guitar could play
Was, “Oh the Cruel Rain
And the Wind”

13th Floor Elevators - I Had To Tell You (1967)

Tommy Hall, one of the two founders of this group, got the idea to play an electric jug after years of living in an area in Texas that thrived on jug-bands. Roky Erickson, the other group’s co-founder, had already written the group’s biggest hit, “You’re Gonna Miss Me,” before the two came together to form the group. They met at a show where Erickson had been performing with a band called The Spades. Hall managed to steal Erickson and took him under his wing, having their first jam session in November 1965.

This song was written by Hall and fellow bandmate Stacy Sutherland, who had been plucked from his previous group, The Lingsmen, by Hall in a similar manner to the way he stole Erickson. Released on their now critically acclaimed album, Easter Everywhere, the album had been considered a moderate failure when upon its initial release it only sold ten thousand copies.



13^th Floor Elevators - I Had To Tell You (1967)

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Lyrics:

Chaos all around me
With its fever clinging
But I can hear you singing
In the corners of my brain

Every doubt around me
Every sound of riot
Everything is quiet
But the song that keeps me sane

I can hear your voice
Echoing my voice softly
I can feel your strength
Reinforcing mine

If you fear I'll lose my spirit
Like a drunkard's wasted wine
Don't you even think about it
I'm feelin' fine

I can hear your voice
Echoing my voice softly
I can feel your strength
Reinforcing mine

If you fear I'll lose my spirits
Like a drunkard's wasted wine
Don't you even think about it
I'm feelin' fine