Them - Mystic Eyes (1965)

Formed in Northern Ireland in April 1964, this short-lived band is primarily remembered as the group that launched the career of Van Morrison. Their classic garage song “Gloria,” which was covered by countless bands after them, was their first taste of success, released in November 1964 (initially as a B-Side). After scoring a few more hits in the UK in 1965, the band was marketed in the United States and thus became a part of the first British Invasion. While touring America, the group had residency at famous Whisky a Go Go club in Los Angeles from the end of May until the middle of June 1966. In their final week at The Whisky, they were being opened by a group which they had been heavily influencing, The Doors. After finishing up in L.A., the band played The Fillmore in San Francisco before leaving to tour Hawaii. While in the Aloha state, the band argued over money and broke up on the spot. Morrison went on to great solo success, while the rest of the band regrouped through 1972 until finally calling it quits after a lack of the public’s interest in their new material.

This song, which featured session guitarist Jimmy Page, came about when members of the band were just messing around in the studio. While jamming, their producer Tommy Scott thought what they were doing was going to make for a great instrumental track. But seven minutes into the jam, Morrison started singing impromptu lyrics to a song he had recently been inspired to write from a trip past a cemetery where some children were playing. The ten-minute track, with its long instrumental intro, was reduced to a little less than three minutes and the song was complete. It became the opening track to the band’s first album, The Angry Young Them, released in November 1965; and, in the same month, it was released as a single in the US and UK, only charting in the US, reaching number thirty-three.



Them - Mystic Eyes (1965)

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Lyrics:

One Sunday mornin'
We went walkin'
Down by the old graveyard
The mornin' fog
I looked into, yeah
Those mystic eyes

Her mystic eyes
Mystic eyes
Mystic eyes
Mystic eyes
Mystic eyes
Mystic eyes
Oh, the mystic eyes
Oh!

Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song (1973)

They were said to be as important to the 1970s as The Beatles were to the 1960s. They were born from the ashes of The Yardbirds and were originally intended by Jimmy Page to be a supergroup featuring Keith Moon, Jeff Beck, and others. Moon said the idea would “go over like a lead balloon” and the group only recorded one song (heard here). What eventually came together was one of rock’s most legendary lineups: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones. With a small twist of Moon’s “lead balloon” comment, Led Zeppelin had just begun.

This ballad comes from the group’s fifth album, Houses of the Holy. The idea of the song came about after former member of The Beatles, George Harrison, commented to John Bonham how the group didn’t have any ballad-type songs. What eventually transpired was music written by Jimmy Page and lyrics penned by Robert Plant. In tribute to Harrison, you can hear that the opening of the song borrows chords from the opening of “Something” by The Beatles, which was written by Harrison.



Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song (1973)

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Lyrics:

It is the springtime of my loving
The second season I am to know
You are the sunlight in my growing
So little warmth I've felt before
It isn't hard to feel me glowing
I watched the fire that grew so low

It is the summer of my smiles
Flee from me, keepers of the gloom
Speak to me only with your eyes
It is to you I give this tune
Ain't so hard to recognize, oh
These things are clear to all from
Time to time

Talk, talk, talk, talk

Hey
I've felt coldness of my winter
I never thought it would ever go
I cursed the gloom that set upon us
But I know that I love you so
Aw, but I know that I love you so

These are the seasons of emotion
And like the wind, they rise and fall
This is the wonder of devotion
I see the torch we all must hold
This is a mystery of the quotient- quotient
Upon us all- upon us all a little rain must fall

Just a little rain, oh
Ooh, yeah

Timon - The Bitter Thoughts of Little Jane (1968)

Born in 1950, Timon was born under the name Stephen John Murray, would go by the name Timon until his early twenties, and eventually permanently changed his name to Tymon Dogg. He was a big influence on the left-handed John Graham Mellor, teaching him to play guitar right-handed. Mellor, who took the stage name Joe Strummer, was the frontman of the popular punk band The Clash. You can hear Timon singing and playing violin on The Clash song “Lose This Skin,” which he also wrote.

Timon received a year’s salary in advance from Pye Records prior to recording this song. Future members of Led Zeppelin played lead on this track, John Paul Jones on bass and Jimmy Page on guitar. Ex-Peter and Gordon musician, Peter Asher, who was working as a talent scout for Apple Records, played this song for Paul McCartney. McCartney offered to produce a new version of the song for Timon, but Timon declined.



Timon - The Bitter Thoughts of Little Jane (1968)

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Lyrics:

The bitter thoughts of little Jane
Are locked away
And will remain unspoken

Been let down
And kicked around
Been sent away
Without her token, but

She’ll find her place
She’ll find a head to pound on

Never cries
Or even tries
So no one really knows
She wants to die

Been too long
On her own
She’s growing old
She’s growing cold, but

She’ll find her place
She’ll find a head to pound on

Peter’s playing with his trains
And Sally kissed her doll again
Andrew plays at wild cowboys
But little Jane- she’s got no toys, but

She’ll find her place
She’ll find a head to pound on

Beck, Page, Jones, Moon, & Hopkins – Beck’s Bolero (1966)

Although they never officially became a group, this collection of musicians did manage to get together long enough to record one song together, heard below, in 1966. The “group” was composed of: Jeff Beck of The Yardbirds (and later The Jeff Beck Group); Jimmy Page of The Yardbirds (and later Led Zeppelin); John Paul Jones, a session musician (and later of Led Zeppelin); Keith Moon of The Who; and Nicky Hopkins, a session musician keyboardist who had worked frequently with The Rolling Stones.

Keith Moon arrived to the session wearing a disguise so nobody would know he was playing with somebody other than The Who. John Entwistle, also of The Who, was scheduled to play bass until he had to back out and was replaced by John Paul Jones.

Later released as the B-side to Jeff Beck’s single, “Hi Ho Silver Lining,” this song was originally supposed to be only the beginning of the guys work together. Planning to record a full album, they failed to locate a lead vocalist after being denied by Steve Mariott of The Small Faces. Combined with contractual obligations, the album never happened and this was the only song recorded. The history of this song is quite interesting, and can be read in more detail, on Wikipedia, here.



Beck, Page, Jones, Moon, & Hopkins – Beck’s Bolero (1966)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

Les Fleur de Lys - Circles (1966)

Formed in 1964, this psychedelic group has a lot of history for little success. Their keyboardist, Pete Sears, would later play with Rod Stewart, as well as go on to be a founding member of Jefferson Starship (a spinoff of Jefferson Airplane). At one point, the group was also recruited to record the song “Reflections of Charles Brown” (listen here) under the name Rupert’s People (a ripoff of Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale”).

This song was written by Pete Townshend and first released by his group, The Who, in 1965 under the title “Instant Party (Circles)” on their debut album, My Generation. This group’s version, which I actually think I may enjoy more, has a bit more psychedelic feeling to it and was co-produced by Jimmy Page and Glyn Johns. It was released a year after the original.



Les Fleur de Lys - Circles (1966)

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Lyrics:

Circles- my head is goin’ ‘round in circles
My mind is caught up in a whirlpool
Draggin’ me down

Time will tell if I'll take the homeward track
The dizziness will make my feet walk back
Walk on back to you

Everything I do, I think of you
No matter how I try, I can't get by
Circles leading me back to you

‘round and ‘round and ‘round and ‘round and ‘round
and ‘round and ‘round and ‘round and ‘round…

Just one thing could kill the pain of losing you
It gets me so dizzy that I walk right back again
Back to you

Time will tell if I'll take the homeward track
The dizziness will make my feet walk back
Walk on back to you

Down and down and down like a pool I go
Round and round like a fool, I go
Dragging me down

Marianne Faithfull - As Tears Go By (1964)

In the 1960s, this singer was known for her beautiful soft voice. In 1966 she started a highly publicized relationship with Mick Jagger and co-wrote “Sister Morphine” for The Rolling Stones. By 1970, the couple had split and any memory of her pop career was consumed by her new highly publicized battle with drugs. Having a library of songs written about her by top artists of the time, including the one found here, she has a life that cannot be summarized in this space.

This song, her first major hit, was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and featured Jimmy Page as a session musician. The Rolling Stones covered a successful version of it a year later in 1965. It’s a wonderful example of what a talented voice this singer had before her long battle with drugs, after which her voice took on a raspy and more gravelly nature.



Marianne Faithfull - As Tears Go By (1964)

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Lyrics:

It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Smiling faces I can see
But not for me
I sit and watch as tears go by

My riches can't buy everything
I want to hear the children sing
All I hear is the sound
Of rain falling on the ground
I sit and watch as tears go by

It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Doing things I used to do
They think are new
I sit and watch as tears go by

Hmm…

Herman's Hermits - Silhouettes (1965)

Coming out of Manchester, England in 1963 as an R&B band, this group was put together as a clean cut and non-threatening band in hopes of gaining the approval of teenagers’ parents. Most of their hits were aimed at American audiences, where Peter Noone, their lead vocalist, intentionally exaggerated his British accent.

This song was originally a doo-wop hit for The Rays in 1957. It’s been a long standing mystery as to who actually played the guitar on this track. Some claim it was Jimmy Page (later of The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin); others claim it was Vic Flick (who played the famous guitar rift in the James Bond theme); but the original members there that day seem to remember that it was actually Derek Leckenby (the band’s lead guitarist). I guess we’ll never know for sure.



Herman's Hermits - Silhouettes (1965)

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Lyrics:

Took a walk and passed your house late last night
All the shades were pulled and drawn way down tight
From within, the dim light cast two silhouettes on the shade
Oh, what a lovely couple they made

Put his arms around your waist- held you tight
Kisses I could almost taste in the night
Wondered why I'm not the guy who's silhouette's on the shade
I couldn't hide the tears in my eyes

Lost control and rang your bell; I was sore
“Let me in or else I'll beat down your door”
When two strangers who have been two silhouettes on the shade
Said to my shock, "you're on the wrong block"

Rushed out to your house with wings on my feet
Loved you like I'd never loved you, my sweet
Vowed that you and I would be two silhouettes on the shade
All of our days, two silhouettes on the shade

The Yardbirds - White Summer (1967)

Another short-lived band that left a major impression in music. This group's lineup switched multiple times over their five year span and always consisted of major talent. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page were all, at one time or another, lead guitarists.

This song, coming from the Jimmy Page era of the group, had the guitar tuned like a sitar to get its unique sound. A few years after its release, the lineup of the band was once again changed and no original members were left. Jimmy Page and his new band-mates Robert Plant, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones decided they needed a name change and Led Zeppelin was born. This song became a staple at their live shows.

The future sound of Led Zeppelin can definitely be heard throughout this song.



The Yardbirds - White Summer (1967)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)