"Click" Horning - Click (1969)

Looks like this is now available on CD from the artist himself, along with some of his other releases. Check here or here.

Because of that I will be taking down the link for this one.

A bad case of carpal tunnel and a busy weekend is going to keep this post on the short and sweet side. Short, because if you want to find out more about Click Horning I'm just going to refer you to his web site. Sweet, because once again I present a sweet piece of pop music for your entertainment. There are some nice folk and psych influences, and even some sitar (the cut Many Times Jimbo, the best here IMHO, appeared on one of the Electric Sitar Headswirlers compilations). File no longer available--see above for info on purchasing the CD. Click is still performing in the New Hampshire area.

William R. Strickland - William R. Strickland Is Only The Name (1969)

William R. Strickland is the name of the singer-songwriter-performer who put out this odd record on London/Deram records back in 1969. He plays guitar, sometimes accompanied by the London Philharmonic, and sings about World War 3 (1/2) and computer love (long before internet dating). I guess you would call him a folk singer--he certainly has the Dylan-style sneer down--but the general weirdness of the songs (which he says were largely improvised) lends a certain psychedelic quality to the whole affair. I guess if I had to suggest a point of comparison (and an obscure one at that) I'd say he reminds me of Peter Grudzien without the gay subtext and with a wider range of instruments (there's even a Jew's harp on one track). There is a recent article about him online from the Santa Cruz Sentinal that refers to an older (1976) review that said he was like "a kinky cross between Mark Twain and Lenny Bruce" and that Strickland calls himself "a mix of Willie Nelson and Pink Floyd." Strickland is still performing and you can even hear a recent (March 8, 2006) radio performance and interview on KUSP by him online.

Here's a tracklist for this release:
Side 1: You Can Know My Body (But You'll Never Know My Soul) / Computer Lover / Romeo De La Route / Touch
Side 2: If I Stand Here Much Longer / Opps That's Me!! / World War 31/2

You can grab it online here.

Peter Kelley - Path of the Wave (1969)

Peter Kelley released two records under his name--this is the first (and IMHO the better). Fuzz, Acid and Flowers describes it as "folk-psych with almost whispered vocals. Songs range from Dylanesque ballads to the monster cut The Man Is Dead (6'56") with fuzz guitar." Which is an apt if rather short description. Most of the cuts feature sparse instrumentation (often just an acoustic guitar is featured) and singing that owes a lot to Dylan's style of vocal delivery (and perhaps something to psychoactive substances as well). The Man Is Dead may be the best cut but is far from typical, but the whole album is worth a listen.

The band/crew on this consists of David Budin (Guitar, Piano, Bass, Saxophone, Producer), Rusti Clark (Viola), Chuck Colin (Trumpet), Danny Federici (Organ), Barton Friedman (Producer), Richard Gottehrer (Viola), Eddie Guzman (Drums), Richard Husson (Engineer), Harriet Jacoff (Piano), Peter Kelley (Main Performer), John Lehr (Guitar), Walton Mendelson, Jack Nailon (Guitar (Bass)), Roy Nievelt (Guitar (Electric)), & Warren Slaten (Engineer).

Here's the tracklist: Apricot Brandy/High Flyin' Mama/Christine I, II/All I Needed/Childhood's Hour/Man Is Dead/In My Own & Secret Way

And here's the music (reupped on mediafire).

Smokey & His Sister - ST (1967)

I mentioned this one a few weeks back when I posted the St. George & Tana record. If you liked that one you should like this as well. Smokey (presumably his sister as well) came from Cincinnati, OH--he met Dylan after a concert there in 1965 and decided to become a folk singer (at least according to the Fuzz, Acid & Flowers book). In 1966 he and his sister Viki moved to Greenwich Village, which a year or two earlier would have been the place to be (the fact that at least 2 of the songs on this album are about how much cooler it is on the West Coast bear this out). They had a single and then this one lp which came out on Warner Brothers--it features some nice orchestral arrangements and Smokey & Sis harmonizing--sweet stuff overall.