Cavern After Hours

Rare Mod Vol 4
Sep 21, 2022
Rare Mod Vol 4

Eddie Piller and the team at Acid Jazz bring us volume 4 in the ‘Rare Mod’ series, and what a corker it is. Compiled by Damian Jones and Richard Searle, this CD features 16 slabs of Underground Rhythm ‘n’ Blues, Psych & Soul.


Starting with a storming version of ‘Big Bird’, this recording comes from Dog Soul, a band made up by members of The Artwoods, The Kinks and Dog Soldier and has a great horn section. Next up is the excellent ‘Tell Daddy’ by the All Night Workers, a Mod Soul outfit from West London very much in the vein of the Alan Bown Set.


The legendary Gary Farr & The T-Bones then give us ‘Together Forever’, a track recorded in late 1966 and intended to be their fourth single – unfortunately they split up and the song remained unreleased. The Unknown Mod Girl gives a great performance of Mel Torme’s ‘Coming Home Baby’ before The Mountain Men’s ‘Too Many People Around’ – the sole A-side from this band from South Wales. Syd’s Crowd, a band from 1966/67 of which very little is known, contribute ‘Times Are Good Babe’ and ‘Road Runner’ to this compilation, both of which are really good.

Of the many highlights of this collection is the inclusion of a long lost recordings from bands like The Perfumed Garden from Liverpool who performed many times at the legendary Cavern Club Liverpool. Cover Girl a song they originally recorded in 1968 at Cam studios Liverpool then rejected, has now been resurrected for posterity and included in this collection of gems. Others include The Artwoods – one of my favourite bands. ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’, the R ‘n’ B classic which was Art Wood’s favourite track, was recorded in 1964, although it is not known if it was intended as an A-side or for a radio session. Either way, it’s worth the admission price alone. The best track on the entire album, in my opinion, is the Hammond saturated ‘Hey Gyp’ from The Unknown Mod Band – that’s right, Acid Jazz really have no idea who recorded this track.


With further contributions from Row Boat, The Wild Ones, Virgin Sleep and Tomorrow’s Children this collection is right up my street – mid to late 60s sounding Mod bands playing hard edged R ‘n’ B and Soul with a bit of a Freakbeat vibe thrown in for good measure. Well worth checking out.


Tracklist:

  1. Dog Soul – Big Bird (3:09)
  2. The All Night Workers – Tell Daddy (2:47)
  3. Gary Farr & The T-Bones – Together Forever (2:41)
  4. The Unknown Mod Girl – Coming Home Baby (2:43)
  5. The Mountain Men – Too Many People Around (2:58)
  6. Syd’s Crowd – Times Are Good Babe (2:54)
  7. Row Boat – Me And My Baby (2:21)
  8. The Artwoods – Hoochie Coochie Man (3:28)
  9. Syd’s Crowd – Road Runner (2:37)
  10. The Unknown Mod Band – Hey Gyp (3:48)
  11. The All Night Workers – Rock Is Here To Stay (2:53)
  12. Perfumed Garden – Cover Girl (4:09)
  13. The Wild Ones – The Thinking Kind (2:39)
  14. Virgin Sleep – Arthur (2:21)
  15. Row Boat – I Watch From Afar (3:51)
  16. Tomorrow’s Children – LSD (2:02)

Available today order in the music department of our online shop

Buy on CD Buy on Vinyl LP

More articles

The Seftons / The Perishers

21 Sep, 2022
The Seftons was formed in 1964 at the King David School Childwall Liverpool the original line up consisted of Dave Stephenson keyboards and lead singer Yanny Tsamplakos lead guitar and vocals Mike Baron drums Dave Edwards bass guitar and vocals ( later when they changed their name to the Perishers ) Norman Bellis took over on bass guitar. ( Later to be replaced by ) Peter Combes bass guitar

The Curiosity Shoppe

21 Sep, 2022
Fronted by Harry Shaw and Sammy Rothwell on keyboards. The Curiosity Shoppe were a heavy rock style keyboards orientated group. During their time on the scene the Shoppe only managed one single on the Deram Label. The single A side was BABY I NEED YOU written by a guy called Mally Rabbit from Warrington. Ironically The Curiosity Shoppe recording of Baby I Need You is actually today, 40 odd years later, more popular than it ever was during the late 60′s. Maybe it was a little before its time who knows, but today when ever a rare copy comes up for sale on Ebay, the German picture covered versions particularly, they easily fetch £60 plus. When you consider back in the 60′s you could of picked one up for a mere six shillings and eight pence ( about 34p in todays money ) not a bad return on your investment. Baby I need you also appears at regular intervals on various compilation albums as and when new compilations appear. During the late 60′s The Curiosity Shoppe use to practice during the day in the Cavern. This resulted in a chance meeting with Paul McCartney who one day around 1968 turned up un-annouced and headed straight down stairs. It was such a surprise to everyone, camera’s being the luxury they were back then, the Cavern owner had to rush out and buy a camera to record the visit.

Solomon's Mines

21 Sep, 2022
Solomon's Mines came out from the left overs of a group called the Deans who disbanded in 1966. Solomon's Mines consisted of Tommy Flude keyboards, Eddie Williams Lead Guitar, Allan Devon Vocals with Jim Humphreys and John Sorsky completing the line up. During their short life span, they not only took part in a talent competition called Search for Sound, they also won it. In late 1967 they all decided to break up, shame because they were a good band.

The New & Updated Sound of the Pound

21 Sep, 2022
Originally published as 'The Sound With The Pound', this revised and updated edition includes an additional 142 illustrations and 112 pages. A comprehensive anthology of the 'Merseybeat' era, this book chronicles the complete stories of 164 Merseyside groups, plus an additional 100 line-ups and a list of 344 group names, for a total of 607 groups that were active in Liverpool and the surrounding area in the late 1950s to the end of the Sixties. While most people are familiar with the 'Beatles', there is a universal misconception that they invented Merseybeat. However, nothing could be further from the truth as Merseybeat was 'under construction' long before the 'Beatles' exploded onto the scene. While not in any way attempting to detract from their ability, it is important that anyone interested in that era gives consideration to the other groups that were the backbone of this phenomenon. Merseybeat was a product created by the many hundreds of Liverpool groups that played there. Many of them were awarded recording contracts, some of which resulted in number one hits and some are still languishing, unreleased, in the archives of some long forgotten record company. This book contains the stories of 164 groups that either recorded or played a substantial role in creating the Mersey Sound and the Merseybeat era and it is both an interesting an invaluable reference of the time and the place.
More Posts
Share by: