MOVIE: The Deadly Bees (1966)

 

Appropriately for a spring Saturday, the bees are coming in 1966's The Deadly Bees - I'm taking a look at Amicus' foray into creature features at Spooky Isles. Read more at https://www.spookyisles.com/the-deadly-bees-1966 

SINGLE: Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers - Got To Get You Into My Life (1966)

Image from my own collection. Click for a larger view.

UK: Parlophone R5489 (Aug 1966)

I once knew someone who was of the opinion that nobody, and I mean nobody, should be allowed to cover Beatles songs. EVER. His reasoning was that, since they were by the Beatles, they couldn't be bettered, so why bother? Never mind the fact that Yesterday is the most covered song in popular music history, he stood firm on this theory.

My response was: Have you ever heard Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers' version of Got To Get You In To My Life? A version which, dare I say it, is better than the Beatles version?

Before enraged Beatles fans armed with torches and pitchforks drag me off to be sacrificed (which was pretty much his reaction), let me explain myself...

The song was originally envisaged as Paul McCartney's homage to the sounds coming from Motown, Stax and the like in the mid-60's. In an interview some time ago, he once bemoaned the fact that the Beatles' recording had never quite managed to capture what he heard in his head when writing it.

Jump forward shortly afterwards, and the fab four's Parlophone labelmates were in Abbey Road studios laying down their version. EMI staff producer David Paramor was assigned for the session, but the story goes that McCartney happened to be there that evening and decided to listen in.

Cliff Bennett's band had spent a good few years honing a powerful live act, playing just the type of music McCartney had been hoping to emulate with the song. If any group could capture the sound he had striven for, it was the Rebel Rousers.

As the session progressed, McCartney became increasingly hands-on, making suggestions and adjustments, apparently with the approval of both the group and Paramor. The end result was unleashed on vinyl in August 1966, reaching number 6 in the UK. An American release on ABC completely missed the US charts. Their loss.

The Beatles' recording, the penultimate track on Revolver, is a great, great record. However, Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers send the song soaring into the stratosphere.

Here it is, in its slightly longer, original mono single mix. You lucky people. Play it loud.

MOVIE: The Witches (1966)

After an uncomfortable encounter in Africa with the occult, an English schoolteacher takes up a post in a quiet country village, only to find that the locals may be practicing black magic as well...

Gwen Mayfield (Joan Fontaine) takes up her new position, and starts to become aware that all is not as it seems. One of the girls in the class seems to have an overbearing grandmother, who has taken a great disdain to her growing relationship with a boy in the same class So has most of the village, come to that.

The locals are outwardly friendly, but there is something not quite right. Local journalist Stephanie Bax (Kay Walsh), seems to be a voice of reason in the cast of local eccentrics, but even that may be a mask. Meanwhile, Stephanie's brother Alan (Alec MacCowan) incongruously harbours a desire to be a priest... 

A somewhat curious entry in Hammer's catalogue. Joan Fontaine had bought the rights to the novel The Devil's Own in 1962. Written by Norah Lofts (better known for her historical novels), it had been published under the pseudonym of Peter Curtis, to differentiate it from her usual work. Fontaine had hoped it would be the ideal project to re-launch her film career, and following an adaptation by Nigel Kneale it went into production at Hammer's Bray Studios.

Director Cyril Frankel, better known for his work on several ITC series of the period, does a good job for the most part (note that I say most part), creating an unsettling atmosphere as strange things start to occur in the community and the teacher starts to think that either something sinister is afoot, or she is losing her mind. So far, so good

But, oh dear. The last ten minutes... This is one of the few Hammer films to have a credit for choreography, and that's exactly the problem with the climax. It looks far too choreographed, like a demented West Side Story. It unfortunately makes a mockery of what has come before (the director blamed the screenwriter, and vice versa.), but fortunately it's not enough to spoil the film completely. At its best, The Witches interestingly presages the atmosphere of Brit-classics The Prisoner and The Wicker Man in the village scenes and it has some fine set pieces. If the film is ultimately a failure, it is in comparison with Hammer's usual standards. Sadly, the disappointing box office results would fail to meet Fontaine's hopes that it would reboot her cinema career.

Blu-Ray Notes: It's another nice transfer in StudioCanal's series of archive Hammer releases. The lack of extras, however, is telling of its status in their filmography. The Blu-ray has been advertised on some sites as containing a commentary, but this was nowhere to be seen on the copy I rented. There is, however a very enjoyable documentary called Hammer Glamour, featuring the ladies who graced the studio's output. With contributions from Valerie Leon, Caroline Munro, Martine Beswick, Madeleine Smith, Jenny Hanley and Vera Day (but sadly not Veronica Carlson), it's an enjoyable and interesting programme, which would be the ideal basis for a more thorough feature-length documentary on its subject. It certainly helps make this release a more desirable purchase.



UK 1966 -Hammer/ABPC

aka: The Devil's Own

91 Minutes

Certificate - X (UK, original release), 12 (UK, Blu-Ray)

Blu-Ray/DVD: StudioCanal (UK)

Original Theatrical Trailer

SINGLE: Easybeats - Sorry (1966)

Australia - Parlophone/Albert Productions A8224 (October 1966) 
UK - not released

 "To describe The Easybeats as "Australia's Beatles" is not to damn them with faint praise. They were without question the best and most important Australian rock band of the 1960s, and their string of classic hit singles set the benchmarks for Australian popular music. They established a unique musical identity, and they became our first homegrown rock superstars, and for quality, inventiveness and originality their work is arguably unmatched by any other Australian band of the period."

                                                                    - Duncan Kimball, MilesAgo.com

The Easybeats hold a place in rock and roll folklore for their classic single Friday On My Mind alone. However, if that is all you know of their work then there's an incredible catalogue of music waiting for your discovery, not least of all this stormer.

Although legends of Australian popular music, The Easybeats actually consisted of a Yorkshireman (Stevie Wright - vocals), a Liverpudlian (Snowy Fleet - drums), two Dutchmen (Harry Vanda - guitar/vocals, Dick Diamonde - bass/vocals) and a Scotsman (George Young - guitar/vocals/keyboards).

To cut a long story very short, the group came together when Vanda and Young were both staying at a hostel for newly emigrated families in the Sydney suburb of Villawood, and they met up with Wright and Diamonde, whose families had already settled locally. They met Fleet purely by chance on a train - he had recently left The Mojos to go to Australia and, although initially agreeing to lead and manage the group, he was soon firmly on the drum stool.

A chance meeting with estate agent Mike Vaughan led to him introducing the band to his friend, rising music publisher and producer Ted Albert, who liked what he heard and signed the group. Within a week he had secured a deal with the Australian arm of EMI on the Parlophone label. Their first single, For My Woman, got plenty of local notice but it was the follow up, She's So Fine, which really hit the mark, roaring to number one in Sydney before sweeping the nation.

The band's rise was rapid and they were soon Australia's hottest act. Wedding Ring, Sad Lonely And Blue, Woman (Make You Feel Alright) and Come And See Her all followed in quick succession (the latter, according to Vanda, may have been helped by an alternative, risque lyric chanted by their audience at shows, but that's another story). All of which leads us to Sorry...

Opening with the percussive scratching of his guitar strings by George driving things along, Sorry is a textbook exercise in crafting a perfect rock record in 2:37. Harry's raga like guitar solo seems to be looking forward to the psychedelic excursions which would swamp music in the next couple of years, but here it's used economically. A mantra-like "ay-yi-yi" chant towards the end is almost mesmerising.

It seems astonishing now, but back then the big record companies seem to have had very little interest in what their Australasian subsidiaries were releasing, considering their product only important for the local market. The Easybeats had gone as far as they could in Australia and looked overseas to expand their horizons. Securing an international deal with United Artists, they made their way to England, but not before recording a "farewell" TV special, from which the clip below is taken.

Released as a single just as they were leaving, Sorry was an Australian number 1 for The Easybeats in November 1966. Just weeks later, their first UK recorded single, Friday On My Mind, would top the Christmas chart, and spread like wildfire around the world. It wouldn't be a perfect story going forward, but the lessons learnt by The Easybeats would help all the Aussie bands that followed, starting with an act produced by Vanda and Young, and featuring Young's little brothers, Malcolm and Angus: AC/DC.

With grateful acknowledgement to MilesAgo.com, an amazing resource covering Australasian popular music, culture and social history from 1964-1975 - I thoroughly recommend a visit.

WHERE TO FIND IT:

The Easybeats: Singles A's & B's (Repertoire CD 2005)
Nuggets II (Rhino 2001)

SINGLE: Opus 1 - Back Seat '38 Dodge (1966)

US - Mustang 3017 (May 1966)

 

A wild Farfisa-organ and reverbed-guitar driven instrumental, save for the ghostly repeated lines "Back Seat '38 Dodge" and "What goes on... I really wanna know...". With a driving surf beat which doesn't let up and more echo than Wookey Hole, the whole record sounds like a car crash waiting to happen, and maybe that's what its slam-bang-clang finale is suggesting. Although, there is another possible interpretation...

The title was inspired by a 1964 sculpture by Edward Kienholz named "Back Seat Dodge '38" (which lyrically doesn't roll off the tongue so well). Depicting a couple drunkenly making out in said vehicle, it drew massive controversy and accusations of tastelessness and obscenity. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which displayed the sculpture was threatened with having its funding withdrawn unless the offending display was removed. Eventually, a compromise was made whereby the car door was kept closed unless a curious (over 18) patron requested a closer view of the interior...

Image from pictify - uploaded by user bALANelcher

The following footage is taken from a 1969 documentary on Keinholz, and shows a group of museum visitors viewing the sculpture at its original showing.

Footage copyright June Steel, from the Getty Center's Pacific Standard Time online exhibit.
Read more about the life and work of Edward Kienholz at Wikipedia. 

Anyway, back to the band. They were Brian Decker (lead guitar), Doug Decker (bass), Pete Parker (organ) and John Christensen (drums). All shared the minimalist vocal duties on the track. The attempt to cash in on the controversy of the exhibit didn't pay off, and the record faded into obscurity. However, hindsight is a wonderful thing and over the years the record's stature has grown. It's a classic of its kind.

Image from a great piece on Opus 1 at GarageHangover.com.

The group had a fleeting moment of fame when they appeared in an episode of Perry Mason. Sadly, they weren't performing "Back Seat '38 Dodge", but miming to a completely different group performing a track called Jersey Bounce. If you can track down the episode (Case Of The Avenging Angel) they appear to be trying to block any camera view of their personalised bass drum skin to avoid being identified. Sadly, "Back Seat '38 Dodge" would be their only release.

Another interesting footnote: A copy turned up on Ebay earlier this year. The final winning bid? Around $1700...

YouTube user blacflag made this DIY video for the record by using old moviecam footage of Las Vegas, and I think it works rather well.

WHERE TO FIND IT:

Where The Action Is! - Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968 (Rhino box set 2009)
Del-Fi Rarities (Repetoire CD 1993)

Or, where I first discovered it, and if you can find a copy...

Highs In The Mid-60's Vol 2 - Riot On Sunset Strip (AIP LP 1983)