Justin Angelo Morey’s recommendations: “There are many influences constantly decorating my mind therefore it’s quite difficult for me to produce a single artist/band. I listen to many old 60’s Soul/Freak-Beat 45rpm vinyl records. Some are names familiar to many but the majority consists of obscure artists that never hit one out of the ball park and are sadly underappreciated by the mainstream. Taking that factor into consideration, it’s probably best to select from artists/groups that produced more than one single.
Lately I’ve been rediscovering the sounds that invaded my head while attending high school. Playing them at loud volumes make my sad moments go away for a little while. It is impossible for me to pick only one. Can I list a couple? I’m going to assume your response was, “yes, go ahead.”
1. Nation of Ulysses
Why? They are responsible for a major change in my life. Had I not witnessed their perormance live before my very eyes, who knows how I may have turned out? I’m forever in debt to what they provided me then and will always be inspired by everything they managed to produce within their short existance. There will never be another band like them ever again. They were the perfection combination of everything.
Album picks: 13-Point Program To Destroy America
2. The Who (nothing after late 1967)
Why? The first song I ever played on guitar with a group of other kids from my 8th grade class was, My Generation. We would do the ending and Eric Christ would kick the bass drum over like Keith Moon and Mike Muriel would take the alluminum music stand and scrape the classroom floor to produce a sound equivelant to nails running down a chalk board. The early Who are so damn good and explosive. I wanted to be Keith Moon. I’m not a fan of their later stuff but there are plenty of people that are so my opinion won’t ever break their bank and everyone wins.
Album Pick: A Quick One (Happy Jack)
3. Spacemen 3
Why? Back in the glory days of MTV, videos were actually played and in addition to Headbanger’s Ball, there was another late night show called 120 Minutes. I used to tune in every Sunday night and was turned on to all sorts of different artists/bands that I never knew existed. One of those videos happened to be, Revolution by Spacemen 3. The song itself was just so unlike anything that I had been listening to at the time and the video was strange to me. They just appeared as if they didn’t care to be there. Almost completely the opposite of anyone in frot of a camera. I rediscovered them about two years ago and now I’m pulled deeply inside of their work. Amazing!!!
Album Pick: The Perfect Prescription
4. Small Faces
Why? Four white British guys from East London that manged to pull of Soul/R&B/Psychedelic/Pop sounds better than anyone on the scene back then and now. Their chemistry is so brilliant it’s sad that they never really became gigantic. Their self titled debut LP for Decca contains some of the most raw and exciting moments captured to tape. Their version of, You Need Loving (1966) BLOWS Zeppelin’s later version (retitled to avoid any confusion or lawsuits or comparisons from You Need Love (1962) by Muddy Waters ), Whole Lotta Love (1969) to bits and pieces. That’s one example but their work produced during their Immediate records period was more colorful and delicately layered for maximum listening pleasure. Again, totally underated. Ronnie Lane is definitely one of my most favorite bass players of all time.
Album Picks: Small Faces (40 Anniversary Edition)
5. Unwound
Why? Unwound were one of the groups that inspired me to explore different approachs to producing sounds in my music. They created truly incredible compositions and all the live shows i was fortunate to attend were magical. I remember seeing them in a basement in NJ. The show was up close and intimate and just so personal. I can recall feeling very connected to their creative output. One time when they played at Maxwells, I got my nerve up and asked Justin if they could play Broken E String. I didn’t expect anything in return so you can imagine how elated I was when they opened their set with the song I requested. I’ll never forget how happy that made me.”
Album Pick: New Plastic Ideas
About the guest author, Justin Angelo More: Justin is the lead singing bass player for The Black Hollies, a ’60s influenced band that proudly wears influences on their sleeves. They hail from and remain in Jersey City, NJ, so they easily slide across the Hudson to the hip, hip, hip Brooklyn venues and have upcoming dates that can be found on their My Space page here. To get a feel for their ultra-retro grooves, sample the mp3 below from their last release, Softly Towards the Light
MP3: Gloomy Monday Morning by The Black Hollies
