What is Sixties Garage?

[Outside_Lookin_in]

 

[Outside_Lookin_in]

 

[Outside_Lookin_in]

 

[Outside_Lookin_in]

 

[Outside_Lookin_in]

 

[Lewis]

I suppose what I find most endearing about a lot of US garage is the idea of a bunch of teenagers trying to articulate their mixed-up feelings with an ambition and fire that transcended their skills and abilities. So you got some fantastic 45s that were technically sloppy both in terms of production and musicianship and that is part of their appeal for me. That was only possible because of the proliferation of small local labels in the mid 60s USA. Perhaps 'raw' and 'primitive' were not the right terms to use, as plenty of 'freakbeat' was extremely raw as your posts demonstrate. But in the UK the music scene was dominated by majors who would not have allowed anything less than technically competent recordings to be released. There were acetates, vanity presses and the odd independent, some of which you have put up, but nothing in comparison to the US.

 

[axel]

Great tunes all the way through. In fact most of it can count as garage (although some of them have a typical mod vibe). But NOT because of the sound quality, but the melodies and riffs. Paul Ritchie and the Crying Shames is a good example for that (even the name is pure garage!). Another one is the Exiles' tune (and name). And the Mountain Men, of course.

 

[axel]

The guitar sounds play an important role, I think. What gives many British recordings a mod vibe is that typical Pete Townsend/Creation etc. style guitar sound, which to me never sounds like garage, unless it's a real garage riff ("I'm Rowed Out" being one of the closest to a garage riff). Hardly any fuzz or jangle in British recordings.

 

[Outside_Lookin_in]

I don't see a separation between "garage" and "mod" (and I don't mean the horn variety of music so many Europeans seem to sell as "mod"), I merely see it as a sub-genre. It may not have fuzz, but it has everything else: punk attitude, simple driving chord arrangements, and snotty vocals. Sure, it wouldn't sit well on a comp with US garage, but I'd certainly throw it in with the rest on a British comp.

I find '60s music is best grouped according to regions and linguistic subgroups: (US/Can) - (Aus/NZ) - (Francophone/Quebec) - (British) - (Germanic) - (Other Latin). The internal stylistic differences are less important than they are between groupings.

 

[axel]

The difference between "mod" and "garage" is reflected in your own selection of songs. "I'm Rowed Out" is probably the closest a mod tune can come to garage. The Eyes have generally a more garagey vibe than other mod bands like the Who, Creation, Action etc.
I like all of those bands, but if you're talking about a definition of garage as a style, those don't count. The Eyes maybe, if you're stretching it. But not the Who and groups with a similar sound.

 

[Outside_Lookin_in]

I agree with you regards Who, Creation, Action etc. I regard the Who in a similar vein to the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Them, Kinks, etc as having spearheaded the garage movement (although Mark sees the Who as second tier), but having been too accomplished and too commercial to fit the bill as garage. Of course, as put in various ways above, at least part of that came down to those bands having recorded in the best studios with the best sound engineers, because when you look at some of the live recordings of these seminal bands, there's little to set them apart from the "garage" scene.

This all part of the complex equation we're trying to qualify here, and it's important to keep in mind that I'm using the term "garage" as a place holder for what it is that unifies that sixties style found in every country in the world which was freely exposed to western culture; NOT in the strict sense in which some use it to apply to the North American phenomenon.

 

[HarvestmanMan]

Great tunes all the way through. In fact most of it can count as garage (although some of them have a typical mod vibe). But NOT because of the sound quality, but the melodies and riffs. Paul Ritchie and the Crying Shames is a good example for that (even the name is pure garage!). Another one is the Exiles' tune (and name). And the Mountain Men, of course.

"Come On Back" was one of the first tunes to come to my mind upon reading all this.

To add to the smorgasbord of YouTube links, here's one that I think nails the garage sound...only it's three or four years too late.

 

[Laurent Bigot]

(I don't agree with the "freakbeat" appellation. Very Kinks inspired.)

there's an obvious freakbeat feel to it too.

 

[Outside_Lookin_in]

It's got a mod drumming sound if that's what you mean.

 

[axel]

How bout this one?

 

[Outside_Lookin_in]

strangely eclectic!

 

[mr. splendid]

here is one from Germany that has a kinda teenbeat/garage vibe....

 

[axel]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I guess there are more garagey recordings of German groups than English, which indeed has to do with a certain crudeness and inability. Also, contrary to the UK there were quite a few independent labels and self-release was not uncommon, too.
Here's a nice one:

 

[axel]

Another one:

 

[axel]

CCA was one of those small labels that did a couple of garagey 45s.