What is Sixties Garage?

[beccabear67]

There were acetates, vanity presses and the odd independent, some of which you have put up, but nothing in comparison to the US.

Good point. I guess that Quarrymen two-sider made in Liverpool is sort of The Beatles in the garage/spare parlour? I love the early home tapes of a lot of the late 50s-early 60s rock artists and it's too bad so few of such things from England survive (those three fabled five-piece Pink Floyd titles for example) while we have hours of Buddy Holly, Bobby Fuller, The Beach Boys and Elvis demos and outtakes. I still love that Savage Young Sonics thing Norton put together. People who don't know what they're doing often make the more interesting noises! And then there was The Shaggs' Philosophy Of The World lp.

I love most all those stompin' ravin' German beat groups. I sometimes wonder if the secret weapon was Selmer amps, Telefunken mics, or maybe even Uschi Nerke? The Lords are particularly great because there's that bit of an accent... and odd turns of phrase to puzzle over.

 

[Outside_Lookin_in]

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.

I just find the Germans to be less musical (perhaps just a symptom of being less creative generally) than Great Britain, Holland, Spain, France, Italy, etc. They did a lot of RnB covers without adding much ingenuity. They were brilliant at umpah and marching band music though. Crudeness or ineptness along with more independent releases wasn't enough to compensate. There are of course notable exceptions, and your youtube posts have softened my stance slightly.

 

[mr. splendid]

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.

Again depends on what you consider garage . A lot of those german bands take their inspiration from merseybeat . They also have a fondness for sing-a-long La-La-La songs and like to add a novelty angle to them . Quite often the vocals are mixed way upfront , probably because the engineers were mostly doing german pop music . BTW that Vampires song was recorded after they relocated to Spain .

 

[mr. splendid]

here are some of the better german ones IMO , unfortunately a fair amount is not on YouTube .

 

[mr. splendid]

 

[mr. splendid]

 

[mr. splendid]

 

[mr. splendid]

 

[mr. splendid]

 

[Hicksville Hogwash]

The Germans less artistic is strange. Germany beat the Beatles into a great band, made them take up a new image the Exis - existentialists haircuts. Artists molded the Monks sound too. Germany ...well the west was under protection of US and British troops, bringing their music with them. The Brits took up the American black R & B sounds, I'm sure no American was replacing say Elvis for Cliff? The German kids were influenced by both sides, probably more so with the Americans. Maybe Germany is where the British sound was born.

Listing the great equipment made there do not forget the mutterfooker of a guitar company - Hofner. Hofners ruled Europe. The violin bass, meh? ...but the semi acoustic six strings are so good. I still own a very battered '63ish? Verithin plays a dream, electrics are messed up now - guess I need an inartistic German technician to fix it for me.

I just find the Germans to be less musical (perhaps just a symptom of being less creative generally) than Great Britain, Holland, Spain, France, Italy, etc. They did a lot of RnB covers without adding much ingenuity. They were brilliant at umpah and marching band music though. Crudeness or ineptness along with more independent releases wasn't enough to compensate. There are of course notable exceptions, and your youtube posts have softened my stance slightly.

 

[Laurent Bigot]

Beethoven, Bach and Wagner less musical... less rocking maybe.

 

[axel]

I just find the Germans to be less musical (perhaps just a symptom of being less creative generally) than Great Britain, Holland, Spain, France, Italy, etc. They did a lot of RnB covers without adding much ingenuity. They were brilliant at umpah and marching band music though. Crudeness or ineptness along with more independent releases wasn't enough to compensate. There are of course notable exceptions, and your youtube posts have softened my stance slightly.

It's true that in terms of quality there's not much in German pop music that can compare to British or American standards. But I wasn't talking about quality. There are loads of raw, rocking and sometimes hilarious German 60s recordings, that do have a garagey vibe. As Mr. Splendid pointed out a fair amount is not on youtube, but it's all on Prae-Kraut Pandaemonium, to me one of the craziest and funniest 60s compilation series. It's not all superb, and hardly anything can compare to all the great records from the UK and US (and Australia). But if you're talking about "garage", it has a lot of characteristic moments.

To say that Germans are generally less creative is nonsense. In the 1920s Germany had some of the most visionary and influential artists in almost every field from film to architecture and design to modern classical music and fine arts (even anti-art = DADA). But the Nazis left behind an artistic wasteland, a lot of artists having escaped to the States, and since then it is dominated by imported culture from the US (and the UK regarding pop music), probably more than any other European country. Which personally I don't mind, because as long as it's good I don't care where the music comes from.

 

[axel]

Now check this out and tell me if there's much else in Europe that comes as close to US 60s garage punk. The a-side "Lucky End" is in the same vein, but unfortunately not on youtube. And that sleeve! Can it get any cooler than this?!

 

[mr. splendid]

Now check this out and tell me if there's much else in Europe that comes as close to US 60s garage punk. The a-side "Lucky End" is in the same vein, but unfortunately not on youtube. And that sleeve! Can it get any cooler than this?!

I had a reason for not posting this one... Also the labels are reversed on this record , so the song is Lucky End ! The other side is a bit moodier .

 

[axel]

Ah okay, so "Lucky End" is VERY much in the same vein. Do you have that one? I assume it's incredibly rare...

 

[beccabear67]

A lot of the German beat groups might seem a bit schizo to us... the same group that could do a raw snarly rocker could also do a corny Freddy & The Dreamers clown act. The fact of liking a chanted chorus like in Peanut Butter by The Liverbirds is probably just so there is something they can sing along with in what is a foreign language there, no? The two recent German Measles collections (Bear Family sub-label) are on my wish list now! All killer no Phylis Diller? The Lords - Rain Dreams from that Bear Family sampler disc is a good example of everything I like about German Beat... I had some from old vinyl but everything sounds better on new Bear Fam releases.

 

[Outside_Lookin_in]

Okay, so it seems I've copped a bit of flack for suggesting the Germans might lack creativity. I should have made it clear I was referring to the post WWII period. I think they lost a lot of talent during that war period, which was in no small part due to their getting rid of so many Jews. Anyway, my respect for German '60s garage is slowly growing thanks to the above posts, particularly the High Spirits, Thursday's Child (which I knew, but had forgotten about, and which I just noticed is the same song as the Southern Gentlemen's "I want you back again", but so reworked that it's almost a totally different song.), and especially the Uniteds.

 

[axel]

I think they lost a lot of talent during that war period, which was in no small part due to their getting rid of so many Jews.

Definitely.

I have posted this one before, just in case you haven't seen it, here's a supercool split single by The Steadfasts / The Cashions, DIY style 1965. Both sides are in the video.

 

[Laurent Bigot]

Now check this out and tell me if there's much else in Europe that comes as close to US 60s garage punk.

 

[MopTopMike]