[ScenesFromPalacio]

Zeek mentioned in one of my threads that he often loved the b sides more than the A sides-and i agree !
60s/70s B sides were often fantastic..Amazing they wern't included on an album-or made it to the A side themselves..
Here's a few of my favourites ever..


THE KINKS made ace b sides......


I'm Not Like Everybody Else B side of Sunny Afternoon

Big Black Smoke B Side of Dead End Street..It says on the link it was from their 'Face To Face' album,but wasn't on the original at all.Its a 'bonus' track added to recent editions

Berkeley Mews B Side of Lola



THE JAM made wonderful B sides too..

Butterfly Collector B side of 'Strange Town'


Liza Radley B side of Start



Lets here some gems you've found

[Lazz]

I always dug Phil Spector's B-sides.

The crafty kid recognised early that B-sides generate the same cash as A-sides.
So he would just tape a quick jam from the session guys, call them "the Phil Spector Group", invent a title for the track, and credit himself as 'composer'.
The tune would always be a 12-bar blues.

This one, a Ronette's B-side, hits a fearsomely brisk tempo straight from the down-beat.
West-coast first-call studio guys were all solidly grounded jazz players.

They knew how to tear-up on the straight-ahead just as much as they knew how to play the right stuff for the Beach-Boys.



Denny Tedesco (the son of Tommy Tedesco - one of those session players) has a TV documentary about 'em that I'm still waiting to see.
http://www.wreckingcrew.tv/

[DeeDee]

The most memorable B-side for me...is Van Halen's 'Happy Trails'. (A-side was 'Pretty Woman' I think) It was my older sister's record and I can remember us singing it together at the top of our lungs.



http://youtu.be/xFhHbt0tca8

[feegis]

One of my most enjoyable B-Sides was "Uneasy Rider" by Charlie Daniels ( http://www.youtube.c...h?v=952h-AJ3Bcg ). It was the flip-side to The Devil Went Down To Georgia.

My very first 45 was Get Off Of My Cloud by the Rolling Stones, which I bought at a garage sale. The B-side was "I'm Free", but it didn't move me like side A, and I remember thinking, "No wonder it's on side B." I was only 7 or 8 years old at the time - I didn't know what I was doing.

[scubed]

Two great Beatles B sides: "If I Fell" ( B Side to "And I Love Her," which was my first Beatles record) and "Day Tripper" (B side to "We Can Work It Out"). I wore those out.

Fun topic!

[ScenesFromPalacio]

Lazz...What a bizarre b side to have on a Ronettes single..Must've been strange for the teens flippin' it and finding no ronnie n a jazzin' be-bop instrumental lol
That documentary looks fantastic...Am gonna see if i can hunt it down n watch it tonight-Thanx for the heads up


DeeDee...Not unexpected to get a beach boysy accapella there..Its pretty cool..Is it an old standard or something ?


Feegis...Really atmospheric story-song..Same kinda vibe n delivery as Boy Named Sue..

I'm Free was covered by a band in the early 90s with a big 'funky drummer' beat and was a massive hit here in the uk..


scubed...Day Tripper was actually released as a double 'A' side here in the UK - tho we can work it out was easily the most popular side..I agree,The Beatles had a load of ace b sides..Rain,Yes It Is,Old Brown Shoe,The Inner Light
The quality was unbelivably high in everything they did..

[feegis]

Hey, Scenes - yeah, I'd like to hear that version of "I'm Free". If you have a link, could you post it?

In the meantime, since I mentioned my very first 45, I may as well mention my very last 45. It was Springsteen's "57 Channels". The B-side caught my attention immediately. It's called Part Man, Part Monkey, and I definitely thought it was a better song than Side A. Part Man, Part Monkey has since been released on "Tracks".

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=-LLAojh0AdE

[DannyDep]

Oh my!!!
A topic I can relate to and not be ashamed of insinuating my age.
One of the first songs I learned for one of the first bands I was in was Booker T. & the MGs,
Green Onions

[Lazz]

DannyDep said:

Green Onions

Referee!!

Can we get an adjudication on B-side status ?

Thank you.

[FunkDaddy]

What's a B-Side? Is that some sort of app I can add to my Ipod Touch?

[NigeQ]

There was always something exciting about buying a single and then having the anticipation of discoveringe what was on the B side. The first single I ever bought was Plastic Man by The Kinks, the B side was a song called King Kong which I thought sounded surprising like Marc Bolan.

Another one that sticks in my mind was Man Of The World by Fleetwood Mac, my brother had that single. The B side was some seemingly unrelated band called something like Earl Vince and the Valiants (from memory so may not be 100% correct) with a song Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight – it was a bit of an Elvis pastiche.

One of my favourites though is Jim Stafford’s Spiders and Snakes on the B side is a song called Undecided. It starts off with a jolly banjo riff and then goes into a slow wailing blues of “Yes, yes, yes” and then “No, no, no” – it could only happen on a B side

I guess a more modern equivalent of the ‘B’ side is the hidden track, but maybe save that for another thread

Thanks for bringing up this topic Steve, I could talk about it for hours but will spare you all for the time being

[Simple Simon]

FunkDaddy, on 20 January 2012 - 12:05 PM, said:

What's a B-Side? Is that some sort of app I can add to my Ipod Touch?

I'm an old bugger and even I can barely remember the B-Side thing! But then, I don't think I ever bought more than a handful of singles back then.

[DannyDep]

Lazz, on 19 January 2012 - 05:58 PM, said:

DannyDep said:

Green Onions

Referee!!
Can we get an adjudication on B-side status ?
Thank you.

Hey.
Show me your Southwest Airlines ID badge please.
I can't reproduce the 45 so, sadly, the only thing I have is a Google search, one of which comes from Wikipedia.
(Yeah, i know, it wouldn't stand up in court)
Wiki - Green Onions

btw, missed that Wrecking Crew video on my first read of this topic.
I just joined their Facebook group.
I hope they can get the film released.
Thx, Lazz

[DannyDep]

Simple Simon, on 20 January 2012 - 04:27 AM, said:

FunkDaddy, on 20 January 2012 - 12:05 PM, said:

What's a B-Side? Is that some sort of app I can add to my Ipod Touch?

I'm an old bugger and even I can barely remember the B-Side thing! But then, I don't think I ever bought more than a handful of singles back then.

There you go again.
Bringing age into the argument. You were still in diapers right?
The B-Side stands for the bottom side. Oh, that's right, they didn't have Pampers back then.
No wonder you're always wanting to wind things up.

[Lazz]

DannyDep said:

Hey.
Show me your Southwest Airlines ID badge please.
I can't reproduce the 45 so, sadly, the only thing I have is a Google search, one of which comes from Wikipedia.
(Yeah, i know, it wouldn't stand up in court)

Thank YOU, referee.

I had completely forgotten "Behave Yourself".
Seems when it was released in the U.K. (on London), the sides were flipped.

Good call.

Carry on.

[ScenesFromPalacio]

Feegis..I'm Free - Soup Dragons

That Springsteen one sounds more like BB King to me...


Nige..Yeh Ray D's got the Bolan warble off to a tee there...Must've been intentional..Def prefer this song to Apeman

Somebody's gonna get their heads about as opposite in vibe to Man Of The World as its possible to get !

The Rezillos did a punk version of it as a B side too

Couldn't find a link to The Jim Stafford one i'm afraid..Shame i'd've like to've heard it..

[NigeQ]

I’ve been meaning to come back to this

ScenesFromPalacio, on 16 January 2012 - 06:37 PM, said:

THE JAM made wonderful B sides too..

Butterfly Collector B side of 'Strange Town'

Many years ago (early 80s) a friend of mine came round to my house with an arm full of Jam records with a view to recording them on to a cassette so he could play them in his car (file-sharing of its day). Anyway when we got to Strange Town, the single it was badly warped and wouldn’t play. So I decided to try and straighten it out. I can still hear my mate saying “be careful I borrowed that from someone at work” and at that moment - Snap!! – may mate didn’t want to look but clearly knew what had happened. I said “Don’t worry they have an HMV near where I work they have a lot of out of chart singles” (Strange Town was probably a couple of years old at the time). Anyway, luckily HMV did have a copy of ST which I bought and we put it amongst the other Jam singles to be returned to my mate’s colleague.

It turned out that the colleague spotted the replacement easily, he already knew that his single was unplayable and thought that I was completely mad to try and fix it. Still, he was quite happy to get a brand new playable single out of my stupidity

I still think it was worth a go!!

Incidentally I always thought the Butterfly Collector melody was very similar to Dave Berry’s The Crying Game

[ScenesFromPalacio]

Nige-Kinda ironic that there was a Jam album called SNAP! then lol..Good story..
I'd never noticed a similarity before-but i can hear its on the 'I know all there is to know' with 'there's tarts and whores but you're much more' parts..

Its nowhere near as brazen as the na-na-na-na chorus on Deep Purples 'Hush' tho...Which is just a speeded up version of the aa-h-aah-aahh-aah psychedelic middle bit on 'A Day In The Life'..
Always amazed the writers of that song got away without a lawsuit for that..As it was a monster hit (for a different band in the U.S ?) on both sides of the atlantic..

[Matt P.]

Hey Hey What Can I Do - Led Zeppelin (B side of Immigrant Song)
You Know My Name Look Up My Number - The Beatles (B side of Let It Be?)
Stars That Play With Laughing Sam's Dice - Jimi Hendrix Experience (B side of Burning of the Midnight Lamp - UK only)
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window - Bob Dylan (B side of Like A Rolling Stone?)

Correct me if I'm wrong on any of the A Sides - I know most of these B sides through CD reissues, box sets etc.

[FunkDaddy]

Matt P., on 27 January 2012 - 11:00 PM, said:

Hey Hey What Can I Do - Led Zeppelin (B side of Immigrant Song)

Didn't know that was a B-side. One of my favorites

[NigeQ]

Matt P., on 28 January 2012 - 04:00 AM, said:

Hey Hey What Can I Do - Led Zeppelin (B side of Immigrant Song)
You Know My Name Look Up My Number - The Beatles (B side of Let It Be?)

Led Zep rarely released singles over here (UK), so no B sides for us In fact the only LZ single I can think of is Trampled Under Foot.

I suppose You Know My Name Look Up My Number is a gem – The Beatles’ last single, therefore their last B side and the last word is ‘goodbye’

[ScenesFromPalacio]

Matt...Yeh that Led Zep song is a real gem-What a great track for a B side-Love how the bass shifts the harmony here..Never heard it before-Thanx
The Dylan and Hendrix ones were interesting and i'd never heard them before either

[ScenesFromPalacio]

Unbelivably this absoloute gem by The Shangri-Las was just a B side....
So much drama in the song and the chorus is so haunting with so much heart..
Magical track


http://youtu.be/mrbDc9vZQ2E

[Wolf Kier]

Hi everyone. I'm reasonably new here, thought I'd dig in and see what folks were conversationing about.... Lots of memories here. Great topic.

My nomination:

"I'm not your steppin' stone" was a B-side on the Monkees "I'm a Believer". Their second single. 1966.

Brilliant stuff.

Monkees version: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=nCM7qcRyfKo

And the original release (an album track again 1966) by Paul Revere and the Raiders: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=0v0o0NZbMWg

Even the Sex Pistols had a whack at it, and played it live back in the day. Here's a version from their Filthy Lucre Reunion: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=-0l-KyBC3F4

Getting my deep old school groove on here.

wolf.

[ScenesFromPalacio]

Yeh 'Stepping Stone's a really famous song for a B side Wolf..Its got a directness, punch n attack well suited to punk too..Can really see why its been covered so much
Would've probably been a big hit if it was released as an A side at the time too..

[ScenesFromPalacio]

Beautiful n haunting track ,No One Ever Tells You by The Crystals..Another magical Goffin/King song -atmospherically arranged by Jack Nietzche and the B side of 'He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss )'

[Roger]

My favorite B is "Groove Me" by King Floyd... was the B side of "What Our Love Needs" but became a big hit.

My link

[ScenesFromPalacio]

Roger, on 30 April 2012 - 05:45 PM, said:

My favorite B is "Groove Me" by King Floyd... was the B side of "What Our Love Needs" but became a big hit.

My link

Cool track Roger..That kind of groovin' great vibed music's difficult to resist..Thanx for sharing..

[R-N-R Jim]

Hi Scenes

Probably the b-side "Channel Swimmer" by 10cc off of their break through Side A smash "Im Not In Love" comes to mind. It had some rather different chord changes in it and though the lyrics were kinda silly in a cliche' way, the music and arranging left an impression on me.
"Country Dreamer", Paul McCartneys flip side to A side to "Helen Wheels" would be another that I enjoyed alot.

regards
R-N-R Jim

[NigeQ]

Talking of 10cc, I always thought that Waterfall (the B side of Rubber Bullets) was a great track. Rubber Bullets was very quirky, a perfect pop song in my view Then you flip it and get this really ‘grown up’ and fresh sounding song. Waterfall – take a listen

[Wolf Kier]

"all down the line" was the B-side of "Happy".
Classic Rock doesn't get any more "classic" than this, IM (not so) HO.

Live and rowdy version 1972: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=7LzgoRyxxVY

and "far away eyes" was the B side to "Miss You"

alternate MTV live take: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=XmIMlgs2NZ0

who said 2 singles couldn't make a party???
Do I even need to mention who the "artists" are?

wolf.

[paradise dismissed]

can you please crawl out your window was a single itself (highway 61 revisited was its b side), Gates of Eden was the B side to like a rolling stone

[Scotto]

I had a collection of 45's because I used to collect them in the late 70's early 80's as a kid. Especially any Beatles I could get my hands on but I had other stuff too. This was before I started buying up 33's en mass. Because they were already long released I didn't know the difference from an A or B side and I can't even remember what I had now. I think I still have my collection locked up in the attic somewhere. Maybe I can dig them up and see what's there... Might be fun though I don't have a record player anymore...

Not really a B side but I've always enjoyed One After 909 from Let it Be. I've been listening to Let it Be Naked mainly over the original and that cut always gets me. Maybe its the energy I don't know...

[NigeQ]

Scotto, on 07 May 2012 - 11:28 PM, said:

Because they were already long released I didn't know the difference from an A or B side and I can't even remember what I had now.

Yes, it wasn't always clear what the A and B sides were but more often than not there was a way of working it out.

Sometimes there was the clear:


Or the not so clear (check the letter just after the catalogue #):


Or the side 1, side 2 approach:


Or there was the classic 'Apple' approach

[bubblingsoul]

Loved, Loved, LOVED the B-side of Sherman's 1966 single "The Drinking Man's Diet"
THE LAARGE DAARK AARDVARK SONG!

And now....I honestly don't have any idea why. BWAHAHAHA!

You can see the lyrics and listen to a clip here:
http://www.madmusic.....aspx?SongID=66

*chuckle* Weird what comes to mind when thinking "B side"!

[Bruce N]

NigeQ, on 08 May 2012 - 03:33 AM, said:

Scotto, on 07 May 2012 - 11:28 PM, said:

Because they were already long released I didn't know the difference from an A or B side and I can't even remember what I had now.

Yes, it wasn't always clear what the A and B sides were but more often than not there was a way of working it out.

And how do you tell the difference on those new fangled CD records, and when I put them on all I hear is one long scratching sound ?

Anyways, one of my favs was CCR's "Fortunate Son" B side of "Down On The Corner." - 1969

Wiki -

The song was inspired by David Eisenhower, the grandson of President Dwight David Eisenhower who married Julie Nixon, the daughter of President Richard Nixon, in 1968. John Fogerty told Rolling Stone: "Julie Nixon was hanging around with David Eisenhower, and you just had the feeling that none of these people were going to be involved with the war. In 1968, the majority of the country thought morale was great among the troops, and like eighty percent of them were in favor of the war. But to some of us who were watching closely, we just knew we were headed for trouble."

This song was popular during the Vietnam War and is included in several Vietnam films and video games. It is from the perspective of a man who is being drafted who is not "fortunate" enough to be the son of a Senator or millionaire.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=ec0XKhAHR5I

[ScenesFromPalacio]

I suppose i should've added that what i meant by a cool B side was a song that was specifically presented as a 'B' Side and not just lifted off a current album of the time from the band/artist..
So Wolf-Fareaway Eyes and Down THe Line don't count for me as they were tracks pulled from stones albums of the time as quick b sides (Some Girls and Exile On Main Street)

Fortunate Sons a frikkin' fantastic track Bruce -but was cherry-picked off their album Willy and The Poor Boys (which Down On The Corner's' from)

Channel Swimmer's a cool n creative track Jim -and thanx for the link to Waterfall Nig (verses remind me so much of Neil Young)
Never heard either of those before..10cc were a creative 70s band f'sure

Love the aardvark song Bubbles lol-One of those really well written quirky 60s ones..Wish it'd play more -couldn't find it on youtube either

[ScenesFromPalacio]

Gonna add No One Ever Tells You by The Crystals again 'cos its an incredible,heartfelt magical song..Seems amazing it was just made a b side...