This week Jim is taking his SLS prompt from another blogger I enjoy following, as he tells us in his post Games and Playthings. This is our chance to play songs about toys, as suggested by Barbara from teleportingweena – aka ghostmmnc.
As I did last week I’m going back to the best decade ever for music – the Sixties – and am playing two songs that were released within six weeks of each other in late 1967. I’m not sure how popular tin soldiers are nowadays – I’m guessing they have largely been consigned to the toy cupboard of history – but I loved the set I had when I was little, and as far as I’m concerned that is a good enough reason for choosing my first song this week:
And the lyrics:
Although this is credited to both Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane their writing partnership was like that of Lennon and McCartney – joint credit even if just one of them wrote the song. Tin Soldier was written by Steve Marriott and was originally intended for singer P.P. Arnold, but Steve liked it so much he kept it for the band. It was addressed to his first wife, Jenny Rylance, so I can see why he chose to do that. P.P. Arnold can be heard singing backing vocals on the record and, as in this video, also performed as guest singer at television recordings of the song: a great set of pipes for one so tiny! The Small Faces released the track as a single on 2nd December 1967, and it peaked at #9 in the UK and #73 in the US, though it fared best in the Antipodes, reaching #3 in both Australia and New Zealand. I didn’t buy the single at the time, but I did get the fabulous double compilation album The Autumn Stone when that came out in 1969, and this was one of the tracks on it: there have been many Small Faces collections released but I still think that is the best. This track has been covered by a host of other bands, including Humble Pie, the ‘supergroup’ Steve formed after leaving the rest of the Faces, who then linked up with Rod Stewart.
Another plaything that I really enjoyed when I was a kid was going out to fly my kite – I got a lot of exercise chasing it around! Don’t worry, I’m not going down the Mary Poppins route: I said that there were only six weeks between the releases of today’s two tunes and this was the first, which came out on 27 October 1967:
Simon Dupree and the Big Sound were actually a band that wanted to play soul music. They comprised three brothers – Derek, Phil and Ray Shulman – with Eric Hine on keyboards, Peter O’Flaherty on bass, and drummer Tony Ransley. A then unknown keyboard player by the name of Reginald Dwight was hired to fill in for an ill Eric Hine and he joined them on a 1967 tour in Scotland. They were asked to allow him to stay on, and he was almost recruited as a permanent member. The rest, as they say, is history! Note that not one of the band was actually called Simon Dupree – it was just what they thought sounded good. Kites was first recorded earlier in 1967 by The Rooftop Singers, an American country-folk trio, but their version didn’t make the charts. The song was heard by The Big Sound’s management, who insisted that they record it, and though they didn’t like if they had a contractual obligation: it gave them their only big UK hit, reaching #9. The band later released an anonymous single We Are The Moles under the name of The Moles: it wasn’t a hit but did give rise to some wonderful rumours that it was a previously unreleased Beatles song with Ringo on vocals! They broke up in 1969 and the Shulman brothers then founded the prog rock band Gentle Giant, who I once saw in concert in my uni days – a far cry from this track! Unlike Tin Soldier I did buy this one as a single, and have always liked the haunting quality of the arrangement.
That’s all for today: two very different songs from my teen years, both of which I still enjoy today. I’ll see you again for a special edition of Tuesday Tunes, so until then I hope you have a great time 😊
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Two I’d never heard before, and they work great for the toys theme! 🙂
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Thank you, I thought they were a good fit too. As did a couple of other people with Tin Soldier 🤣
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HI! Happy Monday! When you talked about flying a kite, Mary Poppins was the first thing that popped into my head. LOL! I really enjoyed your kite song and the video that went with it. Makes me want to visit a Japanese garden and be by a peaceful waterfall. Glad I checked in today. 🙂
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Hiya, and Happy Monday to you too. No way would I have played Mary Poppins but I’m glad you liked this one. It isn’t exactly authentic but I’ve always liked the haunting feeling it creates. This video was a bonus find! 😊
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You may not have played it, but the Mary Poppins song is still going through my head! I think you need to buy a kite now and go fly it. 🙂
Yes, especially near the end there is a haunting feeling. Glad you found the video. 🙂
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No danger of that – my kite flying days are long past!
I’m guessing the video uses scenes from a movie but I don’t recognise it. It’s a good fit for the song, though.
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It was a perfect fit. 🙂
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The first one sounds vaguely familiar. I liked them both, but I would be more likely to listen to the first one again. Toys have changed a lot in the last decade, but I’ve still seen many children content with a box and their imagination.
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I’m pleased you liked them both, Pete. Many kids still like traditional toys too, which is pleasing to see.
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Haha….and so it goes on xx
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Two excellent choices!
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Thank you! Glad you liked them 😊
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P.P. Arnold was an Ikette and her voice blends well with Steve Marriott. Your second song was new to me, but I really liked it and thought it had a sort of Moody Blues vibe to it. Thanks for sharing your music again, Clive.
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Her record company tried hard to release P.P. Arnold from Ike’s control, and she did well. I thought the second one would be new to most over there: that Moodies vibe is probably down to the mellotron. Happy to be here again 😊
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The Small Faces were a great band (as were Humble Pie). ‘Kites’ was a good one too. Simon Dupree’s one hit wonder.
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Absolutely – Steve Marriott had a great cv. Simon Dupree: the man who never was 🤣
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Wonderful choices, Clive! I knew Tin Soldier, of course, but Kites was new to me. It was a strange little story but visually captivating. I’m relieved there was no hari kari at the end! Love can be so fickle! 🗡️
Nice ones!
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Thank you, Nancy, I’m pleased you liked them. I thought you might have known Kites from the Rooftop Singers version but it seems it went under the radar there too! I don’t think that was an official video for it, but it does a great job in enhancing the feel of the song. Always been a favourite of mine ever since I first bought the record.
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I’ll admit I’d never heard of Small Faces, but as soon as I heard it I thought, “Wait. I know that song. But not from them.” I know it from the Canadian banc, Streetheart who did it in 1980. Did not know it was a cover until now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGE8BSwJAuc
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Likewise, I’d never heard of Streetheart! I think I’ll stick with the original 😊
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Snap!
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That makes three of us. So far 🤣
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Well done Clive two great tracks , Kites is another favourite of mine with memories! Another one where I remember all the lyrics… Well the Japanese part only phonetically. Imagine if old or should I say young Reg had stayed with the band …..mm 🤗💜
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Glad you liked them. I’ve always liked Kites, and the use of the mellotron presaged their turning into a prog rock band. Musical history could have been very different if Reg had joined them!
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Yes indeed….it makes you wonder….sliding doors 💜
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I remember those tin soldiers, a childhood friend I had had a lot of them! That was in the early 80’s! X
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Good to know they were still around. Mine were when I was very little, which makes them late 50s 😊
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Lovely to listen to the Small Faces I saw them live many moons ago at The Grove, St margarets in Ware when they joined up with Mr R,,,Happy Days xx
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That must have been a great gig, but before the time I moved to this area. It’s such a brilliant song, isn’t it 😊 xx
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We were so lucky to be teenagers at that time Clive we had The Square, The Grove, and the Town Park where there were some fabulous free concerts we saw The Bay City Rollers and Thin Lizzy, Kenny Ball and The Pogues, Aswad and Judas Priest and dozens more playing free at Harlow Bandstand …Tell me you saw some of them xx
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I moved to Harlow in 1975 when I got married – ex-wife was from there. I never went to the Square but did quite a few of the Town Park shows, Thin Lizzy among them. Managed to avoid the Bay City Rollers but have memories of Mud, Fairport Convention (on a weekend trip from uni), Darts, Hawkwind, Steel Pulse. Great days!
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They certainly were, Clive, I dropped my eldest girls and picked them up so I too avoided the Bay City Rollers. Steam Packet, Long John Baldry, Brian Auger and Rod at The Grove, we were so lucky and much of the time it was free . Those were the days Clive xx
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I don’t think we realised at the time how lucky we were to be growing up in the best decade for music! xx
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Absolutely correct, Clive we didn’t know back then my father usex to say they won’t be around for long and many of them are still today xxx
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My parents used to say the same, and I now find myself saying it to my daughters. But what they listen to really is crap, so I think it’s fair to say it 🤣 xx
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