May Shake (The Sixties Swirl...)

May, May, May, the water's by the bay,

A needle in the hay, my May, May, May.

That may make no sense at all, but on the first day of May, I felt a burst of excitement that turned into this little ditty. One month from the start of summer, guys! I mean, if the weather cares to level itself out by then.
But back to the Batter.

 I'm in a sixties kind of mood today. I don't know how this happened.
Maybe because I saw one of those long-as-heck commercials for a 20th Century Compilation Album. Maybe it's because I recently watched "Adventures Of A Babysitter"and couldn't get the Crystals' song out of my head.
Maybe it's because I watched an episode of "Unsung" about David Ruffin.
Either way, I wanted to share a couple of my favorite 60's jams with y'all before I combust with the Wall Of Sound.

• And Then He Kissed Me by The Crystals
• Yes, this is the song that the Babysitting movie starts off with. So this is the first one on my list. It really caters to my inner romantic because the lyrics are so wonderfully and innocently romantic. Everyone's secret fantasy. 
• My Boyfriend's Back by The Angels
• Oh, the teasing verses and the perfect-pitched three part harmonies. Everytime I hear this, I think of summer. In fact, every song on this list reminds me of summer. That's the thing with a lot of 60's songs, for me. They carry an atmosphere of warm weather. But yeah, if I was in the singer's situation, I'd be acting the same way. "You're gonna get in trouble! Ha ha!"
• Be My Baby by The Ronettes
• It's funny, this song was in many commercials before I finally looked up who it was. They're like the early Supremes, albeit with a very different style. While they never got to the same level or stardom, their songs were just as lovely to me as the Supremes' are. And there's nothing like this song on a sunny day!
• Ain't Too Proud To Beg by The Temptations
• David Ruffin. Oh, what can you say with David Ruffin on the lead? Such a raw and emotive voice with such desperate lyrics. "If I have to beg, plead for the you sympathy, I don't mind, cause you mean that much to me..." Sing it, sing it, sing it!!! Long Live Motown!
• Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
• Ah, eternal musical love. I get why so many people loved Marvin and Tammi singing together, and saw them as a royal musical couple. Really. On Unsung, fellow Motown artists said they were vocal soul mates, or something along those lines. Now I agree with them. And with Marvin friggin' Gaye on the track, I bet loads of female singers were fighting to be his "soulmate."
• (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones
• On the days when I'm feeling even a little rebellious, for some reason I gravitate towards this song.Not because I can't get any satisfaction from anything in life, but because the music and the vocals and lyrics altogether seem to be sympathetic to whatever crappy mood I may be in. And I don't have much of the Rolling Stones in my Batter Vault, but I recognize their impact on music in their time.
• Baby You Can Drive My Car by The Beatles
• Man, I heard this when I was a child, on the road to a relative's house over the summer. Something about the chorus and the piano chords stuck that song in my head for years until by some miracle, I heard the song again at a restaurant and freaked my friend out by squealing, "Oh My God, WHAT IS THAT SONG?" Since then, I rock out to it every. day. Even though I rarely drive.
• Respect by Aretha Franklin
• Ah, respect. Women and Men have been singing about it for years in many different ways, but none so iconically as Aretha Franklin's way. She's not trying to be bossy or mean about it. She's just saying, "Hey, I love you and you love me, but you need to treat me like you care about me." Sweet and firm at the same time.
• Bring It On Home by Sam Cooke
• I get a little melancholy thinking about Sam Cooke and his wonderful voice. What he could do with that voice when he wanted to was legendary. If only he had been alive just a little longer, what more could he have done for the music world? Anyway, this song has been covered and replayed in Valentine's Day commercials and what not, but when I hear it, I think not of chocolate and roses, just of a tall figure in a black suit with his jacket over his shoulders and a tipped fedora.....No, not Michael Jackson. But you get the point.

Enjoy the Sixties Swirl!

-CDM