The Myddle Class
Listen – The Myddle Class – I Happen To Love You – MP3
Howdy.
Welcome back to Iron Leg, and the second installment of Locals Only.
As I said in the first installment (Motifs), this would be dedicated to NJ (and when possible Monmouth/Ocean County) acts.
Today’s selection comes from one of the better NJ garage punk acts, from a little further up the Parkway in Summit.
The Myddle Class recorded three 45s for the Tomorrow label (one later reissued on Buddah) in 1966 and 1967. The group featured vocalist David Palmer – later with Steely Dan, he’s the guy singing ‘Dirty Work’ – and Charlie Larkey who would go on to play bass for (and marry) Carole King.
In addition to recording demos of Goffin/King tunes which were later redone (very closely) by the Monkees themselves, the Myddle Class had the distinction of having the coolest opening act of all time at a 1965 high school gig, that being the Velvet Underground. I used to have an old fanzine with a repro of the flyer from the concert, but it has long since been swallowed the huge, heaving pile of junk that has followed me around for most of my adult life.
Their first 45, a brilliant version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Gates of Eden’ (which I’ll feature sometime in the future) is, like their other two discs not all that hard to come by at a reasonable price and is highly recommended for fans of folky garage.
Today’s selection was the b-side of their second 45, the a-side of which ‘Don’t Let Me Sleep Too Long’ was pretty much stolen from the Blues Project (though the Myddle Class version is outstanding).
‘I Happen To Love You’ (also written by Goffin/King) , a tour de force of moody, atmospheric garage punk whine is by far the superior effort. Featuring reverbed tremolo guitar, a snotty vocal and a complex melody (I love the chords in the chorus), the tune was later covered by the Electric Prunes.
Dig it.
Peace
Larry
PS It’s my youngest son Sean’s first birthday today (Tuesday). Happy Birthday little dude.