TL: DR - An unknown song recorded from a Chicago-area radio station in the 1970s. Nobody has yet been able to ID this song, and not a single one of the music-recognition apps recognize it. Trust me; we've tried more than Shazam. I need help in identifying an unknown psychedelic folk song. YouTube's copyright algorithm doesn't detect it. Shazam and other programs are just as clueless as I am, and searching up the lyrics only turns up forum threads discussing the mystery. Does anybody know the title and artist of this song? Vocaroo link if you prefer over YouTube: Vocaroo | Online voice recorder This psychedelic (folk rock) song was previously believed to be 'Take Me Home' by Keith James after a Discogs user misidentified it. However, that was disproven after somebody in the community bought and digitized the album allegedly containing this unknown song... It turned out to be a different track. So far, there doesn't seem to be any information on the song online beyond the poor quality radio-to-tape recording. All we know is that it was taped off a Chicago-area radio station in the 70s. Currently, it is referred to as 'The Fishes' (based on an early mishearing) or 'Take Me Home' as working titles, but nobody knows what the actual title is. There's a bit of organ at the end, which is from the song "Rare Bird - Bird on a Wing" and not related to this song. Any ideas or help identifying this song would be greatly appreciated.
Lyrics: As I came unto the village square, I saw a lady standing there I can take you to a tavern if you drive And she thanked me with a twinkle in her eye Tavern master saw that I was with a friend My guitar was strapped within my shoulder bag I can earn my keep for meal and a bed Tellin’ tales of all the villages I’ve passed Playin’ my song was much to my surprise Sufficient in the tavern keeper's eyes Listen to me sing the days of long ago And the lady wants to take me to her home Take me home (take me home) Take me home On my way On my way
I can't help solve the mystery but I do like it. Reminds me a bit of Christine McVie melodies. Probably the Rhodes piano that does it. Good luck and now I'm curious!
I appreciate it. I am curious, too. This mystery is still relatively new, so I am confident that somebody will hopefully recognize the song. It sources from the same OP as the one from the mystery song "I Keep Looking." The thread which you can find here: "I Keep Looking For That Sunset" Can anyone identify this '70s rock song?
Awesome crowdsourced mystery solving! I have a song like that I've been trying to find for 30+ years. Maybe I should start a thread about it.
Please do! You taped it off a radio, I assume? If you make a thread, do leave a link here so I can see! I'll share it around forums and with a couple of mates who are into these sorts of mysteries - of course, if that is fine with you! (-:
Sadly only the chorus remains in my head. The recording I made off the radio disappeared long ago. I guess I would have to make a recording of what I remember. Hmmm... Food for thought.
I can only guess they think this is a marketing ploy or an advertising strategy of some kind and believe that they are contributing to it by viewing it. This is not the case, and I sincerely don't want to cause any drama, but only to request help solving this song. I edited my thread with a Vocaroo link; hopefully, that's a safer alternative for them. Link here: Vocaroo | Online voice recorder
Well this is kind of crazy and a bit embarrassing but I haven't searched for it in years and just for fun googled the words I remember just now and found two other inquiries of people who remember the chorus but couldn't find it. An updated Google groups post from 2017 solved it. I assumed the song would be called something like 'Too Far Away From My Beer' but it's just called 'The Beer Song'. It's not a masterpiece but the chorus is something my friend and I would sing at parties all because I had an old tape that cracked me up and I couldn't get it out of my head. Also I'm a sucker for a pedal steel. I absolutely would not have searched for this today if not for your post so thank you! A 30 year mystery of mine solved and I feel a bit like a thread hijacker. I'm sorry I can't help with your mystery but I'll keep an eye on the thread. Cheers!
Quite an obscure gem! It seems like people had discussed this song on an old Google Groups thread from 2003. For some reason, this reminds me a lot of the country-rock band "Free Beer" from 1975. Glad I was able to help, and thank you so much for bringing this to my attention! I'd put this in my wish list if I could, it sounds wonderful! It seems like I can barely find anything related to this release on the Internet besides this Discogs entry, though: https://www.discogs.com/Bobs-White-Gazebo/release/4880855. I do wonder if our "Tavern" song from this thread suffered the same fate. I believe it is somewhere on YouTube with the actual song's title and author, waiting to be found. Unfortunately, it doesn't have much of a chorus, and for what it's worth, the title might not even be in the lyrics.
Yeah, that's like trying to find an instrumental without knowing the title. "it goes mmm mmm doo laa". lol. Yeah I'm all over that discogs entry. I must get it. The pic of the cover in the youtube video looks like a CD jewelbox insert and has more songs listed than the discogs LP pic even though discogs has no listing for a CD so maybe it was self made or something.
Oh, I didn't even see that they are selling it on Discogs. The cheapest one is 1.99$ with shipping fees.
I don't know who that is, but when we find out I will immediately try to buy it as it is exactly my kind of music.....
Please, anybody has any suggestions on who the singer might be? It would be a shame for this song to remain unknown.
Saw this thread yesterday, but didn't notice the detail of this song being from that previous mystery Jim Dawson tape from radio broadcast. That's really cool. I'm confident it will get solved, and solved here.
Yes! After the Jim Dawson mystery was solved by forum user SteelyNJ, the OP submitted 11 more songs that were unidentifiable. These are the songs in question, provided from the spreadsheets: left side: unofficial titles; right side: official title/author I Keep Looking - Jim Dawson - The Livin' & The Dyin' First Stone in a Pyramid: Gabriel Bondage - First Stone in a Pyramid Won't Matter in a Hundred Years: Gabriel Bondage - You And The Wind Bird of Paradise: Free Hot Lunch - Bird of Paradise Fly Away: Henry Gross - Fly Away State of our Union: Mariah - Reunion Leavin' Idaho: Allen Dobb - Leavin' Idaho Wide-Eyed: Allen Dobb - Watkin's Man Ladies & Gentlemen: Gabriel Bondage - Ladies And Gentlemen Under Your Wings: Rare Bird - Bird On a Wing Open Spaces: Xit - Beginning / At Peace The Fishes: Unsolved
Probably from ‘68-‘72 something nowadays considered psych folk, probably independent/private press, ala Perry Leopold, etc., Kinda stuff in the acid archives or deep in Rate Your Music (RYM) Acid Archives
I don't think we have much information about the tapes in general. I could ask, though. Sadly, we do not know what other songs were on the same side (assuming it is the same tape) that contains this track. We made further contacts with the OP, but they seem to be busy as we speak. We do, however, still have the whole digitized side of the tape containing "I Keep Looking" along with some of the other former mystery songs discussed in this thread. If links such as this one are not allowed to be posted on this forum, please alert me, and I'll remove it right away. 83.11 MB file on MEGA
These music treasure hunts are fun! One of my favorite music/counterculture authors, Jesse Jarnow, is currently working on “an alternate history of music told through grey area recordings, live tapes, bootlegs, mixes, & other secretly influential non-releases from the 19th century to the present” that undoubtedly will feature lots of lost/obscure/buried mysteries like the song this thread is pursuing. https://twitter.com/bourgwick/status/1249761297052434432?s=21