26 May 1968

Show

Name

• Top Gear

Station

• BBC Radio One

YYYY-MM-DD

• 1968-05-26

Comments

• Trailer by Humphrey Lyttleton for his Sunday evening programme The Jazz Scene precedes Peel's intro to this show, spoken over the Top Gear theme tune

  

  The cover of July's self titled album

• Peel mentions he doesn't like the sleeve of July's LP, but does like the sound. He thinks they're Irish, because most of the artists on their record label are. In fact, they're from Ealing, London. The LP now regularly commands a 4 figure sum on Discogs.
• Peel plays a session track from Alan Bown covering Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower", which was famously covered later in 1968 by Jimi Hendrix. The Mike Stuart Span cover Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle" on their session.
• He plays Fairport Convention's version of Joni Mitchell's "Chelsea Morning" from their first LP but says, mistakenly, that the song was written by Judy Collins.
• Eric Burdon And The Animals' session session includes "Landscape", a song by Shawn Phillips, sung by Zoot Money. Their session also includes "When Things Go Wrong", which, as Peel remarks, "sounds suspiciously like 'It Hurts Me Too" (by Elmore James). He says he's disappointed that the version of the single "Monterey" doesn't have the Who-like guitar effect of the record. (The version on the previous session by Burdon and the Animals had a backing which was virtually identical to the record - did they use a pre-recorded tape?)

• He has doubts about the correct way to pronounce David Bowie's surname and gives three alternatives before settling on the familiar one. He also complains about the lack of record cleaning materials in the studio.
• He praises Eclection's performance, apparently their first in front of an audience, at the LSE the previous evening. Their first and only LP was issued by Elektra later in the year and they did sessions for Top Gear before splitting up.,
• He reports that the Tunbridge Wells ladies' water polo team voted not to play in Peking this summer.
• Peel mentions that the track he plays from Ars Nova's self-titled album (also on Elektra) was a Bernie Andrews favourite..
• Peel says next week's Top Gear will be broadcast between 3 to 5pm, unlike this one which began at 2 p.m.. At 2 p.m next Sunday Jimmy Savile would introduce Savile's Travels, but Peel little suspected that John Walters, who worked on Savile's show, would later become producer of Top Gear.
• Peel mentions that he spent a lot of time with Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band' lat week, including a gig at Frank Freeman's Dancing School. He points out that the "Moonchild" single, just issued in the UK, was recorded two years ago and the band doesn't like it, although he played it on the radio when he worked in San Bernardino.
• Says he'll be at the Oz benefit at Middle Earth that evening and in Portsmouth the following night.

• Peel ends the show with a track from Fever Tree, covering the Beatles' double A-side "Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out". He mentions that he's had a lot of letters about the Fever Tree LP, which was only available on import. A listener wrote to Melody Maker, asking how he could obtain a copy. In reply, Peel recommended One Stop Records, one of his preferred record shops of the time.
• Closing remarks: "What I need is an entire Sunday to play all these things to you…..production by mad motorcyclist Bernie Andrews… In the meantime be gentle with one another, and don’t play too much cricket". - a reference to his earlier remark, when playing the Rolling Stones single, about how 'playing cricket with the system' is an ineffective approach if you want to change anything

Sessions

• Eric Burdon And The Animals #2, recorded 21st May 1968. No known commercial release.
• David Bowie #2, recorded 13th May 1968. "When I'm Five" available on the 40th anniversary edition of "David Bowie" (Deram - 531792-5). Rest of session  available on "Bowie At The Beeb" (2xCD, EMI, 2000). 
• Mike Stuart Span only session, recorded 7th May 1968. Available on "Timespan".
• Alan Bown #2 recorded 20th March 1968, repeat, first broadcast 07 April 1968. No known commercial release.
• Family #2, recorded 16th April 1968, repeat, first broadcast 07 April 1968. Available on "Family At The BBC".

Tracklisting

• July: Jolly Mary (LP - July) Major Minor
• Alan Bown: Mutiny (session)
• David Bowie: London Bye Ta Ta (session)
• Tyrannosaurus Rex: Strange Orchestras (LP - My People Were Fair And Had Sky In Their Hair... But Now They're Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows) Regal Zonophone
• Mike Stuart Span: My White Bicycle (session)
• Donovan: Hurdy Gurdy Man (7") Pye (played for Christine Perfect of Chicken Shack who asked him to play it)
• Family: See Through Windows (session)
• Hearts And Flowers: She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune (7" - She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune / Tin Angel (Will You Ever Come Down)) Capitol (JP: "one of my singalong records") &
• Eric Burdon And The Animals: White Houses (session) @

(2:30pm news edited out)

• Alan Bown: All Along The Watchtower (session)
• Rolling Stones: Jumpin' Jack Flash (7" - Jumpin' Jack Flash / Child Of The Moon) Decca
• David Bowie: In The Heat Of The Morning (session)
• Mike Stuart Span: Children Of Tomorrow (session)
• Ars Nova: Album In Your Mind (LP - Ars Nova) Elektra (JP dedicates this to Geoffrey Prowse, who'd just gone into hospital)
• Family: Hey Mr. Policeman (session) ("for groovy, freaky drunks everywhere")
• Tiny Tim: Ever Since You Told Me That You Love Me (I'm A Nut) (LP - God Bless Tiny Tim) Reprise
• Eric Burdon And The Animals: Monterey (session)
• Fairport Convention: Chelsea Morning (LP - Fairport Convention) Polydor
• David Bowie: Karma Man (session)
• Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band: Moonchild (7") A&M
• Family: Old Songs New Songs (session)
• Moby Grape: Can't Be So Bad (LP - Wow) CBS
• Eric Burdon And The Animals: Landscape (session)
• Canned Heat: On The Road Again (7") Liberty
• Mike Stuart Span: Through The Looking Glass (session)
• Pentangle: Way Behind The Sun (LP - The Pentangle) Transatlantic (JP: "I've just been re-reading my sleevenotes to the LP, and they're really bad, but never mind...)
• JP mentions Vincent Tseng, who's also in the studio, and talks about "orchestrated highways".
• Crazy World Of Arthur Brown: Fire (LP - The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown) Track (JP says he played this at Middle Earth the night before and says people, and "especially attractive girls", looked straight through him)
• Alan Bown: Penny For Your Thoughts (session)
• Chicken Shack: Lonesome Whistle Blues (LP - Forty Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed And Ready To Serve) Blue Horizon (JP: I’ve got Pete Roche in here now, all the stars..")
• David Bowie: When I'm Five (session)
• Eric Burdon And The Animals: When Things Go Wrong (session) @
• Fever Tree: Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out (LP - Fever Tree) UNI

Tracks marked @ also on File 2 and & on File 3

File

Name

• 1) J P Top Gear 26 May 1968 complete
• 2a) Eric Burdon & the Animals - Peel session - Top Gear 26/5/68
• 2b) 1968-05-26 TG 26.5.68 Eric Burdon 2 songs with Peel intro
• 3) 1968-05-26 TG mid 68 Hearts & Flowers LP track with Peel outro

Length

• 1) 2:02:00
• 2) 0:07:37
• 3) 0:02:47

Other

• 1) Many thanks to Tim
• 2,3) Many thanks to Colin Harper. File 2b has centred audio and some marked volume variations smoothed.

Available

• 1) Mooo
• 2a) Youtube
• 2b) Mooo
• 3) [http://mooo.peelwiki.com/dl/Stuart/1968-05-26%20TG%20mid%2068%20Hearts%20&%20Flowers%20LP%20track%20with%20Peel%20outro.mp3 Mooo]