“Elusive Butterfly” is a song written by Bob Lind, released as a single in December 1965, which reached No. 5 on both the Billboard and the adult contemporary chart in the spring of 1966. In the UK, despite a cover version by Val Doonican, it reached No. 5. In Australia, Lind’s “Elusive Butterfly” entered the charts in April 1966, and spent three weeks at No. 2 during July 1966. In the song the narrator sees himself as a butterfly hunter. He is looking for romance, but he finds it as elusive as a butterfly. Lind credits the song’s inspiration as the W. B. Yeats’ poem “The Song of Wandering Aengus”.
“Hang On Sloopy” (originally “My Girl Sloopy“) is a 1964 song written by Wes Farrell and Bert Berns. The Vibrations were the first to record the tune in 1964, which reached No. 26 on the Billboard chart. The song became standard fare for garage bands and, in 1965, it became one of the first songs recorded by the Yardbirds with guitarist Jeff Beck. A version by the rock group the McCoys was the most successful, when it reached number one in the singles chart. Recordings by additional artists also reached the charts, including versions in Spanish and Portuguese. The original version of Sloopy was written by a “high school kid in St. Louis” and sold to Bert Berns, according to Rick Derringer of the McCoys, By one account, the inspiration for the song was Dorothy Sloop, a jazz singer from Steubenville, Ohio, and a student at the University.
“Heart Full of Soul” is a song recorded by English group the Yardbirds in 1965. Written by Graham Gouldman, it was the Yardbirds’ first single after Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton as lead guitarist. Released only three months after “For Your Love”, “Heart Full of Soul” reached the Top 10 on the singles charts in the UK, US, and several other countries. The Yardbirds first recorded the song with an Indian sitar player performing the distinctive instrumental figures. However, the group were dissatisfied with the results, so Beck developed the part on electric guitar to emulate the sitar. A contemporary review described it as an “oriental touch” and music writers have identified Beck’s contribution as introducing Indian influenced guitar stylings to rock music and one of the earliest examples of what became known as rage rock. Beck’s use of a fuzz box has also been cited as perhaps the first significant use of the effect.
“Time of the Season” is a song by the British rock band the Zombies, featured on their 1968 album Odessey and Oracle. It was written by keyboard player Rod Argent and recorded at Abbey Road Studios in August 1967. Over a year after its original release, the track became a surprise hit in the United States, rising to number three on the Billboard and number one on the Cashbox chart. It has become one of the Zombies’ most popular and recognizable songs, and an iconic hit of 1960s psychedelia that continues to enjoy frequent airplay on classic rock and oldies radio.
“Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” is a song written by Bennie Benjamin, Horace Ott and Sol Marcus for the American singer-songwriter and pianist Nina Simone, who recorded the first version in 1964. The Animals’ lead singer Eric Burdon would later say of the song, “It was never considered pop material, but it somehow got passed on to us and we fell in love with it immediately.” The song was recorded in November 1964. The band became a trans-Atlantic hit in early 1965 for their rendition of the song, rising to No. 3 in the UK, No. 15 in the US, and No. 4 in Canada. Cash Box described it as “a striking combination of R&B and English-rock touches.” This single was ranked by Rolling Stone at No. 322 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
