'60s Discoveries

If you're the kind of person who likes to look behind the hits, in search of lesser-known tunes that somehow missed out on classic status, then these '60s Discoveries should represent something of a treasure trove — stunning tunes that should by rights have been included on most definitive Best Of lists but, for one reason or another, missed the cut. Tim Hardin gets us underway with a beautiful tune, "Reason to Believe", best known by the Rod Stewart version, but just as memorable in its original 1965 guise, and from the Rolling Stones' catalogue we've added the deceptively pretty, lyrically scathing "Back Street Girl", featuring Brian Jones on recorder. Deep Purple pre-Gillan, Rick James before funk . . . discover something incredible in Next Steps.

The Toronto-based Mynah Birds should have been massive in the '60s given that one stellar line-up placed future funk god Rick "Superfreak" James alongside the pre-formation core of Buffalo Springfield (Neil Young and Bruce Palmer), and we kick off our '60s Discoveries Next Steps with "It's My Time" — the single was slated for release by Motown in 1966 but shelved after James was arrested . . . as a deserter from the United States Navy. And just before Deep Purple sacked original led singer Rod Evans (in favour of Ian Gillan), the band put out an amazing, ambitious, self-titled third album in 1969, the sessions for which produced the sensational "Emmaretta". Peter Sellers joins the Hollies, and Pete Best puts the Beatles behind him, in Deep Cuts.

Sometime after Pete Best got sacked from the Beatles, and before he started shift work as a van loader earning eight quid a week, he continued to try his luck as a musician, even touring the States, and "I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door" — released by Decca — remains as a memento from that time. Another track that failed to chart was "After the Fox" by the Hollies, the title song to a Spaghetti comedy starring Peter Sellers, who adds a goofy backing vocal. Meanwhile, over on the West Coast of the U.S.A., psych-pop outfit the Peanut Butter Conspiracy was putting together a run of three albums, the last of which — 1969's For Children of All Ages — features the barnstormin' "Back in L.A."

The great songs of the '60s tended to end up, via the charts, in the widest public domain — we loved them, we bought them, and they became indelibly stamped on that part of the collective unconscious where unfading musical memories are archived. But what about the great songs that weren't released as singles? Or the really strong tunes that somehow got buried on B-sides or were relegated to albums we never quite got around to owning? Well, those exceptional — but lesser known — '60s tunes form the basis of this fantastic, once-secret stash of Essentials: a connoisseurs' collection, compiled by the most devoted vinyl-heads and rarity aficionados on the iTunes team. Gaining access to these tracks is like being handed the keys to a '60s time machine programmed to visit the most seminal, but criminally overlooked, moments in rock 'n' roll history. Enjoy the ride.