Friday Freak-Out: The Hi-5's "Did you have to rub it in?" (1965)

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Friday Freak-Out: The Hi-5 perform “Did you have to rub it in?” (1966), now available again on Follow Me Down: Vanguard’s Lost Psychedelic Era.

Vintage psych on Vanguard Records? Indeed! While Vanguard, formed in 1950, is best known for its essential folk/blues offerings in the 1960s by the likes of Joan Baez, Country Joe and Fish, Buddy Guy, and Otis Rush, the label also released some very fine nuggets of psychedelia — many of which were 45s by bands that vanished almost as quickly as they made the scene. Recently though, my dear pal and DIY musicologist David Katznelson of Birdman Records and Vanguard staffer Stephen Brower dug deep in the label’s archive to compile the best of these “lost” recordings. The vinyl release of Follow Me Down: Vanguard’s Lost Psychedelic Era is a beautiful double-gatefold, 18-track compilation. It’s also available as MP3s, but, well, I encourage you to dust off the old record player for this groovy set. Now then, what’s the story with the Hi-5’s “Did you have to rub it in?”

A classic rock and roll tale of a band that was so very close to superstardom, but fell short. The band were regulars at the famous Café Wah, when Beatles manager Brian Epstein walked into the club and signed the Hi-Five to management. Soon after, labels like RCA and Columbia were cutting demos on the band. But when Epstein died at 32 of a drug overdose, the doors that had been opened were slammed shut. It was then that Vanguard, who had also had been interested in the band, offered them a single deal.

Follow Me Down: Vanguard’s Lost Psychedelic Era