UNEXPECTED LIVE FOOTAGE

[mcmike100]

During the age of autoharps.

[xopowo69]

The crunch at 2:30 is frikkin awesome

[xopowo69]

@xopowo69 I meant 2:35 - you'll hear it!

[aaronbeltrancabron79]

The Les Paul´s guitar amp tubes are going out!!!!!!!!!

[pdorn777]

The boys look righteously toasted, and they sound GREAT!!!

[xopowo69]

Wassuh name ah dis song?

[revup67]

I think this performance is from Bouton Rouge..too cool

[DaDa2Phlux]

The crowd isn't booing .They are saying Prrrruuuuunnneessssunes !

[pinchold]

pretty primitive - trying to cash in on gimmicks

[gawagney]

@pinchold My deepest apologies for contradicting, but The Electric Prunes weren't a 'cash in' band but were a formidable psychedelic group formed in the early part of 1966. It is primitive but so were a huge amount of groups, and the sound was a primitive sound. The second part of this clip has them performing, 'I had to much to dream last night', one of the great psychedelic records of that era. As I wrote, my apologies for this contradiction to your comment. All the best. G.

[zappahart]

i love this black and white hidden stuff i feal like a guy in the know !!! thanx for this

[Splitskirts]

Great clip and band ! It's always nice to hear live; I'd rather hear a " true " performance than a technically " correct " ( mimed / overdubbed ) one. Thanks for posting it; regards.

[patchoublack]

This performance occured in the french tv show "Bouton rouge" (circa 1967). A very rare vid from The Electric Prunes! I've heard there is a film from their Stockholm's concert this same year, someone has an hint about this rumor? By the way, "Get me to the world on time" is their best number...

[DannyDelReyo]

@patchoublack I really doubt that there is a film from that concert. Maybe a private, but even that should be pretty amazing if it exist.

[LastTree]

I felt like I was in the basement watching rehersal way back.

[Rabidburt]

Can you spell C-R-A-P?

[Rawego]

@Rabidburt by George i think you've got it! :))

[landis444]

I guess dressing up in fancy matching outfits is expensive. They must have run out of their budget. The drummer was left shirtless. He'll probably catch his death of cold but the show must go on.

[DannyDelReyo]

@landis444 It looks he's sitting on a suitcase also, that adds to the low-budget theory. Haha.

[morquipgirl1]

I saw the Electric Prunes at the Robin 2 about 8 years ago......old men now I guess...but they could still blow away MANY of our so called "rock groups" of today.I only have one LP of the 'Prunes,Mass in 'F' Minor from which a track was taken to form part of the sound track for Easy rider...just a shame I'm only 47 and wasn't old enough to appreciate the psychodelic sounds of the sixties

[RodRim101]

No lapsing....excellent find .

[phield74]

Electric Prunes Live

[zapme9]

This is the real deal '60s vibes. Very cool, love the fuzz bass!

[animalmother4]

its really unbelievable how record companies can fuck up great bands - the prunes being no exception

[goteamdefense]

Is it just me, but is the riff on the first song a lot like the "Enter Sandman" riff. It's not a duplicate, but it's close right?

[DannyDelReyo]

@goteamdefense Now when you say it, it does sound similiar.

[piepsi]

@bobyoung53 Solo part from 1:23 on :)

[piepsi]

Ah I dig out-of-tune basses :)

[animalmother4]

far out man

[merseymain]

not seen it for a while. Still rocks. Thanks Marty on Facebook for reminding me

[kidcalabria]

Great! This is from French TV. Thank you so much for the post

[ryantunks]

Amazing!  I love the Electric Prunes!!!!

[animalmother4]

sick shades dude

[DannyDelReyo]

Does anyone knows what kinda guitar Mike Gannon is playing on?

[sfaster]

A Guild.....

[DannyDelReyo]

It looks like a Gibson. Or maybe i'm seeing it all wrong.

[sfaster]

Your correct after looking closer.

Mike Gannon-------Gibson Les Paul

Ken Williams-------Rickenbacker

[DannyDelReyo]

@sfaster Haha, i hate to that guy, but it still looks like a Gibson ES 335 or something like that. PS. Ken is the one with the Gibson Les Paul, and Mikes guitar is the one we're trying to figure out :D

[sfaster]

Looks like a Ricky too me. It actually says

Rickenbacker if you go into stop mode

during "Too much". This is a great clip though! Real rare. These guys played all over Los Angeles area in high schools with The Standells. Seen them twice for a mere $ 2.50 (US)

[DannyDelReyo]

@sfaster Must have been some great shows! I wished i'd catched them when they were in Sweden '67, but that was long before my time. Did you ever see The Nomads live? The band that Mike Gannon was in before he joined the Prunes? Read that they played around the same area.

[sfaster]

Ah never seen the Nomads.........But seen

many other bands in Southern Cal in that era just starting thier careers like the Seeds, Count Five, Doors, Love and The Music Explosion to name a few...........

[DannyDelReyo]

@sfaster Must have been nice to see! Specially Love. Arthur Lee was a genius.

[sfaster]

What's amazing is I'm still rocking 40+yrs. later. Unfortunately the ticket prices have

went out of control. I saw Cream in '68 for $4.50. Last fall I saw Clapton/Winwood

for $135.00. Now that's inflation!

[ShimmyShout]

Brilliant, amazing!

[missevo8]

The singer's hair is BAD-ASS!

[nachodaddy]

Fantastic! However, when I first watched it, Jim Lowe looked eerily like Elton John at about the same age. Spooky,lol.

[maristaia]

SO rare to see a LIVE performance from this time period- this is awesome!

[gwugluud11]

One of the things that maybe contributes to how great this era of rock was is how nothing was as standardized like it all became later. This drummer doesn't use a hi-hat! But he doesn't need one, judging by his part in the sound. Just, stuff like that.

[Wellveryinteresting]

Yes, definitely the Electric Prunes from the opening of the second song, their hit, "I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)" -- probably from 1968. Does anyone else think the man in the background, who I'm guessing is the host for the show, looks like a younger version of Chevy Chase (pre-"Saturday Night Live")? (If it is Chase, this would be even more of a find! Does anyone know if Chase spent time in Baton Rouge in the late '60's?)

[huskyjerk]

No. It's a frenchman. Look at the Pink Floyd "Astronomy Dominee" video and you'll see him there.

[GUIDOBRAT]

The Prunes, correct--but this one was '67. I was an early teen then so I remember.

great vid!!

[dontgd]

Chase was in Boston in the 1960s, hanging out with Blythe Danner and drumming in the Chameleon Church.

[NFNitro]

Why the tag "Freakbeat"?

[Khultan]

NFNitro was only asking a question. Yeah, I had the same query too and found out it's a term that was coined in the 80s and would not have been used to describe this type of rock in the mid 60s.

[Ledcream69]

this is from bouton rouge and it's Belgian tv.

[PeterCRissKISSgod]

Im pretty sure this is The Electric Prunes.

[asomedayfool]

@PeterCRissKISSgod yes, "you never had it better" and "I had too much to dream last night"

[hoctor]

they were gods for just a brief moment, the French were digging them on their state TV, too radical for the USA where everything was/is staged. Even though they were five high school dropouts from Seattle. See live in Stockholm recording for comments regarding Vietnam and other related interests.

[stewarthome]

A groove sensation!

[FINLETTU]

That is a nice Gibson inteed :D And great playng.

[YellowFoom]

Never heard these tunes before now. Absolutely a nice change of pace. Dig the clothes, too!

[Gwhitebeard]

Transitional period - Electric Prunes 1968 I think.. May be wrong Great Video !

[klaus0]

What is the name of this band, and what music is this?

[MightySaturn5]

great stuff beyond...thanks

[gwugluud11]

...and it's ACTUALLY LIVE, not just lip-sync'ed. That's a change.

[sebringdnf]

Nowsville.

[spitoncat]

Man this kind of music brings back some great memories. I don't think that I could survive the 60's one more time. I'm glad I don't have the option. Thanks for the great upload. GRADE A

[rodoorsfopeyote]

good old psychedelia

:)

the only and true era of psychedelia

THE 60S!!!

[lukeus10]

the cynics do a good cover of You've Never Had It Better

[smokeofsampoi]

THANKS DUDE!

[jeffpolara]

WOW RARE STUFF THANKS!!!!!

[cheeezdooodle]

EXCELLENT..really rips out @ 1:22

[chrisgreycg]

good guitar riff...let's smoke some cigarettes, drink alcohol, and play card games

[KIDAmnesiacBends]

@chrisgreycg

how about take some lsd

[elliottchrist]

Electric autoharp, huh?.... Is is me or does the lead singer look a bit like David Cross with a wig?

[1KOOLROCKNDAN]

wow this really great the first song had the great psychedelic riff bring on more things like this

[CrypticEntity]

Nice find. This is really good!

[chrisgreycg]

they look hella weird...thank god the 60s are over...hey didn't have cable back then.

[gwugluud]

I could swear rock was farther ahead then than it is now.

[jmm1000]

Woah! only Forrest Harlow in New Haven is keeping that sound alive on the AH!!! FUZZZZ

[RickWhiteArchive]

Amazing. I never thought id ever see live Prunes footage. Thank you.

[palestine4life14]

that is a weird guitar that guy who's singing is holding

[kdgfg]

that's an autoharp. they're pretty common in folk music.

[palestine4life14]

i would have to say my favorite band in the 60's would have to be The Beatles cause my dad met john lennon =)

[godstomper]

Funny , this is the band my dad probably played drums in

in the 60's.

[palestine4life14]

your dad was the drummer?

[godstomper]

Nah , he played drums in another obscure 60's band from Mexico called The Wave pop.

He probably played drums like this drummer .

[ortleyman]

Very badass. Gotta love the dude with the top hat.

[recordcastle]

Fantastic vintage classic live clip...

Saw the reunions at Cavestomp 2001 & Sellersville Theater..Pa 2008 both of these shows blew away the official dvd !!!

[darrenfinizio]

this is a really nice find.....all the others are lysincs: please label it properly.....sure beats the hell out of that extremely shitty reunion dvd they did

[beyondthebeat]

When I would label it properly -- YouTube deletes it, because owners find it and complain. -- We don't want that, do we?

[Rhysies]

what song is it

[willminkorea]

Yes, it's 'You've Never Had It Better' by the Electric Prunes- and this live version is better than the studio version. The live version has more energy.

[willminkorea]

Is this You Never Had it Better?

[hormigonera6000]

far out freak out in out

[orangesugarcube]

The Electric Prunes!  Who else plays an electric auto-harp?? Great stuff, freaks out the squares!

[theultimatespinach]

Its the Electric Prunes! C'mon, that was easy.

[MentalRob]

Nowhere on here does it say what this group is or what the name of the song is. Please edit the description for those of us tring to learn this old school music.

[AKpunk117]

man, i love the first song that they played, what is it, and do you know where i can get the guitar tabs? I'm looking online and i can only find one song by them :[

[tomtheft]

This stuff is great. I just can't get enough

[HulaBulaSoundsystem]

Ok this was pretty cool but maybe playback should have been a better option? Clearly, they have shit equipment (just check out the wobbly snare stand (5:04) and bizarre drum stool (4:58)); the sound engineer was probably the replacement technichian's brother's french buddy. Good Sennheisers (vocal, drum overhead, bass drum, solo guitar?) don't make it on their own.

Maybe a run-through before, or a quick rehearsal? Check out Stockholm '67, great live recording (home base)!

[Efrasnel]

Stockholm '67....what a record. Proof that they could reproduce thier sound live. Not with to much studio effect, but that was compensated by good musicianship. Too bad for all the shit that happened afterwards, but it turned out OK later.

[HulaBulaSoundsystem]

What happened afterwards? And what turned out OK later?

[Efrasnel]

Basically, they lost the right to their name. A studioband later recorded two albums under the Prunes name and appeared on the Easy Rider soundtrack. The line-up in this video reunited (more or less) and recorded two albums in the early '00s and have a wonderful live-DVD, wich is highly recommended.

[asfarbackasicanremem]

great post

[gethepicture]

love hearing this live..

[54joop]

Absolutely groovy!!! Almost forgot them...

[speedskiff2]

rare stuff..thanks for posting

[77doriella]

Great live footage. The Prunes are such a timeless and brilliant band. Seen them live a couple of times once with Love and the Pretty Things and they where really groovy, cool and far out man. Hope they come back to the UK some time.

[tvgp200]

this is the electric prunes you beaut!!

[ShowBizComic]

WOWIE ZOWIE! FAB - U - LOUS! gRoOvY, FROM MY ERA AND gEnErAtIoN -- tHANKS FROM US IN lAS vEGAS, nv, usa!

[wailin1967]

YEAHHH! Great! Yes as a few folks have said already this id the French TV show Bouton Rouge - other great bands on this show were Pink Floys, Yardbirds (with Page 1), Fairport Convention...amazing ! The dude in the background is a DJ with record decks...

[surfstyley]

WOW GrEaT StuFF, one of my favor Psych songs!

[johnarthurknight]

The Electric Prunes had one of the best reformations in rock history. Everybody go get all their new albums!

[radcam69]

Timeless, thanks for posting BTB.

[Fulci06]

I just saw this group at BB Kings last night and they are just as good if not better than they were in the 1960s. They were creating the most incredible sounds, they really put their own stamp onto the songs. Thanks so much for this footage, it's fantastic.

[walrusgombit]

wow, it's good 2 know people who know the electric prunes. classics

[IDLERACER]

Har har har! I wonder who the goofy lookin' guy in the striped suit that suddenly appears at 5:26 is.

[PsychedelicGuy]

That may just be the host from that TV show Bouton Rouge (look at the Pink Floyd vids) So that leads me to believe this was taken tfrom the Bouton Rouge program.

[Zavnor7]

who is this, please?

[regusted]

None other than the Electric Prunes. My mom gave me their first LP and I was lucky enough to see their reunion show at Cavestomp in NYC and met 'em too.

[rubendeleeuw]

Wish I had parents with

those kind of records!!

That would've saved me

years to find all the

forgotten greats!!

[beyondthebeat]

Well my daughter has, but does not care......

[rubendeleeuw]

Let me guess.....is she a teenager?

(groet van een mede fanaat!)

[munchkinsozland]

Her loss not yours! With respect to you ;o)

[stefanos51]

My son (26) too .He doesn't gives a dime.

When The E.Prunes were my guests in Athens on Oct. 2002 he was looking at me like an ...alien!!

[rubendeleeuw]

What a shame...

Most people don't see REAL musicianship,

even if it hits them in the face....

Then again, you don't have to worry about your

son scratching your records!!!

[hoofer1]

The bass on this is GORGEOUS. Thank you.

[PsychedelicGuy]

This is the same great show that had the amazing Pink Floyd show, man I wonder what other great bands were on this show?!

[bnzbrl]

the sound may be from the sweden 7" but I'm not sure... great ba

[millerfarrsuperstar]

From French Tely....1968'ish....GREAT RIFF!!....Eric

[56BUICKRiviera]

Hey! They aint lipsyncin...

[popgems]

Electric Prunes did a studio version of this, with "Get yourself together, you never had it better" sung over the riff. So cool to see them doing it live in rough form! Funny when he "adjusts" autoharp...

Thanks!

[quaffer22]

Man, I love REAL MUSIC !!

No swearing or computer-generated instruments necessary for truly creative artists.

[AristYdes]

Yes, I can play the whole band with my asshole while I´m sleeping

[PAULLONDEN]

Yeahhhh? Ari....Lookin'at your profile,

I completely believe you....NOT.

[fuzzy45042]

MAN THIS IS FAROUT!!!!COOL!

[pesarchick]

Awesome stuff!You did us psych fans a service with this footage.I agree,someone should get things like this on DVD before its forever lost.A BIG ''THANK YOU'' FOR THIS!!!

[troublefree22]

killer song long live the 60s

[HandShock]

Yeah, what year was this - the show is Bouton Rouge, which means 'red button'. Dude recording it I believe is the host.

I've seen other clips of this TV show from Feb 1968, and it was in color. So, could this be '67 when they were on tour..?

[TDKIII]

the Stockholm 67' has this on it, so it would be earlier than 1968 wouldn't it?

I'd like to see them doing Smokestack Lightnin'

[TDKIII]

whats the first song called?

[monkeeman1966]

You've Never Had It Better 1968

Flipside was "Everybody Knows You're Not In Love". I like both sides. Watch The "You've Never Had It Better" video.

"I'm Gonna Make You Mine" by the Shadows Of Knight is also a killer.

[diddywahdaddy]

No matter being a bit out of tune here and friggin' there, this rocks the most!!! A certain Tv company's archive seems to have a wealth of the goods...anyone a DVD of this stuff and the like to share???

[blacflag]

i agree, raid those archives...

[ubeumbe]

real cool and groovy, thank's for sharing these pearls !!

[upst8]

Prune-a-delic! And I totally agree that studios should dig this stuff out it's not doing anyone any good in an archive.

[KennyWrites]

Pretty cool!

[okojama]

great vid! love the fuzz guitar.

[jeffkahl]

wow cool!

[snouter]

I thought I was having a deja vu moment or something there for a second with another vintage Prunes vid. Great stuff!