Syndicate Of Sound - Little Girl (1966)

Formed in San Jose, California in 1964, the Syndicate of Sound are considered to be one of the forerunners of psychedelic rock, establishing a national following based on one massive 1966 hit, "Little Girl". Comprised of vocalist / guitarist Don Baskin, guitarist / keyboardist John Sharkey, lead guitarist Larry Ray, bassist Bob Gonzalez and drummer John Duckworth, the band rose from the ashes of high school rock bands the Pharaohs and Lenny Lee and the Knightmen. The new group won a "Battle Of The Bands" contest, beating out 100 other groups to win a recording session with Del-Fi Records. That effort went nowhere, but the band had been working on new, original material and began shopping a tune called "Little Girl" to anyone who would listen. Nearly everyone turned them away before Hush Records, a predominantly rhythm and blues label in Richmond, California, decided to take a chance and issue the record locally in late 1965.
The song became a regional hit, selling 5,000 copies after San Jose radio stations picked up on it. Executives at Bell Records were soon to take notice and took over distribution of the single as well as offering the group the chance to record an album.

As "Little Girl" started to break nationally, first in Oklahoma City, original guitarist Larry Ray was fired from the band and replaced by Jim Sawyers. With the song climbing to the number 10 spot in 1966, Bell Records sent the group on tour to promote their record, only taking time off to tape TV shows like 'American Bandstand' and 'Where the Action Is'. James Brown, who appeared with them on one of the TV shows, was so impressed that he invited them to open his theater show in San Francisco. The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein wanted them to open for the Fab Four on their 1966 tour, but would not offer enough financial incentive to ink a deal. The Syndicate Of Sound continued to play venues in the North-West United States, appearing in concert with The Rascals, The Yardbirds, Neil Diamond, Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs, Tommy James, The Animals and The Rolling Stones.

As a follow-up to "Little Girl", the band came up with a song called "Get Out Of My Life", which Bell refused to release, saying the lyrics were too risqué.

Drummer John Duckworth was drafted at the height of the Vietnam conflict and bassist Bob Gonzalez dropped out, but the band continued on. They recorded two more singles near the end of the 60s for Buddha Records; "Brown Paper Bag" and "Mexico", neither of which made much of a splash. The band split up in 1970.

Don Baskin moved to Los Angeles, where he found work as a studio musician and later turned to country music during the height of the disco era.

As the years wore on into the new century, Don Baskin, Bob Gonzalez and John Duckworth reformed with a couple of new members and began performing as The Syndicate Of Sound once again.

Artist - Syndicate Of Sound
Song - Little Girl
(Lyrics)

Hey, little girl, you don't have to hide nothin' no more
You didn't do nothin' that hadn't been done before

Little girl thought she wouldn't get caught, you see
She thought she'd get away with goin' out on me, yeah

Other girls did it, you didn't think of nothin' new
You went out on me, so other girls did it too

You can leave, little girl, I don't want you 'round no more
If you come knockin', you won't get past my door... yeah!

You got nothin' to hide and everybody knows it's true
Too bad, little girl, it's all over for you... ha-ha-ha-ha

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Syndicate
• Of
• Sound
• Little
• Girl
• 1966
• psychedelic
• rock
• oldies
• TheBacmaster
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[DoubleNickelPennyPrd]

The picture of them in Count Dracula outfits isn't Syndicate of Sound. It's San Jose's other famous psychedelic garage band: the Count Five.

[TheBacmaster]

@DoubleNickelPennyPrd Mistakes do happen. Thank you for pointing that out.

[gordonitis]

I was looking for this on itunes and Amazon but it's all over for us little girl cuz it aint there. Rats, I want this on my iphone. Hardly ever hear it on the radio. The oldies stations are stuck on the same top 40 they always were. There are lots of great songs that never get air play. Morons.

[TheBacmaster]

@gordonitis Radio stations are currently playing to the new generation. It's also all about the money.

Try this station in New Jersey WIBBAGE FM. It offers the best (rare) oldies available on livestream.

~Joe~

[nomiclas]

@TheBacmaster wrong answer,it's only about the money and in the quest they pander to multi genertions with pathetic results.with u-tube you can say good bye to the advertizing and the archies,and footlose mixed in with light my fire.download and plug into your hi end audio and say goodbye to those mercinary pricks.

[TheBacmaster]

@nomiclas I agree and respect your comment.

[rhythmantic]

Great song, a classic one hit wonder. Just like in the sidebar: The Music Machine and The Count Five (also from San Jose) from the 60s. Cool drumming, I covered this on drums yesterday.

[BigStar303]

The B-side of this single, "You," is one of the great unheralded B-sides of all time. Completely different from "Little Girl" or anything else this band did, it's a haunting minor-key number with a flute solo in the middle. Do a search here on "Syndicate of Sound You" and you'll find it. I wish more knew of this great song.

[avdreader1]

Could be called the first rap song. The big difference being that this is a great song. I can't dance, but if I could I'd dance to this one!

[TheSunbau]

I really like this track. A kind of pumpin´ good old garage sound from the 60s. My hobby is to rediscover all those great bands from that period that didn´t "broke through". Listen for example to THE ZETTLERS and their versions of "Skinnie Minnie" and "Beautiful Delilah". F......g irresistible good with a bloody driving beat. And check up The Music Machine (Talk, Talk) and the Golliwogs (Tell me). The killing singer is.....yes, it´s him.

[raymondfsmith]

I was turning 5 when this song came out in 1966. My sister had the single. Great song. Thanks for posting. Good karaoke song!

[lmt61251]

This song really led the way for the second half of the 60's, beating groups like the Doors, the Byrds, Airplane, and the Beatles to the punch in what became psychedelic rock, well before Zepplin and hard rock.

[1590dave]

Complete sounds of the 50's & 60's can be heard on KDAV, songs you haven't heard in a long time! Streams 24/7 at kdav.com. Live DJ's 6 am to midnight. Pass the word along.

dave