2000 Great Songs #1376: My White Bicycle

One of those late 60s psychedelic singles that seems specifically designed to be quickly forgotten, then rediscovered on some compilation decades later and belatedly get the reverence it plainly deserves. 1967 single "My White Bicycle" is the primary artifact left behind by short-lived UK act Tomorrow (though the balance of their lone 1968 eponymous LP is pretty solid); they'd soon splinter, with guitarist Steve Howe going on to play on the first few albums by prog band Yes, drummer Twink joining the Pretty Things and then former the recently-referenced-here Pink Fairies, and producer Mark Wirtz managing a long career as a solo artist and producer.

As for the song itself, it manages to check pretty much every box required of 60s psych: weirdly flanged guitars, sound panned back-and-forth between channels, spooky whispered call-and-response vocals, trippy backwards guitar solo--and if it feels almost too calculated as pop-psych, it's also just freakin' great, so that's ok. And it makes for an excellent bike-themed psychedelic trio alongside Pink Floyd's "Bike" and (decades later) the Dukes of Stratosphear's "Bike Ride To The Moon."

Nazareth's remake:

Robyn Hitchcock's terrific acoustic spin:

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