Richie Barrett's "Some Other Guy" (1962) is one of the coolest records ever released

But I have a terrible admission to make...

I consider myself a semi-expert when it comes to early '60s music, but this one passed me by until last week. Not the song, of course, because pretty much every band from Liverpool and Manchester did a version of it back then. I think the first one I heard was by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, but - unfortunately - theirs wasn't much cop, mainly because the normally reliable Mr. Kidd inisisted on pointlessly complicating the melody. The Beatles, Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders, The Searchers, Freddie & The Dreamers (actually not a bad version!) all did it at some stage, and Dave Edmunds voiced a great version for the 1974 film Stardust.

But somehow I never noticed American R&B/Soul singer Richie Barrett's 1962 original. And it is an absolute classic. Of course, it's based on "What'd I Say", and it's a Ray Charles pastiche, what with the relentless electric piano and the plashy consonants and the expressive scratchiness of the voice. But as it's brilliant in its own right, who cares? UK bands no doubt loved it for its sheer toughness - which testosterone-fuelled youngster wouldn't enjoy snarling phrases such as "pickin' up my honey like a yellow dog", "is makin' me very, very mad", and "is breakin' the padlock off my pad". Lots of attitude.

I don't know whether Prefab Sprout or Pickettywitch ever did a version of it, but I'll keep looking, just in case...

Meanwhile, here are a few other classic early '60s R&B tracks I've only just caught up with. I'll start with the Isley Brothers' "Just One More Time", a highly energised gospel-style soul stomper in the style of "Shout" and "Twist & Shout", from 1961:

Here's the great Bo Diddley in almost lyrical mode in 1961 with "I Know (I'm Alright)" (of which the Stones did a great cover version):

Laverne Baker's "Hey Memphis" was a lively, note-for-note "answer" record to Elvis's 1961 hit "Little Sister":

"Homework" was the brilliant opening track on side 2 of the J. Geils Band's eponymous debut album, which I bought as an import for a small fortune in 1970. Here's Otis Rush's brilliant 1962 original:

I'll end with 1962's "Bad Mouthin"" by a singer known only as Willie B on the label. Most of the information I've found on the internet suggests he's the white country/rockabilly singer Darrell McCall. But I doubt very much whether the singer - or the backing musicians - are white. Could he be Memphis Willie B, who died in 1993? No idea - but whoever he was, he left behind at least one great little record: