The Other Side

The Other Side were an odd multinational band that made one respectable garage rock single, "Out My Light"/"Like a Rolling Stone," while based in Sweden in 1966. The A-side was a solid bluesy garage rock original, while the flip was a heavy, slightly sloppy cover of the Bob Dylan classic. The group's lead singer was American Jack Downing; the drummer was Swedish; and the other three members were from the UK. The most renowned of those British members was Mac MacLeod, who occasionally played with Donovan in the 1960s, and made some other obscure recordings, both solo and as part of psychedelic bands. Boz Scaggs, then living in Sweden, sometimes played bass with the band. Both sides of the Other Side's single can be heard on the Mac MacLeod retrospective The Incredible Musical Odyssey of the Original Hurdy Gurdy Man. The Other Side that was based in Sweden, incidentally, is not the same as the Other Side from California, who included a pre-Jefferson Airplane Skip Spence and some future Chocolate Watch Band members in their lineups at various points, and did a rare single in 1966. ~ Richie Unterberger