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Oriphiel · 12-03-2014, 05:51 PM

Alright cats, i'm back again, this time a little earlier than usual, but I have my reasons. I'm going on a road trip for a few days, and I won't be updating this journal for awhile, but I have two albums for all of you! Hopefully, they'll tide over anyone who reads my journal (a membership I assume is comprised almost exclusively of people who accidentally clicked on it) until I return. Well, let's get started!

Oh, hold on. First, I'd like to mention that I've gone through and corrected many errors in my previous entries. Some were small ("you're" instead of "your"), while others were embarrassingly large (Mistaking The Doors for the band Them, so basically Morrison for Van Morrison). So if things seem a little different than you remember them, you now know why! Alright, onward!

Greg and Suzy Shaw. No relation to the Shaw Brothers.

In the seventies, Greg and Suzy Shaw (who I mentioned earlier when examining "It's About Time") started "Bomp! Records" as a labor of love, giving many underground bands a chance to have their work published. But they also had an ambitious side project, one that would take years to eventually complete. You see, they had a passion for old vintage Garage Rock from the 1960's, and were sad to see so much of it lost and forgotten as time went on. So, they set about collecting every (and I do mean every) album, 45, EP, and mystery tape they could get their hands on. They then decided to publish these songs (eventually totaling over a thousand tracks, which is just insane) so that new generations of listeners could discover and appreciate them. The all-girl bands (or at least bands with a female vocalist) were published in the Girls in the Garage series, among others (mostly by Romulan Records. Bomp's network has a lot of labels, doesn't it?). And the guys were also released in multiple series as well, the most expansive being...

Pebbles - Volume 1

The Pebbles collection! With around 28 volumes (An accurate count is difficult, with so many reissues and criss-crossing series' like "Highs in the Mid Sixties"), this mountain of vinyl is one of the most massive and exhaustive collections of music from any genre to be released in a single series (although there's probably some Time-Life collection out there big enough have it's own orbital field). Now, the biggest hurdle with this ambitious project was the licensing. I mean, how can you get the rights to over a thousand songs, especially when half of them were made by people who have long since disappeared from the world of music?

A 45 issued by Bomp! When you see the red and yellow, you know you're in for something crazy and fun!

As the legend goes, they got around the licensing problem by making a semi-fake record company supposedly based in some part of Australia, and issuing the Pebbles series in it's name. However, rather than try to hunt them down for royalties, many old-time musicians were overjoyed to have their music available to the masses, especially since many of them had long since lost their own master tapes/vinyls. So they continued on with few obstacles, and eventually Bomp Records created AIP Records, which legitimately published the series from then on. Now that we're done with the history lesson, let's get to the music! And yeah, it goes without saying that every song below is currently on youtube, if you’d like to sample them.

1. The Litter - "Action Woman" – Right off the bat, we’re treated to the twangy guitars, loud drumming, and trembling tambourine that you all should basically be using as an IV Drip at this point! The beat for this one is steady, and the tune is really catchy! The vocalist definitely holds his own, and all in all this track is a great start for the album.

2. The Preachers – “Who Do You Love?” – Filled with lyrical exaggerations of masculinity (“I wear a cobra snake for a neck tie!”), this one really has a Blues influence to it. Like one of Muddy Water’s faster numbers, or something made in The Rolling Stones’ early years. Now that I think about it, the singer sounds stylistically similar to Mick, doesn’t he?

The Preachers

3. The Floyd Dakil Combo – “Dance Franny Dance” – A shaker in the vein of Rockabilly, but with the dirty fuzz of that Garage–production analogue recording we all love so much. This song proves that there’s no reason Garage Rockers can’t have a little of that old-world class.

4. The Outcasts – “I’m in Pittsburgh and It’s Raining” – Sounds like it was influenced by some of the faster heart-beat drum and strumming guitar songs of the fifties (and I dig the harmonica, by the way), however it is clearly ingrained in the sixties with it’s fuzz guitar action in the middle. A good example of the natural progression that Rock ‘n Roll took as it left the fifties and entered the sixties.

5. The Squires – “Going All The Way” – One of my all-time favorite Garage songs, this one was sadly left out of the CD reissue of the album. With a really grabbing intro, and the heart-beat drumming that does so much to make a song seem frantic, this one impresses right from the start. The most compelling part is the guitar solo, which is both technically proficient and emotion evoking. Give it a spin sometime, you might like it!

The Squires

6. Grains of Sand – “Going Away Baby” – You can’t help but want to hop in a car and cruise around when listening to this one! It’s just so fun and exciting! While the vocals (and lyrics) are very simple, the instruments keep the song going well enough on their own, especially once the fabulous keyboard solo kicks in (and what a solo it is)!

7. The Ju-Jus – “You Treat me Bad” – One of the weaker tracks of the album, this one is just a bit too overdramatic and campy for my taste. The singer overdoes it by a mile, but I actually really love the guitar riff in the beginning and the break.

8. The Haunted – “1-2-5” – Nice! This one is a total classic song among fans of Garage Rock. In fact, seeing as how you’re here in a journal about Garage Rock, you’ve probably heard it before. It’s a slow but steady crawler from a Montreal Garage band, apparently written about buying marijuana from a street dealer (the second most popular leaf in Canada, after the maple). Very stark and haunting, I love how the fuzz effect comes in strong on the guitar right at the end of the break! I can’t recommend this one enough!

The Haunted

9. The Soup Greens – “Like a Rolling Stone” – Uh… I don’t really know what to say. Did they even listen to Bob Dylan’s original? This sounds nothing like it… Oh, who cares! It’s groovy and wild! This track stands above the others in terms of sounding like it was actually recorded live in a garage! Actually, even though it’s very simple, I think this one may just be my favorite of the bunch… go figure!

10. The Wig – “Crackin’ Up” – A Psycho-Shuffle with the tools of the trade and a frantic singer, the tune and tone change every thirty seconds or so. The result is strange, but also very entertaining and attention grabbing! Definitely a great Garage track, with a taste of Psychadelia.

11. Positively 13 O’Clock – “Psychotic Reaction” – It’s my personal belief that no one can make a bad cover of Psychotic Reaction! Originally by The Count Five (who I suppose I’ll have to introduce to you guys sometime), it’s not quite as compelling as the original, although it does get much more frantic during the break (adding in a guitar solo in place of fuzzy chord strumming). Fun fact: This song was also covered by Psychobilly heroes The Cramps!

The Positively 13 O'Clock's 45 featured in this album!

12. Kim Fowley – “The Trip” – No! I just can’t escape Kim Fowley! It’s not enough for you to mess up Girls in the Garage, no, you had to pop up here as well! By far the worst track of the album. It’s just Kim shouting random junk about taking a trip, while a groovy band backs him up. Not the most horrible song I’ve ever heard, but it’s just so boring and generic, taking no chances, and having no energy.

13. The Elastik Band – “Spazz” – What the… Is this… Is this Hip-Hop? Seriously? They had that back in the sixties? I’m so lost right now… And what’s with the guy freaking out at the beginning? Man, Psychadelic songs are awesome, kicking the conventions of genre to the curb! To anyone reading this journal, just go listen to this thing right now! Go listen to it, and bask in it’s glory! I can’t even begin to describe it!

I don't usually put videos in my journal, but dear Clapton do you need to hear it! Someone else needs to share my new found madness!

14. The Split Ends – “Rich With Nothin’” – This tra… Okay, sorry, I’m still thinking about that last song. What the hell was that? Alright, moving on, seriously… This is a Psychadelic-flavored foot stomper with that faded analogue feeling to it. And no, the band isn’t related to the New Zealand art-rockers Split Enz. A little plain compared to the other songs, but still fun in it’s own right.

15. The Shadows of Knight – “Potato Chip” – The tune isn’t bad, but the lyrics are just truly awful. Possibly the worst song made by the legendary Shadows of Knight. Apparently they kind of knew how weak it was, and never got around to doing anything with it. Still, it has some energy to it! I just really think they should have changed the lyrics…

The Shadows of Knight. They pop up a lot in this journal, huh?

16. The Wild Knights – “Beaver Patrol” – This is the last track of the album, and it’s… very cheesy. I mean, really, really cheesy. True to it’s name, it’s an ode to chasing tail in the 1960’s (yeah, subtle it is not). Kind of tinged with the early funk sound. It’s not terrible, but not very good either.

Fun stuff, huh? Bomp Records is still going strong (http://www.bompstore.com/servlet/StoreFront), and they're still stocked with both modern and vintage Garage Rock albums/compilations. Also, Suzy Shaw and her team are very knowledgeable about Garage Rock in all it's incarnations, and are always happy to answer any burning questions you can fire at them (I've asked them for advice on occasion, like when I was tracking down a CD of "It's About Time"). Definitely check them out (as well as "Alive! The Natural Sound", the label that records/publishes modern bands and sells their albums on Bomp's site).

Well, that's another album down in our quest for Garage-based enlightenment! This one is a classic, and for good reason, but man does it have some weird and weak tracks! The weird tracks (Like “Spazz”. That one times infinity.) actually help the album, making it all the more fun and exciting (You never know what to expect next). But the weak ones (I’m lookin’ at you Kim Fowley! Again!) bog things down. Regardless, no anchor could slow down this ship, and it blasts forward in spite of it’s faults. If you can find it, don’t even hesitate. Just take it and let it make your day (Seriously, I guarantee this weird album will leave you smiling and laughing)! Part two of my farewell bombardment of music will be coming to you shortly…

12-03-2014, 05:51 PM	#14 (permalink)
Oriphiel Ask me how! Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The States Posts: 5,354	Alright cats, i'm back again, this time a little earlier than usual, but I have my reasons. I'm going on a road trip for a few days, and I won't be updating this journal for awhile, but I have two albums for all of you! Hopefully, they'll tide over anyone who reads my journal (a membership I assume is comprised almost exclusively of people who accidentally clicked on it) until I return. Well, let's get started! Oh, hold on. First, I'd like to mention that I've gone through and corrected many errors in my previous entries. Some were small ("you're" instead of "your"), while others were embarrassingly large (Mistaking The Doors for the band Them, so basically Morrison for Van Morrison). So if things seem a little different than you remember them, you now know why! Alright, onward! Greg and Suzy Shaw. No relation to the Shaw Brothers. In the seventies, Greg and Suzy Shaw (who I mentioned earlier when examining "It's About Time") started "Bomp! Records" as a labor of love, giving many underground bands a chance to have their work published. But they also had an ambitious side project, one that would take years to eventually complete. You see, they had a passion for old vintage Garage Rock from the 1960's, and were sad to see so much of it lost and forgotten as time went on. So, they set about collecting every (and I do mean every) album, 45, EP, and mystery tape they could get their hands on. They then decided to publish these songs (eventually totaling over a thousand tracks, which is just insane) so that new generations of listeners could discover and appreciate them. The all-girl bands (or at least bands with a female vocalist) were published in the Girls in the Garage series, among others (mostly by Romulan Records. Bomp's network has a lot of labels, doesn't it?). And the guys were also released in multiple series as well, the most expansive being... Pebbles - Volume 1 The Pebbles collection! With around 28 volumes (An accurate count is difficult, with so many reissues and criss-crossing series' like "Highs in the Mid Sixties"), this mountain of vinyl is one of the most massive and exhaustive collections of music from any genre to be released in a single series (although there's probably some Time-Life collection out there big enough have it's own orbital field). Now, the biggest hurdle with this ambitious project was the licensing. I mean, how can you get the rights to over a thousand songs, especially when half of them were made by people who have long since disappeared from the world of music? A 45 issued by Bomp! When you see the red and yellow, you know you're in for something crazy and fun! As the legend goes, they got around the licensing problem by making a semi-fake record company supposedly based in some part of Australia, and issuing the Pebbles series in it's name. However, rather than try to hunt them down for royalties, many old-time musicians were overjoyed to have their music available to the masses, especially since many of them had long since lost their own master tapes/vinyls. So they continued on with few obstacles, and eventually Bomp Records created AIP Records, which legitimately published the series from then on. Now that we're done with the history lesson, let's get to the music! And yeah, it goes without saying that every song below is currently on youtube, if you’d like to sample them. 1. The Litter - "Action Woman" – Right off the bat, we’re treated to the twangy guitars, loud drumming, and trembling tambourine that you all should basically be using as an IV Drip at this point! The beat for this one is steady, and the tune is really catchy! The vocalist definitely holds his own, and all in all this track is a great start for the album. 2. The Preachers – “Who Do You Love?” – Filled with lyrical exaggerations of masculinity (“I wear a cobra snake for a neck tie!”), this one really has a Blues influence to it. Like one of Muddy Water’s faster numbers, or something made in The Rolling Stones’ early years. Now that I think about it, the singer sounds stylistically similar to Mick, doesn’t he? The Preachers 3. The Floyd Dakil Combo – “Dance Franny Dance” – A shaker in the vein of Rockabilly, but with the dirty fuzz of that Garage–production analogue recording we all love so much. This song proves that there’s no reason Garage Rockers can’t have a little of that old-world class. 4. The Outcasts – “I’m in Pittsburgh and It’s Raining” – Sounds like it was influenced by some of the faster heart-beat drum and strumming guitar songs of the fifties (and I dig the harmonica, by the way), however it is clearly ingrained in the sixties with it’s fuzz guitar action in the middle. A good example of the natural progression that Rock ‘n Roll took as it left the fifties and entered the sixties. 5. The Squires – “Going All The Way” – One of my all-time favorite Garage songs, this one was sadly left out of the CD reissue of the album. With a really grabbing intro, and the heart-beat drumming that does so much to make a song seem frantic, this one impresses right from the start. The most compelling part is the guitar solo, which is both technically proficient and emotion evoking. Give it a spin sometime, you might like it! The Squires 6. Grains of Sand – “Going Away Baby” – You can’t help but want to hop in a car and cruise around when listening to this one! It’s just so fun and exciting! While the vocals (and lyrics) are very simple, the instruments keep the song going well enough on their own, especially once the fabulous keyboard solo kicks in (and what a solo it is)! 7. The Ju-Jus – “You Treat me Bad” – One of the weaker tracks of the album, this one is just a bit too overdramatic and campy for my taste. The singer overdoes it by a mile, but I actually really love the guitar riff in the beginning and the break. 8. The Haunted – “1-2-5” – Nice! This one is a total classic song among fans of Garage Rock. In fact, seeing as how you’re here in a journal about Garage Rock, you’ve probably heard it before. It’s a slow but steady crawler from a Montreal Garage band, apparently written about buying marijuana from a street dealer (the second most popular leaf in Canada, after the maple). Very stark and haunting, I love how the fuzz effect comes in strong on the guitar right at the end of the break! I can’t recommend this one enough! The Haunted 9. The Soup Greens – “Like a Rolling Stone” – Uh… I don’t really know what to say. Did they even listen to Bob Dylan’s original? This sounds nothing like it… Oh, who cares! It’s groovy and wild! This track stands above the others in terms of sounding like it was actually recorded live in a garage! Actually, even though it’s very simple, I think this one may just be my favorite of the bunch… go figure! 10. The Wig – “Crackin’ Up” – A Psycho-Shuffle with the tools of the trade and a frantic singer, the tune and tone change every thirty seconds or so. The result is strange, but also very entertaining and attention grabbing! Definitely a great Garage track, with a taste of Psychadelia. 11. Positively 13 O’Clock – “Psychotic Reaction” – It’s my personal belief that no one can make a bad cover of Psychotic Reaction! Originally by The Count Five (who I suppose I’ll have to introduce to you guys sometime), it’s not quite as compelling as the original, although it does get much more frantic during the break (adding in a guitar solo in place of fuzzy chord strumming). Fun fact: This song was also covered by Psychobilly heroes The Cramps! The Positively 13 O'Clock's 45 featured in this album! 12. Kim Fowley – “The Trip” – No! I just can’t escape Kim Fowley! It’s not enough for you to mess up Girls in the Garage, no, you had to pop up here as well! By far the worst track of the album. It’s just Kim shouting random junk about taking a trip, while a groovy band backs him up. Not the most horrible song I’ve ever heard, but it’s just so boring and generic, taking no chances, and having no energy. 13. The Elastik Band – “Spazz” – What the… Is this… Is this Hip-Hop? Seriously? They had that back in the sixties? I’m so lost right now… And what’s with the guy freaking out at the beginning? Man, Psychadelic songs are awesome, kicking the conventions of genre to the curb! To anyone reading this journal, just go listen to this thing right now! Go listen to it, and bask in it’s glory! I can’t even begin to describe it! I don't usually put videos in my journal, but dear Clapton do you need to hear it! Someone else needs to share my new found madness! 14. The Split Ends – “Rich With Nothin’” – This tra… Okay, sorry, I’m still thinking about that last song. What the hell was that? Alright, moving on, seriously… This is a Psychadelic-flavored foot stomper with that faded analogue feeling to it. And no, the band isn’t related to the New Zealand art-rockers Split Enz. A little plain compared to the other songs, but still fun in it’s own right. 15. The Shadows of Knight – “Potato Chip” – The tune isn’t bad, but the lyrics are just truly awful. Possibly the worst song made by the legendary Shadows of Knight. Apparently they kind of knew how weak it was, and never got around to doing anything with it. Still, it has some energy to it! I just really think they should have changed the lyrics… The Shadows of Knight. They pop up a lot in this journal, huh? 16. The Wild Knights – “Beaver Patrol” – This is the last track of the album, and it’s… very cheesy. I mean, really, really cheesy. True to it’s name, it’s an ode to chasing tail in the 1960’s (yeah, subtle it is not). Kind of tinged with the early funk sound. It’s not terrible, but not very good either. Fun stuff, huh? Bomp Records is still going strong (http://www.bompstore.com/servlet/StoreFront), and they're still stocked with both modern and vintage Garage Rock albums/compilations. Also, Suzy Shaw and her team are very knowledgeable about Garage Rock in all it's incarnations, and are always happy to answer any burning questions you can fire at them (I've asked them for advice on occasion, like when I was tracking down a CD of "It's About Time"). Definitely check them out (as well as "Alive! The Natural Sound", the label that records/publishes modern bands and sells their albums on Bomp's site). Well, that's another album down in our quest for Garage-based enlightenment! This one is a classic, and for good reason, but man does it have some weird and weak tracks! The weird tracks (Like “Spazz”. That one times infinity.) actually help the album, making it all the more fun and exciting (You never know what to expect next). But the weak ones (I’m lookin’ at you Kim Fowley! Again!) bog things down. Regardless, no anchor could slow down this ship, and it blasts forward in spite of it’s faults. If you can find it, don’t even hesitate. Just take it and let it make your day (Seriously, I guarantee this weird album will leave you smiling and laughing)! Part two of my farewell bombardment of music will be coming to you shortly… Last edited by Oriphiel; 12-07-2014 at 04:50 PM.