VINTAGE SICK

A friend of mine hepped me to an early Cramps promo film of Human Fly, from 1978. This is before music videos. My Friend had originally seen it back in the day, sandwiched between two midnight movie type feature films, in an actual theater. So in that context, it does seem like a B-movie short. It's the early Cramps too, when they still had Bryan Gregory.

I wanted to post that before I forgot and as long at I was doing that I figured I'd pad it with a few other things that you might not have seen. One is a video of them playing at a mental hospital for an audiece of mental patients. It could be seen as an opportunistic publicity stunt or a heartfelt pulic service. I don't care so I never really looked into it. I do know that I feel slightly voyeuristic when I watch footage of the patients. I don't like that feeling. Nor do I like the feeling of seeing the Cramps playing a Halloween party on an episode of Beverley Hills 90210, but there it is, in all it's glory.

There's also some music links, one is an entire live set at CBGBs from 1978. Not the greatest fidelity, but actually pretty good for that era and particularly that venue, not exactly a concert hall.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Cramps - Human Fly mp3 at Review Stalker
The Cramps - Primitive mp3 at The Flaneur's Arcade
The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck mp3 at Review Stalker
The Cramps - Live at CBGBs mp3 at Internet Archive 13 Songs, go there for song list.
Video:
The Cramps - The Way I Walk (live) at YouTube At Napa Mental Facility 1978
The Cramps - On Beverly Hills 90210 at YouTube

LAST CALL FOR CREEPS

Okay, tomorrow things return to normal, but as you may have guessed from the last couple weeks, Halloween is high season for slack, meaning reposts were flying all over the place. Tonight though, two new mixes, so that may satiate you regulars. One is a mix of thirty Halloween instrumentals over at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban, put together by J.R. Williams, who always does a bang up job. The other is another Bloody Halloween Mix by Reverend Tom Frost just posted this year. Dude doesn't miss a beat.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf mp3 at Hey Cool Kid
The Cramps - Rockin' Bones mp3 at Johan Urban (?)
The Cramps - Confessions of a Psycho Cat mp3 at Review Stalker
The Mixes: 
More Halloween Instros at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 30 songs
Bloody Halloween Mix, Part 23 (streaming) at Reverend Tom Frost

IVY SINGS!

Biker flicks are not high art, particularly the ones made in the sixties. We all know that. Yeah, yeah, they were low budget, but production values weren't always to blame. It was usually corny plots, bad scripts and bad acting. When it comes to bad biker flicks, She-Devils On Wheels, had it all going on, a real cornucopia of total crap. Low budget, bad script, bad acting, boring as shit and more corn than Iowa. It was directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis, who also made Two Thousand Maniacs!, Blood Feast, Monster A Go-Go, and Just for the Hell of It among many others. Quickie drive-in shit-shows that are so bad it's hard not to rubberneck.

Rubberneck I did, for two hours that I'll never get back, but I was reminded of "Get Off the Road" a song on the soundtrack, that was covered by the Cramps on A Date With Elvis. It's one of the few songs that Ivy Rorschach sings, and I think the only one that she sings lead on.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Cramps - Get Off the Road mp3 (via Box.net) at Across the Kitchen Table
The Cramps - Kizmiaz (streaming) at YouTube Ivy sharing lead vocals with Lux
The Man-Eaters - Get Off the Road (streaming) at YouTube The film version
The movie:
She Devils On Wheels at YouTube Note: Audio drops out for about 4 minutes at the very beginning, but you don't miss much dialog. 

WOULD IT BE IT WITHOUT THEM?

Can you imagine that there are kids growing up today who aren't even cognizant of the Cramps? That's a scary thought. They're one done band that I will continue to force on younger folk, and not just because of their music, but also because of all the music they kept alive. Seriously, how many of the Lux and Ivy's Favorites would still be getting spins if they didn't drag them out of obscurity. They did us a service.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf mp3 at Hey Cool Kid
The Cramps - Rockin' Bones mp3 at Johan Urban (?)
The Cramps - Confessions of a Psycho Cat mp3 at Review Stalker
Check these!
Lux and Ivy's Favorites - 17 volumes of skull busting obscuros

IMBECILITY IS ALSO A WORD

Let's forget for a minute that the Trashmen were from Minnesota and had a song with "Surfin'" in the title. That's nonsense, but all sorts of land locked bands were cashing in on the surf craze. Let's forget that birds don't surf, and that the title of the song, "Surfin' Bird", was totally misleading. It isn't surf music, and it isn't about a bird, let alone a surfing bird. It's more about bird being the word. Or is it really? Shit, I've no idea the thought process behind the lyrics, let alone the song. Come to think of it, there may not have been a thought process. More than likely it was just a simple one, "Let's make a total crap record just to see if it sticks to the wall". Whatever the reason, "Surfin' Bird" went to #4 on the charts in 1963, and has been covered in some form or another by every band capable of making a total crap record of their own. The song will not die. None of that is to diminish the merit of the song. Even if you've heard it a million times, it deserves to be heard periodically. Every once in a while, you need ridiculousness. The Trashmen deliver.

Check out the post at Tapewrecks for twenty other variations, including bands from Sweden, Finland, Ireland, France and the UK. Oh, yeah baby, the shit is global.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Rivingtons - The Bird's the Word mp3 at Tapewrecks Original
The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Trashmen - Bird '65 mp3 at Tapewrecks
The Cramps - Surfin' Bird mp3 at Tapewrecks
The Ramones - Surfin' Bird mp3 at Tapewrecks
Visit:
The Bird World War: 50 Years of Surfin' Bird (1963-2013) at Tapewrecks 20 more versions

JUST KEEPING IT LIT

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Cramps - Primitive mp3 at The Flaneur's Arcade
The Groupies - Primitive mp3 at DJ No DJ

PARTY WITH WORDSMITHS

Here's two sides to an always spinning coin, two takes on a hot rod Ford and a two dollar bill, both catchy mood enhancers. Hank William's "Hey Good Lookin'" is a masterwork of poetic simplicity. One of those songs that you can't imagine being improved upon. If you're ignorant of Hank Williams, go do some digging, for crying out loud. Or just check his song below. It may fit your mood at your pre-party soirée tonight. Just keep those cloth napkins the hell away from me.

Let's fast forward to midnight, because that's when things go up a notch, and where the second song comes in. The intent is clear in the title of the Cramp's "Let's Get Fucked Up", but rarely does one song cover all the bases as on topic as this one.  But then, who better then the Cramps to articulate what it's like to go absolutely nuts? They know of what they speak.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Hank Williams - Hey Good Lookin' mp3 at ATumblr (?)
The Cramps - Let's Get Fucked Up (streaming) at YouTube NOTE: Wasn't able to find an mp3, but Surfadelic has the whole LP. If you like it, go buy it.
Full LP:
The Cramps - Flame Job at Surfadelic Entire album in a zip. Click on "Burn!" at the end of the text.

SERIOUSLY

Has there ever been a band more cut out for Halloween than the Cramps? C'mon, really. I don't care, bring on Screaming Lord Sutch, bring on Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Bring on Bobby "Boris" Pickett, or anybody else. Any contender pales. The Cramps weren't playing dress up. Once they fully hit their stride and really became the Cramps we all know and love, '78 or so, they were just that, the Cramps, twenty four-seven. Particularly Lux and Ivy. Always striking in appearance, they had some attitude, they made some excellent music, and on top of all that, they shared their encyclopedic knowledge of forgotten, creepy, nutty, raw and sick records. All those thrift store finds, and along with them, stories. They didn't have to share. But they did, and what that really makes them is the consummate populist rockers. All inclusive. Just sharin' the love, The love of creepy maybe, but sharin' nonetheless. A big ol' Hee-Haw salute for these two.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf mp3 at Hey Cool Kid
The Cramps - Rockin' Bones mp3 at Johan Urban (?)
The Cramps - Confessions of a Psycho Cat mp3 at Review Stalker
A Lux Interior hosted radio show:
The Purple Knif Show -  Includes 28 Lux seletions at Aquarium Drnnkard Warning: slow download
Visit:
Interview with Lux Interior and Poison Ivy at Cool Pidgeon
More in past Cramps posts, including a mess of mixes of their favorites. Scroll down.

FLEX YOUR CLICKER CREEP

If you've been lurking around here a while, you know all about the Lux and Ivy's Favorites series of mixes put together by Kogar the Swinging Ape. For the uninitiated, each one is roughly 25-30 songs that Lux and Ivy, from the Cramps, mentioned in interviews, or covered at one time or another. They were avid record collectors even before the Cramps, and that was roughly thirty five years ago, so there's a lot of music to draw from. With seventeen volumes that adds up to conservatively about four hundred songs. And they aren't just any songs, they've all got at least a bit of Cramps-like oddballness.

Kogar is the host of Kogar's Jungle Juice, a great blog in and of itself, and he also contributes to Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban. In other words, he's part of that whole WFMU and Ichiban mob that includes plenty of other East coast diehards. Not satisfied with compiling seventeen volumes of rockin', crazy, and weird records that you and I will probably never run across, he's going back and redoing them, one by one, with new rips, or rips of 45s in better condition. He's just remastered Volume Five, and it, like the others, is a no brainer. That is, if you're into rockin', crazy, and weird.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume 5 (Remastered) at Kogar's Jungle Juice 29 songs in a zip
The others:
Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume 1 (Remastered) at Kogar's Jungle Juice
Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume 2 (Remastered) at Kogar's Jungle Juice
Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume 3 (Remastered) at Kogar's Jungle Juice
Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume 6 (Remastered) at Kogar's Jungle Juice
Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume 12 (Remastered) at Kogar's Jungle Juice
Lux and Ivy's Favorites, Volumes 1-11 (pre-remastering) at Beware of the Blog
Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume 13 (pre-remastering) at Kogar's Jungle Juice
Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume 14 (pre-remastering) at Kogar's Jungle Juice
Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume 15 (pre-remastering) at Kogar's Jungle Juice
Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume 16 (pre-remastering) at Kogar's Jungle Juice
Lux and Ivy's Favorites Volume 17 (pre-remastering) at Kogar's Jungle Juice
Related:
Past Cramps posts with assorted songs, videos and whatnot

FOR THE GOOD TIMES

It had to happen at some point. Kogar the Swinging Ape is hanging up his Lux and Ivy's Favorites series of mixes, ending it with volume 17, a thirty two song set of old rock 'n' roll, rockabilly, doo-wop and such. For the uninitiated, the series included songs the Cramps covered, songs Lux and Ivy mentioned at one time or another as favorites, and songs they included on mixes for friends. If you're at all familiar with the Cramps (and you had better be), you know the type of stuff.

Too his credit, Kogar has made these available for free and has encouraged the sharing of them. Considering the amount of effort tracking down seventeen volumes of songs referenced, and then sharing all of his hard work without any compensation whatsoever, it's pretty remarkable that he stuck to it as long as he has.

This last mix comes without a song list, to thwart bootleggers that have been selling the mixes as their own compilations. (Mixes 1-16 do have song lists.) Regardless, it's all good stuff. There's a few Cramps things down there too, for the lazy bones who don't hassle with mixes.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

The mix:
Lux and Ivy's Favorites, Vol 17 at Kogar's Jungle Juice 32 songs in a zip. You'll want this.
More of Lux and Ivy's Favorites - A lot more of Kogar's hard work
Cramps what-not:
The Cramps - Let's Get Fucked Up mp3 at 8106 
The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck mp3 at Soundbites 
The Cramps - Confessions of a Psycho-Cat mp3 at Review Stalker
The Cramps - Human Fly mp3 at Review Stalker

TEENAGE WEREWOLF

I was going to stop all this nonsense of posting Halloween mixes, figuring that if I've reached the saturation point, I probably wasn't alone. That was before I ran into this one, which isn't technically a Halloween mix. That said, it'll do nicely to feel gaps you didn't know existed. It's at Aquarium Drunkard and it's a one-off radio show that was hosted by Lux Interior in 1984. Yeah.  You can imagine what kind of stuff is on it.  If you're familiar with the series of Lux and Ivy's Favorites (linked below), it's like the best of all of those, with the Interior as the legitimate selector. To round things out, there's a few from the Cramps. Tip: "Let's Get Fucked Up" works for many holidays.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

The mix:
Lux Interior and The Purple Knif show at Aquarium Drunkard 25 songs with commentary. You'll want this.
A few multi-purpose holiday songs:
The Cramps - Let's Get Fucked Up mp3 at 8106 
The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck mp3 at Soundbites 
The Cramps - Confessions of a Psycho-Cat mp3 at Review Stalker
The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf mp3 at The Mad Makerel
The Cramps - Surfin' Dead mp3 at Indie Shuffle
The Cramps - Human Fly mp3 at Review Stalker
More:
Cramps Forever - The most recent of several Cramps posts here
More of Lux and Ivy's Favorites - Links to 16 mixes
Erick Purkhiser (Lux Interior) photo at Novocaine Lipstic Uncropped mid-sixties photo booth photo

CRAMPS FOREVER

Obligatory Poison Ivy teaser, or excellent photo? Both. Sue me.

For most of you, the Cramps should need no introduction. I really can't imagine anybody passing through these parts not being completely familiar with their music, and possibly their different incarnations. They were one band who truly carried the rock 'n' roll torch. If that sounds corny, I'm sorry, but I call 'em the way I see 'em, and the way I see it, there is nothing in their thirty plus years of existence that deviated from what rock 'n' roll is, was, and should be. Lux Interior and Ivy Rorschach were teenage record fiends when they met. They moved to NYC and, in the midst of punk rock, played stuff that drew heavily from the rock 'n' roll of the fifties and sixties, without ever seeming retro or hung up on some formulaic sound or look that wasn't completely their own. Despite doing a shitload of covers, all of them sounded like the Cramps, enough so that it was tough to tell the covers from the originals. And, speaking of covers, was there a band that picked them better? The Stones, Creedence, and the New York Dolls come to mind, but in their earliest incarnations. Did they keep they up for thirty years? That's right. They did not.

This whole thing tonight started with the video above of the third incarnation (I believe) of the Cramps doing Ronnie Cook and the Gaylads' "Goo Goo Muck" (mp3s of both below). It occurred to me that not only had I never heard the original before hearing the Cramps' version, it's likely that I never would have heard it had they not had it in their repertoire. The song would have been some ultra-cult record collector geek thing. Instead, the Cramps kept their toe in the back exit so the rest of us could sneak in.

Check the Dutch TV thing above. Lux Interior pretty much nails it at 9:03. He describes rock 'n' roll as succinctly as I've ever heard it described. Rock 'n' roll, says Lux, is "a lifestyle, a fashion, a music, and it's sexual intercourse," and "it separates the squares from the cool people." Yep. Here's some Cramps related stuff. Some has been posted before. Do check the Psychotic Reaction live video (directly below). It's from 2006, possibly some of the last footage shot of them. The kids still had it. Put it this way: would I rather see the 2006 Stones, John Fogerty or the reunited New York Dolls, then even the last incarnation of the Cramps? That's a no brainer. The Cramps were, and always will be, family. That doesn't trump everything, but it doesn't have to. The Cramps may be one of the last great pure all encompassing rock 'n' roll packages. True to their sticky core.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck mp3 at SoundbitesRonnie Cook & The Gaylads - Goo Goo Muck mp3 at The Stranger
The Cramps - Confessions of a Psycho-Cat mp3 at Review Stalker
The Cramps - Let's Get Fucked Up mp3 at 8106
The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf mp3 at The Mad Makerel
The Cramps - Surfin' Dead mp3 at Indie Shuffle
The Cramps - Human Fly mp3 at Review Stalker
Full length mixes:
Lux & Ivy's favorites, Vol 2, Remastered at The Hound Blog This series should need no introduction (see this post for other volumes).Lux Lives Commemorative CD 2012 Another mix by the Hound. This one was handed out at an annual gathering of Lux Interior fiends and assorted Crampers. Read the story about it, and give it a listen.
Video:
The Cramps in the studio with Alex Chilton at YouTube Very early TV news spot
The Cramps - Ultra Twist (Live, 1995) at YouTube
The Cramps - Psychotic Reaction (Live, 2006) at YouTube
The Count Five - Psychotic Reaction at YouTube
Misc:
Poison Ivy of the Cramps; Psychobilly Guitar Goddess at The Selvedge Yard

YEP. ANOTHER INSTALLMENT.

There's a reason why the Cramps torch never seems to dim. Their legacy (and yes it is a legacy) is as complete living breathing rock 'n' rollers, on stage and mulling around dank thrift stores, throughout their decades spanning existence. Always a little out there, but undeniably palatable. That is, if you had an ounce of freak in you. They had a record called "Stay Sick," and that's just what they did, yessir. Just enough to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Here's three LP length downloads, all posted recently at other blogs, and few individual songs that have been posted before.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

First, in case you missed them:
The Cramps - Confessions of a Psycho-Cat mp3 at Review Stalker
The Cramps - Let's Get Fucked Up mp3 at 8106
The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf mp3 at The Mad Makerel
The Cramps - Surfin' Dead mp3 at Indie Shuffle
The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck mp3 at Review Stalker
The Cramps - Human Fly mp3 at Review Stalker
The full lengths:

Lux & Ivy's favorites, Vol 2, Remastered at The Hound Blog This series should need no introduction (see this post for other volumes).
Lux Lives Commemorative CD 2012 Another mix by the Hound. This one was handed out at an annual gathering of Lux Interior fiends and assorted Crampers. Read the story about it, and give it a listen...jerk.
The Cramps - Songs the Lord Taught Us (Alternate mix) LP flac rip at White Trash Soul You might need some sort of a converter for this one, to play it as an mp3. Too much hassle for me, but fiends is fiends and I'm sure there's some of you who are part geek. Do it up.

GOING TO THE STORE?

Boy, this is a mixed bunch, with only the loosest of threads. I was puttin' around town today listening to an old mix that I made that had the Flamin' Groovies, the Blues Explosion and a few other bands that got me all riled up and wishing I was having one of those good ol' "Really, they said I was having a party tonight?" type impromptu what-the-hell, if you can't beat 'em join 'em type Saturday night throwdowns, just like the good old days. Problem is, that ol' gang of mine has, literally, moved on. Time was, there was a steady stream of drop-ins on just about every weekend night (and some during the week) that would give cause to hiding a few beers in the vegetable drawer. People get married, move away, buy homes where they can afford them, and start families. Not me. Just like John Milner said in the movie American Grafitti, "I'm staying right here, having fun, as usual." It is what it is, to use a phrase I hate to use. We all grow up in different ways and I suppose. now that I'm a little older, my way is leaving beer right out in the open. So I guess this is for the "Do you have a paper plate?' "Who pissed on the seat?" "Is that the last one?" "He's upstairs" "Can I play this?" friends. They know who they are. I have carpet stains named after some of you, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Love you more because of it. XO you loiterers.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Dirty Shames - Makin' Love mp3 at Beware of the Blog
King Khan - Treat Me Like A Dog mp3 at Obscure Sound
The Chocolate Watch Band - Don't Need Your Lovin' mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Flamin' Groovies - Teenage Head mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Jim Dickinson with the Cramps - Red Headed Woman mp3 at The Hound Blog
The Gun Club - Sex Beat mp3 at Eat This Grenade!
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Money Rock’n’Roll mp3 at Review Stalker
The Black Keys - Have Love Will Travel mp3 at Nine Bullets
Left Lane Cruiser - Big Mama mp3 at Nine Bullets

MORE OF LUX & IVY'S FAVORITES

Good ol' Kogar, proprietor of Kogar's Jungle Juice has posted more volumes of Lux & Ivy's favorites. If you're not familiar with the series, it consists of songs that Lux Interior and Poison Ivy (of the Cramps) had, at one time or another, either included on their own mix tapes, mentioned as favorites in interviews, or covered. The fact that the series is now up to sixteen volumes says something about their passion for music, both in collecting and turning others onto their scores.


California State Mental Hospital, Napa, CA, 1978

The compilations are painstakingly put together by Kogar, not the band, through exhaustive searches, and he's not content with considering them finished. He's continually hunting down cleaner versions of the songs, and has begun the painstaking process of remastering compilations that have have long been "completed." A hat must be tipped in his general direction, because his intent is for these compilations to be free, and remain free, to be spread amongst other crackpot enthusiasts. Dig in folks, there's a lot of good stuff on these suckers.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

First, a few from the tour guides:
The Cramps - Cofessions of a Psycho-Cat mp3 at Review Stalker
The Cramps - Let's Get Fucked Up mp3 at 8106
The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf mp3 at The Mad Makerel
The Cramps - Surfin' Dead mp3 at Indie Shuffle
The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck mp3 at Review Stalker
The Cramps - Human Fly mp3 at Review Stalker
TD,
The mixes:NOTE: Linking to Kogar's posts so you don't miss the essential annotations:
Lux & Ivy's Favorites, Volume 6 (Remastered)
Lux & Ivy's Favorites, Volume 12 (Remastered) NOTE: The original download link Kogar posted for this Vol 12 is broken, and he later posted a new download link here
Lux & Ivy's Favorites, Volume 13
Lux & Ivy's Favorites, Volume 14
Lux & Ivy's Favorites, Volume 15
Lux & Ivy's Favorites, Volume 16
Previously posted:
Lux & Ivy's Favorites Volume 1 (Remastered) and link to Volumes 1-12
Video:The Cramps - Drug Train at YouTube Filmed in 1978 Californial State Mental Hospital, Napa, CA
The Cramps - Hang Up (Live, Oslo, 2006) at YouTube
The Cramps - Hot Pearl Snatch at YouTube
The Cramps - on Beverly Hills 90210 (1996) at YouTube Dancing with the devil here. 
Visit:
Interview with Kogar at Kogar's Jungle Juice (Translated interview, originally appeared in Dig magazine.
Kogar's Jungle Juice - The blog
The Cramps Official site
The Cramps at Wikipedia

CHECK OUT!

There's a bunch of reasons to post "Check Out" by Us Kids, not the least of which is to hep you to Garage Hangover. It's a really great, very focused blog about obscure garage bands from the first garage era. It's been linked over in my sadly neglected blog list ("Get Lost") pretty much since day one, and it's provided me with hours of digging and reading about bands that don't mean a trifle in the overall rock n' roll scheme of things. Yet each band has their own special, if sometimes mundane, story.

Us Kids was a band of 11-14 year olds, from the early sixties, "Check Out," the one mp3 posted, is pretty good, and not just kid good. It's hard to believe the writer was something like 13 years old at the time. I listened and tried hard to imagine the song done in a somewhat creepier style. The very title of the song, and the riff, were already headed there. Some sort of teenage Link Wray, this kid was. That's when I started hearing the Cramps. I was thinking how cool it would be if the Cramps covered it. Then I realized that they practically did, with their version of Ronnie Cook and the Gaylad's "Goo Goo Muck."

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Us Kids - Check Out mp3 at Garage Hangover
The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck mp3 at Motel de Moka
Link Wray and the Wraymen - Rawhide mp3 at Diddy Wah
Lux and Ivy's Favorites, Vol 1-11, separate mix zips at Beware of the Blog
(11 mixes, that's a lot of music!)
Fool's Paradise with Lux and Ivy interview mp3 at Beware of the Blog

DON'T KNOW JIM DICKINSON?

You should know him. You probably do. He recorded with, or produced, (...ready?) the Stones, Wilson Picket, Aretha Franklin, the Flamin' Groovies, Duane Allman, the Cramps, the Replacements, Toots Hibbert, Alex Chilton, Big Star, Jerry Jeff Walker, Dion, Dylan, Ry Cooder, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Mojo Nixon, Mudhoney and many, many more. I knew his name from album credits (remember those?) over the years but never kept a mental tally. After his death, a week and a half ago, I began seeing bloggers' tributes and was astounded by his dossier.

.

He was a musician, and a producer, but he was a music freak first. Like you. Like me. And, if his output was any indication, the man had taste. His "Monkey Man," recorded with the Katmandu Quartet, sounds like the Legendary Stardust Cowboy fronting a Northwest garage band. Red Headed Woman, recorded with the Cramps and showcasing his skills on the 88's sounds like, well, the Legendary Stardust Cowboy fronting the Cramps with Jerry Lee Lewis on piano. Then there's the 1967 straight-up garage rocker he played on with Flash and the Memphis Casuals, "Uptight Tonight." And (what seems to be commonly regarded as) the last great 45 on Sun, "Cadillac Man" b/w "My Babe" by the Jesters, which he sang lead on, though he wasn't a member of the band.

.

This is just a taste. Visit the blogs linked below for the entire story, and a lot more mp3s (remember, "right click, save as..."). And read album liner notes while they still exist!

..
Listen:

Jim Dickinson w/the Cramps - Red Headed Woman mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu

Jim Dickinson and the Katmandu Quartet - Monkey Man mp3 at The Hound

Flash & the Memphis Casuals - Uptight Tonight mp3 at The Hound

Jim Dickinson w/the Jesters - Cadillac Man and My Babe mp3s at The Hound

Flamin Groovies - Teenage Head mp3 at Beware of the Blog

The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses mp3 at Beware of the Blog

The Replacements - Tossin n' Turnin' mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu

Mudhoney - Beneath the Valley of the Underdog mp3 at Beware of the Blog

Toots Hibbert - Hard to Handle mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu

Aretha Franklin - Spirit in the Dark mp3 at Beware of the Blog

Read:

Jim Dickinson post (excellent bio) at the Hound

Jim Dickinson post at Beware of the Blog

Jim Dickinson post at Boogie Woogie Flu

The Jim Dickinson page at Wikipedia

Visit:

His Zebra Ranch studio site