The Incredibly Strange Creatures Of Rock & Roll

The Sentinals were a surf band from San Luis Obispo from the early 1960's who played music with a heavy R&B or Latin influence with the exception of their single The Bee B/W Over You on the Point record label (Point 5100). The same 45 was released the same year on the Westco label by base player Kenny Hinkle as Kenny Hinkle's Friends as a limited edition extremely rare yellow vinyl.  Today this 45 is nearly impossible to find but thankfully Lux Interior included it in the aforementioned Forbidden City Dog Food Tape. Kenny Hinkle's Friends - The Bee

Once at a Cramps show in Philadelphia at a renovated burlesque club called the Trocadero I caught a pre-show song playing over the PA prior to The Cramps taking the stage.  It was some 1960's garage rocker that kept repeating Shake, Shake Baby.  When I returned home I was on a mission to find the artist so I posted my dilemma on the Garagepunk.com forum and received my answer.  The song was Shake, Shake Baby by The American Teens released in March 1966 on Pennsylvania's Swan record label (Swan 4246). The most interesting and coolest information about this song is that it was produced by F.L. Wray Sr., composed by Vernon Ray & arranged by non other than Link Wray himself.  Other than an eye for talent I often wonder if there is another connection between the two but since I know nothing about The American Teens (biographically) the connection will remain a mystery. If anybody knows more about this band I would love to hear about it. The American Teens -...

Staying with the Screaming theme we now move on to The Scream by Oliver Cool. 1960's beat poet Rod Mckuen recorded many spoken word records under his own name but also recorded under several pseudonyms including McFadden & Dor (Rod), Oliver Twist and Oliver Cool.  McFaddden & Dor recorded a hilarious novelty LP Songs Our Mummy Taught Us spoofing classic horror films.  McKuen recorded another novelty LP in 1962 as Oliver Twist on the Spiral record label which spoofed the countless twist songs that were flooding the market at the time.  The Theory is that people have confused Oliver Twist with Oliver Cool both released the same year. The Scream was released in November 1962 on the Brand record label written by Jerry Capehart and presumed to feature Glen Campbell on guitar.  Some believe that Eddie Cochran played guitar on this session instead since the song sounded eerily similar to Cochran's own song "The Scream but there is no historical proof to su...

I can't go too much further into this Blog without acknowledging the significant global contribution of Tim Warren & Crypt Records  to the world of 1950's and 1960's punk, rockabilly and sleazy instrumentals.  The indispensable compilations Back From The Grave, Las Vegas Grind, & Jungle Exotica (to name but a few) have become the standard by which all other similar compilations in the genre are judged. One of the greatest contributions to the world of psychotic breathless roackabilly/ garage punk greatness is Scream! by Ralph Neilsen & The Chancellors.  Unless I'm told differently by the 60's punk gods, this song is THE most insane 45 ever drudged up from rural New Jersey.  Scream was recorded in some guy's basement in 1962 in Princeton New Jersey and can be described as the Burnette's "Train Kept A Rollin"played at 78 rpm with a frantic male voice yelling "C'mon & Scream yeah, yeah" over a female voca...

There's not much to tell about Bill Carter & "Baby Brother" certainly defies description.  in 1959 country & gospel artist Bill Carter briefly embraced rockabilly by recording "Cool Tom Cat" on the Ozark & Blackjack record labels with "Baby Brother" on the flip.  He was backed on both songs by the Rovin' Gamblers. This journey into the weird side of country music gave us the gift of a truly bizarre set to off key lap guitar telling the story of the strange behavior of a a sibling learning to swim in a goldfish bowl & flapping his arms and chasing his toy balloon into the sky.  I first heard this song 15 years ago on a 1984 radio broadcast..  Turns out that someone had the brilliant foresight to slip a blank cassette in and record Lux Interior spinning his own records as a guest DJ at a local Hollywood radio station.  The broadcast was released by my friends Lindsay & Inigo Munster on Munster Records as The Purple Knif ...

One of the better (identifiable) singles on the Vip Vop Tapes that represents the primordial musical ooze from which The Cramps slithered is B.B. Cunningham Jr.'s Electrode. Electrode was released in 1959 on Buddy senior's own Cover record label in Memphis.  The A side, "Trip To The Bandstand", is a pretty standard country rocker in 4/4 time.  Electrode has more of a shuffling beat with an great sleazy, twangy  sounding guitar track that dominates a wall of drums and honky tonk piano. In 1961 Cunningham became a member of Ronnie & The Daytonas (whom we'll look at in a later).  The group's leader "Ronnie" disliked touring so an alternate member lineup was created for this purpose.  This alternate touring roster eventually became The Hombres who even scored a #12 hit with "Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)".  B.B. was the vocalist and keyboard player of Hombres and even played a little bass on some tracks.  The Hombres...