B.B. Cunningham Jr. - Electrode

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 broke up in 1969 and in 1997 Cunningham emerged from obscurity to play keyboards in Jerry Lee Lewis' touring band.  On October 15, 2015 Buddy Blake Cunningham was fatally shot in Memphis while working as a security guard for an apartment complex.

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