IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Jan 12 2010 09:36 PM
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CaptainSpringfield
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 4387
Under the Sun
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Posted on Jan 12 2010 09:42 PM
IvanP
Pray tell more.
Vocal soul/boogaloo covers.
— That was excessively violent and completely unnecessary. I loved it.
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Jagshark
Joined: Nov 05, 2008
Posts: 745
Colorado, home of The Astronauts
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Posted on Jan 12 2010 09:43 PM
I can't say much more than what has already been said in this thread. Great band.
— (defunct) Thee Jaguar Sharks
Plus! Other stuff not surf: https://soundcloud.com/jamesmileshq
Enjoy every minute
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CaptainSpringfield
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 4387
Under the Sun
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Posted on Jan 13 2010 12:37 AM
IvanP
Incidentally, I just wanted to point out that the Lively Ones had - in my opinion - one of the best bass players in surf music in Ron Griffiths. Bass players rarely get much attention, but Griffiths deserves it, his bass lines were almost always melodic and more than just simple root notes. In addition, he tended to be mixed quite loud (relatively speaking for that era), which was the right decision. If you haven't checked out his playing before, pay attention the next time, I think you'll really enjoy it.
Totally agree! The rhythm section absolutely _makes _that band for me. (Can't say I'm a huge fan of Masoner's lead playing.) And the mix really accentuates Griffiths, so it's not like you have to strain to make his lines out.
— That was excessively violent and completely unnecessary. I loved it.
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Klas
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 2310
Stockholm, Sweden
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Posted on Jan 13 2010 06:37 AM
Essential band but for some reason they just never qualified among my favorite first wave groups that had an album or more.
An alternative to the out of print Best Of CDs is Collector's Choice Surf Rider/Surf Drums CD which has their first two albums in full including full page reproductions of front and back covers inside the booklet.
And then we have this one, haha...

— T H E ✠ S U R F I T E S
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Kawentzmann
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1062
Berlin, Germany
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Posted on Jan 13 2010 08:30 AM
CaptainSpringfield
It's missing those three plus one entire album:
Not an essential album, but a, shall we say ... "interesting" one.
Del-Fi owned the name. I once saw it in a shop and asked a collector about it. Its a studio group of musicians, not the real Lively Ones.
— The Exotic Guitar of Kahuna Kawentzmann
You can get the boy out of the Keynes era, but you can’t get the Keynes era out of the boy.
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CaptainSpringfield
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 4387
Under the Sun
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Posted on Jan 13 2010 03:46 PM
Kawentzmann
Del-Fi owned the name. I once saw it in a shop and asked a collector about it. Its a studio group of musicians, not the real Lively Ones.
Interesting! That would certainly explain the discrepancy then. Thanks, KK.
— That was excessively violent and completely unnecessary. I loved it.
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TFJ
Joined: Mar 04, 2006
Posts: 278
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Posted on Jan 13 2010 05:13 PM
Tim Fitzpatrick is still one of the best drummers around...
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Brian
Joined: Feb 25, 2006
Posts: 19349
Des Moines, Iowa, USA
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Posted on Jan 13 2010 06:01 PM
Someone should ask Tim F. about that Bugalu album.
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shivers13
Joined: Jul 29, 2009
Posts: 2605
Boss Angeles, CA
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Posted on Jan 13 2010 10:17 PM
Brian
Someone should ask Tim F. about that Bugalu album.
Just talked to Tim about this album. It's definetly a studio group and has nothing to do with the original Lively Ones. He also said Jim Masoner owns The Lively Ones name and he just recently added Tim to the copyright. That's pretty cool. But that Bugaloo album is a bunch of Bugaboo.
— BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
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www.doublecrownrecords.com
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Jan 13 2010 10:49 PM
Very cool, thanks, Norm!
I've been listening to the Lively Ones' "Hang Five" for the last few days - God, it sounds so good through my good stereo! Really excellent recording quality, much better than the vast majority of surf bands at the time. They were recorded by Bob Summers, Les Paul's brother-in-law, and this guy had a true echo chamber (a tiled room a la Abbey Road studios) and used it to great effect. Summers also said that he learned a lot talking to Les Paul about recording techniques, and you can definitely hear it in the recordings.
I was also thinking about what Warren said about Jim Masoner, that he's not one of his favorite surf guitarists. Masoner definitely doesn't get much love, and I guess that's because he's not very flashy and he seems very happy to play as part of a unit (it helps to be playing with such a great rhythm section, of course!). But I was paying closer attention to his playing, and at moments it's truly inspired. In particular, I was completely blown away by his phrasing and his touch and imagination on "Night and Day". It's simply gorgeous. Also, the emulation of horse trot that he did on guitar on "Exodus" was genius! His double-picking was really tight and energetic, and he could do all the blues licks on the many Freddie King covers very convincingly. I'm starting to think that Masoner is really underrated.
Anyway, I'm just on my little Lively Ones kick, and enjoying the hell out of it.
— Ivan
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Ruhar
Joined: Jun 21, 2007
Posts: 3909
San Diego, CA
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Posted on Jan 13 2010 11:17 PM
That's funny you mention that Ivan. I actually listened to Hang Five again yesterday after reading this thread and I was pretty taken aback by Jim Masoner's playing on Night and Day. His playing on that track really showcases his skills as a guitar player outside of his pure surf work. The guy had some serious phrasing and melodic skills. No doubt about it!
— Ryan
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shivers13
Joined: Jul 29, 2009
Posts: 2605
Boss Angeles, CA
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Posted on Jan 13 2010 11:17 PM
I agree. Jim Masoner is underated by a lot of people in my opinion. His double picking is lightning fast and his tone is flawless. The interplay between the rythym and lead is clearly defined and perfectly mixed. And the drums and bass are in the pocket of course. Nowadays Jim refuses to play his old gear which bums some people out and I understand both sides but to me that Hang Five CD is among the best surf ever recorded.
Tim says they set to out to blow everyone out of the water with their band and their live shows were insanely high energy and I believe him. Wish I could see footage of those days
— BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com
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CaptainSpringfield
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 4387
Under the Sun
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Posted on Jan 14 2010 03:05 AM
IvanP
I was also thinking about what Warren said about Jim Masoner, that he's not one of his favorite surf guitarists ...
Its his playing on the Freddie King and Link Wray covers that I'm not into. He just sounds really stiff to me on the King songs.
I think of them more as an ensemble band, anyways - definitely a testament to the killer rhythm section.
— That was excessively violent and completely unnecessary. I loved it.
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Rio
Joined: May 22, 2006
Posts: 500
Hamilton, Ontario
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Posted on Jan 14 2010 09:38 AM
I'm a big Lively Ones fan, I think some of their covers were really excellent, I love their version of Miserlou, for example, more than Dick's.
Jim Masoner's guitar always awed me, and Tim Fitzpatrick, who is still playing (and who I'm floored I actually got to meet on my trip to the left coast a couple of years ago, and who still climbs up on his throne while playing) is a real sweetheart too
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Jan 14 2010 04:01 PM
CaptainSpringfield
IvanP
I was also thinking about what Warren said about Jim Masoner, that he's not one of his favorite surf guitarists ...
Its his playing on the Freddie King and Link Wray covers that I'm not into. He just sounds really stiff to me on the King songs.
Well, keep in mind that Masoner was a suburban, middle-class white teenager when he recorded that stuff. To my ears, it really doesn't sound that bad, but yes, he's no bluesman!
It's really a shame that the Lively Ones didn't devote more energy to coming up with original material but concentrated to such a great extent on covers. Many of their covers were truly excellent, but their original songs were flat-out amazing! There was their debut single "Guitarget (Hotdoggen)"/ "Crying Guitar (Surfer's Lament)" - both songs written by Bob Summers and both really good, especially the former - in fact, what a kick-ass song! Hardly anyone ever mentions "Guitarget" when talking about the Lively Ones - I wonder why? Then of course there were "High Tide (Tranquilizer)"/"Surf Battle (Goofy Foot)", both written by Masoner, both absolute classics and the songs most associated with the band, besides "Surf Rider" (itself a Ventures cover). There is also "Crazy Surf", also written by Bob Summers, and a pretty good song. So, here you have two originals by the band, and three originals written for the band by their producer, where they showed they could definitely produce high-quality original recordings (even if "Surf Battle - Goofy Foot" IS an "Apache" rip-off! ) "Exodus" and "Night and Day" could be counted almost as originals as they featured original and unique arrangements and were songs that other surf bands did not play. It would have been really nice to see more of this sort of thing, but it was not to be. Sad....
(Does anybody know the credits for the songs "Walkin' The Board" and "Chicken Scratch"? I assume they're covers, the latter maybe even by Freddie King, but I could be wrong...)
— Ivan
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Fuzzmeister
Joined: Jan 06, 2008
Posts: 163
Canberra, Australia
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Posted on Jan 14 2010 04:34 PM
IvanP
(Does anybody know the credits for the songs "Walkin' The Board" and "Chicken Scratch"? I assume they're covers, the latter maybe even by Freddie King, but I could be wrong...)
"Chicken Scratch" is just "Heads Up" by Freddie King re-named isn't it?
— http://www.reverbnation.com/spaceparty4
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CaptainSpringfield
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 4387
Under the Sun
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Posted on Jan 14 2010 06:03 PM
Fuzzmeister
"Chicken Scratch" is just "Heads Up" by Freddie King re-named isn't it?
Yup. And it wasn't the only Freddy King song they renamed, either.
— That was excessively violent and completely unnecessary. I loved it.
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Rio
Joined: May 22, 2006
Posts: 500
Hamilton, Ontario
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Posted on Jan 14 2010 06:33 PM
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Jan 14 2010 06:46 PM
Rio
Ivan, you reminded me of "High Tide"-- both the Eradicators, and the Flying Bordelos, used to cover that one... great tune...
The Penetrators and Satan's Pilgrims also recorded it. I'm sure there were quite a few others!
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
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