Thanks, Tuck! These are terrific.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Those videos made my day!
Thanks Tuck

http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyacesrock
http://www.reverbnation.com/crazyacesmusic

Go Eddie, Go!!

CUTBACK

Thanks for such kind words guys. In NO way did I pull that off by myself. Working up those tracks in the basement with Richard, Jamie, Link, and Chris (by remote control) and then finally getting one last shot at it in our hotel with us all in one room at the same time was very special. Having the opportunity to take it to the stage at Instro Summit and later in California was icing on the cake. We all deeply appreciate both Crispy and Big Tiki Dude's support on both sides of the US and their letting us make it a reality to share it with so many great friends.

Also sharing the stage with Ivan, Trace, Bobby C and Sticks made those two amazing weekends even more amazing.

I really think that two of the biggest influences on my playing and what I play have to be the the Astronauts (both surf and otherwise), and the Penetrators.

Hey fellow A-Nots, Let's do it again!

I love the sight of a white Jazzmaster first thing in the morning.

Greatful Ed

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

Words cannot express my gratitude to Eddie and the boys for putting this together and to Crispy and Jeff (twice) for hosting it. FWIW, I think all of the video for SG101 and the Pier that Sunday are due to Cherie Garcia-Lewis. Since some were posted by Chris, I'm not sure who took them, though I deduce that it wasn't him. My own attempts are still gathering dust!

Anyone wants to do a whole set of Astronauts or Penetrators stuff on Gibsons/Marshalls or Fenders or Rickenbackers/Vox, whatever, I'm there. Or anyway I sure hope so.

I am sorry to say this… but this is the forum for surf music. So we can discuss it here.

Am I the only one who think this is not played very authentic? I miss the energy of the Astronauts. The songs have to be played with more drive!

I watched the videos and thought about the tempo of some songs. Especially Surf Party and The Pier.
Then I discovered that I mostly miss the Astronauts drum beat! This special surf beat that sounds other than other surf beats! It is NOT a typical surf drum beat!!! And I know that not every drummer is able to play this in the right way. The drummer in the Astro Nots band is not playing the typical needed rhythm for the songs. Why???
The guitar sounds are great for sure!
And: Also a Stratocaster should not be played in a band who plays Astronauts songs. My opinion.

Twang cheers!

Ralf Kilauea

www.kilaueas.de

https://kilaueas.bandcamp.com/album/touch-my-alien

Last edited: Apr 21, 2014 11:24:08

IvanP wrote:

HallmarkSweptWinger wrote:

And: Also a Stratocaster should not be played in a band who plays Astronauts songs. My opinion.

• Jamie
  SSS Agent #181
  Cartoons drenched in reverb!
  The Mystery Men?
  El Capitan & The Reluctant Sadists

There are drummers who are willing to do the Gallagher beat. At least Jesse Carraway has been willing to demo it to me. I stood there and watched fascinated once, my camera idle in my hand, as he did a segment of Banzai Pipeline in a standard rock way, a surf beat way, and the Gallagher way. Then he started to pack up and as he did I came to my senses and told him, "Say, next time I should video that!" But we never have. He participated in the Astronauts basement sessions here in Denver. Actually, it was his basement, and he organized the sessions.

I hope people will keep up with these projects. I think they are important. If you were doing this in Denver with a high enough profile I suspect it would be possible to get Jim Gallagher to come around and offer some pointers.

And, in fact, I kind of think this needs to be done in Denver - as often as possible - to wipe out the (musical) embarrassment of that Colorado Music Hall of Fame induction. The induction itself, of course, was well merited and everything else was handled very nicely. From a purely local perspective what they did made a certain sense. The band and their surviving fans were into the very garage performances in Boulder and around the metro area, not surf music. However, the band does have a very significant place in the history of surf music, of instrumental rock & roll, and as surf music the CMHF induction was pretty sad.

Last edited: Apr 21, 2014 14:23:14

In this video you can see a few songs done in a short tour in September 2011 with the Kilaueas "extended", which is including me on drums and Alex Faide on 3rd guitar. We did 5 shows if I remember well.
The plan was to continue the project and record an album of Astronauts covers. But we did not proceed.

Unfortunately the 3 songs do not include a correct Astronauts tempo, except for a little in The Pier but no completely. There is a classic surf beat and the Quasimoto tempo. Sorry for the quality of the video but this was horribly taken at the club...

So I will try to record a sample tomorrow as I will have the drums set up.

Lorenzo

Lorenzo "Surfer Joe" Valdambrini
(www.surfmusic.net)

DannySnyder wrote:

I'm willing to state the B section of Hot Doggin' is the coolest hunk of surf music ever put to vinyl. I never tire of playing it. The A section is pretty awesome too.

Looking at the old footage of Jim G. playing drums, it's no wonder almost no one can do it. It looks like he made up his own technique, unless he was just hamming it up for the camera.

totally agree. difficult to say what is better between hot doggin, surf party, firewater, pier and most surf astronauts tunes! amazing!

for the drum you are right, it is not easy and has lots of variations, very jazzy. the important is to identify the main beat and give the right accents. in songs like surf party those accents make the song.

Lorenzo "Surfer Joe" Valdambrini
(www.surfmusic.net)