Great Story, PJ!
Actually K-39 was one of the first albums from the first wave I got my hands on. And when I started skateboarding last year, I pulled the Good Guys' tracks from the Killer Surf CD and put them on my mp3 player to listen to while skating.

Los Apollos - cinematic surf music trio (Berlin)
"Postcards from the Scrapyard" Vol. 1, 2 & 3 NOW available on various platforms!
"Chaos at the Lobster Lounge" available as LP and download on Surf Cookie Records!

One more thing about the "Sidewalk Surfing" LP:

I was very happy with the sound of this album when it was released originally under the "Good Guys" name; however, upon listening to the same tracks on the recent Challengers' compilation CD, I found the sound to be of lesser quality. I presume this to be due to either an inferior remix or remastering... thus I will advise all of you who may want to get this album to try to find the original Good Guys' version, as it definitely sounds better (to my ears anyway).

PJ -

Paul Johnson
Belairs / Galaxies / Packards / Surfaris / Duo-tones / etc.
www.pjmoto.com

pjmoto wrote:

Even moreso was the "Sidewalk Surfing" project, an album initially ----Never could I have even dreamt of a better opportunity to make some great music!

Awesome, PJ!! Thanks for sharing your priceless memories!! Supercool that SIDEWALK SURFING is one of your favorite projects. Its one of my favorites of the era.

There was one other related project, in which Delvy produced a session for "PJ & Artie," as Art Fisher

Was this project released as P.J. and Artie?? What were the tunes/and or album?

I will close by underscoring the fact that even if the projects I took part in were "commercial product" to Delvy, to me they were fantastic opportunities to make my own kind of music with great musicians.

I wholeheartedly agree! Many of these "commercial" or session driven albums produced some of the best stuff and should not be dismissed. The best players, songwriters and producers created them. Some of my all-time favorites are these albums.

BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com

pjmoto wrote:

One more thing about the "Sidewalk Surfing" LP:

I was very happy with the sound of this album when it was released originally under the "Good Guys" name; however, upon listening to the same tracks on the recent Challengers' compilation CD, I found the sound to be of lesser quality. I presume this to be due to either an inferior remix or remastering... thus I will advise all of you who may want to get this album to try to find the original Good Guys' version, as it definitely sounds better (to my ears anyway).

I don't have the original LP, just the Killer Surf comp, but I can definitely see what you're saying, Paul - those tracks do sound pretty thin. Bad mastering? Oh well, the tracks are still great!

For those of you buying the Killer Surf comp, be advised that the Sidewalk Surfing tracks are scattered throughout the comp. Here's the original track listing of the LP - you can program your CD player or just put those tracks in your iTunes/iPod tracklist:

http://www.discogs.com/Good-Guys-Sidewalk-Surfing-/release/5086941

I actually just took half an hour and loaded a bunch of Challengers tracks into iTunes. I made a playlist with the original Rhino Best-Of (man, hearing those tracks in that order really takes me back to when I first fell in love with surf music!), a bunch of Challengers tracks I love that were not on that Best-Of, and then finally the Good Guys' Sidewalk Surfing LP in its entirety. Time to take a break from listening to Motorhead and immerse myself in some classic surf again!

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

I was checking out Sundazed for some Challengers and came upon a couple of nice features on Delvy, including a video interview by PJ and some thoughts by Domenic Priore:
http://www.sundazed.com/shop/news/?p=44

Priore is a fan of the original recording and writes:

"Delvy produced a masterful record called “Sidewalk Surfing” by The Good Guys in 1964 that featured Paul Johnson, Art Fisher, Phil Pruden of the Challengers, John Anderson of Eddie & the Showmen, studio drummer Hal Blaine and other top surf musicians for GNP-Cresendo Records… in mono. An inferior stereo mix of this album was re-released by GNP-Crescendo as “The Challengers” later on but this takes nothing away from the integrity of The Good Guys recordings."

IvanP wrote:

...man, hearing those tracks in that order

Did that awhile back with all 3 volumes of Birth of Surf - a mind blowing playlist. (THANK YOU John Blair Book)

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

Last edited: Jan 03, 2016 18:59:57

I like the quality of the Killer Surf recordings but it may be for the same reason folks don't like 'em. They are very clean - even sterile - and not as ambient as the stereo and mono LP's with which I just compared them. As Shiver's noted, you may need to boost the bottom end on the CD. The channels on the Killer Surf CD are very separate. There is more crossover on the stereo LP and of course the mono is pure crossover. The more discrete CD separation is again something I like even if it's a departure from a more natural sound (I also like the widely separated early Beatles and Ventures recordings). I find it revealing. You can isolate a channel and hear exactly whats being played on a given instrument. -Marty

"Hello Girls!"

Last edited: Jan 03, 2016 19:56:32

One nugget I always wondered about was "Igor's Theme" from the WIPE OUT LP. It's also known as "Roller Derby" on the SIDEWALK SOUNDS LP. You can also find it on the Killer Surf CD.

The writing credit is Johnson-Boyle. I'm assuming Johnson is PJ. Hope he comes back to this thread. Would love to know if its him on lead and how he got that sound. Sounds like a Leslie. The tune is very "MUNSTERS". Very cool spooky vibe.

BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com

In reply to Ivan's request for track-specific info on the Gppd Guys' "Sidewalk Surfing" album, here are some of my recollections...
As was noted earlier, this project featured three guitarists — myself, Art Fisher (Challengers) and John Anderson (Eddie & the Showmen) — as I recall, we all greatly enjoyed switching off between lead and rhythm duties. Buzz Carré (Eddie & the Showmen) played bass, Jimmy Roberts (Belairs) was on keybords, Hal Blaine played drums and Steve Douglass (Duane Eddy)teamed up with Phil Pruden (Challengers) on saxes. The album was recorded in one day in 1964 at the Capitol Records studio on Vine St. in Hollywood.
What follows is the answer to "who played lead on what?" along with a few other tidbits of info:

Roller Derby: Jim Boyle, my rhythm guitarist in PJ & the Galaxies, had come up with the melody you hear in the verses, and I invented the chorus section. We originally called this "Igor's Theme," but the name was changed for the project. I'm playing the lead here through a leslie (organ) speaker.

Scratch: I'm pretty sure this is John Anderson in the verses, though it could have been Art Fisher; it's definitely Artie playing the improv sections...

Happy Guitars: This was written by Thom Starr; somewhere along the way I heard this and thought it would fit the project well. I'm playing lead throughout here.

Lanky-Bones: I had recently written this tune, and I regard this as "the definitive version." I'm playing lead throughout.

Small Fry: Me again on the lead on this, another then-recently-composed original. Note: I resurrected this tune with the Packards in the '80s, with a new title — "Beach City Bop."

Collision Course: This, I think, should have been the "hit single" from the album. That's John on the leslie speaker lead in the verses, and me on the fuzztone guitar elsewhere.

Kami-Kaze: This, for me, is the definitive version of this original of mine that dates back to the early Belairs. I'm playing lead throughout...

Duck Waddle: Art Fisher plays lead in the verses on his original tune. I play the fuzztone solo.

The Wedge: This is John Anderson all the way.

Surf-Ari: John again throughout on a tune of his own.

Sidewalk Surfer: Delvy wanted to record this tune to which he had the rights, and which was only partially written — he had just the verse; so I came up with a chorus and an arrangement, and I played the lead.

K-39: Artie is again playing the lead, as he had done of the Challengers' version...

PJ -

Paul Johnson
Belairs / Galaxies / Packards / Surfaris / Duo-tones / etc.
www.pjmoto.com

One more thing PJ if you're still around. What amp were you using on the SIDEWALK SURFING sessions? I hear the brownface Deluxe was popular with the Wrecking Crew guys. What were you and the guys on this session using?

BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com