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> Whatdya mean "maybe you should be worshipping Paul Johnson instead
of Eddie"? There's no maybe about it, PJ is the greatest songwriter
in surf (he wrote Squad Car, Mr Moto, Kami Kazi, Vaminos among
several other greats) and plays the most melodic of guitars in a
very original style. Eddie was/is a demon of mediocrate playing the
standard overdone blooze rock guitar riffs through a distortion box
and has never topped Mr. Rebel and his cover verson of Squad Car.
To quote the Big Hollow Twang, "Guitarist Eddie Bertrand quit the
surf combo The Bel-Airs (of "Mr Moto" fame) over an argument with co-
guitarist Paul Johnson.
Seems like Paul Johnson objected to Eddie's heavy use of spring
reverb...well it looks like history has proven you DEAD WRONG, Mr
Johnson!
Bertrand's new band, dubbed The Showmen after the Fender amplifiers
they used, was only about a million times hotter than The Bel-Airs
could have ever hoped to be. This is particularly evident if you
compare both bands' recordings of Eddie's wild original
instro "Squad Car".
The Showmen take is faster, tougher, wetter, and all-around more
spin-worthy.
Bertrand's guitar playing with The Showmen is everything surf guitar
ought to be...fast, precise, soaking in reverb, and totally
testosterone-powered.
Eddie coaxed incredible sounds out of his Fender Jaguar on
powerhouse tracks like "Toes On The Nose", "Scratch", "Dark Eyes",
and "Movin'".
Eddie and The Showmen recorded some of the most vital and essential
examples of the surf genre, finally calling it quits in 1965 in the
face of the onslaught of squaresville British pop."
I think Eddie was a much better guitarist than Paul in the
earlier days, and the Showmen could have torn apart any Eddie-less
incarnation of the Bel-airs or PJ and the Galaxies. Listen to
Eddie's playing on Scratch. To me that's what a surf guitar should
sound like, but his playing is extremly intense, and the leads are
excellent. PJ and Arty's version of Scratch sounds terrible next to
this. Again, IMO Eddie and the Showmen, if not the best, were
certainly one of the best 1st wave surf bands, and Eddie had THEE
tone. As for Squad Car, I think Eddie recorded it faster than Paul
for somewhat of a personal stab. Also, on those Slacktone videos
I'd have to say, this is the first version of Squad Car I've heard
Paul do that I've really liked. Go through his site, there are some
pretty bad examples of how to play that song.
Let's go foward 40 years. Paul's better today, he's stayed
pretty tasteful and has improved IMO. I think he considered himself
more of a rhythm guitarist back then. When I spoke with him about
Eddie's Jaguars he said he had one as well, and he loved using the
mute for some of the rhythm parts he was playing. But, Paul's a
really nice guy, and he's becoming/is the respected Godfather of
surf. Dick Dale may be the king, but look at all the fun we make of
him. As for Eddie today, I think I could safely say a majority of
us in the surf community would love to see him take more of the
approach Paul has.
Bill
