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Ivan,
Thanks so much for the Reviews. I've been planning on getting
those cd's, just been putting it off. I do have to make one
correction though.
The Kilaueas did have another cd out on Kamikaze records out of
Germany. It was one of the 2 fer series that they were doin' for
awhile(2 bands albums on 1 cd) Kinda weird, But if it fits, what the
hell. The Kilaueas album is titled "Magmanautic Inferno" and comes
with Surf Patroullie "Venus Pussy Polka Riot" Both are extremely
good in my Opinion.
Other than that, surf on man.
Jeff(bigtikidude)
--- In , "ipongrac" <ipongrac@g...>
wrote:
> "The Lost Legends Of Surf Guitar, Vol. 1-3" (Sundazed)
>
> I got these three CDs about 3-4 weeks ago, and have been slowly
> digesting them. There are almost 60 tracks by something like 30
> bands on here, so there's a lot to get a handle on. However, the
> more I listen to these three CDs, the more I like them. It's quite
> amazing that Sundazed was able to dig out this many songs, many if
> not most of which are very rare and have not been available on CD,
> and some which see the light of day for the first time.
>
> The first thing you'll notice about these CDs is the absolutely
> SUPERB packaging! It's quite stunning, in fact. Each CD comes
with
> its own fold-out booklet, with gorgeous original color photos of
the
> bands and Fender's promo material; and on the face of each CD is
one
> of Fender's Holy Surf Guitar Trinity: Strat, Jag and Jazzmaster.
> Each CD also comes with copious and excellent liner notes: vol. 1
by
> Dominic Priore, Vol. 3 by John Blair (can't remember who did Vol. 2
> right now, and I don't have the CDs here). Also included are all
> sorts of interesting quotes and recollections by the original
> musicians themselves for example, the lead guitarist of the New
> Dimensions says that the Jag with flatwound strings is really
`thee'
> surf guitar, and that a Strat really WASN'T a surf guitar
something
> that Dick Dale, Paul Johnson, Eddie Bertrand, Jim Messina, Jim
> Fuller, Art Fisher and many others may disagree with! Anyway,
great
> kudos to Sundazed for such a wonderful job with the packaging. WAY
> above the call of duty, and surpassing ever their own high standard
> of excellence.
>
> As far as the music, I would say that only a fraction of this is in
> the must-have category. The best of the sixties surf music has
been
> released and re-released many times already, and if you wanted to
> play some choice tracks to a friend unaware of surf music, I doubt
> you would pick any of these songs. Having said that, there are
> plenty of us around that are slightly sick and must have it all!!
> For those like me, there is plenty to make us happy. Here are some
> highlights of each CD.
>
> The first CD is chock-full of great stuff, mostly focusing on bands
> consisting of teens exploding with energy and, in some cases,
> derivativeness. It opens with a brilliant "El Gato" by the ultra-
> obscure the Chandelles (actually I have this on some other
> compilation CD, but can't remember which one), followed by
> a "Latinia"-inspired "Loophole" by the Royal Coachmen both great
> tracks, and the latter only available on Sundazed's mostly-
> vocal "Surf And Drag, Vol. 1". The fireworks continue with one of
> the most perfect examples of the properly reverbed surf guitar, the
> rare "Gear" by Dave Myers and the Surftones, and three previously
> unissued tracks by Original Surfaris, including their fantastic
> version of "Exotic". I'm not sure what the point was of including
> two easily available tracks by the Pyramids (classic "Contact"
> and "Penetration"-derived "Pressure"), but it's nice to hear them
> anyway. And one previously unreleased track "The Rising Surf" by
the
> Tandems is credited to Richie Podolor AKA Richie Allen, which is an
> obvious mistake, since it sounds nothing like Allen's track of the
> same name however, it sounds a LOT like DD's "The Wedge" a bit
of
> theft going on for sure. Anyway, this is all nitpicking. This is
a
> great CD, and a welcome addition to any extensive surf CD library.
>
> The second CD besides including another batch of teen-fronted bands
> also takes a look at the "old-fogeys" (you know, like THIRTY-year
> olds!) trying to cash-in on the new trend and sound, and features
> some extremely rare diamonds! It starts off with a previously-
> unreleased track by "must-be-kicking-himself-every-night-for-
quitting-
> the-Beach-Boys-and-thinking-he-could-have-a-real-music-carreer"
Dave
> Marks and the Marksmen, "Sheriff of Noddingham" even with a major
> lead-guitar clam in the middle, it's a double-picking tour de
force,
> and quite a great track. Off to a good start! Then, a true
treasure
> for the Ventures fans: the original version of "The Fugitive",
> recorded by the man that wrote the song, Jan Davis. It sounds
great,
> though a bit sloppy compared to Nokie's amazing guitar work on it.
> I've never heard this track, wasn't even aware it existed, so that
> was very cool. The next truly impressive moment came courtesy of
the
> studio-surf-guitar-stalwart, Jerry Cole his version of the
> Surfaris' "Point Panic" just blows the original to bits!! Cole
> sounds like he's on major caffeine (or something else?) high, and
> can't seem to hold back when he starts double-picking the second
> verse, and then finally breaks out into a solo that would make even
> Nokie raise an eyebrow as everyone knows, for Nokie a wildly
> emotional gesture (tip of the hat to Rip!). I was really blown
away
> by the guitar work on this track, it's fantastic. (Mental note:
time
> to give a listen to Jerry Cole's CD again...) The final diamond of
> the collection is the original version of "The Banzai Washout"!
Yes,
> boys and girls, DD's version was a cover, and I didn't even realize
> how close of a cover until I heard this original by the Catalinas,
> featuring I think the LA studio A-team of Hal Blaine on drums,
Carol
> Kaye on bass, sax man Steve Douglas (who wrote the track), and
> guitarists Jerry Cole, Tommy Tedesco and Glenn Campbell. It's
> burning hot! I wonder if they recorded anything else
Oh, and an
> honorable mention goes to Gene Moles whose "Burning Rubber" is
chock-
> full of drag-race noises which almost bury the very impressive
guitar
> work, exhibiting quite a few Nokie-isms, no doubt aided by Moles'
use
> of a Mosrite guitar in the liner notes Nokie is complimenting
> Moles, so who knows which way the influence goes? Moles was
another
> guy in his thirties trying to sound like a teen, BTW, and this and
> another track by him are only available on the previously
> mentioned "Surf And Drag, Vol. 1". The rest of the album is
decent,
> but there are several tracks commonly available, notably by the
> Tornadoes (though again, it's always good to hear "Gremmie, Pt. 1"
> and "Shooting Beavers"!) and the at-best-mediocre Rhythm Rockers
and
> Jim Waller and the Deltas (though their cover of "Latinia" is at
> least different and interesting). The two previously unreleased
> tracks by the Surfaris are less than impressive (I think that band
> was greatly overrated, anyway), and there are a few other tracks
that
> didn't leave much of an impression. Still, another fun CD.
>
> Finally, CD 3 consists of tracks from the vaults of Richard Delvy,
> originally the drummer of the Belairs, then the leader of the
> Challengers, and eventually a successful music producer and
> impresario. This CD features Paul Johnson (or Paul Johnson-related
> projects) quite heavily, but is in my opinion the weakest and least-
> noteworthy CD in the collection. There are some again commonly
> available tracks by the Challengers (though Satan's Pilgrims fans
> will love the inclusion of "Satan's Theme", the cover of which
opens
> the SP's debut CD). There are three great tracks by PJ and Artie,
> the collaboration of Paul Johnson and Art Fisher with some fine
> studio musicians, but they were issued first on AVI's "Rare Surf"
> comps and later on Johnson's own label's ""South Bay Surf" comps,
as
> were the tracks by again quite-mediocre Vibrants. There are some
> really bad songs (IMHO) by the Fabulous Playboys and Thom Starr and
> the Galaxies in the former case, very clichéd R&B-based surf
music
> with a bad sax, and in the latter case, a band that was obviously
> still learning to play the Galaxies did some great work with Paul
> Johnson later, but judging from these recordings, you would never
> guess it! The Progressives sound very amateurish, especially while
> absolutely ruining one of the all-time great instros, the
> Shadows' "Man Of Mystery". There ARE a few highlights of the CD,
> among them the two rare tracks by Delvy's studio surf project
> featuring Paul Johnson, the Surfriders (one of them being a
> successful cover of DD's "Surf Beat" why doesn't somebody release
> this entire CD?), a cracking version of "Istanbul" by the
Gladiators
> (never heard of `em), and a previously available but still
good "Moon
> Shot" by Kenny & the Fiends.
>
> There you go. A mixed bag, but I would say that the good far
> outweighs the bad, and I am glad I got these CDs. I hope this
review
> will get some of you to get them for yourselves. Praise Sundazed
for
> bestowing this minor treasure upon us!
>
> Ivan
Jeff, you're completely right - Sean set me straight on this point
after he read the review. My bad - sorry! After he mentioned it, I
remembered seeing that CD listed around, I just didn't connect the
name of the band, it's kind of a strange name...
--- In , "Jeff" <bigtikidude@y...> wrote:
> Ivan,
> I do have to make one correction though.
> The Kilaueas did have another cd out on Kamikaze records out of
> Germany. It was one of the 2 fer series that they were doin' for
> awhile(2 bands albums on 1 cd) Kinda weird, But if it fits, what
the
> hell. The Kilaueas album is titled "Magmanautic Inferno" and comes
> with Surf Patroullie "Venus Pussy Polka Riot" Both are extremely
> good in my Opinion.
> Other than that, surf on man.
> Jeff(bigtikidude)
