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I ordered this CD right off of his website ().
It was kind of hard to do, but eventually you'll figure it out. Just don't
put spaces or dashes in your telephone number....(?)
I've been looking for some Fender IV stuff for a long time, and was quite
excited to see this CD available. It was a bit pricey ($25), but hey, I
don't think he made any money off of his stuff back in the day, so
no-problemo.
I got an email asking what state "IA" was, but after that challenging
question was resolved, I received the CD very quickly.
The CD has "home-made" written all over it, not that that is a bad thing. It
came in one of those new super slim jewel cases. The CD insert was
apparently ink-jetted on a home computer, and contains really fantastic
artwork by Randy himself. Each CD has a serial number printed on both the CD
label and on a sticker that seals the disc. I got #29! My seal was broken
however, I assume it was because they forgot to change the number on the
disc label. It says serial number 0, but then someone wrote 29 over that in
pen. The CD itself appears to be a CD-R.
Okay, enough of that, on to what is really important. Here is the track
listing:
1. Margaya
2. Highway Surfer
3. Everybody Up
4. Malibu Run
5. Little Ollie
6. Prayer To Paradise (23:56 !!!)
7. Hawaiian Rain (17:04 !!!)
Songs 1-5 are by The Fender IV, while the last two are recent Randy Holden
solo works. There is one Fender IV song missing compared to the "The Fender
IV - Sons of Adam - Early Works ' 64 - ' 66" CD. The missing song is "You
Better Tell Me Now". So is this the entire output of The Fender IV?
Well as everyone has said, the Fender IV stuff is very essential listening.
Definitely genre defining stuff here. Its super-charged, energetic,
creative, and has some very inspired playing! The first 3 are shredding
rockers while Malibu Run is a slow, almost movie soundtrack type song. It
features some kind of weird tremolo effect on the lead guitar with pick
scrapes and other odd noises. Little Ollie is an unusual number, not what
you think of for 1963. It actually sounds a little Ska-ish. It has a great,
happy melody.
Randy plays with authority that rivals Dick Dale. I've read an interview
with him, and he said the goal of the Fender IV when playing live was to
blow everyone off the stage so no one could follow them. I can easily see
that. While the songs and playing are very powerful, the sound quality and
tape hiss is a bit of a downer, but its only a minor distraction. I am very
glad to own this. I know I'll be trying to learn these songs on the guitar.
Very cool!
The newer tracks are very far from traditional 1963 surf music. "Prayer to
Paradise" is very deliberate and drawn out and didn't hold my interest for
very long on the first few listens, but I admit it is growing on me. Its
mostly modern rock sounding, however there are some cool parts buried in
there, including some surf style riffs. Hawaiian Rain is all guitar, and
very pretty and shimmery sounding. It too isn't in any hurry to get
anywhere. I am going to give these songs some more listens, there is a lot
to digest there.
I'm really glad the Fender IV stuff is more widely available and that Randy
is actually getting something for it now. My only nit is that I wish he
would have listed the other Fender IV musician's names in the credits. They
deserve a big hand too.
BN
PS
BTW, that was really cool of someone posting that long story from Randy a
while back about his starving days in the Fender IV. Somebody should
interview him formally about the Fender IV.
