Davie Allan & The Arrows
Davie Allan & The Arrows - Devil's Rumble - Anthol
Davie Allan & The Arrows - Devil's Rumble - Anthology '65 - '68 (2004)
Davie Allan & The Arrows
Devil's Rumble: Anthology '65 - '68
Released 2004, Sundazed Records
Amazon.com review:
For the latter half of the '60s, Davie Allan and the Arrows were the kings of
teen exploitation film soundtracks, recording a score of them for A.I.P. and
other independent studios. The core of that work revolved around Allan's manic,
buzz-saw fuzz guitar (typified by The Wild Angels' "Blues' Theme," a national
hit), which was to the '60s biker genre what Morricone was to the spaghetti
Western. This treasure trove of Allen's decades-unavailable recordings for Mike
Curb (his high school choir-mate turned producer and record-biz mini-mogul) mark
the first time most of the collection's 40 rare tracks have been anthologized
for CD. Allen has long been one of instrumental rock's most unsung heroes, a
pioneer of nascent garage punk and tripped-out psychedelia who shrewdly informed
the primitive crunch of Link Wray with a savory taste for Mancini's melodicism,
taking the unlikely, electric mélange on the often downright experimental
flights of multitracked six-string aggression chronicled here. Culling single
sides and album cuts, this collection charts the Arrows' explosion from early,
SoCal surf-rooted innocence into the wildly inventive sultans of the sonic
psych-out that powered Devil's Angels, Born Losers, Wild in the Streets, and the
other cult '60s soundtracks that form the bulk of this collection.
AMG review:
Sundazed is one of the top reissue outfits; its CD and LP packages are
consistently full of great liner notes, wonderfully remastered sound, and
faithful reproductions of original sides as well as expertly chosen compilations
with full artist involvement. This 40-track, double-disc collection is the only
true best-of that fuzz guitar frenzy icon Davie Allan will ever need. Davie
Allan & the Arrows recorded four original albums for Mike Curb's Tower and
Sidewalk labels between 1964-1968 and scored numerous (nearly 20) soundtracks
for American International Pictures' reigning B-movie warlords of the '60s
during the same period, including the mother of all biker flicks, The Wild
Angels starring Peter Fonda (pre-Easy Rider) and Nancy Sinatra; it was directed
by Roger Corman, who picked Allan based on the strength of the band's debut
album, Apache '65 (featuring Billy Strange on rhythm guitar) and early singles.
Seven of those album tracks (six of which made up the Arrows' first few singles)
are here along with the four prime cuts from The Wild Angels, making up the
first 11 cuts of disc one! The Wild Angels tracks are laced with roaring,
thundering motorcycle sounds; the first Allan cuts were absolutely drenched in
fuzz years before Jimi Hendrix made the scene. Allan's guitar playing was equal
parts Duane Eddy, Dick Dale, Link Wray, and Nokie Edwards with his own finessed
yet aggressive attack, and the Gibson and Mosrite fuzz boxes made him a snarling
creature from another planet. Among the tracks here is one of the greatest
psychedelic rock instrumentals of all time, "Blue's Theme." The other half of
disc one contains cuts from the Devil's Angels soundtrack -- among them the
amazing theme and psychedelic freakout cut "The Ghost Story," as well as an
homage to Wray's "Rumble" entitled "The Devil's Rumble," with everything
recorded in overdrive and distorted to an exponential power of sick! Farfisa
organs and drums were layered into these mixes, creating a sound as dark in many
ways as the Velvet Underground's more twisted experiments some years later, but
revved with the energy of the mid-'60s Sunset Strip.
Disc two collects soundtrack material from Thunder Alley and Teenage Rebellion,
including the other signature Allan cut, the blistering screech of "The Young
World," as well as the spare but equally compelling "Action on the Street." One
of the most compelling aspects of the Arrows' appeal is that as time progressed
-- seemingly at lightning speed given how prolific the band was -- Allan never
grew complacent. He was always stretching, looking for other sounds and other
ways to expand the textural and dynamic range of the guitar -- even if that
meant re-recording earlier cuts with new arrangements and effects, like "Blue's
Trip," a remake of "Blue's Theme" that was less psychedelic but full of a lean
toughness and elasticity that the overdriven original had forgone for obvious
reasons. What's more, "Blue's Trip," a phenomenal version of "Ghost Riders in
the Sky," and the psychotic anthem "Fuzz Theme" make this second disc as
essential as the first. Other original cuts here are "Another Cycle from
Detroit," the acid-drenched "Mind Transferral," the hyper scree of "Invasion,"
and the monumental biker wet dream epic "Cycle-Delic" (which clocks in at six
minutes and 46 seconds), turning this set into one of the greatest beat-fabulous
six-string rage-tastic bombastic compilations ever issued. Not only does it give
listeners an overdue reappraisal of one of the electric guitar's greatest
innovators and most soulful players, but it provides a real slice of time and
place. Many of the soundtracks that boasted the music of Davie Allan & the
Arrows were meant to exploit the teen wallet and so they did, but they also
(perhaps unwittingly) provided one of the greatest proto-garage punk outfits in
history the opportunity to raise hell on wax. With an excellent package that is
chock-full of photos, band comments, and authoritative liner notes by "the Seth
Man," this Davie Allan & the Arrows anthology is essential listening for anybody
interested in tough psych rave-up engine-revving rock & roll.
Disc 1:
1. Apache '65 (1964) (2:18)
2. Blue Guitar (1965) (1:52)
3. The Rebel (Without a Cause) (1965) (1:44)
4. Tomahawk (1965) (2:00)
5. Scratchy (1965) (2:06)
6. Commanche (1965) (1:52)
7. Moondawg '65 (1965) (1:55)
8. Dance the Freddie (1965) (1:52)
9. Theme from The Wild Angels (1966) (1:36)
10. U.F.O. (1966) (1:48)
11. Blue's Theme (1966) (2:13)
12. Bongo Party (1966) (1:34)
13. The Chase (1966) (1:47)
14. The Unknown Rider (1966) (2:15)
15. Devil's Angels (1967) (2:05)
16. Cody's Theme (1967) (2:26)
17. Theme from Thunder Alley (1967) (1:47)
18. Pete's Orgy (1967) (2:35)
19. The Devil's Rumble (1967) (1:41)
20. The Ghost Story (1967) (2:18)
Disc 2:
1. King Fuzz (1967) (1:57)
2. Action on the Street (1967) (1:43)
3. Ghost Riders in the Sky (1967) (2:03)
4. The Young World (1967) (1:35)
5. The Born Loser's Theme (1967) (1:50)
6. The Loser's Bar (1967) (1:42)
7. Moonfire (1967) (2:33)
8. Cycle-delic (1967) (6:50)
9. Blue Rides Again (1967) (2:04)
10. Invasion (1967) (2:11)
11. Blue's Trip (1967) (1:48)
12. 13th Harley (1967) (1:59)
13. Another Cycle in Detroit (1967) (2:23)
14. Mind Transferral (1967) (2:51)
15. Lulu's World (1967) (1:55)
16. Glory Stompers (1967) (2:03)
17. The Stompers and the Souls (1967) (1:59)
18. The Checkered Flag (1968) (1:18)
19. Hellcats (1968) (2:19)
20. Shape of Things to Come (1968) (1:55)