Various - Pebbles, Vol. 10
Originally released on BFD Records BFD 5027 in September 1980
This CD issued on AIP CD 5027 in February 1997
No geographical focus this time around, but the contents of Pebbles 10 hinge even more tightly on the peak punk years of 1965-67. Volume 10 is worth buying for the utterly weird Leather Boy, a camp biker icon who made a truly demented eponymous single in 1967 that distills the very essence of '60s punk; it's like The Shangri Las tripping on Owsley acid. The Canadian Squires (represented with "Leave Me Alone") eventually mutated into The Band; this juvenilia with its pyrotechnic guitar is way preferable to their more 'tasteful' later incarnation as Dylan's stooges.
How would the Shangri-La's have sounded if they'd changed sex and learned fuzz guitar? Like Leather Boy, whose snarling camp classics "I'm a Leather Boy" (yes, we'd noticed) and "On the Go" (very subtle) are among the prime cuts on this set. Rivals include Spirit (the band who gave up their name to let the California/Cassidy outfit live) on "No Time to Rhyme"; the Bruthers, whose "Bad Way to Go" is as nasty as their spelling; and Mach V, who shamelessly rework the "Pushing Too Hard" formula on "If I Could."
The rarest--and most sonically challenged--cut here is Gonn's "Doin' Me In," a sleazy, full-throated roar from the garage which has been plucked from an acetate which sounds as if it's been run over by Leather Boy. With the drums virtually absent from th emix, "Doin' Me In" automatically sheds a layer of menace, but what is audible is enough to confirm the band's reputation as punk purveyors par excellence.
And talking of the band--or rather, The Band--pray welcome the Canadian Squires, who confusingly have nothing to do with the Squires who came from Canada and were Neil Young's first recording outfit. No, this bunch of Squires were Levon an dthe Hawks, alias the Band of Music From Big Pink fame, enjoying an afternoon off from the prospect of being booed alongside Bob Dylan to cut a ragged slicce of growling R&B. "Leave Me Alone" isn't even a passable song, but Levon Helm is instantly recognisable as the throaty white #377496sman, while Robbie Robertson throws off the kind of stinging, heatseeking solo that he virtually abandoned once the Hawks left Dylan and changed their name.
If The Band are the 'stars' of Pebbles 10, they're not alone, as some unlikely notables surface in the production credits. Doug "Louisiana Man" Kershaw, the king of cajun, was apparently responsible for making the Clockwork Orange sound so much like the Electric Prunes; even more strangely, Bill "Raunchy" Justis, a veteran musician and producer from Sun Records, oversaw the making of the Breakers' "Don't Send Me No Flowers". It takes a song which would have been ideal fodder for Sonny and Cher circa 1965, and leaves itin the garage with the fuzz pedals down. The result? The kind of pop-psych/garage crossover that breeds legends. If Elvis Presley had caught Justis letting that kinda trash out of the studio, he'd have told the Memphis Mafia to run him out of town.
01. Leather Boy - I'm A Leather Boy 2:08
02. Bold - Gotta Get Some 2:32
03. Bruthers - Bad Way To Go 2:53
04. Canadian Squires - Leave Me Alone 2:37
05. Clockwork Orange - Your Golden Touch 2:14
06. Clockwork Orange - Do Me Right Now 1:30
07. Breakers - Don't Send Me No Flowers 2:08
08. Spirit - No Time To Rhyme 2:36
09. Leather Boy - On the Go 2:13
10. Loved Ones - Surprise Surprise 1:59
11. Mach V - If I Could 2:22
12. Others - I Can't Stand This Love 2:10
13. Prophets - Yes I Know 2:45
14. Ravin' Blue - Love 2:08
15. Rooks - A Girl Like You 2:10
16. RPM's - White Lightnin' 1:47
17. Silver Fleet - Look Out World 3:16
18. We Who Are - Last Trip 2:29
19. Steve Walker & Bold - Train Kept A Rollin' 2:31
20. Teddy Boys - Mona 2:58
21. Uncalled For - Do Like Me 2:46
22. Kidds - Nature's Children 2:15
23. Regiment - My Soap Wont Float 2:16
24. Gonn - Doin' Me In 2:44
AMG wrote:
Twenty-four mid-'60s garage favorites, none available on CD before. It's above the median standard of such compilations, including numerous better cuts from the original vinyl Pebbles series: the Leather Boy's truly strange "I'm a Leather Boy," and the Clockwork Orange's Electric Prunes-influenced "Your Golden Touch," the Uncalled For's "Do Like Me," and the Others' "I Can't Stand This Love." There are also a number of tracks that are relatively unfamiliar, the most interesting of these being "Leave Me Alone" by the Canadian Squires, who would turn into the Band (yes, the Band) a few years later.
|
