Pebbles, volume 4 (1979) - BFD Records
Hello Friends,
Tiki T. and I have recently started collecting the Pebbles LP series courtesy of the BFD & AIP Record labels. Awesome compilation records, first released in the late 70's, subtitled as "Artyfacts from the First Punk Era".
They're a good companion to the more popular NUGGETS series-- records filled with 2 or 3 minute punk masterpieces mostly from the years of 1966 thru 1969. Bands consisting of pimply-faced kids in basements and garages scattered throughout the country. Some bands (and band members) would go on to bigger and better things, but most would only end up playing local teen centers, VFW Halls, dive bars and local college radio stations. Only a few would be fortunate enough to open for a touring national act like Herman's Hermits, The Jefferson Airplane or The Animals. A handful would be fortunate to record a 7" or two and then call it a day fading off into rock & roll obscurity.
One-Hit and No-Hit Wonders. Footnotes in the Rock & Roll History Books.
Some of the greatest rock and roll songs ever written may have only been heard by a handful of ears. These records provide a time capsule into an honest and less-cynical past. Behind every band, there's a story; some are triumphant; some are tragic; many are uneventful... but who doesn't love a good rock & roll story?
Tonight we've got the fourth Pebbles LP on the turntable, better known as "The Surf One". Eighteen tracks that are a bit of a departure from the usual Pebble LP as these songs are all unified by a surf rock theme! Honestly, its not our favorite Pebbles LP thus far. Its fun but not as weird or grungy or dangerous as previous Pebbles' entries! Surfs up kiddies!
Side One
1. "Summer Means Fun" - Bruce & Terry. Sounds like an early Beach Boys record and there's probably good reason for that as "Bruce" was longtime Beach Boy Bruce Johnston and "Terry" was Terry Melcher-- producer extraordinaire, son of Doris Day, friend of Charlie Manson.
2. "Anywhere the Girls Are" - The Fantastic Baggys. P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri's surf & hotrod L.A. studio band. Sloan and Barri would write and sing backup on some Jan & Dean records in '63 & '64.
3. "R.P.M." - The Four Speeds. A hoppin' little hot rod number by another L.A. studio band featuring Gary Usher. Most notable because this track features Dennis Wilson on drums. (This was the B-Side to The Four Speeds only single, "My Sting Ray".)
4. (bonus track) - Jan & Dean Coca Cola commercial. Yawn!
5. "Masked Grandma" - The California Suns. A sequel of sorts to Jan & Dean's "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" (but a little bit meaner!) We like the kazoo solo, I guess.
6. "Top Down Time" - The Dantes. More surf's up, hot rod doo-wop.
7. "Custom Caravan" - The Pyramids. Another Gary Usher-penned hot rod tune featuring some pretty good drumming! Actually, The Pyramids were in reality a complete band and not just some studio geeks hanging out trying to record the next big hit (like a lot of the songs on this collection!)
8. "California Sun '65" - The Rivieras. South Bend, Indiana's own, The Rivieras gave the world this jukebox classic complete with a driving rhythm section, twangy lead guitar, a fun organ. Ramones did a decent cover of this. You could almost hear Joey Ramone singing on this version.
9. "New Generation" - The Trashmen. From the other Midwest surf capitol, Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is probably the most Garage-sounding track on the LP. I guess there's something to be said for landlocked surf bands! This wins our pick for best on the album! A true teen anthem! We especially like the sound affect at the end of the lyric, "You couldn't wake them Sunday with a hydrogen bomb..."
Side Two
1. "Pamela Jean" - The Survivors. Written by Brian Wilson. Arranged by Brian Wilson. Sung by Brian Wilson. But this is NOT the Beach Boys (actually, it probably is!)
2. "Sacramento" - Gary Usher. Usher, who co-wrote a number of early Beach Boys hits with Brian Wilson, including the phenomenal "In My Room", co-wrote and co-produced this song with Brian. Its no surprise that it sounds a lot like the early Beach Boys. (But what the hell on this record doesn't? I mean, come on, we're itching for something a little slimier, grimier and sleazy! This is a decent song but where's the twang? Where's the Dick Dale-sounding stuff? Heck, at this point we'd settle for some second rate Santo & Johnny!)
3. "Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby" - Sharon Marie. Oh hey, guess what kids? This song was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love in 1964 and recorded by Brian. It was later reclaimed by the Beach Boys on their 1967 record, Wild Honey.
4. "Hot Rod High" - The Knights. Another Gary Usher hot rod/surf rock studio band.
5. "School is a Gas" - The Wheelmen. More. Gary. Usher. This one a re-working of The Hondell's "School is a Drag."
6. "Image of a Surfer" - Lloyd Thaxton. Kind of a novelty, spoken-word song by L.A. fixture/disc jockey, Lloyd Thaxton aka the poor man's Dick Clark or the West Coast Murray the K.
7. "Beach Ball" - The City Surfers. Co-written by Jim McGuinn. Fun Spector-sounding beach song that wouldn't sound out of place in a Flintstones episode!
8. "London's A Lonely Town" - Dave Edmunds. This seems to be a very un-Pebbles-like entry! Overproduced, slick-sounding rockabilly from circa 1976. Not a terrible song, but definitely doesn't fit in with whole Pebbles-theme!
9. "The Fun We Had" - The Ragamuffins. Bittersweet ending to the record written, arranged and sung (in glorious falsetto) by California impresarior, Gary Zekley, who wrote "Sooner or Later" for The Grass Roots and "Superman" for The Clique (later covered by R.E.M).
Like I said, a bit of a let down after some other great Pebbles' LPs. That being said, the weather is great, the girls are in their summer clothes and we're headed down to the local malt shop for a classic car show. Tiki... where's my Pomade?
RATING: 3 ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bird-bird-bird-ba-ba-bird-is-the-word out of 5
Tiki T. and I have recently started collecting the Pebbles LP series courtesy of the BFD & AIP Record labels. Awesome compilation records, first released in the late 70's, subtitled as "Artyfacts from the First Punk Era".
They're a good companion to the more popular NUGGETS series-- records filled with 2 or 3 minute punk masterpieces mostly from the years of 1966 thru 1969. Bands consisting of pimply-faced kids in basements and garages scattered throughout the country. Some bands (and band members) would go on to bigger and better things, but most would only end up playing local teen centers, VFW Halls, dive bars and local college radio stations. Only a few would be fortunate enough to open for a touring national act like Herman's Hermits, The Jefferson Airplane or The Animals. A handful would be fortunate to record a 7" or two and then call it a day fading off into rock & roll obscurity.
One-Hit and No-Hit Wonders. Footnotes in the Rock & Roll History Books.
Some of the greatest rock and roll songs ever written may have only been heard by a handful of ears. These records provide a time capsule into an honest and less-cynical past. Behind every band, there's a story; some are triumphant; some are tragic; many are uneventful... but who doesn't love a good rock & roll story?
Tonight we've got the fourth Pebbles LP on the turntable, better known as "The Surf One". Eighteen tracks that are a bit of a departure from the usual Pebble LP as these songs are all unified by a surf rock theme! Honestly, its not our favorite Pebbles LP thus far. Its fun but not as weird or grungy or dangerous as previous Pebbles' entries! Surfs up kiddies!
Side One
1. "Summer Means Fun" - Bruce & Terry. Sounds like an early Beach Boys record and there's probably good reason for that as "Bruce" was longtime Beach Boy Bruce Johnston and "Terry" was Terry Melcher-- producer extraordinaire, son of Doris Day, friend of Charlie Manson.
2. "Anywhere the Girls Are" - The Fantastic Baggys. P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri's surf & hotrod L.A. studio band. Sloan and Barri would write and sing backup on some Jan & Dean records in '63 & '64.
3. "R.P.M." - The Four Speeds. A hoppin' little hot rod number by another L.A. studio band featuring Gary Usher. Most notable because this track features Dennis Wilson on drums. (This was the B-Side to The Four Speeds only single, "My Sting Ray".)
4. (bonus track) - Jan & Dean Coca Cola commercial. Yawn!
5. "Masked Grandma" - The California Suns. A sequel of sorts to Jan & Dean's "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" (but a little bit meaner!) We like the kazoo solo, I guess.
6. "Top Down Time" - The Dantes. More surf's up, hot rod doo-wop.
7. "Custom Caravan" - The Pyramids. Another Gary Usher-penned hot rod tune featuring some pretty good drumming! Actually, The Pyramids were in reality a complete band and not just some studio geeks hanging out trying to record the next big hit (like a lot of the songs on this collection!)
8. "California Sun '65" - The Rivieras. South Bend, Indiana's own, The Rivieras gave the world this jukebox classic complete with a driving rhythm section, twangy lead guitar, a fun organ. Ramones did a decent cover of this. You could almost hear Joey Ramone singing on this version.
9. "New Generation" - The Trashmen. From the other Midwest surf capitol, Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is probably the most Garage-sounding track on the LP. I guess there's something to be said for landlocked surf bands! This wins our pick for best on the album! A true teen anthem! We especially like the sound affect at the end of the lyric, "You couldn't wake them Sunday with a hydrogen bomb..."
Side Two
1. "Pamela Jean" - The Survivors. Written by Brian Wilson. Arranged by Brian Wilson. Sung by Brian Wilson. But this is NOT the Beach Boys (actually, it probably is!)
2. "Sacramento" - Gary Usher. Usher, who co-wrote a number of early Beach Boys hits with Brian Wilson, including the phenomenal "In My Room", co-wrote and co-produced this song with Brian. Its no surprise that it sounds a lot like the early Beach Boys. (But what the hell on this record doesn't? I mean, come on, we're itching for something a little slimier, grimier and sleazy! This is a decent song but where's the twang? Where's the Dick Dale-sounding stuff? Heck, at this point we'd settle for some second rate Santo & Johnny!)
3. "Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby" - Sharon Marie. Oh hey, guess what kids? This song was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love in 1964 and recorded by Brian. It was later reclaimed by the Beach Boys on their 1967 record, Wild Honey.
4. "Hot Rod High" - The Knights. Another Gary Usher hot rod/surf rock studio band.
5. "School is a Gas" - The Wheelmen. More. Gary. Usher. This one a re-working of The Hondell's "School is a Drag."
6. "Image of a Surfer" - Lloyd Thaxton. Kind of a novelty, spoken-word song by L.A. fixture/disc jockey, Lloyd Thaxton aka the poor man's Dick Clark or the West Coast Murray the K.
7. "Beach Ball" - The City Surfers. Co-written by Jim McGuinn. Fun Spector-sounding beach song that wouldn't sound out of place in a Flintstones episode!
8. "London's A Lonely Town" - Dave Edmunds. This seems to be a very un-Pebbles-like entry! Overproduced, slick-sounding rockabilly from circa 1976. Not a terrible song, but definitely doesn't fit in with whole Pebbles-theme!
9. "The Fun We Had" - The Ragamuffins. Bittersweet ending to the record written, arranged and sung (in glorious falsetto) by California impresarior, Gary Zekley, who wrote "Sooner or Later" for The Grass Roots and "Superman" for The Clique (later covered by R.E.M).
Like I said, a bit of a let down after some other great Pebbles' LPs. That being said, the weather is great, the girls are in their summer clothes and we're headed down to the local malt shop for a classic car show. Tiki... where's my Pomade?
RATING: 3 ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bird-bird-bird-ba-ba-bird-is-the-word out of 5
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