PEBBLES VOL.4 (revisited !!!)

 

Alright kiddies, this ain’t another 60’s garage rock volume but fun collection of surf pop tunes dominated by Gary Usher/Brian Wilson style productions, kinda like a black sheep in Pebbles series.

“Simply put: This is a collection of vocal surf music, including some singers and players in the Beach Boys/Jan & Dean orbit. This set is not for those looking to get their feet wet (pun intended) in surf music, but for FANATICS, this is a treasure trove. The track by Dave Edmunds is alone worth owning this set for — it’s his version of The Tradewinds’ “NY is a Lonely Town” with the lyrics changed to London and the plight of a surfer boy that moved to England. Not every song is a gem — some stuff is obscure for a reason — but most of it is dandy, silly, enthusiastic surfin’ fun!”

“As its title implies, the fourth Pebbles volume is a bit of a departure from other volumes in the series. It serves up 18 tracks of ultra obscure surf rock from the 60s (except for Dave Edmunds’ “London’s A Lonely Town,” which was recorded in 1973). The songs are mostly from the poppier end of the spectrum, with vocal harmonies, symplistic lyrics, and peppy instrumentation that shows a clear Beach Boys/Jan & Dean influence. Severeal of these songs are really good- The Dantes’ “Top Down Time” is an infectious rush, and the Knights’ “Hot Rod High” offers the kind of simplistic joy that its title promises. The Wheel Men and The Super Stocks provide two excellent versions of the same song (with slighty different titles, however. The former group calls their tune “School Is A Gas,” while the latter provides “School Is A Drag”). Lloyd Thaxton’s “Image Of A Surfer” can almost be described as the surf-pop counterpart to Kim Fowley’s “The Trip.”

Listen up surfers! This is a DEFINITIVE version of now a classic 1979. Pebbles surfin’ LP collection, with perfect HQ sound mastered from best possible sources. In visual sound Surfadelic! Dig!!!

 

(((0)))

THE PYRAMIDS vs THE SURF TEENS

 

It’s a battle of the surfin’ bands at Surfadelic pier. This time we have The Pyramids, a surf band famous for their shaved heads, formed in Long Beach, South California around 1961. In 1963 they recorded a single “Pyramid Stomp”, which made the top hits of KMEN radio station in San Bernardino and attracted the attention of London Records executives. Britons decided to found an ephemeral Best Records label to promote The Pyramids under which the band cut a “The Pyramids Play The Original Penetration” (1964) album. In early 1964, they made the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 with their instrumental “Penetration”. It proved to be the final major instrumental surf hit. In July 1964, the group appeared in the American International Pictures’ film Bikini Beach, coming onstage wearing Beatle wigs, which were lifted to reveal their shaved heads. For the film they performed two songs – “Record Run” and the instrumental “Bikini Drag”, both written by Gary Usher and Roger Christian. You can see a brutha playing a surf tune in a skinhead band 😉  This here is best of collection with their ’63/’64 recordings.

The Surf Teens were from the central coast town of Atascadero, California. Surf legend Norman Knowles, member of THE REVELS and writer of the surf classic ‘Church Key’ produced the classic but totally obscure LP “Surf Mania” that was originally released on the budget Sutton label in 1963. This here is a reissue with 6 bonus trax, all-instro action mostly with covers of surf tunes. Their ages at the time of recording ”Surf Mania” prove indeed that they were Surf Teens!

 

• The Pyramids
• The Surf Teens