Original Facebook Posts / Jan 2015 / THE CRAWDADDYS (Part 2)

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UNDER APPRECIATED ROCK BAND OF THE MONTH FOR JANUARY 2015: THE CRAWDADDYS (Part 2)

For the tribute to Kim Fowley that begins this post, see: The Crawdaddys (Part 1).

* * *

The Under Appreciated Rock Band for this month is THE CRAWDADDYS; while I know of no connection with Kim Fowley, the anachronistic R&B stylings of this San Diego band sound like something that would be right up his alley. The Allmusic article on the Crawdaddys leads off with this (by Matt Carlson): “In a time of trendy discotheques, bombastic arena rock, and sonic punk barbarisms, the Crawdaddys were truly a peculiarity of the late ’70s.”

Much as past UARB the Poppees was the first band signed by Greg Shaw for his original Bomp! Records label, the Crawdaddys was the first band brought in by Shaw for his new 1960’s revival label Voxx Records. The name Voxx is an adaptation of the Vox brand of musical instruments, known in the rock world for their electric organs, amplifiers, and (as Wikipedia says) “a series of innovative but commercially unsuccessful electric guitars and bass guitars”.

The Flamin’ Groovies showed the way when their 1976 album, Shake Some Action (on Sire Records and Aim Records) moved a lot of vinyl by looking backwards to the 1960’s, vindicating Greg Shaw’s decision to step up and launch Bomp! Records by releasing their 1974 single, “You Tore Me Down” b/w “Him or Me”.

As quoted in the book by Simon Reynolds called Retromania: Pop Culture’s Addiction to its Own Past: “Greg Shaw soon decided that words weren’t enough anymore; it was time for action. He folded the magazine Bomp! and injected all of his energy into Voxx, a Bomp! [Records] subsidiary label dedicated to the new breed of post-[Flamin’] Groovies garage bands.”

* * *

The Voxx Records retrospective CD, Be a Caveman: The Best of the Voxx Garage Revival (2000) presents one incredible song after another that has led me to buy several full albums by the bands on the CD; besides the Crawdaddys, the CD includes songs by the Vertebrats, DMZ, the Chesterfield Kings, the Pandoras, Gravedigger V, the Miracle Workers, the Fuzztones, Hypstrz, the Surf Trio, the Steppes, Dwarves, and many more.

In the liner notes for Be a Caveman, Greg Shaw recalls those heady days: “At the end of the 1970’s, there was no scene for ’60s garage music. No label released it. Less than a handful of bands played it. Then came Voxx Records, and over the course of a decade, everything changed. Voxx was as much a concept as a record label. The idea was to present young bands doing pure mid-’60’s roots music, garage, psych, surf, beat, folk-rock, and various hybrids thereof. . . . The catalyst was a young San Diego combo called the Crawdaddys, who actually came to me via a very good new wave band, the Hitmakers.”

This ’60’s revival scene stayed below the radar for many years but eventually came to fruition in what I call the Garage Rock Revival of the early 2000’s.

* * *

The first album by the Crawdaddys, Crawdaddy Express – recorded in monaural; talk about looking back! – came out in 1979 as the initial LP on Voxx Records. Allmusic gives the album 4½ stars and states in the review by Matt Carlson: “The Crawdaddys started their recording career properly, releasing a record with nothing but ’60s R&B, British Invasion, and blues standards (in addition to two original compositions).” Mike Stax, who later founded and edited Ugly Things magazine, was so impressed with the album that he eventually moved to California from London so that he could join the band. As quoted in the Simon Reynolds book, Stax admitted that the band wasn’t “original in any shape or form”, but that their “total purity was thrilling in its audacity”, and that their debut album was “virtually indistinguishable from the real thing”.

* * *

Normally I don’t spend a lot of time ruminating on the name of a band, even though origins have always fascinated me. For most of the UARB’s, the band name comes from a fairly obvious place. “Crawdaddy” is related to “crawdad”, another name for the crayfish or crawfish that is basically a miniature freshwater lobster. Where I grew up in North Carolina, they were everywhere in small streams if you moved a few rocks around; but in Louisiana, they grow big enough to be a regional delicacy. In Gulfport, there is a restaurant and seafood takeout place called Clawdaddy’s.

But I was surprised when so many “Crawdaddy” entities came up in the initial Google searches for this post. Make it a search for “Crawdaddys band”, and there is a host of results: Besides the UARB the Crawdaddys, there is a rock band from Australia called the Crawdaddys, a Cajun/zydeco band from Baltimore called the Crawdaddies, a Canadian band called the Crawdaddy’s, a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band called the Crawdaddy Band, a bluesman from Detroit named the Crawdaddy – and that was just on the first page of search results. There are also Crawdaddy’s music clubs all over.

A rock music magazine called Crawdaddy! was founded by the important music historian Paul Williams in 1966 (and a different man from the songwriter Paul Williams who is also a sometime actor). About this publication, Wikipedia says: “Crawdaddy! was the first U.S. magazine of rock and roll music criticism. Created in 1966 by college student Paul Williams in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music, Crawdaddy! was self-described as ‘the first magazine to take rock and roll seriously’.”

So where did all of this “Crawdaddy” business come from? The source is the Crawdaddy Club, which figures prominently in the early history of the Rolling Stones.

* * *

The first performance by what was then called the Rollin’ Stones – named after the landmark blues song “Rollin’ Stone” by Muddy Waters – took place on July 12, 1962 at the Marquee Club in London. The line-up at that time was Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith Richards (guitar), Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica), Ian Stewart (piano), Dick Taylor (bass) and Mick Avory (drums – Avory himself recalls that it was actually Tony Chapman). Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had known each other as children and were reacquainted by Dick Taylor, who was a mutual friend. Bill Wyman replaced Dick Taylor on bass in December 1962; Taylor then became one of the founding members of the Pretty Things, a band that is as long-lived and (in some circles) as beloved as the Stones, though with a significantly lower profile. When Charlie Watts joined the band on drums in January 1963, and with Ian Stewart removed from the official band membership (also in 1963), the classic line-up of the Rolling Stones was born.

The Crawdaddy Club was founded in early 1963 in the back room of the Station Hotel in Richmond, Surrey (a suburb of London). The owner was Giorgio Gomelsky, who had previously owned the Piccadilly Club in central London. The house band in the beginning was the Dave Hunt Rhythm & Blues Band, whom Gomelsky had known from the earlier club. Charlie Watts had sometimes played drums for this band, and one of their guitarists was Ray Davies, later the founder and bandleader of the Kinks.

* * *

The Rolling Stones first performed at the Crawdaddy Club in February 1963 as a replacement for the Dave Hunt Rhythm & Blues Band when they were snowed in and could not reach the club; this was the first time that the Stones had performed publicly with Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts. By April 1963, the Rolling Stones had taken over as the house band, with two gigs a week at the Crawdaddy Club plus a weekly date at another legendary music space in the Eel Pie Island Hotel in nearby Twickenham. (For years, I thought that “eel pie” was some sort of slang for “ell-pee”, or LP).

* * *

The name of the Crawdaddy Club is taken from a song by Bo Diddley called “Doing the Craw-Daddy”; the Rolling Stones regularly included this song in their set while performing at the club. The song is taken from Bo’s fifth album, having the unusual name of Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger; the cover shows the man decked out in Western wear with a black ten-gallon hat and an electric guitar at his feet.

The Beatles came to see the Rolling Stones at the Crawdaddy Club on April 14, 1963; afterward, the two bands repaired to Mick Jagger’s flat in Chelsea. As the Stones’ fame spread, the Crawdaddy Club was forced to move to a larger space.

* * *

In June 1963, the Rolling Stones released their debut single, a cover of a Chuck Berry song called “Come On”, which reached #21 on the UK charts. The flip side was Willie Dixon’s “I Want to be Loved”. Wikipedia reports about “Come On”: “During the June 6, 2013 concert in Toronto, Canada, as part of the 50 & Counting Tour, Mick Jagger sang a few bars (with Charlie Watts drumming the beat) after mentioning the single being released exactly 50 years ago that day. It was the first time the song was heard in any capacity during a Rolling Stones concert since 1965.”

By September 1963, the Rolling Stones had outgrown the local club scene and had begun to tour; their replacement at the Crawdaddy Club was another of the major British Invasion bands, the Yardbirds, whose line-up at that time included Eric Clapton. Other major bands and artists who performed at this club include Led Zeppelin, Long John Baldry, Elton John, and Rod Stewart.

* * *

The best history of the Crawdaddys that I have found is at a blog called “The Ché Underground: San Diego’s Underground Rock ’n’ Roll Scene of the 1980s”; the post on this band is at http://cheunderground.com/blog/?page_id=1041. The story is compellingly told and is well worth reviewing in its entirety, but it goes into considerably more detail than I will write here. The name of the blog is taken from the Ché Café, which is described in Wikipedia as “a worker co-operative, social center, and live music venue located on the University of California, San Diego campus in La Jolla, California, USA”.

The blog entry on the Crawdaddys is headlined: “In a Ché Underground exclusive, Ray Brandes offers the first comprehensive history of San Diego’s original retro-visionaries.” Ray Brandes was previously a member of the Mystery Machine, which contributed a mind-bogglingly great song called “She’s Not Mine” (written by Carl Rusk) to a Voxx Records garage rock band “competition” called Battle of the Garages, Part 2.

The Ray Brandes post begins: “The Crawdaddys have been called one of the most influential bands ever to come out of San Diego. When one looks at the groups its members have spawned, as well as the recurring popularity of ’60s-style punk and rhythm and blues over the past 30 years, it’s hard to dispute that assertion. Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of music history, an uncompromising commitment to artistic integrity, and a roster of musicians with unparalleled talents and distinct individual styles, the Crawdaddys single-handedly gave birth to the revival of garage music in the late 1970’s in the United States.”

* * *

Ron Silva and Steve Potterf grew up as neighbors in Point Loma, California and began listening to records together in the ninth grade. Silva recalls of those early days: “After a while Steve started getting into the music I liked – Beatles, early Stones. I remember sitting in his room playing guitars along to my dad’s Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley 45’s.”

Ron Silva and Steve Potterf, together with Ron’s brother Russell Silva played rock and roll in the Silva garage all through high school. Ron Silva began obsessively studying album covers, magazines, vintage photographs, and other sources in order to authentically capture the look of the Sixties, from the hair to the clothes to the shoes; this desire spread to the other bandmembers as well over time.

As Ron Silva left high school, he advertised for a rock band that he was thinking of forming; after being contacted by vocalist Jeff Scott (who had just left the seminal punk band the Dils) and drummer Josef Marc, he instead became the guitarist in their new band called the Hitmakers. They quickly became part of the growing DIY music scene in San Diego. A joint show in 1977 at the Adams Avenue Theatre by the Hitmakers, the Dils, and the Zeros was the first big punk rock concert in the city. Later, Steve Potterf joined the Hitmakers as their second guitarist, and Joel Kmak became their new drummer.

The renown of the Hitmakers grew through the state, and the band decided to relocate to San Francisco. The day before they left town, the band fired Steve Potterf because they said that they didn’t like his attitude. About two days later, Ron Silva decided to start his own band that became the Crawdaddys.

* * *

Ron Silva connected with Mark Zadarnowski – who was just learning to play bass guitar – through a mutual friend and fellow Beatles enthusiast named Tim LaMadrid. The first gig by the newly formed band the Crawdaddys was at Abbey Road in September 1978, with Ron’s brother Russell Silva – who went by the name “Scuzz” – sitting in on drums. By their third concert at the Lions’ Club in North Park (see above photo), the line-up was Ron Silva (guitar), Steve Potterf (guitar), Mark Zadarnowski (bass), and Dan McLain (drums); McLain ran a local record store called Monty Rockers.

Jeff Scott phoned Ron Silva, and they patched things up over Silva’s leaving the Hitmakers. Scott was about to go to L.A. to play their band’s demo tape for Greg Shaw at Bomp! Records, and he offered to bring him and Steve Potterf along if they could lay down some tracks first. The Crawdaddys assembled in the Silva garage and recorded two original songs plus Chuck Berry’s “Oh Baby Doll” and Bo Diddley’s “Tiger in Your Tank”.

* * *

Ron Silva says of the meeting of the Crawdaddys with Greg Shaw: “In my opinion, it would be fairly safe to say that [Steve] Potterf and I blew Shaw’s mind that day. We walked in, and Potterf had this absolutely devout Brian Jones thing going with the hair, and we both had the complete Downliners Sect ’64 look from head to toe. It was totally ridiculous and great at the same time. Shaw said, ‘Go back to San Diego and make an album, preferably for next to nothing, if you don’t mind.’ We didn’t.”

* * *

Remarkably, the Crawdaddys filmed their performance of another Bo Diddley song in 1978, “Cadillac”; this was a full three years before MTV signed on the air. The film was made for a college Communications class that Mark Zadarnowski was attending.

* * *

Tim LaMadrid came on the scene again to help out the band; Ray Brandes calls him “an unsung hero in the history of the Crawdaddys”. Besides taking all of the band’s photographs, LaMadrid borrowed a four-track, reel-to-reel tape recorder from his school and supervised the recording of the tracks for their first album over a two-day period.

Ray Brandes describes the band’s approach to the recording sessions: “Since the Crawdaddys’ legendary obsession with authenticity also applied to the equipment used to play and record the songs on the album, every sound needed to be justified by a musical recording of the era; and this of course meant no instruments manufactured after 1965, and no round-wound bass strings, nylon picks or synthetic drum heads.” Jack White basically felt the same way, so the White Stripes similarly used vintage equipment in many of their recordings.

As described above, the resulting debut album, Crawdaddy Express was comprised mostly of covers of R&B classics by Bo Diddley, Willie Dixon, Chuck Berry, and John Lee Hooker; plus a few from other sources, such as the old Hank Snow tune “I’m Movin’ On” and the magnificent Van Morrison song “Mystic Eyes” that opened the first album by Them. Only a few familiar songs were included on the album, such as “You Can’t Judge a Book” and “Down the Road a Piece”. Just two original recordings were included on the album, the title song “Crawdaddy Express” and “Got You in My Soul” (both written by Ron Silva and Steve Potterf).

* * *

While this line-up never recorded another album, the Crawdaddys secured their place in the rock firmament with their next two releases (both on Voxx Records): the single “There She Goes Again” b/w “Why Don’t You Smile Now” in early 1980, and an EP called 5 x 4 in August 1980. For my money, “There She Goes Again” is the one Velvet Underground song (written by Lou Reed) that is tailor-made to be covered by other bands. There is an obscure cover of “There She Goes Again” by the Electrical Banana in 1967 which is mentioned by Wikipedia; this is not the same band as the Electric Banana that was a pseudonym for the Pretty Things over several years. However, the only other cover version of “There She Goes Again” that I know of is by R.E.M.; and Peter Buck acknowledges that their recording is inspired by the Crawdaddys version. “There She Goes Again” is included on the Bomp! Records compilation CD Straight Outta Burbank, and that is where I learned about the song. The “B” side, “Why Don’t You Smile Now” was co-written by Lou Reed and John Cale but pre-dates their involvement with the Velvet Underground; “Why Don’t You Smile Now” was originally released on a 1965 single under the name the All-Night Workers.

* * *

Regarding the title of the EP 5 x 4 by the Crawdaddys, I was thinking of the 1964 Rolling Stones album 12 x 5 myself, but the Stones had previously released a British-only EP called 5 x 5 in August 1964. One of the cuts on the Stones EP is a group-penned instrumental called “2120 South Michigan Avenue” – the street address of Chess Records in Chicago – and the Chicano garage rock band Thee Midniters used it as the basis for their popular track “Whittier Boulevard”.

The Crawdaddys EP includes 4 original songs plus “Pretty Face” by the talented but snake-bit 1960’s British band the Beat Merchants. One of these songs is a monster R&B original called “I’m Dissatisfied” that I would have to say is my favorite Crawdaddys song.

Mike Stax, who later joined the Crawdaddys as their bass guitarist, says of their EP: “5 x 4 is one of the greatest records from the post-’60s era. I think the original lineup was important, as they were one of the first bands to operate on such a purist level. Had they been able to maintain a stable lineup, pursued more original material, and continued to release records on the same level as 5 x 4, they would have been much more well-known today than they are.”

* * *

A German record label called Line Records collected the single and EP by the Crawdaddys and released an album called Still Steamin’, with “There She Goes Again” on Side 1 at 45 rpm and the other 6 songs on Side 2 at 33 rpm. Line Records also re-released the Crawdaddy Express LP and the “There She Goes Again” single in 1985; later, the label combined all of the Voxx Records material onto a CD in 1989 called Mystic Crawdaddys. Voxx Records did the same with their CD reissue of Crawdaddy Express in 1994.

These items are taken from a detailed discography of the Crawdaddys that is presented on the website for the power pop band the Shambles at www.theshambles.net, whose bandmembers include Mark Z, the former bass guitarist for the Crawdaddys. This discography also lists 10 compilation albums that feature songs by the Crawdaddys.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in San Diego, drummer Dan McLain was in another band called the Penetrators that was being courted by major record labels; and Steve Potterf also played with the Upbeats, his side project with Paris Trent – this band was thinking of moving to Los Angeles. Steve Potterf left first in late 1979, and Dan McLain left the Crawdaddys in 1980. The 16-year-old guitarist Peter Miesner joined up on guitar, while the drummer was, briefly, Joel Kmak, who had previously been in the Hitmakers. Keith Fisher was added later on keyboards.

* * *

Mike Stax was born in England and had tried to interest locals in starting a 1960’s style R&B band without success. Stax wrote Ron Silva in 1980, who invited him to join the band on bass guitar. Numerous changes in the line-up took place over the next several years – even Mojo Nixon joined up on guitar at one point – and some are remembered by other bandmembers only by their first name. Once the band tried to soldier on without a guitarist, and another time without a drummer; for a time, the band changed their name to the Howling Men, named for a Twilight Zone episode. Eventually, the Crawdaddys basically squandered their reputation as one of San Diego’s greatest rock bands. After just 6½ months in the States, Mike Stax returned home to England.

Mike Stax’s return to San Diego in May 1982 triggered the exit of the original Crawdaddys bassist Mark Zadarnowski. This time, Stax came to town with an agenda; Stax is quoted by Ray Brandes: “I returned with lots of tapes of obscure ’60s beat, R&B and garage stuff, and we began to learn a lot of new covers, stuff like ‘Chicago’ by the Phantom Brothers, ‘She Just Satisfies’ by Jimmy Page [which I had figured inspired the band’s original “I’m Dissatisfied”], the Boots’ version of “Jump Back [Baby]” and the Sorrows’ ‘You Got What I Want’. The rest of the band was finally open to doing stuff like this, which I’d been advocating all along, rather than being a purist R&B/blues band who only did songs by the original black artists.”

While these preferences would inform Mike Stax’s sensibilities as the founder of Ugly Things magazine, also in 1982, they created friction within the Crawdaddys. Keith Fisher for one hated American garage rock music; after finding a very rare 45 by the Texas garage rock band Zakary Thaks, he threw it across the room at Mike Stax on his 21st birthday and ruined it. Stax quit the band on the spot after that, though he was planning to leave the Crawdaddys in the summer of 1983 anyway.

After adding Jack Lopez on drums in 1983 (he was previously in the Los Angeles punk rock band the Stains), the Crawdaddys lasted a while longer before packing it in at the end of 1984.

* * *

As often happens following the break-up of a popular rock band, the Crawdaddys’ remaining songs – frequently, as here, presented as an unreleased album – were packaged into a CD by Voxx Records called Here ’Tis. The CD was originally released in 1987 and was reissued in 1994. The brief liner notes by Ron Silva (dated October 1986) end by presenting the CD: “So why wait until tomorrow! HERE ’TIS!”

Of course, more than a few 1960’s fans such as yours truly might have expected yet another Bo Diddley song on this album, not coincidentally entitled “Here ’Tis”; but it is not among the tracks. I have two cover versions of the song in my collection; one is by the Yardbirds, and another that is even better is by the Betterdays. The latter version of “Here ’Tis” is included on the Pebbles, Volume 6 LP that introduced me to the raw English R&B sound that inspired the creation of the Crawdaddys in the first place.

Anyway, it is hard for me to complain about what the Crawdaddys have included on Here ’Tis: The CD starts off with a blistering rendition of a rockin’ Chuck Berry song, “Thirty Days”, followed by an Allen Toussaint song called “Why Wait Until Tomorrow” that had been recorded by Lee Dorsey – best known for two charming hits, “Ya Ya” and “Working in the Coalmine”. Also on hand is a criminally obscure Leiber/Stoller song called “That Is Rock and Roll”, the flip side of the Coasters’ hit “Along Came Jones”. The Coasters, one of my favorite American R&B bands, had emerged in the 1960’s essentially as a showcase band for the best songs by this dynamite songwriting duo.

Another outstanding song is “Ruler of My Heart”, with the songwriting credited to Naomi Neville (the mother of Allen Toussaint; he often uses her name in his writing credits) and made famous by Irma Thomas. Then there is the Jimmy Page song mentioned earlier, “She Just Satisfies”.

If anything, the Crawdaddys work even harder on the performances of their original songs that make up about half of the tracks, like Ron Silva’s “You’re Gonna Need My Love Someday”, “I Just Don’t Understand”, and “Start Talkin’”, with the latter song featuring a fierce instrumental break.

The bandmembers in the Crawdaddys listed on the Here ’Tis CD are Ron Silva, Fred Sanders (actually Keith Fisher, with the name petulantly changed due to his threats to file suit to prevent the release of the CD), Peter Michael Miesner, Jack Lopez, Mike Dixson Stax, Gordon Moss, and Steve Horn. Also mentioned are Carl Rusk as “production consultant”, Josef Marc as “sort of the producer” on some tracks, and Jeff Scott as “definitely like a father to us”.

* * *

On May 29, 2011, at a Rhino Records pop-up store in San Diego, the Crawdaddys showed up unexpectedly with a reunion concert that included former members Ron Silva, Peter Miesner, and Keith Fisher. After noting the surprise at the Crawdaddys being there at all, the L.A. Weekly report on the concert continued: “Another surprise was how hot and vital the band sounded, even after being dormant for so many years. You could certainly hear where latter-day ’60s revivalists like the Hives got their ideas, as singer-guitarist Ron Silva snarled his way through a set of Crawdaddys originals and vintage covers of primal rock classics like ‘Oh Baby Doll’, ‘Slow Down’ and ‘Let the Good Times Roll’. The group were at their best on Rolling Stones-style blues rockers like ‘Bald Headed Woman’, but they also deftly pulled off poppier tunes like the Knickerbockers’ Beatles sound-alike ‘Lies’ and a yearning, affecting version of the Velvet Underground’s bittersweet ‘There She Goes [Again]’.”

In September 2011, the Crawdaddys played at the Casbah in Middletown as part of a two-day “Ché Underground Festival” at the club that was headlined by past UARB the Unknowns, described by the local newspaper U-T San Diego as “a leading San Diego band in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s”.

* * *

Members of the Crawdaddys went on to populate many other California bands; I have already mentioned several of them. The future UARB (probably by year’s end) and another like-minded San Diego band called the Tell-Tale Hearts (named after a famous Edgar Allan Poe story, “The Tell-Tale Heart”) has numerous connections with the band. Former Crawdaddys bass guitarist Mike Stax was a founding member, as were Mystery Machine alumni Bill Calhoun and Ray Brandes; I praised and heavily borrowed from Brandes’s fine biography of the Crawdaddys in preparing this post). Another past Crawdaddy, Peter Miesner contributed guitar on two tracks on the Tell-Tale Hearts CD that I have, High Tide (Big Noses & Pizza Faces), with the name adapted from that of the first Rolling Stones retrospective album, Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) (1966).

* * *

Dan McLain was probably the most active and most prominent musician among the former bandmembers in the Crawdaddys; his untimely death in November 1995 at the age of 40 was written up in Billboard magazine. After drumming for the Crawdaddys and the Penetrators, McLain took the name Country Dick Montana and first formed a band called Country Dick & the Snuggle Bunnies. The bandmembers included Richard Banke who is also known as Skid Roper, a long-time collaborator (mostly as an instrumentalist) with Mojo Nixon, who is a former member of the Crawdaddys.

With his fractured vision and his frantic singing and playing style, Mojo Nixon perhaps best personifies what is meant by “psychobilly”; he is a native of Chapel Hill (real name: Neill Kirby McMillan, Jr.). Steve Huey provides a cogent synopsis of his mystique in his biography for Allmusic: “One of the most out-sized personalities on college radio in the ’80s, Mojo Nixon won a fervent cult following with his motor-mouthed redneck persona and a gonzo brand of satire with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Nixon had a particular knack for celebrity-themed novelty hits (‘Elvis Is Everywhere’, ‘Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child’, ‘Don Henley Must Die’), but he was prone to gleefully crass rants on a variety of social ills (‘I Hate Banks’, ‘Destroy All Lawyers’, ‘I Ain’t Gonna Piss In No Jar’), while celebrating lowbrow, blue-collar America in all its trashy, beer-soaked glory. All of it was performed in maximum overdrive on a bed of rockabilly, blues, and R&B.”

* * *

The Beat Farmers grew out of Country Dick & the Snuggle Bunnies and was formed in August 1983. They became one of the leading bands in what became known as “cowpunk” or country punk, a blend of punk rock with country and folk music. Bandmembers were Country Dick Montana (drums, guitar, vocals), Jerry Raney (guitar, vocals), Rolle Dexter Love (bass), and Buddy Blue (guitar, vocals, drums). Joey Harris (guitar, vocals) replaced Blue in the band in 1986; he had previously been in Country Dick & the Snuggle Bunnies.

The Beat Farmers were signed by Rhino Records – mostly known as a reissue label – which released their debut album, Tales of the New West in January 1985; they were then signed by Curb Records. The album includes a cover of “There She Goes Again”, which had been previously recorded by the Crawdaddys. Their 1987 album Pursuit of Happiness included “Make it Last” that initially had a lot of play on country music stations; though that didn’t, er, last once DJ’s decided that the rest of the album was too rock and roll.

Besides their own albums and popular concert appearances throughout Southern California, the Beat Farmers collaborated with numerous musicians; Allmusic lists Mojo Nixon, John Doe of X, Rosie Flores, the Bangles, Los Lobos, Katy Moffatt, blues singer/pianist Candye Kane, and guitarist Dave Alvin, formerly of the Blasters. For his part, Country Dick Montana had several side projects over this period, including the Incredible Hayseeds, Country Dick’s Petting Zoo, Country Dick’s Garage, and the Pleasure Barons.

After enduring problems over several years with Curb Records, the Beat Farmers began touring to support their 1993 album for Sector 2 Records, Viking Lullabies. After Country Dick Montana’s massive heart attack on stage in 1995 during a concert in Whistler, B.C., the remaining bandmembers called it quits a week later.

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Flashback: The Under Appreciated Rock Band of the Month for January 2013 – THE SKYWALKERS

Named for main protagonist Luke Skywalker of the Star Wars saga, the Skywalkers is a Dutch duo that had a limited release on vinyl which I was fortunate to order. One of the bandmembers, Jacco Gardner released his first solo album, Cabinet of Curiosities the month after my post. The band’s farewell single, “Rosa” b/w “Creature of the Night” was released in April 2013. However, their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/FreakbeatIsBack?fref=ts is still active.

I found several songs on YouTube (all audio only) – might be the whole album piecemeal, I don’t know. One of the album’s highlights, “She’s Gone” can be heard at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llqydnFIwLU. Another fine song, “Lord Can You Hear Us?” is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ence6WKz4Zw; and “Pretty Little Girl” is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFAbAFDPrVE.

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Picture Gallery: The Under Appreciated Rock Band of the Month for January 2012 – RON FRANKLIN

Here is the album by Ron Franklin that I have, Ron Franklin:

This is evidently his debut album, City Lights (Ron Franklin is actually his third album):

This is a nice portrait of the singer-songwriter:

And here is one of him in concert:

* * *

Story of the Month: John Mellencamp (from July 2012)

John Mellencamp is just John Mellencamp these days; but in the beginning, it wasn’t like that at all. Early on, he was signed by David Bowie’s manager Tony Defries, who put out his first album in 1976. Mellencamp was infuriated to find out that the album, Chestnut Street Incident had been released under the name Johnny Cougar (he was already 25 by then and seems a little old to be a “Johnny”). To add insult to injury, his label MCA Records dropped him; and his second album, The Kid Inside stayed on a shelf for several years until he was able to break through. He released another album in 1979 under this name, A Biography that included a Top 40 song, “I Need a Lover”; Pat Benatar also included “I Need a Lover” on her debut album, In the Heat of the Night. Now that he had a little moxie from his record sales, he set about to reinvent himself, well, back to being himself. I still hear “I Need a Lover” on the radio from time to time, though if the DJ said “Johnny Cougar” or even “John Cougar”, almost no one would know who they were talking about anymore.

His third release was simply John Cougar; in Australia (according to Wikipedia), the album was called Miami. John Mellencamp kept getting better in his work, with subsequent albums Nothin’ Matters and What If it Did and American Fool (both released under the name John Cougar) spawning several hit songs: “Ain’t Even Done with the Night”, “Hurts So Good” (both suggestive of S&M), “Jack & Diane” (Gulfport has a tattoo parlor with that name, although those are the real names of the owners), and “Hand to Hold Onto”. The next step was to release his two best albums, Uh Huh and Scarecrow under the name John Cougar Mellencamp; the opening track on Uh Huh, “Crumblin’ Down” is the first song of his that I truly loved. One of his biggest-selling albums (it topped the album charts in Canada), The Lonesome Jubilee introduced folk and country forms into his music. By the way, we got to see him in concert right on the front row in Long Beach, NY; quite a treat!

For some reason, the name “Mellencamp” seemed funny to media people, though it was probably the numerous name changes that did it. He was able to shut that crap down for keeps by showing a tombstone with the name in large letters on one of his videos, I believe “Small Town”. Mellencamp’s name was rightfully a point of pride with him; and eventually, people began to realize how incredibly unfair the whole Johnny Cougar thing was. As far as I know, that has never happened to any other musician since. At length, after 15 years, his 11th album, Whenever We Wanted came out under his real name John Mellencamp.

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The Honor Roll of the Under Appreciated Rock Bands and Artists follows, in date order, including a link to the original Facebook posts and the theme of the article.

Dec 2009 – BEAST; Lot to Learn

Jan 2010 – WENDY WALDMAN; Los Angeles Singer-Songwriters

Feb 2010 – CYRUS ERIE; Cleveland

Mar 2010 – BANG; Record Collecting I

Apr 2010 – THE BREAKAWAYS; Power Pop

May 2010 – THE NOT QUITE; Katrina Clean-Up

Jun 2010 – WATERLILLIES; Electronica

Jul 2010 – THE EYES; Los Angeles Punk Rock

Aug 2010 – QUEEN ANNE’S LACE; Psychedelic Pop

Sep 2010 – THE STILLROVEN; Minnesota

Oct 2010 – THE PILTDOWN MEN; Record Collecting II

Nov 2010 – SLOVENLY; Slovenly Peter

Dec 2010 – THE POPPEES; New York Punk/New Wave

Jan 2011 – HACIENDA; Latinos in Rock

Feb 2011 – THE WANDERERS; Punk Rock (1970’s/1980’s)

Mar 2011 – INDEX; Psychedelic Rock (1960’s)

Apr 2011 – BOHEMIAN VENDETTA; Punk Rock (1960’s)

May 2011 – THE LONESOME DRIFTER; Rockabilly

Jun 2011 – THE UNKNOWNS; Disabled Musicians

Jul 2011 – THE RIP CHORDS; Surf Rock I

Aug 2011 – ANDY COLQUHOUN; Side Men

Sep 2011 – ULTRA; Texas

Oct 2011 – JIM SULLIVAN; Mystery

Nov 2011 – THE UGLY; Punk Rock (1970’s)

Dec 2011 – THE MAGICIANS; Garage Rock (1960’s)

Jan 2012 – RON FRANKLIN; Why Celebrate Under Appreciated?

Feb 2012 – JA JA JA; German New Wave

Mar 2012 – STRATAVARIOUS; Disco Music

Apr 2012 – LINDA PIERRE KING; Record Collecting III

May 2012 – TINA AND THE TOTAL BABES; One Hit Wonders

Jun 2012 – WILD BLUE; Band Names I

Jul 2012 – DEAD HIPPIE; Band Names II

Aug 2012 – PHIL AND THE FRANTICS; Wikipedia I

Sep 2012 – CODE BLUE; Hidden History

Oct 2012 – TRILLION; Wikipedia II

Nov 2012 – THOMAS ANDERSON; Martin Winfree’s Record Buying Guide

Dec 2012 – THE INVISIBLE EYES; Record Collecting IV

Jan 2013 – THE SKYWALKERS; Garage Rock Revival

Feb 2013 – LINK PROTRUDI AND THE JAYMEN; Link Wray

Mar 2013 – THE GILES BROTHERS; Novelty Songs

Apr 2013 – LES SINNERS; Universal Language

May 2013 – HOLLIS BROWN; Greg Shaw / Bob Dylan

Jun 2013 (I) – FUR (Part 1); What Might Have Been I

Jun 2013 (II) – FUR (Part 2); What Might Have Been II

Jul 2013 – THE KLUBS; Record Collecting V

Aug 2013 – SILVERBIRD; Native Americans in Rock

Sep 2013 – BLAIR 1523; Wikipedia III

Oct 2013 – MUSIC EMPORIUM; Women in Rock I

Nov 2013 – CHIMERA; Women in Rock II

Dec 2013 – LES HELL ON HEELS; Women in Rock III

Jan 2014 – BOYSKOUT; (Lesbian) Women in Rock IV

Feb 2014 – LIQUID FAERIES; Women in Rock V

Mar 2014 (I) – THE SONS OF FRED (Part 1); Tribute to Mick Farren

Mar 2014 (II) – THE SONS OF FRED (Part 2); Tribute to Mick Farren

Apr 2014 – HOMER; Creating New Bands out of Old Ones

May 2014 – THE SOUL AGENTS; The Cream Family Tree

Jun 2014 – THE RICHMOND SLUTS and BIG MIDNIGHT; Band Names (Changes) III

Jul 2014 – MIKKI; Rock and Religion I (Early CCM Music)

Aug 2014 – THE HOLY GHOST RECEPTION COMMITTEE #9; Rock and Religion II (Bob Dylan)

Sep 2014 – NICK FREUND; Rock and Religion III (The Beatles)

Oct 2014 – MOTOCHRIST; Rock and Religion IV

Nov 2014 – WENDY BAGWELL AND THE SUNLITERS; Rock and Religion V

Dec 2014 – THE SILENCERS; Surf Rock II

Jan 2015 (I) – THE CRAWDADDYS (Part 1); Tribute to Kim Fowley

Jan 2015 (II) – THE CRAWDADDYS (Part 2); Tribute to Kim Fowley

Feb 2015 – BRIAN OLIVE; Songwriting I (Country Music)

Mar 2015 – PHIL GAMMAGE; Songwriting II (Woody Guthrie / Bob Dylan)

Apr 2015 (I) – BLACK RUSSIAN (Part 1); Songwriting III (Partnerships)

Apr 2015 (II) – BLACK RUSSIAN (Part 2); Songwriting III (Partnerships)

May 2015 – MAL RYDER and THE PRIMITIVES; Songwriting IV (The Rolling Stones)

Jun 2015 – HAYMARKET SQUARE; Songwriting V (The Beatles)

Jul 2015 – THE HUMAN ZOO; Songwriting VI (Psychedelic Rock)

Aug 2015 – CRYSTAL MANSION; Martin Winfree’s Record Cleaning Guide

Dec 2015 – AMANDA JONES; So Many Rock Bands

Mar 2016 – THE LOVEMASTERS; Fun Rock Music

Jun 2016 – THE GYNECOLOGISTS; Offensive Rock Music Lyrics

Sep 2016 – LIGHTNING STRIKE; Rap and Hip Hop

Dec 2016 – THE IGUANAS; Iggy and the Stooges; Proto-Punk Rock

Mar 2017 – THE LAZY COWGIRLS; Iggy and the Stooges; First Wave Punk Rock

Jun 2017 – THE LOONS; Punk Revival and Other New Bands

Sep 2017 – THE TELL-TALE HEARTS; Bootleg Albums

Dec 2017 – SS-20; The Iguana Chronicles

(Year 10 Review)