How did you get into garage records? Were YOU in a band? Are you still in a band?

[ShyC]

When I was sixteen, I visited a guy from school who had a guitar and a fuzz pedal. The moment I heard that noise coming out of the amp I fell in love with the Fuzz, so I got myself a guitar the very next day. I was taught to play "Hey Joe" the way Jimi Hendrix played it, and I became a Hendrix fan, I guess it was because of his songs that I got interested in 1960s music. So I listened to The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Doors, then The Stooges, and The Velvet Underground. Those were my 4 favorite bands, plus I already knew a few songs by "big" garage bands, like The Seeds or The Chocolate Watchband and I realized there might be some more Fuzz around. Then, my older sister fell in love with a mod. When she kicked him out a few weeks later, he left some records, among them Pebbles "Volume 5" and Garage Punk Unknowns "Volume 1". Both blew my mind, and soon I started looking out for 60s garage comps, and every new comp got me hooked up on the sound even more. So I collected comps during the nineties, and because I'm still in love with 60s garage, I started collecting garage 45s some years ago.

I've been in a few 60s bands as well, first there was "The Living Room", a West Coast Psych inspired group with a nice garage flavor, we cut an LP called "Chambers" and released it ourselves in 1997.

After that I was in "The Flashjunkies", a two-man band. We released a 7" E.P. called "Durch die Tür" with 6 nice little Lonesome Loser Acid Garage songs in 1998.

Right now I'm in a band called "The Wrong Society", we don't have a singer so we do instrumentals, you could call it Surf Garage. More Garage than Surf, though.

I always use vintage gear, I really love my Vox Challenger guitar, it was built in Italy by Crucianelli for Vox. I also have a Vox Wyman Bass which I like for it has that slim neck which makes it easier to play when you are a guitarist. Last year I bought a Vox Mark VI Acoustic, which is in great shape, and if I really want to unleash some crude inferno I use the Marma guitar (bottom right in the picture). It sounds like shit, which is exactly what you need sometimes. With The Wrong Society I'm playing a Höfner 173 guitar (I don't have a photo of it), because of the cool tremolo bar it has. All of these go through a rotten and mouldy Vox AC-30, it looks like it has been on tour with The Mummies, but it sounds pretty decent!

Cheers,

Kai
/ShyC

 

[axel]

When I was eleven I started listening to the Beatles. My parents had side 3 and 4 of the Red Album and side 3 and 4 of the Blue Album in the sleeve of the Red Album and hadn't even noticed it! But I didn't care because I was totally absorbed by what I heard just the same. This became the first record of my collection. If there could be something like a best song of all times, I'd still consider "Help!" to be number 1.
The first record I bought myself soon after that was "Revolver". I was totally fascinated by the variety of musical styles, melodies and sounds on it and musically it influenced me deeply. The second was the White Album, and I found that extremely fascinating as well. Later I started looking for other stuff similar to the Beatles: Kinks, Beach Boys, Byrds and Stones. I considered Bob Dylan important, because the Beatles did. I also listened a lot to Creedence Clearwater Revival, because a friend of my parents had all their records and I copied them on cassette tape.
About half a year after I had started listening to the Beatles John Lennon was shot. It was in every newspaper, magazine, on the TV, in the radio. For weeks it seemed. I got to see all the Beatles movies and a lot of stuff related. I started reading books about the Beatles. I got to know a lot about women and drugs (and other things not common to a 12 year old), only in theory of course.
I started a small Beatles fan club. But most of its members where more interested in kissing and games around that. There were three or four girls in the club and all of them were cute. Unfortunately I wasn't interested in kissing as much as in the Beatles. So I called it quits after some time...

After that I followed the chronology of rock history. I started to like Pink Floyd a lot, and looked for stuff similar to "Piper At the Gates of Dawn". I was fascinated by music influenced by LSD. The ideas it created in people's minds, and the ways they tried to realize them, through sounds and by modifying musical structures. I got the Syd Barrett solo albums and somehow I got to hear the German band Faust and Amon Düül II and thought they were the closest thing to early Pink Floyd I could find. I remember the look of the record dealer at a flea market when he saw that 14 year old brat pulling out "So Far" by Faust and actually buying it. I must confess that look made me proud. I felt quite advanced.
Another important band for me were King Crimson, especially their 1972 to 1975 records, which I still think are rather unique for that time.
From that on my taste went down. It was a record of Return To Forever that made me think: why on earth am I listening to this shit? Where is the music, where is the soul?
I threw it away. I even burned a few records (or rather gave them bizarre forms with a lighter) and started listening to punk. That was around 1985 I think. I didn't buy any punk records, I only had cassette tapes, because I didn't really love it dearly. It didn't really touch me. The interest was more intellectually. I liked the attitude. The band I considered best were the Dead Kennedys...

I was looking for something else. It was a concert by the "Swinging London" (from Munich) and "The Blackberry Jug" (later Broken Jug) at a youth center in a town close to my hometown, that changed everything. I saw some guys with moptops and thought I wanna do that. I wanna look like that and listen to that kind of music. I became a 60s punk. Two friends did the same. For some years we were a gang.
The first 60s garage sampler I bought was "New Mexico Punk". We didn't have the money to buy all the comps, so we shared. One guy bought a record, the others copied it. Everybody sort of had his field. I bought all the Back From the Graves. One friend was into more sophisticated stuff as Psychedelic Unknowns. The other friend had some Cicadelic records and was very much into Velvet Underground. Well, I guess we all were.
We also started a band, although I was the only one who could play an instrument. We named ourselves "Keggs' Revenge". Then we changed it to "The Wild Fruits". Unfortunately we could only play one concert, because after that we were thrown out of the rehearsal space. We were pretty good, I think, but we never released anything, and the best demo recordings are lost. The concert was pretty wild. It was under an old bridge in a forest. We had three bands playing and the only light was fire torches. Caveman-style. We played second. When the third band played the torches had burnt to the end. It was completely dark and there were still about 200 people. Then two policemen came. I remember them finding their way to the stage through the crowd with electric torches and starting to investigate about the whole thing by asking the band that was playing in complete darkness. They soon gave up, because there was no way to find out who was responsible. That was good, because it was me and my buddies.
After three years or so our ways parted, due to the "real life", and our musical tastes went into completely different directions.
One of the guys lives in Los Angeles now. He's an artist and like me he is heavily into 60s garage sounds again. For an art event in Santa Barbara he did a piece called "Monument for The Dovers". If you want I can try to find a photo of that for you...

Cheers & fuzz,
Axel

 

[madmanman]

I'm old (57), so i'm predisposed to liking garage. Got to see the Wailers (Outburst era) several times, P.R. & Raiders, Liverpool 5, and local heroes Little John & the Monks, and the Moguls several times back in the day. I even got to see Paul Bearer & the Hearsemen at some weird country and rock radio station promo show at the local fairgrounds. I did whiff on the Sonics though. My sister saw them several times but I never made it for some reason. My brother-in-law was in a couple local garage bands (Rubber Souls - no recordings and Lemon/Lime -long lost 2 song tape that got some local airplay). Anyway, I went through different phases (jazz, punk, new wave, blues, power pop) and always seemed to get back to garage. Bands like the Fleshtones, Woggles, Lyres, Swingin' Neckbreakers, Insomniacs, always pulled me back in. In the last few years due to my work I've been able to see the Fleshtones in Detroit, Providence, and Troy, N.Y. As long as they're still going I guess I am too.

 

[Laurent Bigot]

Was into 70s punk since I was 13, got into the mod revival through the Jam in '79, got Pebbles 6 (the "Mod" volume) the following year, then noticed the mention "60's punk" on another volume (yes, the fifth), so I got curious and bought it. It was early '81. Loved it right away, still it took me about 3 more years before the genre became my main game soundwise. Bandwise it went the other way, I started with Pebbles/Grave cover bands in the second part of the 80's then went 70s punk in the 90's/00's (except for Cecilia et ses Ennuis which was 60's styled).

 

[axel]

I even got to see Paul Bearer & the Hearsemen at some weird country and rock radio station promo show at the local fairgrounds.

Cool!
I have just checked out Little John & the Monks' "Black Winds" on youtube. I've got it on a Northwest comp, but somehow failed to appreciate it to full extent. My god, what a beautifully dark punk ballad is that?! Coolness factor 100000!
Would love to hear more from your recollections of those events.

 

[Westex]

Came into 60s sounds by way of the Northwest "grunge" scene of the early 90s. Kept seeing names like "Wailers" and "Raiders" and "Sonics" being thrown around along side Soundgarden, Fastbacks, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, etc. When I moved to Abilene, Tx to go to college in the fall of '92 one of my first stops was a place called Off the Wall Records. The guy, for whatever reason, stocked a number of the regional Nuggets and "Highs In the Mid Sixties" comps. Picked up the Northwest volume of Nuggets first and was BLOWN away by what I heard from the Sonics and Wailers. Next I grabbed one of the Texas volumes of "Highs". Only heard a little bit of garage for the next few years as Off the Wall closed a year or so later and this was pre-internet. Really started getting into rockabilly anyway. Not until moving to Odessa did I start getting into 60s sounds more and more.

It's neat stuff. Faaaaaar more obsessive about regional sounds though. Finding my first copy of the Continentals on Gaylo about 7 years back- and the Brentwoods on OUR the very next day- really got me focused on West Texas music of all types and eras.

No bands, nor instruments. Walking and talking at the same time can sometimes stress my attention. No way I'm playing an instrument... and Lord knows of I've tried.

 

[massb]

One of the guys lives in Los Angeles now. He's an artist and like me he is heavily into 60s garage sounds again. For an art event in Santa Barbara he did a piece called "Monument for The Dovers". If you want I can try to find a photo of that for you...
Axel

Link courtesy of 60sgaragebands.com

http://notesonlooking.com/?p=4512

 

[ratfinkie]

I first heard "Want Ad Reader" on KYA in the '60's. I was enamored by the Monkee's TV show and the Beatle's cartoon show in the mid-'60s. When I was in high school, Disco was king. I wanted to off myself. I picked up the Sire reissue of "Nuggets" in 1980. I was rejuvenated! I picked up all of the available '60's Garage Punk Comps in the '80's. I had a '60's Garage Punk Fanzine called, "Living Sickness" at that time. I have been researching and writing about the music of that era ever since. I have contributed to several Ace and Rhino releases, as well as doing research for Bruce Tahsler's 'East Bay Garage Bands' book. I still collect and write about '60's East Bay garage bands.

 

[axel]

Link courtesy of 60sgaragebands.com

http://notesonlooking.com/?p=4512

Yeah, that´s it. Thanks, Massimo!

Florian Morlat: "A Monument For The Dovers"

Florian's explanation was something like: "the feet of a guy diving through the chimney of a house wherein he hopes to find a collection of garage 45s, preferably including The Dovers". The feet (Chelsea boots) are Beatle cartoon style, the one just mentioned by Ratfinkie I reckon. They are moving with the wind, so that the owner of the house can see from which direction the wind blows. Pretty diplomatic move on Florian's part, I think.

 

[mansson66]

That's cool! I wouldn't want someone with beatle boots diving down my chimney to look for garage 45s though. He'd find two Dovers 45s, among other things

 

[Richard Whig]

The Keggs Revenge is a totally genius name!! And you have no idea how jealous I am that you got to see the Blackberry/Broken Jug!! WOW!!

 

[axel]

Glad you like the name, Richard.
Interesting that there is still a fan of the Blackberry Jug out there. We saw them once again and they were still a good live act. They were probably the only band I ever saw to execute real Acid Punk. Pretty cool. Acid Punk was something we greatly worshipped.
I was rather disappointed with their album as Broken Jug though. It sounds as if they had changed the lead guitarist by then. There was an early cassette tape which was pretty great, I think. I've got it somewhere, but I think it's ripped. I have to repair it someday and see what it sounds like.

 

[Richard Whig]

I really liked the EP the Broken Jug did - most of the songs were blatant rip-offs but the record just has a totally cool basement-psych vibe. Also, liked the next 45, which was right before the first LP. Agree with you on the LP. Buddy of mine got it first and we excitedly put it on the turntable and....well, let's just say I didn't order a copy for myself. That seemed to happen with quite a few groups back then.

 

[axel]

That EP sounds as if it was the same as the cassette tape. I never knew they made a vinyl release of that. What are the titles? I also dug that basement-psych vibe!

 

[Richard Whig]

That EP sounds as if it was the same as the cassette tape. I never knew they made a vinyl release of that. What are the titles? I also dug that basement-psych vibe!

Listen to the Bells (really Bitter Bells)
Writing on the Wall
Weird Sounds (really 2120)
New Generation
Grand Junction, which is the name of the EP

Here is a link to a page with a photo of the EP at the bottom:

http://www.psychedelic-music.net/pmdb/db3/db_band.php4?id=460

 

[axel]

Hm, those titles don't sound familiar from that cassette tape. I'm almost sure there was a version of "Miracle Worker" on it and something from Acid Dreams ("William" or "1523 Blair", not from the album, earlier basement-versions)...

 

[Dan Frank]

Well, I guess I first got interested in music hearing my older brother play records all the time when I was four or five. He was 13 when The Beatles came out and he started collecting records at that point. Eventually I leaned to play guitar and really got into record collecting as a teenager, although I didn't start collecting garage 45s till I was about 23 or so, that was about the time my band The Projectiles got together. I've been collecting ever since. Although I certainly can't consider myself a "big spender" by any stretch (I just don't have that kind of $$$$ to spend), I've amassed a "modest", yet respectable collection of cool 45s with some very nice pieces.

Cheers to all! Dan

 

[tom kirby]

I'm old (57)

Ha Ha, that's funny : ) But, to the question. It wasn't called "Garage" when I got into it. Just Rock and Roll.

 

[Darren J Wallace]

This has been a very fun read guys! Great guitar pics,and very cool stories!

 

[M.T. Wallet]

I got into rock&roll by learning to play guitar by myself when I was about 16, mainly Chuck Berry songs
I got into obscure stuff when I bought a Cramps Lp in the late 90s and looked for the original songs (rockabilly & 60s garage punk)

about showing off my gear, I now play on various Conrad guitars from the late 60s (cheap wood but great pickups, nice price)

I plug them into an old Silvertone 1482 from 64 (lightest tube amp ever, fabulous tremolo, nice price)