Friday, March 25, 2011

Hillbilly in a Garage


One sub-genre that is quickly becoming one of my favorites, is country garage. The possibility that said genre actually exists is probably very unlikely. This 45 could be considered country garage. Nice honky-tonk vocals and silly country-oriented lyrics; coupled with a more rock band sound, fuzz guitar included! I love the guitar work on this tune!
Not much is known about Bob Withers, definitely a 60's release. Much has been documented on the legendary Nashville-based Bullet label, aside from a couple other labels; Bullet is one of my favorites. I love most of the stuff released on the label and I love the design of the actually label on the record! They released some great early 50's hillbilly bop, as well as some killer R & B/blues.
The 45 was more than likely recorded after Jim Bulleit sold the label to Red Wortham. Instead of writing out the entire label's history I will give you the link to their homepage http://www.bulletrecords.net/index.html

Monday, March 21, 2011

I've tried..............but failed



Very little info can be found on most of the records I post on here, this one is no exception. This 1968 garage 45 out of Indianapolis by the Early Mourning reeks of teenagers, garages and ineptness. When I first played this 45, which I grabbed from an antique shop a few towns away, my immediate reaction was to put it up for sale; but it ended up growing on me in a big way. It is probably my favorite and weirdest garage rock 45 that I own.
I love how the band sounds like they are barely hanging in there, and that a mistake can and probably did happen the first ten takes. The lack of a guitar solo, and the inability to keep time is proof of their ineptness. But, of course, that is the reason why I love the 45. This is proto-punk. It also sounds like it could have existed in any decade, from the sixties up till today. I bet one could throw it on a compilation of "early tracks," by Lou Reed/Velvet Underground, or Neil Young or (90's grunge group) Nirvana. It is, inadvertently, ahead of it's time. Here is a link on Indiana 45s/bands that I find very useful and fun: http://indiana-bands-60s.blogspot.com/