Rare Rockabilly, Surf And Exotica from Keb Darge & Little Edith
Label: BBE
Release Date: June 27, 2011
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The Gee Cee’s – “Buzz Saw”
Let’s forget about the flavor of moment and take a trip back into music’s past. The guide on this trip is none other than Scottish Northern soul & funk scene legend Keb Darge; a man renowned for having a 1940’s to 1970’s musical knowledge second to none and it’s perfectly reflected on his BBE compilations. While recent Keb Darge compilations touched on underground dance music from black artists in the 50’s and 60’s (“Keb Darge & Paul Weller present Lost & Found – Real R’N’b And Soul”) and lesser known or forgotten lights of R&B music from the 50’s and 60’s (“Keb Darge and Little Edith’s Legendary Rockin’ R&B”), his latest compilation – “Keb Darge & Little Edith’s Legendary Wild Rockers” – revisits some forgotten gems and rarities from the Surf / Rockabilly genres.
Keb Darge has compiled more compilations for BBE than any other DJ selling close to 200,000 CDs and vinyl over a 10 year period. The legendary out-spoken Scotsman has been around the Northern soul & funk scene since the start and began his career as a dancer. (In fact, he’s the one responsible for first bringing the scene to London). As time when on and tastes changed Darge landed at Madame Jojo’s (in London’s Soho Disctrict) where his weekly party quickly ascended to the leading funk night in London. In 1996 BBE and Keb Darge teamed up to start releasing the now infamous Deep Funk and Funk Spectrum series that spawned a whole host of imitators. Today he holds two weekly spots at the club (Legendary Deep Funk – Fridays / Lost & Found –Saturdays, where he focuses on his current passion – underground 50’s music), travelling around the world DJing and running the label Kay Dee Records with Kenny Dope.
Now onto the tunes…in the words of Keb Darge
1) Dale McBride – “Prissy Missy”
“Texan Dale McBride first recorded “Prissy Missy” in 1960, and then about five years later, he recorded a far inferior version for Teardrop records which is nowhere near as rare as this one. For god’s sake don’t spend any money on that copy. This however is now in my all time top ten. It is one of the few records that turns the heads of my old northern soul “we can only listen to black music” friends. Thanks to Barney Koumis for letting me prize it out of his collection.”
2) Darrel Rhodes – “Lou Lou”
“In 1959 Darrell Rhodes took this Slim Willet tune previously recorded for Texas’s Winston label by Fonda Wallace and turned it into the menacing piece of teenage angst that is “Lou Lou”. This and “Four O’clock Baby” which he co-wrote with Slim are two of the strongest strollers to be played on the rockin’ scene. He also recorded “Runnin and Chasin” another above average stroller for the label later that year.”
3) The Jiants – “Tornado”
“Staying in 1959 the Jiants were all at high school together in Indiana when they recorded the timeless bopper “Tornado”. The “Claudra” label had a few other rockers out prior to this, but nothing near as memorable.
4) Mel Dorsey with Chuck Wayne and the Heart Beats – “Little Lil”
“In 1956 Mel Dorsey recorded “I Ain’t Gonna Take It No More” for Oregon’s “Orbit Sound” a pretty good rocker that flopped at the time of release as with most of these tunes. In 1959 he tried again with “Little Lil”, again a flop, but wind the clock forward fifty years and you have a rockabilly anthem that will pack any dancefloor.”
5) The Moonlighters – “Rock-A-Bayou Baby”
“Back to Texas for the Moonlighter’s first of two great rockers recorded in 1958 for the tiny “Tara” label. I stuck the other,”Broken Heart” on “Lost & Found” volume one. “Rock-A-Bayou Baby” was re-released in 1963 on the “Bellaire” label, but some clever twat chose to re-master it, and ruined the sound.”
6) Stormy Gayle – “Flipsville”
“All I know about Stormy Gayle is that she recorded this super rare monster in Birmingham Alabama, but don’t exactly know when. That doesn’t matter though, it just sounds so good, and always will.”
7) Ron Thompson His Rowdy Guitar and The Brougham’s – “Switchblade”
“I do however know that Ron Thompson recorded “Switchblade” in 1959 for the Minneapolis based “Soma” label. A more successful label than most on here. It ran from the mid fifties to the mid sixties, and was responsible for many a great rockin tune, and a pile of sixties garage including one that got played on the northern soul scene.”
8) Boogaloo and his Gallant Crew – “Talk About A Party”
“Another label that enjoyed a small measure of success was the Hollywood based “Crest” label. Kent Harris recorded a couple of novelty rockers as Boogaloo and his Gallant Crew for the label. This 1955 outing is by far the best. A note of interest for the northern soul crowd, Kent later married and managed Ty Karim of “Lighten Up Baby”, “You Just Don’t Know”, “You Really Made It Good To Me”, etc, fame.”
9) The Valentines – “That’s It Man”
“In 1960 the Valentines stuck the storming instrumental “That’s it Man” on the flip of a straight Doo Wop tune. It’s got all the ingredients of a great funk tune, but was too far ahead of it’s time.”
10) Brother Zee and The Decades with The Mike Metko Combo – “Sha-Boom Bang”
“Up to 1963 now, and Arizona based Brother Zee recorded this frat/R&B answer to the Trashmen’s “Surfin Bird”, which was in turn a Surf answer to the Rivington’s “pa pa oh mow mow”. Sadly this version remains relatively unknown. We’ll soon put that right then.”
11) Kai-Ray – “I Want Some Of That”
“Kai Ray (Richard A Caire), from Minneapolis the home of the a-fore mentioned Trashmen put “I want some of that” out originally as “Jungle Talk” on the flip of “Trashman’s Blues” the record that our “Surfin Bird” heroes took their name from. A big tune for Pittsburgh’s radio legend Mad Mike Metrovich, and one considered the father of sixties garage.”
12) The Carnations – “Scorpion”
“In 1959 the Carnations recorded a decent “tittyshaker” called “Casual” for the “Fraternity” label. However in 1961 they recorded “Scorpion” for the much smaller “Tilt” label as an answer to the Champ’s “Tequila”, and created one of the greatest “tittyshakers” of all time. Also on the label is a great boppin instrumental called ” Tomahawk” by Teddy and the Roughriders. I’ll have to stick that on a future compilation.”
13) The Reekers – “Don’t Call Me Flyface”
“In 1964 the Reekers walked into the Washington based Edgewood studios to record their first tune. They wanted a record to promote at any gigs they might get, but could not afford the hefty $20 fee for a two track recording so “Don’t Call Me Flyface” was recorded in one track mono for a more manageable $10 fee. The tune named after the Dick Tracy villain goes to prove you don’t need any of today’s multi-track, multi-take guff to make a masterpiece.”
14) Johnny Parker and The Zirkons – “Oongawa”
As with Stormy Gaye, I know nothing about Johnny Byrd Parker or his Zirkons except that “Oongawa” was recorded in L.A. in I guess the early sixties.
15) Ronnie Cook and The Gaylads – “The Goo Goo Muck”
“Goo Goo Muck” has had a few covers, most notably by the Cramps. It was originally recorded in Bakersfield California by Ronnie Cook and the Gaylads in 1962 for the teeny tiny Audan label.”
16) Tarantula Ghoul and Her Gravediggers – “King Kong”
“Tarantula Ghoul (Suzanne Waldron), hosted a local TV show in Portland, Oregon from 1957 to 1959 called “House of Horror”. “King Kong” and the flip “Graveyard Rock” were released to promote her show.”
17) The Gee Cee’s – “Buzz Saw”
“Would you believe Glen Campbell could be behind a great wild rockin tune ?? Well the Gee Cee’s take their name from his. He did record a few straight country tunes for “Crest” records around the same time. Therefore I tend to think that it was the influence of his old Champs partner Jerry Cole who founded the group with him. Jerry went on to arrange and organize so many weird and wonderful tunes after the 1961 release of “Buzzsaw”, and Glen ?? well he sort of became Glen Campbell.”
18) Sonee West – “Rock-Ola Ruby”
“Sonny West was the man who wrote “Oh Boy” and “Rave On” both big hits for Buddy Holly’s Crickets. Sadly though his own recording of “Rock-Ola Ruby” and “Sweet Rockin Baby” failed miserably. Never mind, it got picked up by the rockabilly crowd years later and is now one of the holy grails of the collecting world. He has been since found and appeared before thousands of devoted fans.”
19) Carl Cherry – “The Itch”
“Carl Cherry on the other hand has disappeared. He was involved with the underworld and had his name changed by the nice people at Federal Witness Protection. “The Itch” was recorded in 1959 again as a record to hand out at live shows. He did manage the first half of a tour with Eddie Cochran, but got sacked before the second half.”
20) Kenny Smith – “I’m So Lonesome, Baby”
“We finish in 1958 with Kenny Smith and “I’m So Lonesome”, though by the sound of the guitar work you would think it was from a mid sixties spaghetti western. I thought I’d leave you with a haunting tune, just to get you hooked”