Dumb Angel

Laurindo Almeida - The First Surf Guitarist

2009-10-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, so finding that first conquistador who used the stringed axe to evoke the thrill of the wave and the cool of the night-tide might prove impossible. But if Laurindo Almeida be not the FIRST surf guitarist, he certainly fits the criteria for that great decade in which bohemia came on like a swarm: the 1950s.

Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady passed through L.A. in 1947, noting the Nature Boy saints in their beards and sandals. By 1950, Hollywood was blacklisting its writers and actors for being "associated" with communism, but it did little to quell the city's spirit of radicalism. By the mid-'50s, Kenneth Anger was busy completing his epic, Inaugeration of the Pleasure Dome. James Dean and his coterie of thespian rebels were holding court nightly at Googie's Diner on Sunset and Crescent Heights. Charles Bukowski was handing out free poems to small press zines; Wallace Berman had started his Semina journal; Ed Kienholz and Walter Hopps had opened the Now Gallery on La Cienega Boulevard; and the Sunset Strip (now desegregated) was beckoning jazz musicians that had been playing in the fading 52nd Street clubs of New York City.

For surfers, it was Hawaiian music, Latin guitar, jazz and R&B that they went to hear. "The early surfers had a penchant for Spanish-style guitar," noted Crossfires (and later, Turtles) drummer Don Murray. "It was no accident that the electrified instrumental surf music of the early '60s featured Spanish melodies. The guitarists had a 'Cool Generation' audience that embraced them as readily as they did the jazz players, the folk singers and the poetry readers."

Modern jazz found its more minimal setting in the small combos frequenting the Lighthouse Jazz Cafe in Hermosa Beach and the Haig club on Wilshire Boulevard (near Vermont). Gerry Mulligan brought his "cool" sound out to L.A., after he and Lee Konitz penned and arranged 1/3 of Miles Davis's Birth of the Cool sessions. The original Gerry Mulligan Quartet featured an experimental piano-less set, with a young Chet Baker on trumpet, Bob Whitlock on bass and Chico Hamilton on drums. Another Haig regular was Bud Shank, a former Stan Kenton Orchestra alumni, who brought with him Laurindo Almeida, a Brazilian guitartist who'd also played with Kenton during the 1940s.

In 1953, Almeida and Shank recorded two albums (both called Brazilliance) for the World Pacific label, and from there, Almeida's nimble guitar-tone (equal parts Latin melody and nocturnal cool) would come to define a sound that seemed to sprout from the same roots as the palm trees which lined Hollywood's main boulevards.

Here's a few of Almeida's essential albums:

The Stan Kenton Orchestra pioneered Modern jazz during the 1940s and '50s. They were the long-time houseband at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, where later, Dick Dale & his Del-Tones ruled the stage. But not before Laurindo Almeida took crowds way out with his pure sound. Kenton had wanted to introduce a folk-type sound to his orchestra and felt that Laurindo Almeida had a gypsy quality not unlike Django Reinhardt. For the Kenton songs "Lament" (written by Pete Rugolo) and Almeida's own composition, "Amazonia," Kenton had him stand out in front of the Orchestra. With its burst of rhythm and woodwind energy, "Amazonia" stands as sort of a proto-exotica number.

Recorded in 1959, Bud Shank was the bandleader of this World Pacific affair, as opposed to their first two LPs together, Braziliance. With Chuck Flores on drums, the interplay between him and Almeida on "Toro Dance" is epic. "Sunset Baion" feels romantic and warm, and nothing can beat "Serenade to an Alto." If that was the soundtrack to Los Angeles then, it must have been perfect.

Here's the best beatnik-beach album of all-time. Leader Bob Romeo had played with James Dean in 1954 on the latter's lone 45-single (released pothumously). Romeo also played regularly at the Venice West Cafe (Venice, CA), the Insomanic (Hermosa Beach) and Lombardia (on La Cienega Boulevard). Eden Ahbez, the writer of "Nature Boy," penned three numbers here, and the backing band featured pianist Eddie Cano (who had played with Don Tosti and Lalo Guererro), bongo-player Carlos Vidal (who'd already recorded percussion albums with Mike Pacheco and Jack Costanzo) and Laurindo Almeida on guitar. With proto-exotica percussion and abstract flute tones, this bohemian album is primal. The cover features Anita Ekberg in a gypsy costume and warns that the primitive rhythms therein could arouse uncommon emotions for the unaccustomed listener.

If you've ever wondered where the tonal qualities of Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds came from, look no further than this 1957 gem. Produced by Si Waronker (who also produced the early Martin Denny albums), the mix of moody organ, introspective electric-bass and romantic guitar make this album sound like it could have been the backdrop to any ballad off of Wilson's 1966 masterpiece. Alas, several of the musicians on this Mancini date wound up playing on Beach Boys tracking sessions a decade later, so there you go. Like most Henry Mancini albums, you can probably find it cheap.

Side-one features four numbers by Modern Jazz Quartet leader John Lewis. These embody his classical-meets-urban sound, always understated, like the best Modern jazz. Almeida's guitar on side-one is his most free-flowing ever, but side-two is where he plays some of his best bossa-nova. Drummer Connie Kaye would go off to play with Van Morrison on Astral Weeks soonafter.

Here we have a Tower Records release from the same sessions that produced classic Almeida albums like Viva Bossa Nova, Ole Bossa Nova and It's a Bossa Nova World. The spirit of '60s grooviness is all over this one, with one of the great Psychedelic Surf Pastiche Washout album covers of all-time.

--Brian Chidester, 10/05/2009

-----------------------------------------------------

Keeping up with the current happenings in surf music world...

Jeff "Big Tiki Dude" Hanson, resident surf instrumental maven recommends:

The Mobsmen - Scelerats Syndicate CD out now Double Crown. Find out more information about the band, and hear demos of songs from their upcoming album, at their MySpace page. Most of the songs are instrumentals, but they sprinkle in a few vocals here and there, so there’s bound to be something for everyone. Who would of thought Scandinavia is the place to be for surf music these days? The Surfites, the Barbwires and now the Mobsmen!

Pop Surf Culture — Laguna Beach

2009-02-14T18:41:00.000-08:00

Saturday, February 21st, Brian Chidester and Domenic Priore + the Boardwalkers will be at Stories Book Store to sign their new book, Pop Surf Culture: Music, Design, Film and Fashion from the Bohemian Surf Boom, from 6-9pm. Pre-1970 surf movies will screen throughout the building and live surf instrumental music will fill the air. Come to Stories at 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026 (Echo Park). ABOVE: Catherine Deneuve learns to surf in France.

Way Out in Laguna Beach

There are few roads leading in or out of the sleepy beachside community of Laguna Beach, making it a repository for many 1920s artists and counter-culture activists from nearby Los Angeles who settled the charming cottages tucked along the Laguna’s rolling hillsides. During the late ’50s and early ’60s, Laguna Beach nurtured a handful of key artists from the surf community. Today, the trajectory of characters has changed in Laguna Beach, as the town is one of the wealthiest places in North America. The more experimental artistic impulse has moved out to Laguna Canyon. Still, many colourful examples from the Modernist era remain in Laguna Beach. In our ongoing quest to unveil the story of SoCal’s indigenous surf development, the Dumb Angel Blog visits Laguna Beach.

--Brian Chidester and Domenic Priore, 2/10/2009

The Mediterranean vibe of Laguna Beach, California, bordered on the left by Pacific Coast Highway.

In the old days, on the way to Laguna Beach via Pacific Coast Highway, you HAD to stop by the country health food store – the Orange Inn (est. 1931).

A shot of the Orange Inn shortly before the encroachment of development in the area.

Just south of the Orange Inn, a vagabond beachside neighborhood existed.

Down the road a little further, you reached Laguna Beach.

One of the first areas you run into is Crescent Bay, among the best body surfing spots in California.

Laguna’s nicest feature is the marine life preserve with sea urchins and rock formations all up and down the coastline.

The aqua colour of the ocean in Laguna is one of the few places in California that actually looks like Hawaii.

Coming down out of Crescent Bay, you run into a small commercial area, featuring cafes, art galleries and pottery shops.

The spiritual center in this area was (until a year or so ago) the Jolly Roger Restaurant, which overlooked the main beach boardwalk.

The Jolly Roger crest at the entrance is a classic piece of Laguna arcana.

Hawaiian shirt genius and impresario Waltah Clarke (who recorded the old-time Waikiki Beachboys in 1962) had boutiques in a number of exotic locations, including Laguna Beach.

The legendary Wardy surfboard was also a product of Laguna Beach.

One of the greatest surf instrumental acts to come out of the early 1960s was Laguna Beach’s Dave Myers & the Surftones, who recorded this brilliant album for Del-Fi Records.

Business card for when the group went garage-punk with the single “Come on Luv” on Harmony Park Records.

Dave Myers on stage at Harmony Park Ballroom in Anaheim, with custom-made guitar. (Photo courtesy of Pam DeLacy)

Dave Myers & the Surftones perform the bohemian surf tune “Aquavelva” from the Hangin' Twenty! album. Myers started out in the late ’50s as a folk singer at Laguna’s Café Frankenstein.

Café Frankenstein’s Burt Shonberg created poster art for surf filmmaker Don Brown’s Surfhouse, on Broadway in Laguna Beach.

Here’s a business card from the Beat Generation coffeehouse once located at 860 South Pacific Coast Boulevard. Owner Doug Myres was in the first L.A. folk group, the Gateway Singers. Artist Burt Shonberg and writer George Clayton Johnson (Logan’s Run, The Twilight Zone) were co-owners. The place ran from 1958-62.

The exterior of Café Frankenstein, with Burt Shonberg art.

Burt Shonberg (left) and Doug Myres (right) hang outside at the Café Frankenstein.

Out in back of the Café Frankenstein was a small bookstore specializing in banned literature and a handmade leather sandal shop, run by Connie Vining and Michael Schley, who took over Café Frankenstein in 1960.

Barbara Kellogg posed nude in front of the stained glass window inside the Café Frankenstein.

Apparently, some kids were peering inside and told their parents what was happening at Café Frankenstein. The police hauled the owners, the model and the photographer to jail, but all charges were eventually dropped.

Sid Soffer managed the Café Frankenstein from 1958-59 before opening his own coffeehouse, the Blue Beet in Laguna Beach. In 1962, Soffer moved Sid’s Blue Beet up to Newport Beach, where it still operates to this day. See our older entry titled: Dumb Angel's Potpourri Vol. 2.

Surf legends Miki Dora and Dewey Weber advertise “The Laguna Look.”

Artist Bill Ogden started out with Surfing Illustrated in 1962, and ended up drawing comics, maps and ads for all the great surf magazines of the ’60s. By the end of the decade, he was doing poster art for the Sandals (“Theme from The Endless Summer”) and Laguna Beach record store, Sound Spectrum.

An overlooked tiki restaurant exists in Laguna, named after the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki.

Tiki relief from the Royal Hawaiian.

The original interior of the Royal Hawaiian; Brian Chidester with his mum and dad.

Around the corner is the Laguna Beach Art Museum.

The Laguna Beach Art Museum often features incredible surf and hot rod exhibitions. Here Domenic Priore poses with Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s The Surfite. John Van Hamersveld's poster for The Endless Summer looms in the background

Brian Chidester with the surfboard from the film Ride the Wild Surf (1964), which was displayed at one of the Laguna Beach Art Museum’s exhibits.

Breakfast joint, the Cottage, embodies the low-key atmosphere of old Laguna Beach.

Inside the Cottage is a foyer tribute to local legend Eiler Larsen, a.k.a. the Laguna Greeter.

Get the message?

Laguna Beach runs rampant with examples of Modernist architecture built in the 1950s, during the town’s main growth period.

Near where the Café Frankenstein once stood is the Stand, a health food eatery that opened in 1967.

Fresh-squeezed juices, smoothies and fish taco platters are the house specialties.

A typical Pacific Coast Highway roadside motel in Laguna features a Modern rotunda pool, enclosed in glass.

The Orange Inn, still funky in its new location, in the center of town.

A good turkey sandwich from the Orange Inn.

The Laguna Greeter was truly an icon. For over fifty years, the sandaled Greeter stood on Pacific Coast Highway and waved to throngs of folks entering and sight-seeing around Laguna.

This statue stands out in front of what used to be the Pottery Shack, and is now a restaurant.

The exterior of Sound Spectrum Records, owned by Jim Otto since the 1960s. The store used to advertise in The Los Angeles Free Press and was an outlet for tickets to psychedelic concerts all over the Greater Los Angeles area.

The interior of Sound Spectrum maintains some of its original posters on the walls.

Most impressive is this 1968 shot of the Yardbirds.

Allen Ginsberg and Mother Earth still remain an essential part of the Laguna record store fabric.

Corridor in Sound Spectrum Records, painted by Bill Ogden.

Relief of Bill Ogden artwork inside Sound Spectrum.

Thalia Street Surf Shop is like a beautiful oasis in the otherwise obnoxious world of present-day surf culture.

Stepping inside Thalia Street brings many cool aesthetic pleasures, such as this Primo Beer tiffany lamp from the early 1970s (Five Summer Stories era).

A sample of Thalia’s sidewalk surfboards.

It was a very good year -- Surfer magazine’s 1963 calendar (here on the wall inside Thalia Street Surf Shop).

The obligatory Duke Kahanamoku tribute wall at Thalia.

Surfboard logo design display, with skateboard flank, inside Thalia Street Surf Shop.

Mondrian-style longboard hangs over the general atmosphere at Thalia.

Superb Rick Griffin knock-off displayed inside Thalia Street Surf Shop.

One good reason we came to Laguna Beach this evening.

Associated with Thalia Street Surf Shop is the Surf Gallery, host to the John Severson art show on this night. Severson was the original editor of Surfer magazine during the 1960s, and prior to that made incredible surf movies, including Surf (1957), Surf Safari (1959), Surf Fever (1960), The Angry Sea (1962), Going My Wave (1963) and Pacific Vibrations (1969).

The Duo-Tones -- featuring Paul Johnson (of the Belairs) and Gil Orr (of the Chantays) -- play acoustic surf instrumentals at the John Severson art show.

Author Domenic Priore (left) with artist/filmmaker John Severson (center) and art dealer/Rick Griffin book author Gordon McLelland (right).

John Severson’s artwork remains true to the original soul of surfing from its more bohemian days.

More cool Severson action.

Samples of new Severson watercolour paintings.

Severson captures the essence of stoke.

Severson’s interpretation of the San Clemente Pier in woodblock.

Ink drawings of waves and beaches by John Severson.

As we leave Laguna Beach, a tip of the hat to its ancient movie house and optimistic sense of nightlife.

Swim-trunks logo with the word "Laguna" in a beatnik hand-drawn font.

RECURRING BALBOA THEME

With each Dumb Angel blog, we revisit the town of Balboa (in the Newport Beach area), where much of the original impulse for surf music came from. If this is your first time reading a blog here, make sure you check out all of our past blogs and catch up on the story-arc of this cool Southern California community.

A Balboa, California watercolour from a 1930s issue of Westways magazine.

Often overlooked in the Balboa scheme of things is Lido Isle, where Henry Mancini once lived.

Stop in to a Lido Isle watering hole sometime… in the past.

Pacific Coast Highway, overlooking Lido Isle.

Pre-Balboa, the Stuft Shirt had three locations throughout Southern California. Here is their earliest logo (see photos of the Stuft Shirt from previous Dumb Angel blogs, including this photo, plus another color picture, a comic book drawing, and a great ad with a Stuft Shirt rendering

A ’50s shot of the Balboa Pharmacy and Balboa Pavilion on Main Street.

1920s shot of the Balboa Pavilion.

During the 1960s, there was a small beach near the Balboa Pavilion.

People love their little jetty dock in Balboa.

The view from Balboa Peninsula out towards Balboa Island.

The earliest shot known of the Rendezvous Ballroom on the beach at Balboa.

A 1920s ticket stub for the Rendezvous Ballroom; note the great detail with bands like “The Manhattans” and ’20s staple “Makin’ Whoopee!”

The entranceway to the Rendezvous Ballroom, circa 1941.

Balboa’s prime moment was during the tenure of the Stan Kenton Orchestra at the Rendezvous Ballroom during the early 1940s. You could take the Pacific Electric Red Car down from Los Angeles and have a wild night.

Kenton’s band on the beach at Balboa. Luminaries such as bassist Howard Rumsey, drummer Shelly Manne, trumpeter Shorty Rogers, guitarist Laurindo Almeida, percussionist Jack Costanzo, singer June Christy and many others broke out of the Stan Kenton Orchestra. Gerry Mulligan was an arranger for the group as well.

Inside the Rendezvous Ballroom at its most swingin’.

Hanging from the rafters, people in Balboa are diggin’ the Stan Kenton band.

Dancefloor action at the Rendezvous Ballroom, 1940s.

Lindy Hop is all the rage in Balboa, right outside the Rendezvous Ballroom, across from the beach.

In 1961, Dick Dale & his Del-Tones became the house band at the Rendezvous Ballroom. This is where surf music emerged to become the most popular music style in Los Angeles from 1961 through 1963.

The crowds at the Rendezvous Ballroom during the surf music era danced the Surfer’s Stomp, here to the Rhythm Rockers on stage.

Two surf-era flyers for the Rendezvous Ballroom.

A final cool logo for the Rendezvous, with San Luis Obispo surf music gods, the Sentinals (“Latin’ia” and “Tor-Chula”) headlining. The Righteous Brothers are the opening act; they also broke from the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa.

1965: Is there any question as to what is so appealing about Los Angeles this year?

Four entities represented in one fell swoop. May Co. department stores, Catalina sportswear, Ban de Soleil suntan lotion and the Beach Boys’ new album for '65, The Beach Boys Today!

Have a Bitchen Summer . . .

2008-06-06T16:34:00.001-07:00

Here are some events:

Love play The Hollywood Bowl, Summer 1966. Other L.A. bands on the bill include The Byrds, The Leaves, Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band, The Beach Boys. Photo by Chuck Boyd.

Thursday, June 26, 7 p.m., Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, California - (323) 660-1175

Domenic Priore and Brian Chidester will host their newly revised Beatnik L.A. slide show, this time with emphasis on locations in downtown Hollywood and on Sunset Strip. Based on the book "Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood," you will be able to see how things evolved from Miles Davis at The Renaissance, Slim Gallaird at Billy Bergs, Les McCann at The Bit and George Shearing at The Crescendo to The Byrds with Bob Dylan at Ciro's Le Disc, Love at Bido Litos, The Doors at London Fog and '60s Garage Punk at Pandora's Box. Free admission.

Sunday, June 29, 7 p.m., Mods & Rockers Festival at The American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, California (323) 466-FILM

Domenic Priore will host screenings of U.K. director Chris Hall's documentary about the quintessential L.A. band of the '60s, LOVE, titled Love Story, and Seattle director Kristian St. Clair's documentary about native Angeleno/vibraphonist and arranger Gary McFarland. Written about in the Dumb Angel #4: All Summer Long article "Dear One... the World (is still) Waiting for the Sunrise," This is Gary McFarland covers his brilliant Modern Jazz/Bossa Nova recording career in New York City, that prospered and expanded until his mysterious death in 1971. In Love Story, group leader Arthur Lee gives a guided tour of the Los Feliz house the band lived in during the mid-'60s, known as "The Castle." Bryan MacLean, Johnny Echols, Ken Forssi, Michael Stuart and Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer from the original Love/Da Capo/Forever Changes lineups of the band are also interviewed, making Love Story thee definitive statement.

Roger Corman on the set of "The Trip," with Susan Strasberg, left

Riot on Sunset Strip Film Series, IFC Center, 323 Avenue of the Americas @ West 3rd Street, Greenwich Village, New York (212) 924-7771 www.ifccenter.com Midnite Movies every week at what had previously been The Waverly Theater

“RIOT ON SUNSET STRIP: ROCK, REBELLION AND HOLLYWOOD HIPPIES”

Weekends at midnight, July 25-September 27

July 25-26: WILD IN THE STREETS (1968, Barry Shear)
August 1-2: RIOT ON SUNSET STRIP (1967, Arthur Dreifuss)
August 8-9: LORD LOVE A DUCK (1966, George Axelrod)
August 15-16: PSYCH-OUT (1968, Richard Rush)
August 22-23: MARYJANE (1968, Maury Dexter)
August 29-31: MONDO HOLLYWOOD (1967, Robert Carl Cohen)
September 5-6: YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT (1968, Barry Feinstein)
September 12-13: THE LOVE-INS (1967, Arthur Dreifuss)
September 19-20: THE COOL ONES (1967, Gene Nelson)
September 26-27: THE TRIP (1967, Roger Corman)

Riot on Sunset Strip Weekend, Red Vic Movie House, Haight Street, San Francisco

Thursday, August 28: You Are What You Eat Shot in both Los Angeles and San Francisco during 1966, this non-narrative documentary (carried only by folk rock and psychedelic sounds) features color footage of The Teen Age Fair at Hollywood Palladium, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention playing the September 1966 Freak Out at Shrine Auditorium, the body painting session that went on beforehand at Vito's Studio (Von Dutch paints one of the bodies), David Crosby looking like he just stepped off the cover of Younger Than Yesterday at a Love In, The Beatles driving away from their final concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, and shots of their screaming audience "reacting" to Tiny Tim and Elanor Baruchian (from The Cake) singing "I Got You Babe". Hot Rods cruise Sunset Strip, early psychedelic happenings are filmed in San Francisco's Haight- Ashbury district and Golden Gate Park -- You Are What You Eat really captures the West Coast scene before anything crashed and burned.

Saturday, August 29: The Trip Roger Corman goes where no man has gone before on film; the heart of 1966, on acid, on Sunset Strip. Peter Fonda stars, first walking in to a set that is actually Arthur Lee's psychedelic house, dropping L.S.D., then going on a series of mind-flashes that include a detailed, stunning run through the neon neverland the Mod set called home. A truly beautiful cinematic experience. Gram Parsons makes a couple of cameos with his group at the time, The International Submarine Band. Dennis Hopper , Susan Strasberg and Bruce Dern appear in supporting roles.

Friday, August 30: Riot on Sunset Strip Filmed by the master of Alan Freed's '50s Rock 'n' Roll movies Sam Katzman (Rock Around The Clock, Don't Knock the Rock, Rock Rock Rock, Mr. Rock 'n' Roll, Go Johnny Go), the ball picks up here in late 1966 at Pandora's Box, where kids go down to hear The Chocolate Watchband, The Standells and The Enemys crank out bruising '60s Garage Punk. Newspaper headlines about police conflict with teenagers and curfew lead to an acid-drenched dance sequence, busts, etc. A highlight of seeing this one on the big screen is watching the extras pass by in their incredible 1966 Mod gear, along with the incredible soundtrack.

Sunday, August 31: Love Story See above Egyptian Theater listing for a full description of this documentary about the band Love, by UK director Chris Hall.

Love backstage at The Hollywood Bowl, Summer 1966. Chuck Boyd photo from "Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood"

Brian Wilson Debutes Smile in London, 2004

Brian Wilson w/ Gene Estes "Love to Say Dada" session, May 1967. From the book Pop Surf Culture: Music Design Film and Fashion from the Bohemian Surf Era

edited by Domenic Priore for Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece (Bobcat Books, 2007, London, England. Forewords by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks). Uncut from original manuscript.

Smile is the most famous unheard record in Pop. And tonight Brian Wilson is at last going to set the record straight. - David Brennan, The Daily Mail

It sounds like a riddle or a short story by Jorge Luis Borges: a musician performs an album that doesn't even exist before an audience that has spent years dreaming of its songs. But that is what Brian Wilson, the former member of the Beach Boys, did on Friday at London's Royal Festival Hall when he played his famed lost album Smile for the first time in public since he abandoned making it in 1967. - Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, Financial Times

What is fascinating is that Smile is utterly unlike any other music, either by the Beach Boys or anyone else has ever produced. - Chris Heard, BBC News

Smile has since become one of art-rock's mythic documents. - John Lewis, Time Out

Wilson had even been back in touch with the lyricist Van Dyke Parks, his collaborator on the original album project, and in an effort to tidy up the loose ends and keep the integrity of the original vision. So things boded well. - Keith Shadwick, Deputy Political

Brian Wilson Van Dyke Parks write "Surf's Up," November 1966

Ten years ago we wouldn't have ever believed Wilson would become a sell-out, acclaimed live act, let alone dared to imagine he would be performing a complete version of Smile in concert. - Duglas T. Stewart, News.scotsman.com

If Pet Sounds was his David, this was to be his Sistine Chapel. - Marianne Taylor, Daily Record

This is not merely a Pop concert. It is a tragedy mitigated. It is the comeback of King Lear. - Tim Lott, Evening Standard

But for Wilson, the idea of simply making an album's worth of tunes was inadequate: he wanted to present a unified LP that interwove all its themes and ideas in a continual renewal of idea and melody. - Keith Shadwick, The Independent Review

The album gained a reputation as Wilson's thwarted masterpiece, whose collapse harmed the Beach Boys' popularity and its creator's emotional well being. - Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, Financial Times

Wilson never mentioned the project again until October 2003, when his wife of nine years, Melinda, suggested that he finish the job... for Britain. ' The people in England appreciate my music more,' Wilson argues. - Chris Goodman, Sunday Express

The Beach Boys' unreleased 1967 masterpiece Smile is the most bootlegged, most sought-after, most mythologised album in the history of Rock 'n' Roll. - Simon Price, The Independent

Now, however, Brian Wilson decided it was time to confront the past and complete Smile. - Keith Shadwick, The Independent Review

One of the most remarkable things about Wilson's self-styled 'teenage symphonies to God' is the way they chime with a listener of any age, not as nostalgia, but with ever changeable meaning. - David Bennum, The Daily Mail

It was as if we had all become participants in his private vision of how the music worked. And boy, how it worked: each old hit was meticulously reinvoked (down to the smallest tambourine stroke). - Keith Shadwick, The Independent Review

Brian Wilson debuts Smile at Royal Festival Hall, London, 2004

Wilson wore his customary cat-caught-in-the-headlights expression, but he and his ten-piece band - augmented by strings and horns - had little to fret about. They capably delivered music that was both complex and epic; better still, Wilson's battle-scarred voice held up admirably well. - Rolling Stone

The second hour brings us, for the first time anywhere, ever, the definitive Smile. Strung cat's cradle-style between the twin miracles of 'Heroes and Villains' and 'Good Vibrations,' it is a mesmerizing work. The squiggles, doodles and frayed loose ends on those frustrating bootlegs are given shape, sequence and fluency. - David Bennun, The Daily Mail

When Smile was finally revealed to the world, it caught even the most assiduous fan unawares, for Smile was much bigger than the sum of its parts - a collection of songs and fragments fitted together to give a huge musical panorama. - Keith Shadwick, The Independent Review

Wilson's voice isn't the thing of beauty it once was. As the show gathers momentum, the old vocal chords warm up and he hits some impressively high notes. - Angus Hoy, Newcastle Evening Gazette

In his grainy, sometimes quavering voice, his listeners could hear a poignant reflection of everything that has happened to him. - CNN.com

Audiences reacted as if they had seen a ghost. It was as though Syd Barrett had suddenly toured the world with Thomas Pynchon. Grown men were moved to tears. Audiences clapped and cheered his unlikely return as if they were saving Tinkerbell: if you believe, he will live. - Paul Morley, Inquire

Beginning with the close-harmony singing of 'Our Prayer,' the excitement built with an epic, multi-section take of 'Heroes and Villains' - a mini-symphony in itself distilling Wilson's musical vision of the old Wild West, complete with saloon bar pianos, horses' hooves and native American chants. - Chris Heard, BBC News

The songs were played in three suites, loosely grouped round the themes of Americana, childhood and the elements, much as if the album were a musical rather than a set of Pop songs - Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, Financial Times.

Inspired by the young Wilson's growing fascinations with astrology, numerology and the occult, and bearing more in common with the artistic movements than with the prevailing currents of Pop, it remains, 37 years later, the most ambitious exploration of the boundaries of Pop music. You feel as though your brain is about to explode with wonder at the possibilities of music. It's a feeling akin to a religious epiphany. - Simon Price, The Independent

Songs segued into each other, the portrait of the Wild West that was 'Heroes and Villains' melting into the extraordinary 'Do You Like Worms,' with its poetic allusion to the Pilgrim fathers; then on, via 'Barnyard' and 'The Old Master Painter' to Cabin Essence'. - Llewellyn Smith, The Observer Review

The most touching part arriving when 'Surf's Up' was revealed to be preceded by 'Child is Father to the Man,' anticipating its miraculous recapitulation at the song's end. - Keith Shadwick, Deputy Political

The scribbled notes of this reviewer, accounting for the rest of the performance as it encompassed 'Surf'sUp' and tracks known to bootleggers as 'The Elements Suite,' contain umpteen exclamation marks, relating both to the oddities in the expected sequencing of the show, and finally, the brilliance of the band. - Llewellyn Smith, The Observer

There are fragile choral sections, farmyard animal noises, woodworking tools, Hawaiian war chants, and one part (called 'Mrs. O'Leary's Cow') where the string section put on fireman's helmets. - John Mulvey, NME

It was followed by songs that varied from childlike xylophone tunes to the sinister atonality of 'Mrs. O'Leary's Cow,' with the joyful symphony of 'Good Vibrations' closing the album on a high (Wilson had intended it to be about the healing power of laughter). - Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, Financial Times

But Smile was never a song-based suite in the traditional sense. Skittish and episodic, the experience is like watching an orchestra performing a film score. There are sections lifted from Sinatra's 'I Wanna Be Around,' 'You are My Sunshine,' 'Barnyard,' and 'Vega-Tables,' both of which corroborate the theory that Smile was intended partly as comedy. - Simon Price, The Independent

The set ended with a storming run-through 'Good Vibrations'. - NME

Followed immediately by 'Good Vibrations,' which wound up the concert with a new and dramatic staccato rhythmic pattern, voices and instruments in climactic unison. The crowd was instantly on its feet giving a standing ovation replete with ecstatic cheers and whistles. A visibly dazed Wilson eventually stood up from behind his keyboards, bent over to his microphone and said in a distracted whisper: 'Good night everybody, drive safely,' - Keith Shadwick, The Independent Review

'Our Prayer,' a haunting a cappella dreamscape, is followed by full versions of 'Heroes and Villains,' 'Cabin Essence,' 'Vega-Tables,' 'Wonderful,' and 'Surf's Up,' the dense fragments and strands brought together with the help of original collaborator Van Dyke Parks, performed magnificently as one seamless whole at last. The result is beautiful, riveting, bizarre, almost overwhelming and as it ends, the auditorium explodes with admiration. - Marianne Taylor, Daily Record

Wilson once more bent to the microphone, this time asking Van Dyke Parks to join the group onstage. The crowd went nuts, and the diminutive, bow-tied Parks emerged from the wings looking as if he was walking on air. He probably was. Everyone else in the RFH certainly was; we knew we'd witnessed a miracle of sorts. - Keith Shadwick, The Independent Review

As the opus ends, Van Dyke Parks smiles a smiley smile, points at Brian Wilson's heart, then at his own. They slap hands, and they're gone. - Simon Price, The Independent

This was a huge panorama that can only be compared to Bach in the way intricacies interwove in the wondrous counterpoint, spinning a web that embraced an entire vision. - Keith Shadwick, Deputy Political

It's rare that you an honestly say you were present at a moment of genuine historic significance. And it's rarer still that the reality of these occasions measures up to the hype. Smile, though, is sensational: about 45 minutes of the most head-spinningly odd and beautiful music you're ever likely to hear. - John Mulvey, NME

It sounded impressively coherent and uncluttered. Wilson's voice, ragged earlier in the concert, sounded similarly refreshed and he conducted along to the music with evident pride. - Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, Financial Times

It might be said straight away that it was an evening that validated claims made on behalf of Wilson's genius, and went as far as it could have, perhaps to standing up to the legend of the record. - Llewellyn Smith, The Observer Review

The 61-year-old American who worked for months on the album in the late 1960s but never released it, brought the house down at London's Royal Festival Hall Friday as the forgotten work received its world premiere. - CNN.com

Wilson's music has a special place in the hearts of so many Scottish musicians. It effects us not because it's so technically groundbreaking or musically sophisticated, but because of its purity. The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon are albums that are conceptually and sonically revolutionary, but Wilson's music was more than just clever, it was also beautiful. - Duglas T. Stewart, News.scotsman.com

As a concept album, Smile is certainly more coherent than Pepper, weaving its twin themes of Americana and the elements through lengthy suites of dizzying ambitious music. - David Smyth, Evening Standard

Worth the wait? How can you even ask... - Keith Shadwick, Deputy Political

This week's unveiling of Smile will be a bit like seeing the Hanging Gardens of Babylon being rebuilt in Waterloo or uncovering the apocryphal books of the Bible. It also presents us with an alternative universe... This should still be a revelation, proof that Brian Wilson is indeed the George Gershwin of Psychedelia. - John Lewis, Time Out

Fans flocked from around the world to hear the first-ever performance of Smile, which Wilson played in its entirety in the second half, displaying his trademark combination of lush harmonies and creative percussion. - Rachel Williams London, The Sunday Tribune

Wearing their newly-bought L24 Smile T-Shirts and clutching programmes (a snip at a tenner), the generation-spanning audience filed - smiling, mostly - into the auditorium. - Chris Heard, BBC News

Wilson's guests, including Van Dyke Parks himself, were given a standing ovation as they made their way to their seats. -Keith Shadwick, The Independent Review

Ambling nonchalantly onto the stage as if he was about to prune some brushes, a la Marlon Brando in The Godfather, he proceeded to lead his virtuoso band through a stunning 'unplugged' hits session. - Richard Ord, The Evening Chronicle

The curtain lifted to reveal a pallid figure clad in black who resembled no one so much as Tony Soprano, surrounded by 10 hentchmen dedicated to his protection. - Llewellyn Smith, The Observer Review

The musical assembly began to josh and banter, in a pre-rehearsed manner evoking those archaic Variety shows in which square people like Val Doonican would attempt to be cool with, say, Donovan or Twiggy. - Tim Lott, Evening Standard

(Wilson) returned to action at the head of a band of younger musicians devoted to recreating his music. Unlike the Beach Boys, who nowadays perform their early hymns to cars, girls and surfboards under the leadership of fellow-founder Mike Love, Wilson and his new colleagues chose to explore the most difficult and adventurous of his compositions. - Richard Williams, The Guardian

Flanked by his 10-piece touring band led by the versatile Darian Sahanaja, it quickly became evident that this benevolent troupe are no ordinary musicians. From the beautiful Taylor Mills, to the multi-instrumental talents of Nick Walusco, Scotty Bennett, Jeff Foskett, and Probyn Gregory, this gifted ensemble somehow manage to recreate Wilson's Pop needlepoint note for note. The Wondermints dashed about on a quest to reproduce this inventive slice of art; from glockenspiels, ukuleles and saxophones to saws, power drills and carrots, no potential music-making device was taboo. - Simon Barber, BBC

This was no nostalgia show; rather, a relevant contemporary reading of a Rock opus, performed by a much-loved figure recognised by generations of fans as one of the finest musicians of his time. - Chris Heard, BBC News

His mind-blowing opus is still years beyond any artist on the contemporary scene. - Simon Barber, BBC Liverpool Music

It gripped from beginning to end to create one of those historical concerts that people will talk about for years to come. - Phillip Key, Liverpool Daily Post

For Smile's 45-odd minutes, Brian Wilson made the audience believe in something greater than humanity. - Leon McDermott, Sunday Herald

The grandest of American symphonies. Groundbreaking complexity and sophistication. - The Guardian

Leonard Bernstein once proclaimed Brian Wilson one of the greatest composers of the 20th Century: he was not wrong. - Joe Muggs, arts.telegraph.co.uk

It may be a late chapter in Wilson's story, but this is far more than a postscript. - Paul Sexton, Billboard.com

Nearly 40 years after being pilloried by fellow musicians and rejected by record label bosses, Wilson and Smile have re-emerged triumphant. - Chris Heard, BBC News

Van Dyke and Sally Parks outside Carnegie Hall, New York, where a splendid live recording of Smile took place in 2004

Lloyd Bridges drives Bill Cushenbery's "The Silhouette" for a TV special produced by Petersen Publications — Here is a link to the YouTube appearance of this Lloyd Bridges special, driving the Silhouette:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGlq8ozV7us

Lloyd Bridges, seeming an influence on Dick Dale manliness, enjoys the interioir of The Silhouette. It was later made as a Mattel Hot Wheel, and the car can be seen today at The Petersen Automotive Museum, corner of Wilshire and La Brea, Los Angeles — Here is a link to the YouTube appearance of this Lloyd Bridges special, driving the Silhouette:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGlq8ozV7us

Recurring Balboa Theme

Newport Dunes was just behind Balboa, a little vacationers beach w/ no waves, but boats. More manliness.

The Rolls Royce and... The Surfboard? Balboa fancy at the Stuft Shirt, from SoCal Surfing News, January 1963

Parting shot: Remember, it is the 1931-1934 Ford wagons that were the stock Woody (as verified by Revell, and Jan & Dean's "Surf City").

Riot on Sunset Strip - Book Tour Diary, Part 2

2008-03-31T17:21:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 3, 2007

Riot at Smashed! Blocked!, Beauty Bar, New York City

Smashed! Blocked! featuring resident DJ Josh Styles, DJ Honky plus Go Go dancers (Georgi), people.

This is "New York City's Monthly Freakout," a great Mod/Psych/Soul DJ night that's always packed. So it was a real kick to do the live DJ thing during the first hour or so, with a packed dance floor and people really movin'. Here's the set list of records I played, all from '60s L.A. groups, and featured in my book Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood. We wailed until closing time at 4 a.m., doin' the club's traditional yellout/danceout/singalong to the Sunrays' "I Live For The Sun," for the last 20 minutes of the night.

The Standells -- Riot on Sunset Strip (from the movie "Riot on Sunset Strip")

The Hollywood Persuaders -- Drums a Go Go

Kim Fowley -- The Trip (from the movie "Popcorn")

The Beaten Path -- Dr. Stone (from the movie "The Cool Ones")

The Knack -- Time Waits For No One

The Modern Folk Quartet -- Night Time Girl

Lyme & Cybelle -- Follow Me

Preston Epps -- Afro Mania

The Girls -- Chico's Girl

Pat & Lolly Vegas -- Robot Walk (from the movie "The Nasty Rabbit" starring Arch Hall Jr.)

The Magnificent "7" -- L.A. Go Go

Ed "Kookie" Byrnes -- Kookie's Mad Pad

Domenic Priore

Friday, August 10, 2007

Riot at the movies in Philadelphia, PA

Tonight, Secret Cinema in Philadelphia hosted a screening of the 1967 film Riot on Sunset Strip, along with my 1966 Sunset Strip Slide Show and a couple of clips from other movies, all shot on the mid-'60s L.A. teen scene.

The place was the Latvian Hall (opened in the late 1800s and last remodeled in 1965), and the setup was cool because there was a bar downstairs, where after the films, DJ Silvia and I spun records until 2 a..m. The added bonus is that drinks could be brought upstairs to where the films were screening, so the crowd was really havin' a good, loose time. I noticed that everyone, during Riot on Sunset Strip were laghing and oohing-and ahh-ing at all the right moments. A very hip crowd came, to the number about 134 admissions, all havin' a good time. I hosted from a podium, we had a rousing question and answer session, and one cat asked about the Venice Beats (!) Man, it was a swingin' time. Jay Schwartz, grand poo-bah of Secret Cinema, brought along, and cued, film clips of Pat & Lolly Vegas playing at The Haunted House on Hollywood Boulevard (from the 1966 movie It's A Bikini World) and Debbie Watson strolling down Sunset Strip (from The Cool Ones ) past deVoss boutique, Wil Wright's Ice Cream Parlor, Pupi's and other outdoor dining places on Sunset Plaza, then down to her pad at the Sunset Tower. The whole time, the audio is playing "This Town," appearing in the movie to be sung by Debbie Watson, but we think it was "ghost-sung" by Nancy Sinatra. See, the great Lee Hazelwood did the music for The Cool Ones, so there was some discussion about Hazelwood in the Q&A, as the great man passed away just last week.

After a break, Riot on Sunset Strip screened, and to be honest, I've only ever seen it on TV. So the expanded size was really helpful in terms of all the cool people you see walking by on the screen. Also it was pretty intense to see the Chocolate Watchband, the Standells and The Enemys that huge. I was very, very impressed. Jay did a great job setting this whole thing up special, in a room that has only a stage, bringing in his own screen and projectors just for the event. DJ Silvia and I had a lot of fun, and I can't remember all the records we played, switching off half hour sets between us for the rest of the night, but I do remember hearing at least 4 songs by the Chocolate Watchband, and 4 songs by the Standells. At one point, when I played "Sittin' There Standing" from the Riot on Sunset Strip soundtrack, I heard more than one excited dancefloor participant exclaim "This is just like bein' in the movie!"

I hope that by doing these events, we can all achieve that a whole lot more often.

Domenic Priore

Nashville Ramblers: Tom Ward, Carl Rusk, Ron Silva w/ Genine and Riot author Domenic Priore (Brooklyn, New York, 8/12/07). Photo by Audrey Moorehead.

Sunday, August 12:

Riot at Academy LPs/CDs, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

The Nashville Ramblers performed a 90-minute set in conjunction with the release of Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood, playing songs discussed in the book. A crowd of around a hundred people came to this in-store and heard "Let Her Dance" by the Bobby Fuller Four, "It's No Use" and "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better" by the Byrds, "She's Not Just Anybody" by the Dovers, "That's When Happiness Began" by the Addrissi Brothers, "Just a Memory" by the Leaves and a whole bunch more. Significantly, the set closed with "Baby Don't Go" by Sonny & Cher, a really overlooked group in actuality. People have been telling me that during the 1966 Sunset Strip Slide Show, that it is completely refreshing to see color photos from their performance at It's Boss, because "all you ever see is pictures of them from their '70s TV show anymore"... which of course is well after their cooler mid-'60s recording career. It's one of the main points of the book, something Nashville Ramblers drummer and vocalist Ron Silva and I used to discuss about a lot of acts; "The earlier, the better".

Ron started out as lead singer of the Crawdaddys in 1978, and later joined with guitarist Carl Rusk of the Mystery Machine in 1985 to form this amazing harmony duo, with a sound akin to the Everly Brothers records of the mid-'60s. Carl can get into a groove with the sound of James Burton on those LPs like "Gone Gone Gone," "Beat & Soul," "In Our Image" and others. The Everly Brothers had actually moved to L.A. druing that era, performing at the Hullabaloo club just after it opened in 1965. They became a regular act on the Shindig! television show and also made an appearance on the Where The Action Is TV show at The Trip. So the Nashville Ramblers were right in that mode, playing "Wrong Before" from the Hollies-backed "Two Yanks In England" album in their set as well.

Bass player Tom Ward came to the Nashville Ramblers from the Gravedigger V. In time, he became not only a fine-tuned bass player in the rhythm section with Ron, but part of the vocal mix as well. The group now features tremendous three-part harmonies that went especially well with Tom's lead vocal on "Baby Don't Go". My thanks go to Tom, Carl and Ron, who also did an incredible set at Magnetic Field later that evening that sounded as if they were playing on the set of a television Variety show, which is fitting for New York City on a Sunday night. If it were up to me, they'd be on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Thursday, August 16

Riot in Soho, New York City

This evening, McNally-Robinson Booksellers Inc. (52 Prince Street, Nolita) hosted the fourth book store event this summer in New York, based on Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood.

After so many events, I wasn't sure there'd be enough interest to draw another crowd, but to the contrary; The Nashville Ramblers appearance the previous Sunday at Academy LPs/CDs, the Smashed! Blocked! DJ night, the WFMU broadcast, and buzz from the Barnes & Noble, Spoonbill & Sugartown Inc. and Bluestockings Radical Books events all created enough word of mouth, so that a tide of new people came out and filled up McNally-Robinson Booksellers.

It also didn't hurt that The New Yorker, out of all the book events in the city that week, chose this one to write up as a pick for the week (along with 3 others). That is something for a sunbaked, beached-out surfer from Los Angeles, believe me; to get a writeup in The New Yorker feels like a real honor. My father, who lived in New York from 1915 until 1954, used to always tell me "You should read The New Yorker, there are a lot of things that I think you'll like in there." Thanks, dad, and a hearfelt thank you to the The New Yorker.

Several veteran journalists in the audience picked up on this from that writeup (most of the audience at my book events tend to be people under the age of 50... too young to have "lived through" the '60s). One recieved a volley of applause when it was revealed that she had been a writer for Hit Parader back when it was cool. Now, for the past 30 years, Hit Parader has been a truly awful publication, just the worst, but, during the '60s, it was actually the best. In-depth interviews about music with The Byrds, Love, Frank Zappa, The Buffalo Springfield, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and many others appeared regularly.

The subject of her question summed up the evening well; the unintentional, ubiquitous interaction between Pop art, Pop music and the Animation industry during the '60s, and how the Flower Power and garage vibe of mid-'60s Sunset Strip wound up having a tremendous influence on successive generations via syndication and re-runs (that always seemed backdated to "1966"). Thankfully, Joly MacFie was there to videotape the event, which you can take a look at here by clicking or copying and pasting the links below:

http://punkcast.com/1188 and youtube

note that the whole thing is on google vid at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6796234233713184254&hl=en

The strangest thing about the evening was a bizzarre appearance by a guy claiming to be "Mark Loomis of The Chocolate Watchband." When I shared the clip with someone close to the band, Alec Palao, his reaction was immediate. "That guy in your video is not Mark Loomis, founder of the Chocolate Watchband," said Palao, "but some sad imposter spouting a load of tripe (the real Loomis was too busy doing acid at home in Cupertino in 1966 to be familiar with the liquor laws on the East Coast - he'll get a tickle out of the fact he has an impersonator tho')." Before Joly could take the guy's conversation off Punkcast, Dave Aguilar of The Chocolate Watchband also noticed the imposter, and gently pointed out that it was not Mark Loomis. So anyone who was there that night, and journalists everywhere, remember, double, and triple-check your "sources," every time. No one remembers everything correctly, and some people just make stuff up, in the extreme. Like, who would choose to pose as the relatively obscure "Mark Loomis of The Chocolate Watchband"?

Nonetheless, we had a great time at the event, and afterward, nine of us (including Frank Max, formerly with The Fad, and Tom Ward of The Nashville Ramblers) made it down to Lombardi's Coal Oven Pizza (est. 1905) at 32 Spring Street. It's my favorite in New York. The evening "wound down" with a performance by The Swinging Neckbreakers at Arlene's Grocery in the Lower East Side.

Domenic Priore

Thursday, August 23

Riot at Club Royale, Park Slope, Brooklyn, The Wang Dang Doodle club

For the final night of my six-week New York City/Philadelphia book tour, my old pal from Los Angeles, Phast Phreddie (formerly of the Rhino Records store and now, a resident of Brooklyn + host of some of New York's best DJ nights, including this, and Subway Soul Club @ Riffifi) had me join him for a full night of mid-'60s L.A. records. Not much else to say, it was well attended, and it gave me a last chance to see pals like Billy & Miriam from Norton Records, and many others who live in and around the neighborhood. Take a look at this list, and you can see how deep the subject matter can go, concerning the music discussed in "Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood". Club Royale has perfect velvet booths and much like the 1964-1982 version of Whisky a Go Go, they are elevated above a cool dance floor. Here is what people were groovin' by on the night...

"Sunny" by Billy Preston, recorded live at The Trip, 1966

"Cruise" by The Ambertones

"Huggie's Bunnies" by The Blendells

"Poquito Soul" by The Brown Brothers of Soul (Li'l Ray with Little Willie G. of Thee Midniters)

"Henrietta" by Rick and the Ravens (early Doors recording with The Byrds on backing vocals)

"My Little Red Book" by Cal Tjadr

"Tina Delgado is Alive!" by The Real Don Steele

"Good Lovin'" by The Olympics

"Billy's Bag" by Billy Preston (with Preston Epps on bongos)

"Everybody's Goin' Mod" by Johnny Wyatt

"The Oogum Boogum Song" by Brenton Wood

"Baby You Got It" by Brenton Wood

"Saturday Night" by The Bobby Fuller Four

"Abba Zabba" by Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band

"Who Do You Love" by The Preachers

"Hey Joe, Where You Gonna Go" by Sammy Lee & the Summits

"(I'm Not You're) Steppin' Stone" by The Monkees

"Puddin' and Tain" by The Alley Cats (produced by Phil Spector)

"Out of Sight" by Cannibal & the Headhunters

"Poochum" by The Mixtures

"Never Knew I Had it So Bad" by Thee Midniters

"Live" by The Merry Go Round

"Call Me" by Chris Montez

"La La Time - Part 1" by The Salty Peppers (pre-Earth, Wind & Fire)

"Secret Agents" by The Olympics

"I'm Under the Influence of Love" by Felice Taylor

"Peter Gunn" by Sandy Nelson

"I Got Love" by Viola Wills

"Gonna Get Along Without You Now" by The Vibrations

"Tainted Love" by Gloria Jones

"'Bout Love" by Clydie King

"Pigmy (Part 1) by The Delegates

"Apricot Brandy" by Rhinoceros

"The Beat Goes On" by Buddy Rich with Cathy Rich, lead vocal (Shorty Rogers, arrangement)

"Harlem Shuffle" by Bob & Earl

"Whoop it On Me" by Brenton Wood

"Unconscious Power" by Iron Butterfly

"Have You Seen Her Face" by The Byrds

"Almost There" by The Turtles

"It's Love Come What May" by The Bobby Fuller Four

"Don't Do It" by Mickey Dolenz

"The Frog" by Sir Frog (Downey Records)

"Tecumseh" by The Spacewalkers

"Buzz Saw" by The Turtles

"The Rebel Kind" by Dino, Desi & Billy"

"Wild Honey" by The Beach Boys

"Nobody" by Larry Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson with The Kaleidoscope

"Sins of a Family" by P.F. Sloan

"It's Gonna Rain" by Sonny & Cher

"Nau Ninny Nau" by Cannibal & the Headhunters

"Drag City" by Jan & Dean

"For Mods Only" by Chico Hamilton

Thank you, New York, and good night (Below, a 1978 Whisky a Go Go menu featuring Phast Phreddie as a top menu item, culled from our mutual days as early L.A. punk rockers, and well before Whisky a Go Go went bunk in 1984. - Domenic Priore)

Riot on Sunset Strip - Book Tour Diary, Part 1

2008-03-31T16:15:00.000-07:00

The gang at Spoonbill & Sugartown Booksellers, Brooklyn, New York. Photo by Nancy Breslow.

• Friday, July 6, 2007:

World Premiere of Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood, Booksmith, Haight Street, San Francisco

The Riot on Sunset Strip book had an incredible, tremendous and very bitchen launch party at Booksmith on Haight Street in San Francisco. Man, there was some super Love in the room, including the band Love's drummer (on DeCapo and Forever Changes) Michael Stuart-Ware. He spoke and did a great Q&A about his own book, Behind the Pegasus Carousel with the Legendary Rock Group Love (Helter Skelter Publishing, London). Bart Davenport performed the Byrds' "Here Without You" with Eric Shea, and that Forever Changes out-take from its' CD release, "Wonder People (I Do Wonder)". Thanks go to all my friends who showed up, Ann Marie, Carrie Swing, Karen, Johnny Bartlett & Lynn Peril, Syd, Magic Christian band members, Christina from the Bippies, Blast-Off Girl, Otto Von Stroheim from Tiki Oasis/Tiki News and a whole bunch more, the room was filled, so many original '60s clothes all over the place, on everyone, I was really stunned at so much fun happening in a bookstore... it coulda been a Pandora's Box dance floor, it seemed. Ann Marie took me to Aub Zam Zam Room afterward, then Bart got me over to see Willow Willow at a club on Polk Street, then up to my old DJ haunt Cafe Dunord on Market Street, to see the last performance by a great country rock group called Court & Spark. I must say that it was A Hard Day's Night, and that after all the work to get it together and do the event, Willow Willow just calmed me down and brought me up to such a high with their songs and voices. This was truly one of the greatest nights of my life and I sincerely thank all of my friends in San Francisco, who I dearly miss living near, for making it all happen the way it did.

Video Link:
http://fora.tv/2007/07/06/Rock_n_Roll_s_Last_Stand_in_60s_Hollywood

Domenic Priore

• Thursday, July 12, 2007:

Riot on Sunset Strip debut in Los Angeles, Book Soup (Sunset Strip)

Last Thursday night, Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood had it's debut in Los Angeles at Book Soup, right there on the Sunset Strip where Cinematheque-16 and The Aware Inn used to be. Maybe 70 or so people were in the house, I couldn't count heads but the store sold about 60 copies. Mark Tulin and Jim Lowe from The Electric Prunes showed up to talk and had a great Q&A, the audience really thought they were funny guys, and I can tell you that they were very informative as to how the music was created in the mid-'60s L.A. environment. Then, drummer Michael Stuart-Ware came down and spoke about Love recording Da Capo and Forever Changes. Both the Electric Prunes and Love worked with RCA Music Center of the World engineer Dave Hassinger for their most important recordings, so I felt after this all went down, the night ended up being a tribute to his genius. Great to have close friends like Becky Ebenkamp, Audrey Moorehead, Kari French, Gene Aguilera, Art Fein, Chris Morris, Paul Body, Gene Scualtti, Brian Chidester and many others show up, as well as Eric Caidin from Hollywood Book & Poster, who wound up imparting a lot of good information from his seat in the front row. Great to meet some newer friends who are of Italian heritage (rare for L.A., in my experience), Alison, and Isabella. Of special note was a kid I kinda knew a bit at Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra, Phillip Phinney, a track & field guy who one time drove us all bannanas when... when... we had our annual "cholos vs. surfers" riot (a construct basically to get out of school one day each year, orchestrated by the "head" "cholos" and "surfers"), and Phillip out-ran the cops in circles... they could NOT catch this freshman, and we were all laughing our ass off (this was 1974, personal memory). Really in the spirit of Riot on Sunset Strip for Phillip to be there (and I do remember him going to dance on American Bandstand with my friend Jake and a couple of their girlfriends). Giving his blessing to the Book Soup event, also, was Rodney Bingenheimer, Mayor of the Sunset Strip and a contributor to Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood. Thanks to Tosh Berman, and Eric Tyson, for allowing Book Soup to host this wonderful group of striplings.

• Thursday, July 19, 2007

Riot at Spoonbill & Sugartown, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

The first stop on the Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood book tour of New York City took place in beautiful Williamsburg, the latest in a long series of popular Brooklyn neighborhoods to emerge over these past 15 years (and yes, Patty Duke, Brooklyn Heights was/is one of 'em).

Being the well-prepared mascot for the book that I am, I showed up the morning of the day before the event. Over Spoonbill & Sugartown's speakers, I'm hearing the sounds of Gene Clark's second album after he left the Byrds, The Fantastic Edition of Dillard & Clark. As it turns out, the guy behind the counter, Quentin Rowan, was the same person who had answered the phone when I called to book the gig. Coincidentally, he had just finished reading my previous book Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece, and was wondering if there were any more titles by me... then his phone rings and its me alright. My friend from Book Soup in West Hollywood, Tosh Berman, had just told me about the good experience he'd had at a book signing there the previous week, so things were lookin' good from the get go.

The night of the reading (July 19) I'm greeted by the DJ Quentin brought in 'specially for this event Luis Suarez (who plays with Quentin in the folk-pop band Spectacular Bird). Luis is playing his records on one of those little plastic '60s toy record players we used to bring to the beach, and he's very quick taking off and putting on one record after another. He is using the earphone jack as an output to the store speakers, and it's sounding really, really good, because he's also playing primarily 45 r.p.m. records, plus LP cuts, all by Los Angeles-area bands circa 1965-1969. Outside of the type of groups primarily featured in Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood, he's also throwing the abstract combo of Sunshine Pop and 1968-1969 Troubadour-era Country Rock combos such as Dillard & Clark and Gram Parsons-era Flying Burito Brothers... that's cool. Before and after my reading and slide show, Luis kept the audience completely engaged, and in a party-like environment.

The audience was another cool thing altogether. The first guy who showed up was Josh Styles, about an hour before, I saw him outside. It was cool to get some good talkin' time with Josh, because he'd just booked me as a DJ at the Smashed! Blocked! club where he is the resident DJ (Friday, August 3rd, Beauty Bar, 14th St. between 2nd & 3rd Ave, 11 p.m.) By the time we were engaged in conversation, the room started to fill up with people Josh had invited down, and they mixed in with friends of Spectacular Bird (another groovy bunch of folk) and some of my own friends like Phast Phreddie, Phast Nancy, Kiki & David, Pat Lozitio (who also called a bunch of his friends to come down) and more than I can remember at this point. Needless to say, the intimate bookstore was packed, Luis was keepin' people in the groove, Spoonbill & Sugartown Booksellers provided free wine and sparkling water, and lots of people were talkin' up a storm, so I just took part in that and almost forgot to do the reading.

For this event, I brought the color 1966 Sunset Strip Slide Show that I'd debuted at the Aware Inn Tribute on Sunset Strip a couple of years ago. I ran through it pretty quickly, just to keep the buzz going in the room, while Luis provided a perfect backdrop with his records (I recall hearing one very bitchen track by Clear Light). The entire thing was kicked off with the reading about my drive down Sunset Strip in 1966, where the destination was Dino's Lodge (true nirivana) -- but the curvy stretch on the way there was the big buildup. People dug it, and we had a good volley of Q&A before rejoining the party we'd been at previously in the same room. This went on for another couple of hours, Luis kicking ass with the turntable all the way.

Spoonbill & Sugartown Booksellers is so inherently flipsville that naturally, they had a bunch of appealing books on '60s design and fashion layin' around on the top of their tables, so I was really glad to notice that people were pickin' these up and buyin' them along with their purchase of Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood. Something was happening here; just recently, New Yorkers have lost both Colesium Books and Gotham Book Mart in Mid-Town Manhattan (the latter had been slated for a Riot book event), and in L.A., we lost the brilliant Book City Collectables, in my humble opinion the best place to find vintage books on cinema and Pop culture. Thankfully, Larry Edmunds Bookshop is still open across the street on Hollywood Boulevard, along with Hollywood Book & Poster, so all is not lost.

New York still has the Strand Bookstore, but it is really encouraging in these times to find good new stuff when computer purchase of books has literally cut into our ability to BROWSE in the best environments possible. The thought, care, wit and intelligence of a place like Spoonbill & Sugartown Booksellers in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is to be thoroughly commended, appreciated and celebrated. Plus, the following Wednesday, I went to see Spectacular Bird at a club on Houston Street, and man, they were boss

• Friday, July 27, 2007

Riot at Bluestockings Radical Books, Lower East Side, New York City

The second stop on the Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood book tour of New York City took place at a venue I've really been looking forward to, Bluestockngs Radical Books, in the Lower East Side, Manhattan.

Growing up in L.A., I was a huge fan of the album Have a Marijuana by David Peel & the Lower East Side (I was nine years old and woudn't try a marijuana cigarette for several years), and was aware of the East Village Other, this great underground newspaper. In 1966, my current friend Eve Babitz was voted "Slum Godess" by the East Village Other, so I'm really just stoked as hell to have any kind of involvement with this self-proclaimed Femnist book store (Bluestockings Radical Books), started by a group of young people who seem to instinctively honor the traditions of the '60s revolution, with not one ounce of being bound by tradition whatsoever.

Bluestockings Radical Books is a great concept, and I noticed a few unique things when I attended a reading there in December, 2005; mainly, they have a keen sense of audio/visual presentation, with a pull-down screen built into the store, and an overhead projector ready to shine light from computer-based presentations of films. In fact, this is a big part of the appeal of the readings and book events here (and, the occasional indie film screening). Bluestockings is primarily a book store, but there is also a true Beat coffeehouse vibe in the place, and it reminds me of pictures and tales of The Fifth Estate Coffeehouse on Sunset Strip during the mid-'60s. Tomata DuPlenty, the singer for '70s L.A. punk band The Screamers, mentions in Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood, that The Fifth Estate used to "show Bunel and Warhol films on a sheet." It was in that spirit that I felt Bluestockings Radical Books had captured the right vibe for their store concept.

For my appearance at Bluestockings Radical Books, I pulled out all the stops, bringng a very with-it guest who was on the Sunset Strip scene during the mid-'60s, Laura Kenyon. Known during the mid-'60s as Violet Santangelo, Laura was part of a duo that recorded for White Whale Records called Lyme & Cybelle. Her partner (Lyme) was a very young Warren Zevon, who was in the process of writing songs then that would also be recorded by the Turtles ("Outside Chance" and "Like the Seasons," to name two... Santangelo co-wrote the latter with Zevon) and The Everpresent Fullness (both White Whale artists). I coupled this in-person Laura Kenyon interview by opening with the Beatnik Beach Slide Show, compiled by Brian Chidester and myself last year, which we had originally screened at Sponto Gallery in Venice (earlier, the location of the Venice West Cafe), The Roxie in San Francisco's Mission District, and The American Cinamatheque's Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. Bluestockings Radical Books is a small space, so it was nice to hear people come up afterward and say "that slide show you have is pretty great, that should be on a big, screen, in a theater." (Hopefully, I can bring this back to New York to one of the cinema venues in the near future).

I started out the evening by reading something the poet Allen Ginsberg had written about "the Folk-Rock craze" on the back of a house-band album from New York's 1966 nightclub sensation The Cheetah (Audio Fidelity Records), which was located at the old Riviera Ballroom at Broadway and 53rd Street. Ginsberg's understanding of how media was beginning to link progressive thought to mainstream society through "true poetics" in music goes right to the heart of the Sunset Strip book (and is indeed included within its first five paragraphs).

We got right into the Beatnik Beach Slide Show, a tour of coffeehouses and jazz joints from Topanga and Malibu straight down through Venice, Hermosa Beach, Long Beach, Huntington Beach (imagine that!), Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, then into Hollywood spots like Cosmo Alley, Shelly's Manne-Hole and a wide variety on Sunset Strip (Garden of Allah, Pandora's Box, The Fifth Estate, The Renaissance, The Crescendo, The Unicorn and others). The identification and relation to what goes on every day at Bluestockings Radical Books was readily apparent.

To close the show, we got into some good spoken word with Laura Kenyon. She recalled how Warren Zevon walked up to her with a guitar, as she sat on the lawn at Fairfax High School, and from that moment on their Folk-Rock duo was formed. Explaining how the record deal with White Whale Records came about, Laura went through the songwriting process, the collaboration inherent to the Sunset Strip scene as a whole, playing at places like the Sea Witch, and how the three Lyme & Cybelle singles were recorded. The interesting sidelight was how, prior to Lyme & Cybelle, Laura had been part of the atmosphere at the sculpting and dance studio of Vito Paulekas, and had been around when the Byrds, Love and the Mothers of Invention had their early practice sessions in the basement. She spoke of being part of Vito's dance troupe at the early shows by those groups, and also about dancing at the show where Bob Dylan joined the Byrds on stage at Ciro's in March of 1965. She definitely conveyed the fun of being involved in such a creative atmosphere.

After Lyme & Cybelle ended, Laura studied drama at the University of Southern California and since the early '70s, has been involved in Theater here in New York City (she'd worked on A Chorus Line among many productions). Recently, Varese/Sarabande Records has put out a CD of Warren Zevon's early years, including all of the Lyme & Cybelle records and demos, and Laura took part in the liner notes of that excellent release. After an exuberant question and answer session, we played the now-club DJ turntable hit "Follow Me" and it's flip side "Like The Seasons" from that CD. The Bluestockings Radical Books appearance was the first time in many years that Laura Kenyon (her legal name based on "Laurel Canyon") had engaged in talking about her involvement in the Sunset Strip music scene of the mid-'60s, and we all had a really good time with it. Best part about it for me was staying around Bluestockings Radical Books with Laura and her husband well after the event, just continuing the conversation until the last espresso cups were cleaned from the table.

Domenic Priore

• Sunday, July 29, 2007

Riot on WFMU, The Gaylord Fields Show, New York City/New Jersey

WFMU set list for The Gaylord Fields Show with guest Domenic Priore, Sunday, July 29, 2007...... Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood edition...........

This show is archived, between 5 and 7 p.m. on July, 2007, Sunday @ wfmu.org

The Standells -- Riot on Sunset Strip

Terry Randall -- S.O.S.

The Grass Roots -- Mr. Jones

The Electric Prunes -- I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night

The Leaves -- Too Many People

The Chocolate Watchband -- I'm Not Like Everybody Else

The Byrds -- Chimes of Freedom

Love -- She Comes in Colours

Ty Wagner -- Slander

The Vibrations -- My Girl SloopyT

The Afro Blues Quintet + 1 -- Summertime

Big Jay McNeely -- Deacon's Hop (live from the Olympic Auditorium, 1951)

The Belfast Gypsies -- People Let's Freak Out (Them, just-post Van Morrison)

Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band -- Frying Pan

The Mothers of Invention -- Trouble Comin' Every Day (The Watts Riot Song)

Kim Fowley -- The Trip

The Avengers -- Be a Cave Man

The Emporers -- I Want My Woman

The Challengers -- Gloria

The Things to Come -- Sweetgina

The Sons of Adam -- Mr. You're a Better Man Than I

The Dovers -- Baby What Am I Going to Do?

The Modern Folk Quartet (MFQ) -- This Could Be The Night (produced by Phil Spector, 1965, written by Harry Nilsson)

Cherilyn -- Dream Baby (from the original 45, early Cher produced by Sonny Bono)

The Association -- Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies

The Buffalo Springfield -- For What It's Worth(final two songs are about the Pandora's Box sit-in demonstration that turned into a riot on November 12, 1966)

For more descriptions about the songs, you can listen to the broadcast at:

http://www.wfmu.org/

Go to the archive for July 29, 2007, and check out Sunday between 5-7, The Gaylord Fields Show. Total fun.

Domenic Priore

• Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Riot at Barnes & Noble, Greenwich Village/East Village NYC

This was the event that led me to schedule the entire New York City book tour for Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood. It's not that easy getting into a mainstream, chain book shop like Barnes & Noble for a reading, especially in a big literary town like New York, so I worked all the angles and wedged this one in, then planned all the other events around it.

It paid off, too, because this particular Barnes & Noble is conveniently located near two subway line stops, where the N and th R hit Broadway & Astor, and the 6 makes its stop at Astor Place. It was a Tuesday night, but all of my best friends in New York showed up, including long-time pals Billy Miller and Miriam Linna from Norton Records (and previously, Kicks magazine). Billy & Miriam, with Kicks, were the inspiration for what I'm doin' now, and this goes beyond writing. I'd never read any "rock journalism" that FELT the way the records sounded, and we're talkin' actual Rock 'n' Roll here, of the Little Richard/Jerry Lee Lewis/Chuck Berry variety, the real deal. Kicks went well past those standard stalwarts and presented a forum where others just as genius (Larry Williams, Dale Hawkins, The Pretty Things) could be heard about and reveled in, rather than hoping against hope for some contemporary act to stop Clear Channel bullshit in its tracks. It's my hope that Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood can provide for readers what Kicks and Norton Records offered: a place where you can go and not have to accept the watered-down perceptions that the mainstream music business (and media in general) seems to force down people's throats in these latter years. Norton, and Kicks, turned a lot of heads around just by being somewhere the rest of us could dig into what we knew was better stuff, but couldn't find out about anywhere else (and handled, especially, with the kind of fun and vigor Billy & Miriam always bring into their presentation).

That's one of the things that made this event especially nice; the Barnes & Noble was filled with a whole bunch of similarly knowledgeable friends, including Andy Schwarz (formerly of The New York Rocker), Joseph Lanza (several books including the groundbreaking Elevator Music), Gary "Pig" Gold of The Pig Paper (and several other journals of note), Brian Gari (a long-time contributor to Goldmine, and someone who stood outside of The Ed Sullivan Theater on February 9, 1964) and many others... we had about 80 people interacting all night. After reading the first five paragraphs of the introduction, I opened up a question and answer session that became part and parcel of the '66 Sunset Strip Slide Show. Friends in the audience were encouraged.... and gleefully participated in... a running dialog as each color slide revealed a piece of the puzzle.

Remember, this is a crowd who for many years has recognized the brilliance of the exploitation flick Riot on Sunset Strip, but never knew the real story. For example, a CAVESTOMP event that was held in New York a few years back featured as Friday and Saturday night headliners both the Standells, and the Chocolate Watchband (the primary groups featured in the film). My close friends Neala O'Rourke (who recently married another pal, Pete Ciccone) jumped right in to get some specifics about what she was seeing. It was all happening there, in a dark room, on a big screen, color shots of Cinnamon Cinder, The Trip, Pandora's Box, Whisky a Go Go, Ciro's and others, like a couple of pics of the Buffalo Springfield standing in front of The Thrid i out in Redondo Beach (with its proto-psychedelic wall painting, and the group's hair still in all it's post-Rubber Soul glory). Sonny & Cher were seen performing in front of the Lichtenstein-inspired walls of It's Boss, there was Mike Nesmith hanging around with June Fairchild on the set of HEAD, and Dutch art team The Fool painting The Hullabaloo/Kaleidoscope building on Easter week of 1969, in preperation for the West Coast staging of the play HAIR at the newly-named Aquarius Theater. Most of the audience threw in a few comments here and there, and asked about some of the more fine details. It was an in-person chat room... cardboard slides that held small pieces of film, shown though a light... there was nothing digital about the entire evening.

Special thanks go to Carolyn Hughes and Paul Trinidad for giving me the chance to bring Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood, to a proper venue in New York City, and to all my pals who showed up... Tom Ward, Pat Lozito... all you all...

For more information about Norton Records, please visit their website at: http://www.nortonrecords.com/

Domenic Priore

L.A.'s Crenshaw District R&B Venues of the ’50s and ’60s

2007-07-11T16:28:00.000-07:00

By Domenic Priore and Brian Chidester, Summer 2007

Los Angeles is quite often overlooked as a major center of R&B and Soul during the first rock ’n’ roll era. The Central Avenue Jazz and R&B scene from the ’20s through the early ’50s is well documented by the book and companion CD box set Central Avenue Sounds. That fantastic series ends as the Central Avenue scene disperses with the integration of L.A. jazz musicians into the clubs and movie soundtrack work to come in Hollywood. After that, a neighborhood Northwest of the core Central Avenue area would flourish as a new African-American nightlife center. Beginning near the corner of Pico and Western Avenues, then heading South to Santa Barbara Boulevard (now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard), with a right turn (West) to Crenshaw on MLK, a myriad of new clubs would open up and host some of the most brilliant R&B from the period.

An example of why this scene might be glossed over in history so far, is that local hit records by artists such as Richard Berry (“Louie Louie”), the Rivingtons (“Papa Oom Mow Mow”), the Olympics (“Good Lovin’”) and the Vibrations (“My Girl Sloopy”) would be more successfully covered by white garage punk bands from all over the country, such as the Kingsmen (from the Pacific Northwest), the Trashmen (from Minnnesota), the Young Rascals (from New York) and the McCoys (from Ohio). Picture here is Richard Berry.

This phenomenon can be traced to the wilder, ’50s-style R&B still practiced in L.A. during the ’60s, which stemmed all the way back to the Central Avenue era, as opposed to the more unified soul recordings from Detroit or Philadelphia. The above photo is of the Rivingtons. Courtesy of Tom Reed.

Los Angeles was more aligned with New Orleans, with Specialty Records (Little Richard) and Imperial Records (Fats Domino) based in L.A., and records like Chris Kennner’s “Land of a Thousand Dances” making their way on that pipeline to places like East L.A., where Cannnibal & the Headhunters would make it a huge hit. Picture here is the Vibrations. Courtesy the Alan Clark Archive.

As black musicians became more common in Hollywood, the avant-garde and psychedelic music scene in turn gravitated to spaces in this district surrounding Crenshaw Boulevard. The overall effect during the ‘60s led to a full-color, Mod L.A. soul scene that produced incredible, unique sounding records. This travelogue is not meant to be definitive documentation of all the artists who broke from here during that time, but will give you a good idea of the kind of action that was going on.

During the early ’60s basketball legend Wilt Chamberlin became a partner in a club housed in this building called the Basin Street West (1304 S. Western Avenue). Photo by Larry Underhill

The Basin Street West, as pictured on a comedy album recorded at the location

Major jazz acts like Woody Herman would record inside the Basin Street West. Courtesy of Tom Reed.

The No War Toys Coffeehouse moved to the neighborhood in 1965, and was akin to other liberal outposts in town such as the Fifth Estate and Fred C. Dobbs on Sunset Strip, and Mother Neptunes in the Silver Lake area.

All that remains of No War Toys Coffeehouse is the picket fence, a palm tree, a crumbled sidewalk, some grass and a front entrance parking lot. (2472 W. Washington Boulevard at Arlington). Photo by Larry Underhill

An early gig for the Doors was a benefit for the No War Toys Coffeehouse

Across the street was an old venue called the Hippodrome, which would be used for a happening. (1853 Arlington at Washington Boulevard). Photo by Larry Underhill

Ferus Gallery and Pasadena Art Museum director Walter Hopps teamed up with Art Kunkin of the Los Angeles Free Press for this South Central event.

Ted Brinson built a studio in his garage, reputedly with some of the finest equipment in town, plus a fortress of entryway locks. Courtesy of Tom Reed.

Some of the records recorded by Ted Brinson included the Wipe Out album by the Impacts (a Del-Fi Records surf group featuring Hawaiian steel guitar) and the original version of “Just Like Me” by the Wilde Knights (later covered by Paul Revere & the Raiders). Courtesy of Tom Reed.

The most well-known disc to come out of Ted Brinson’s is “Earth Angel,” a 1955 R&B vocal group smash by the Penguins. The Olympics also made good use of the room for many of their hits between 1958 and 1967.

The driveway from the front of Brinson’s old house led to the studio. Notice size of palm trees in the background. (2190 W. 30th Street). Photo by Larry Underhill

With decidedly shorter palm trees, here is Ted Brinson’s studio during its prime years.

Comedian supreme Redd Foxx had his club Jazz Go-Go nearby, close to the corner of Western and Adams. Burlesque, and the top names in comedy and jazz showed up to perform all the time.

The building where all these wild times took place is still standing. (1952 W. Adams Boulevard). Photo by Larry Underhill

Only two blocks West of Jazz Go-Go was another top-notch venue, The Rubaiyat Room, in the lounge of the Watkins Hotel. Tonight, you could see Babs Gonzalez author of I Paid My Dues, Good Times... No Bread: A Story of Jazz, who also recorded Tales of Manhattan for Jaro Records. Courtesy of Tom Reed.

The Watkins Hotel as it stands today, with the Rubaiyat front entrance. Photo by Larry Underhill

The same frontage back in the day. Courtesy of Tom Reed.

A Reprise Records LP from the Rubaiyat Room.

One of the top ’50s locations for R&B was the Oasis, with its Middle Eastern theme. Courtesy of Tom Reed.

The Oasis Club building still stands at 3801 S. Western Avenue at 38th Street. This sits near an old Pacific Electric Railway line, which will soon be redeveloped into part of the new L.A. subway system. Photo by Larry Underhill

Happenings inside the Oasis Club. (Question, readers; is this L.A. Dodger shortstop Maury Wills dancing?)

The Treniers wail inside the Oasis Club underneath an amoeba-shaped Modern roof. Courtesy of Norton Records.

The desert palm tree motif was cool in soulful, sunny L.A. Courtesy of Tom Reed.

The Californian Club remains one of the most legendary R&B venues of the city during this period, along with the 5-4 Ballroom and the Million Dollar Theater downtown. (1759 W. Santa Barbara Boulevard… now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard). Photo by Larry Underhill

In crowd ’63 at the Californian club included Bob Relf of Bob & Earl (“Harlem Shuffle,” second left), Sam Cooke (“You Send Me,” “A Change is Gonna Come,” fourth left), Bobby Day (“Rockin’ Robin,” fifth left) and Johnny Taylor ("Somewhere To Lay My Head," "Rome Wasn't Built In A Day," far right). All artists had been based in Los Angeles since the 1950s. Courtesy of Tom Reed.

The Sunset Strip scene makes it down to the Californian Club in 1967 for a purely inter-racial freak fest every week. Bodypainter Sheryl Carson was Master of Ceremonies.

Brenda Holloway (“Every Little Bit Hurts”) was an L.A. gal who was signed to Del-Fi, then Motown Records during the ’60s, and was one of the opening acts for the Beatles at Shea Stadium (along with East L.A. group Cannibal & the Headhunters). Photo courtesy The Chuck Boyd Archive, as seen in the book Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock ’n’ Roll’s Last Stand in Hollywood.

The Blossoms, featuring Darlene Love (center), perform on the ABC television show Shindig!, taped at their Prospect Avenue studios in Los Feliz. Darlene Love made great records with Phil Spector including “Today I Met The Boy I’m Going To Marry” and “Christmas Baby Please Come Home,” as well as singing lead on the Crystals’ “He’s A Rebel” and “He’s Sure the Boy I Love”. Courtesy the Alan Clark Archive.

Marty’s on the Hill was a top jazz place in L.A. during the ’60s, located at the top of Baldwin Hills on LaBrea. Bossa Nova hitmaker Walter Wanderly (“Summer Samba,” 1966) makes the scene.

The location of Marty’s on the Hill, with it’s front parking lot. A view of L.A.’s South Bay and airport loomed in the distance to the West. (5005 S. La Brea Avenue at Stocker). Photo by Larry Underhill

The Gerald Wilson Orchestra recorded a live album at Marty’s on the Hill, and from these sessions came the version of “Viva Tirado” that was covered in 1969 for a hit by El Chicano.

Saxophonist Earl Bostic recorded a bunch of LPs for King Records and hit with “Harlem Nocturne” in 1954. He’d moved to L.A. after a stint in Lionel Hampton’s band with Teddy Edwards. Bostic opened his R&B club during the 1950s. Courtesy of Tom Reed.

A change in logos took place during the animated ’60s. Earl Bostic passed away in 1965, with his family keeping the business going until 1969, when it was purchased by Jerry Edwards. Jerry’s father had owned Bop City in San Francisco.

The exterior of what is now Jerry’s Flying Fox at 3724 W. Martin Luther King Boulevard. Photo by Larry Underhill

The original neon of the Flying Fox. Photo by Larry Underhill

Swervy interior bar and dance floor at Jerry’s Flying Fox (award winning Gumbo served on Fridays). Photo by Larry Underhill

Dumb Angel editors Domenic Priore and Brian Chidester talk to Jerry underneath the club’s entrance corridor. Photo by Larry Underhill

Jerry Edwards is a real cool guy. Photo by Larry Underhill

Billy Preston, performing here on Shindig!, was one of the many great artists that was a regular on the L.A. R&B scene during the ’50s and ’60s. Perhaps his best record during this period was "Billy's Bag" on Vee Jay, which features Preston Epps on bongos. Courtesy the Alan Clark Archive.

In 1966, a new kind of club opened on Crenshaw Boulevard. Thoroughly absorbing the psychedelic and Playboy Club themes prevalent on Sunset Strip, John Daniels opened Maverick’s Flat. (4225 Crenshaw Boulevard)

An early ad for Maverick’s Flat featuring the Olympics, a “Go-Go Nite,” the play “For My People” and a weeks upcoming engagement by bongo man Willie Bobo.

On opening night of Maverick’s Flat in January of 1966, the Temptations played. When he got a load of the interior, songwriter and producer Norman Whitfiled told Maverick’s owner John Daniels, “Man, what you’ve got here is a psychedelic shack!” The Tempations later recorded a hit single by that name, with the album cover evocative of Maverick’s.

Exterior night shot of Maverick’s Flat today. Photo by Larry Underhill

The entrance lobby of Maverick’s Flat. Cubist paintings hang behind the ticket booth. Photo by Larry Underhill

In the Temptations’ song based on the club, they sing “you can have your fortune told, you can learn the meaning of soul”. Here is the fortune teller in the entrance of Maverick’s Flat. Photo by Larry Underhill

Maverick’s Flat is loaded with fluffy couches, including this one in the funk-tique entrance. Photo by Larry Underhill

African artwork graces many of the doorknob handles at Maverick’s Flat. Photo by Larry Underhill

Owner John Daniels adapted Maverick’s Flat from what was once an old Arthur Murray dance studio, as evidenced by a logo which remains on the entryway floor. Photo by Larry Underhill

The dance floor is braced by an observation table glazed with colored glass artwork. Photo by Larry Underhill

A space age reclining den is adjacent to the main room. Photo by Larry Underhill

One of several romantic getaway rooms situated inside Maverick’s Flat. Photo by Larry Underhill

The colored glass mosaic detail in the getaway room shows a debt to the work of Simon Rodia at the Watts Towers. Photo by Larry Underhill

The exotic flavor includes an individually decorated ceiling fan. Photo by Larry Underhill

The main stage of Maverick’s Flat, plus mirrored surroundings. Photo by Larry Underhill

The cavernous atmosphere of Maverick’s dance floor and stage. Photo by Larry Underhill

One of the local acts that played Maverick’s Flat was Brenton Wood (here backed by Senor Soul, a Double Shot recording artist). Wood’s hits include “Gimme A Little Sign,” “The Oogum Boogum Song,” “Baby You Got It” and “Me And You”.

Senor Soul evolved out of a band called The Afro-Blues Quintet + 1, who recorded for Mira Records. Even earlier, members had been in the Creators on Dore Records (“Burn,” 1965). The Afro-Blues Quintet + 1 also held down house band dates at Shelly’s Manne-Hole and The Living Room, a lounge upstairs behind Ciro’s Le Disc on Sunset Strip.

A promotional photo for their first LP Senor Soul Plays Funky Favorites. The band would have a further evolution and became War in 1969, backing Eric Burdon at Thee Experience and recording “Spill The Wine” with him. They had their own hits including “The World is Ghetto,” “Cisco Kid,” “Slippin’ Into Darkness” and “Low Rider”. Courtesy of Tom Reed.

The psychedelic experience hits South Central in this Maverick’s Flat mural. This is well before the Bitches Brew album by Miles Davis. Photo by Larry Underhill

A groovy long shot of the Maverick’s Flat exterior with neon ablaze. Photo by Larry Underhill

Nothing better than being Est. 1966, is there? Photo by Larry Underhill

Just released is David Anderle’s book of art, entitled Better Late Than Never. Of note are 1966 portraits of both Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson during their psychedelic phase. These portraits, as well as a host of other paintings, are inspired by the physically elongated mythological style of Modigilani.

And now, for an out-take teaser from the newly-released book by Domenic Priore, called Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock ’n’ Roll’s Last Stand in Hollywood (foreword by Arthur Lee, Jawbone Press, London), available at bookstores and online everywhere.

The Yardbirds Building.

Currently under reconstruction on the Southeast corner of Sunset and Vine is a place I’ve been referring to for a while now as “The Yardbirds Building,” which was formerly highlighted by a club with a swinging Modern motif, “Room At The Top”. The advertisement makes note of this being a cool place to hang out after a performance at Greek Theater or Hollywood Bowl.

Posing in front of Room At The Top’s ground-floor entrance fountain is the Grass Roots, who in 1966 were riding high on the local charts with “Mr. Jones,” a garage punk cover of Bob Dylan’s “Ballad of a Thin Man”. The group also charted that year with “Where Were You When I Needed You”. Courtesy The Chuck Boyd Archive.

Checking out the pool-like effervescence at Room At The Top, The Yadbirds, as far as I’m concerned, seem to own the building. Therefore, it is theirs, philosophically. It would be pretty difficult to imagine anyone cooler levitating this space. Left to right, Keith Relf, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, Jeff Beck and Paul Samwell Smith, 1965. Courtesy The Chuck Boyd Archive.

Special thanks to Tom Reed, author of The Black Music History of Los Angeles: It's Roots (Black Accent Press, 1992).

Riot on Sunset Sunset Strip: Rock ’n’ Roll’s Last Stand in Hollywood by Domenic Priore
Book Tour, Symposium Series, Film and Radio Events

The Dumb Angel Website invites you to please drop by any of these (mostly free) events that will be circling around the release of Dom’s new book this summer. He’s worked on it for nine years, and as his collaborator on past projects, I’m floored at what he was able to come up with. – Brian Chidester

Friday, July 6, Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, San Francisco (guest Michael Stuart-Ware from the band Love)

Thursday, July 12, Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Strip, West Hollywood (guest Michael Stuart-Ware from the band Love)

RADIO on Wednesday, July 18, "Quiet City" on Luxuriamusic.com, 6-9 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. A Riot on Sunset Strip set will be featured w/ Domenic at the turntables

Thursday, July 19, Spoonbill & Sugartown Booksellers, Williamsburg (218 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn) guest TBA

Friday, July 27, Bluestockings Radical Books, 172 Allen Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan (1966 Sunset Strip slide show). Laura Kenyon (of Lyme & Cybelle... a duo in which her partner was a very young Warren Zevon. Lyme & Cybelle are best known for their 45 "Follow Me").

RADIO on Sunday, July 29, WFMU "The Gaylord Fields Show," 3-5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (wfmu.org) . 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Tuesday, July 31, Barnes & Noble, Astor Place, Manhattan (between Greenwich Village and East Village, near the corner of Broadway and Lafayette). Special guest Barry Feinstein, photographer of the Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man" fisheye LP cover and director of 1966 L.A. scene documentary "You Are What You Eat"

Friday, August 3rd: Smashed! Blocked! featuring resident DJ Josh Styles with guest Domenic Priore spinning Sunset Strip '66 discs at 11:30 p.m. Beauty Bar, 231 E. 14th Street, between 2nd & 3rd Avenue, New York City (Mod, Soul, Psych discs from 11 p.m. 'til 4 a.m.)

Friday, August 10, Secret Cinema @ Philedelphia Society of Free Letts (Latvian Society), 531 N. 7th Street, Philadelphia PA. Screening of "Riot on Sunset Strip" plus 1966 Sunset Strip slide show and DJ/dance after-party. Contact: Jay Schwartz (917) 446-3087 - $7 @ 7 p.m.

RADIO on Saturday, August 11, Luxuriamusic.com special New York City edition of "Riot on Sunset Strip" featuring DJs Phast Phreddie, Domenic Priore and Audrey Moorehead. 9 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Sunday, August 12, Academy LPs/CDs, 96 N. 6th Street, Williamsburg (Brooklyn) featuring an in-store performance by the Nashville Ramblers (who appear on the Children of Nuggets box set) performing tunes by the Leaves, the Bobby Fuller Four, the Dovers, the Addrissi Brothers, the Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds etc. Free show starts at 6 p.m. and goes until 8 p.m.

RADIO on Wednesday, August 15, "Quiet City" on Luxuriamusic.com, 6-9 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. A Riot on Sunset Strip set will be featured w/ Domenic at the turntables. 9 p.m to Midnight Eastern Standard Time.

Thursday, August 16, McNally-Robinson Booksellers Inc., 52 Prince Street, Nolita, Manhattan. (guest TBA) Seems we'll be gathering at Lombardi's Pizza after this one...

Saturday, August 18, East Coast Beach Boys Fan Convention, Southbury, Conneticut, Crowne Plaza Hotel. Beatnik Beach slide show (L.A. coffeehouses and jazz joints of the late '50s and early '60s). Noon. (cover charge, please check online)

Thursday, August 23rd: Wang Dang Doodle DJ night featuring Phast Phreddie and Domenic Priore spinning L.A. Soul grooves from the '60s. The Royale, 506 5th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York 9 p.m. (free).

TENATIVE GUESTS in the New York City book stores include artist Gary Panter (Screamers, Pee Wee's Playhouse), and Artie Kornfeld (West Coast/East Coast mid-'60s record producer/songwriter who saw it all and later organized Woodstock)

Saturday, September 8, Vroman's Book Store, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena (guest TBA) 4-6 p.m.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 14, 15 and 16, Riot on Sunset Strip Weekend at the American Cinematheque, Egyptian Theater, Hollywood Boulevard. Features (so far) include a Friday night show with "Riot on Sunset Strip" and "You Are What You Eat," Saturday night it'll be "The Trip" and "Mondo Hollywood" and we're still setting up Sunday, possible matinees and live music, and possibly, a bazzar in the Egyptian's entrance corridor.

The story so far... later events at the West Hollywood Book Fair, Sponto Gallery in Venice, and plans are in the works for events in Austin and Seattle. If you're interested in booking an event, please contact Kevin Becketti (Jawbone Press) at (510) 528-1444 extension 235

JAN & DEAN BOX SET ??

Jan Berry has been dead for more than three years now. We're getting endless Beach Boys re-issues . . . but where's the love for Jan & Dean? We need a comprehensive box set of Jan & Dean material including the original mono versions of the singles and album cuts, as well as studio outtakes and backing tracks.

We also need an official release of CARNIVAL OF SOUND (1968) . . . the last great diamond in the rough for Jan & Dean. This is one of the last mysterious unreleased albums from the Psychedelic era. It was a major studio project (recorded at United, Western, and Goldstar) for a major label (Warner Bros.).

Let your voice be heard . . .

Please sign the petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/jdcd2007/petition.html

Also . . . stay tuned for a cool Jan & Dean interview with Mark Moore . . . on FM radio from the New York City area. We'll post the details and air date as soon as we get them.

PHOTO: Jan & Dean at Simon Rodia's Watts Towers in South Central Los Angeles, 1965.

— Dumb Angel

Jan & Dean: Carnival of Sound and Other Musings

2007-02-23T09:55:00.000-08:00

Mark Moore Interview

Discussion of Jan & Dean history, and the forthcoming album project honoring Jan Berry as a writer, arranger, and producer. From The Back Porch Show with Jammin' Jay. KBIG Radio, Dallas, TX. January 21, 2007.

From the earliest days of the Barons and Jan & Arnie in 1958 . . . through the peak era of Jan & Dean . . . to "Phase II" and beyond . . . this interview covers the highs and lows of the tumultous life and career of Jan Berry.

Also covered are the crucial Psychedelic-era Jan & Dean recordings Save For A Rainy Day (Dean Torrence) and Carnival of Sound (Jan Berry).

NOTE: This is not the actual audio that was broadcast on the show over the Internet. KBIG does not currently archive its shows; and this audio was recorded by staff at KBIG as a favor to Jan & Dean fans who couldn't hear the original broadcast. Thus, there's a delay in the background, as well as other voices and sounds in the studio . . . mixed in with the actual interview . . . so listen closely.

The songs from the show . . . the original mono versions of "Dead Man's Curve" and "New Girl In School" . . . plus our tribute covers of "Anaheim" and "Blowin' My Mind" . . . are omitted here because of the audio limitations of this recording.

Rough drafts of our tribute versions of the songs can be heard on our MySpace site at: http://www.myspace.com/jananddeantribute.

Listen here . . .

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

The album will feature guest artists such as Sky Saxon of the Seeds, David Marks (original member of the Beach Boys), P. F. Sloan, Jill Gibson, Tom Bahler, and others.

Producers: Cameron Michael Parkes and Mark A. Moore

Beatnik Beach Film Night

2006-12-01T19:00:00.000-08:00

Thursday, December 7, 2007
7:00-11:00 p.m.

Roxie Cinema, 3117 16th Street at Valencia, Mission District, San Francisco, California

Authors Domenic Priore and Brian Chidester (Beatsville, Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece, Dumb Angel #4: All Summer Long) will present a unique one-hour slide show documenting the Beat Generation's long stretch over the Greater Los Angeles area between 1956 and 1966, via visuals of coffeehouses and Jazz joints from the Sunset Strip to Malibu, Venice and Newport Beach.

Legendary locations only heard about in books or in liner notes, from the Gas House and nearby Venice West, to the Unicorn and Shelly's Manne-Hole in Hollywood, the Lighthouse and Insomniac Cafe in Hermosa Beach, then all the way down to Cafe Frankenstein (owned, operated and painted by Burt Shonberg) in Laguna Beach.

Artists from John Altoon to Eric "Big Daddy" Nord gave these places a colourful splash, as did the wide variety of Folk singers and poets who performed on their stages. Accompanying the slideshow will be a rare screening of Dirty Feet (1965), shot primarily at the Prison of Socrates coffeehouse in Balboa. Special guest speakers TBA, there will be another short Beat film or two (including a color one shot inside Venice West), plus a few new routines by San Francisco's own Devil-Ettes to jazz the room.

Contact the Roxie at: (415) 431-3611

Contact Domenic Priore at: (323) 333-2116

Lesley Gore / Party for Preservation

2006-08-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

LESLEY GORE — HAIR IDOL

Lesley Gore

As most of us know, 1964 was a pretty big year for music. The English youth scene was just taking off and the British Invasion had just begun to take over America, even as American pop music was coming into its own. The Beach Boys were rocking out, having huge hits all across the country, spreading their sun-bleached love to teenage girls everywhere. James Brown & his Famous Flames were creating a stir, and Motown was starting to make it big with the Supremes, Marvin Gaye and the Tempations all happening at the same time. Lesley Gore, who was born in Brooklyn, New York had her first pop hit, "It's My Party" in April 1963 and her star kept rising throughout the next few years.

In October 1964, The TAMI Show was shot in front of a live audience of screaming teenagers at The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Southern California. The biggest names in music of the day were there, Chuck Berry, the Beach Boys, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, the Miracles, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, the Rolling Stones (the latter three representing for the Brits), Provincetown, Massachusetts' own garage godz the Barbarians and then, Lesley Gore, with hosts Jan & Dean. The TAMI Show was a huge concert that captured the excitement over everything that was happening in music at the time, and everything was new.

The theme from The TAMI Show, sung by Jan & Dean, written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, told of all the amazing acts that were going to be performing ("here they come, from all over the world") and wrote in "the representative from New York City is Lesley Gore, now, she sure looks pretty." And Lesley did look pretty, with her gorgeous smile and her signature flipped hair. It's quite possible that because she was so young and so pretty, she left a strong impression on the Beach Boys, who she hung out with at the taping of The TAMI Show.

Lesley Gore — TAMI action with hosts Jan & Dean in the background (right)

The next summer, the Beach Boys came out with their great album Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!!) that featured the song "The Girl From New York City". Connection? Probably. Lesley Gore wasn't someone who was easy to forget. She had a very distinctive voice, deeper than was usually normal for pop stars, and almost raspy in some songs like "Hey Now." She was very pretty, and very energetic, two things which probably helped her become a star.

While Lesley did sing many songs like "If That's The Way You Want It" (Tell me that you aren't ready to settle down with one / Want to keep me on a string while your having fun / If that's the way you want it / So be it, my love) she also went out on a limb with songs like "You Don't Own Me" ("You don't own me / I'm not just one of your many toys / You don't own me / Don't say I can't go with other boys / And don't tell me what to do / and don't tell me what to say / and please when I go out with you, don't put me on display"), which she recorded in '63, and she was rewarded with a number 2 hit.

While Lesley is known and remembered for her voice and her catchy pop hits, I am a fan of hers for an entirely different reason. I love her hair. Lesley Gore is my undisputed hair idol.

I have the greatest hits collection, It's My Party; The Mercury Anthology and the photo that was used on the cover really is something else. I would have to imagine that it's one of the first publicity photos of Lesley Gore because she looks very young, and her hair is done up into this magnificently tall, gravity-defying bouffant with these saucy bangs.

Lesley Gore — It's My Party

I remember seeing this picture of Lesley Gore amongst my mother's extensive CD collection when I was growing up, before I ever listened to it, and was always amazed by the pretty girl's hair. Lesley's hair almost seems like it's so tall that it continues outside of the frame for at least another foot.

Lesley Gore seems to have managed to have the perfect hair for every era of hair fashion during the '60s, if her publicity photos are anything to go by. She had a short, bobbed flip for most of her early career, but she also had a long flip kept in place with headband, and various bouffant hairstyles (some better than others); I have even seen an amazing photo of her that was probably taken in the late '60s with this large bouffant compiled of large soft waves with white beads strung throughout.

I have been trying to imitate Lesley Gore's different '60s hairstyles for a while now, but can only pull off a half hearted flip. I probably just need to use more AquaNet hairspray, lots more.

Late this last winter my mother found out that Lesley Gore was going to be speaking live in front of an audience at the 92nd St. "Y" and immediately bought tickets. I was thrilled, I couldn't wait to see her, have her sign my much listened to Mercury Anthology, and inspect her hair. When Lesley walked out on stage I couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed, just knowing that the woman standing in front of me was Lesley Gore, my hair idol. But after a few minutes of a boring interview, the shock wore off, and I looked, really looked at Lesley's hair.

While I suppose her current style is a good, modern choice for someone her age, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed. Her hair was bleached blond, straight, and cut into a choppy, short look. Compared to her hair from her youth, it was pretty boring. I kept picturing her stylized hair that curled up around her cheeks, drawing your eyes to her smile, bouncing as she walked, and her current hair that just fell flat around her face couldn't compare.

Lesley Gore belting one out in Paramount’s Girls on the Beach (1965), also featuring the Beach Boys and the Crickets

In the middle of her interview Lesley broke into song, getting a roaring ovation from the crowd who was thrilled to be hearing the songs they love her for, but again, she disappointed. Instead of giving the crowd what they wanted she sang a short medley of her hits and then sang a song off of her new album to scattered applause.

After the interview, Lesley sat in front of the auditorium to sign her albums, old and new. I approached her with my old CD and tentatively said, "I'm a big fan of yours." Lesley didn't look up, but silently signed my CD and pushed it back to me.

I mustered up all the courage I had and said, "Lesley you're my hair idol." She didn't look up; she was busy signing another CD. I'm sure she just didn't hear me.

SYD GOTTFRIED

PARTY FOR PRESERVATION

This month Dumb Angel noticed a short paragraph by Steve Lopez of The Los Angeles Times that pretty much sums up how we have arrived at our journalistic approach to Los Angeles, the music industry, the film industry and all that goes on here in mainstream circles that we prefer to avoid and circumvent. It's the same for everything here, so listen close to Lopez:

And standing up to people is what I like about (former NYC Police Chief, now in L.A.) Bratton. We all know by now that Broadway Bill likes to run his mouth, which isn't a bad thing around here. Los Angeles is corrupt and content, and one reason for it is the unwritten code that calls for polite and cordial relations among local leaders. It's an old boys' network, you might say, with one guy covering for the next and expecting the same in return.

We'll have none of that at Dumb Angel. We spent our first year back in Los Angeles eliminating this backwards "booster" mentality from our work environment . . . we mean people surrounding "the music business" . . . who carry the same kind of mentality that would have you tearing down the Cineramadome and the Capitol Tower. Industry back-watchers are the kind who would go along with the pack and say it's o.k. to dismantle such area-identifiers and put up a shoddy mixed-use development instead. (Example: how much does the music biz spend to sell bands like Velvet Revolver?)

New York City soldier Carmine Priore's photographs and postcards of Hollywood on a stay during World War II. The NBC Radio Studio on the corner of Sunset and Vine is long gone, but the Hollywood Palladium, CBS Radio Studio and Earl Carroll's Vanities buildings remain . . . if mixed use developements don't rape what's left of Hollywood's most historic district. (Thanks, dad, for the pix...)

Today, the Hollywood Palladium, the original CBS radio studio next door where the Byrds, the Monkees and Brian Wilson recorded during the mid- '60s, and especially 6230 Sunset Boulevard, just East of Vine . . . are all threatened by mixed use developers. The latter building was originally the home of Hollywood's most glamourous nightclub, Earl Carroll's Vanities, which became the Moulin Rouge (often headlined by Louis Prima and Keely Smith with Sam Butera & the Witnesses), the Hullabalo (same for Love, the
Yardbirds and Jan & Dean), the Kaleidoscope (the Doors, Big Brother & the Holding Company), the Aquarius Theater (Hair, Zoot Suit) and a bunch of other stuff as the years passed. Someone's gotta stop this kinda cultural destruction from happening; these are all major landmarks of Los Angeles history.

Therefore, we present photographs of a recent party held by the people who are doing this kind of work. After checking out our February blog on Balboa, it was decided that the birthday party for Chris Nichols, speaker for the Los Angeles Conservancy's ModCom Division, would be held in the Balboa Fun Zone area. Yes, there was news that the Balboa Fun Zone too would be torn down by developers, but the end result was reasonable; all of the oldest attractions would be staying, and the Maritime Museum they are putting there is basically in the space of a structure that was not a part of the Fun Zone's early charm. (We are losing, however, a very cool haunted house in the deal). All that said, here are the pictures from the the ModCom birthday party for Chris Nichols this past June, 2006.

DOMENIC PRIORE

From the south side of the Balboa boardwalk heading north (through a bustling summer crowd), this vintage neon for the Bay Arcade is the first thing you see . . . inside they still have a photo booth from the mid-'60s (with original Peter Max-style artwork and Mod-girl sample photos on the side — see our first blog about Balboa). Photo by Larry Underhill.

The entrance to the Ferry Boat, from the Balboa Peninsula side, boasts the old ferris wheel and another classic neon depicting a Populuxe family. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Ahoy, skipper! The Auto Ferry boat to Balboa Island. Photo by Larry Underhill.

A wide-angle view of the Balboa Pavillion with carvings in the foreground from a cruise boat dubbed, The Tiki. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Ferry Landing . . . The theme of the party was a mad Scooby Do chase scene in Balboa . . . bring a portable a.m. radio to hear Bubblegum music and clues . . . and wear a scarf, Hanna-Barbera style . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

Only fun is in store . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

Groovy Go Go girl Maria Basaldu diggin' the sounds and gettin' clues to solve the mystery. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Dumb Angel editor Domenic Priore tunes in . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

DJ Penelope Pitstop spins Bubblegum records out over the local airwaves (shortwave radio transmission blanketed Balboa all evening). Listen to her radio show Bubblegum & Other Delights each Friday nite from 7-9, PST on www.luxuriamusic.com . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

John Arroyo gets advice on the mystery from his talking monkey. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Held up as a relic o’ the times, Balboa stages and original bumper car next to the ferris wheel. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Balboa Fun Zone bumper cars. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Dumb Angel's front cover design man Chris Green tries out the photo booth. Photo courtesy of Chris Green.

Daniel, Aimee, Domenic, Brian, Steve, Jason, Chris and Vincent love the psychedelic photo booth in the Bay Arcade. Photo courtesy of Chris Green.

DJ Senor Amor hams it up with Jill McGraw. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Hanford Lemoore and tiki journalist Humuhumu. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Beatniks rule — Todd the barber and the lovely Elvia. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Julian Nitzberg with Chris and Charlene. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Cap'n Sharkey Waters reminisces about his tuna canning days whilst handing out the clues to solve our Scooby Doo mystery. Will the group solve it? Will they catch the bandit? Stay tuned . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

Meri Pritchett and her boy Nathan think they've got the mystery solved! Photo by Larry Underhill.

8-Ball Naomi with Book of Tiki Sven Kiersten, Greg and Domenic Priore . . . check out Naomi’s bitchin’ store in Burbank, on Magnolia, and visit her website at 8ballwebstore.com . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

Stephanie, Shikaya and Rachel — our teenage detectives. Photo by Larry Underhill.

The entrance to the Balboa Fun Zones haunted house ride . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

Enter at your own risk . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

Inside the haunted house ride, neon warnings light up like in a crowded montage. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Gretchen and David Zalkind go deep undercover. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Dionysus Records head-honcho, Lee Joseph. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Dig . . . Dumb Angel #4 cover artist, Chris Green (in blue shirt), with Vincent, Marjorie, Jason, Steve . . . eating nothin’ but paper napkins. Photo by Larry Underhill.

The gang tries to "Play Faro" with the great Merlini, but he keeps eating the cards. Photo by Larry Underhill.

The great Merlini as portrayed by Charles Schneider. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Guk-guk-guk-guk-guk . . . Dino Fantini, the REAL Popeye. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Daniel Paul and the lovely Aimee Boice. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Alan Leib (left) talks with friends by the Balboa Fun Zone carousel. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Caretaker Kent really kept this place clean. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Are those g-g-g-g-ghosts? . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

The gang gets ready to pin down the monster... Photo by Larry Underhill.

Now inside the Balboa Pavillion, Chris Nichols drags the captured sea monster through the crowd . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

Who is it? Is it Sharkey? Is it the caretaker? Is it Merlini? . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

Har Har! It's Greg Brady! [Barry Williams] . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

"And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling kids!" . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

"Well, I do know a little choreography!" - Barry Williams . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

"I think I'll go for a walk outside now the summer sun's callin’ my name (i hear ya now) . . ." Photo by Larry Underhill.

"Everybody's smilin’, sunshine day . . . everybody's laughin, sunshine day . . . everybody seems so happy today!" . . . Photo by Larry Underhill.

The birthday boy, Chris Nichols, with Barry Williams. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Los Angeles Conservancy Modern Committee chair Adriene Biondo enjoys a Balboa moment. Photo by Larry Underhill.

Photo selection and captions by Brian Chidester, Chris Nichols and Domenic Priore

"For anybody who grew up in Hollywood, who went to school here, what's happened to it in the last 25-30 years is heartbreaking. Groucho Marx once said that, you know, 'all of the places, when they talk about 'the good old days,' that what they're really longing for is their youth. That the hotels were dirty and cold and so forth. What they remember was that they were young'. As a kid, everything looked rosy, but the place was much cleaner, physically and geographically". -- journalist Nick Beck, from from the Morgan Neville film Shotgun Freeway

Expressions from Venice, California

2006-06-14T15:41:00.000-07:00

Sponto Gallery, 7 Dudley Avenue, Venice, CA -- July 19th 2006, 6:30 p.m., Dumb Angel presents a Beatnik Beach Film Screening, featuring Dirty Feet (a 90-minute film shot in 1965 at Balboa's Prison of Socrates coffeehouse), plus a slideshow of Southern California Beat Generation hangouts and live surf instrumental music by the Insect Surfers. For information call (310) 399-2078.

Venice West (also known as Venice Beach or Venice-of-America) was a tributary European conception by wealthy eccentric Abbot Kinney. Kinney's vision was to transplant Venetian culture to the West Coast of America with Italian-designed architectural masterpieces created during the early 20th Century. By the late ’50s/early ’60s, Venice boasted two of the most subterranean of all Southern California "Beat Generation" hang-outs — the Venice West Café (7 Dudley Ave.) and its mad-hatter counterpart, the Gas House (1501 Ocean Front Walk).

Gondola rides on the Venice Canal created an American / Italian flavor. A neighborhood of these canals still exists, cool and funky along with the counterpart shopping groove on Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Equator Books, outsider Surf wear shop Hydrolab, tiki store Cruz Vintage, cool coastal furniture shops Surfin' Cowboys and French 50s-60s are a few of the highlights. The literary center, Beyond Baroque (open Fridays and Saturdays) is nearby on Venice Boulevard.

Windward Avenue served as an opulent entrance to the Venice Ocean Front Walk area. Abbot Kinney's original concept for Venice West was to bring world-class art galleries and opera to his settlement. Pop culture and carnival atmosphere out-paced the highfalutin setting early on. As decay set in during the '50s, an art scene unforseen by Abbot Kinney would call Venice West home.

NOT "The Girl in the Mini Skirt" whose praises were sung by The Era of Sound in 1966. And . . . she doen't look too interested in the Arcade games. But, you can stand in this location on Windward Avenue today and still absorb a pretty interesting environment. In our time, retro clothing and book shop Animal House is across the street, where she's facing, while to her left, Small World Books sits alongside our fave local eats place, the Sidewalk Cafe. These shops, along with a few of the places mentioned on Abbot Kinney, carry Dumb Angel #4: All Summer Long. Behold, some of the columnated ruins that didn't domino.

Royal family of the Venice West Beat scene during the 1950s — Wallace Berman with his wife Shirley and son Tosh on the boardwalk of Venice, California. The backdrop here is leftover set decorations used to simulate Tijuana for Orson Welles’ 1958 noir masterpiece, Touch of Evil

The Bathing Pavillion was the defining edifice of early Venice. Like most of what you see here, it's all long-gone.

Theatrical Asian mythology meets European gothic in this striking example of Venice Beach vernacular architecture. The mix of grandiose and carnival became commonplace in California during the first half of the 20th Century (a style now referred to as "California Crazy")

Another Venice example of California Crazy . . . here a molten edifice dubbed "The Grand Canyon"

The Venice Ballroom was one of many out by the oceanside catering to Angelenos who wished to engage in ballroom dancing. Apparently, like the Sunset Strip in 1966, Los Angeles authorities weren't too keen on dancing around the turn of century, so it was primarily done at this unincorporated beach area, away from provincial hassles. In 1967, the same thing would happen when the Venice Ballroom became the Cheetah.

Ballroom dancehalls provided the large venue space needed to accommodate the popularity of new dance crazes at the dawn of the Jazz Age and Swing Era

Café Nat Goodwin’s, an early movie biz hangout. The original film stars would imbibe at the Alexandria Hotel in downtown L.A., but soon enough, the loose atmosphere around Venice became the main draw.

Baron Long's Ship Cafe was the other main hangout during the early days of cinema. MGM Studios would open in nearby Culver City, and that non-Los Angeles township became thee thespian watering hole during the Jazz Age. Frank Sebastian's Cotton Club (gigs by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton), Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's Plantation Cafe and Danceland (all on Washington Boulevard) were the top venues there.

'A crowd of people stood and stared . . .' — turn-of-the-century Venice Beach, Sgt. Pepper style.

"C'mon Baby, Let's Do the Swim!" Bathing Pavllion, Venice.

Outside view of the Venice West Café, now the Sponto Gallery (7 Dudley Ave.). On July 19th, Dumb Angel will host a "Beatnik Beach" film screening at Sponto, featuring a slideshow of SoCal Beat Generation coffeehouses, including more on the Venice West Café, plus others

Inside the Venice West Café . . . behind these jazz cats, on the wall, is Wallace Berman’s bohemian benediction: "Art is Love is God."

1959 — Lawrence Lipton’s discerning look at the Venice West Beat scene, featuring tales of the Venice West Café and the Gas House, as well as its many poets, artists, scenesters and entrepreneurs.

Lawrence Lipton (left) with Ed "Big Daddy" Nord, owner of the Gas House

The Gas House. A huge civic battle raged over the existence of this place in 1960. Early 20th Century comedic phenoms Groucho Marx and Stan Laurel pitched in some bread to help save the Beats. The Gas House was razed, but not before Venice poet and author Stuart Perkoff made a brilliant appearance on You Bet Your Life. The history of the Venice Beat scene has been well-documented more recently in John Arthur Maynard's book Venice West: The Beat Generation in Southern California (Rutgers University Press, 1991).

Portrait of the Gas House gang in Venice, drawn by Shanna Baldwin, circa 1960 (Used by permission, courtesy of Shanna Baldwin and S.E. Griffin)

Overhead view of the Venice Pier area during Abbot Kinney's day

The same pier, rennovated and re-opened in 1959 as Pacific Ocean Park

"And Disneyland and P.O.P. is worth a trip to L.A." sang the Beach Boys in "Amusement Parks U.S.A." from Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!!), 1965. The Modernist entrance, Raymond Lowery-inspired sky ride and cheese-cut Neptune fountain entrance added up to the perfect Nautical-Modern experience.

At the end of the pier, Pacific Ocean Park featured a Tiki ride, "South Sea Island," sponsored by U.S. Rubber.

Surrounded by the sky ride orbs above and a waterfall below, South Sea Island provided a relaxing, last outpost from L.A., positioned
as it was out on the ocean

Bas relief of the South Sea Island entrance. "An unforgettable visit to the tropics via an exciting Banana Train ride through a volcanic crater, erupting geysers, an earthquake and a tropical storm." — P.O.P. brochure

South Sea Island took you on a tour of a volcano interior, with Martin Denny-styled music filling out the sound

Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys pose with models at Pacific Ocean Park for a summer, 1966 photo spread in Teen magazine's "Giant Surfari Issue". A sunshiny photo of Cheryl Tiegs graced the cover. Bass harmonica and theremin were already thick in their music.

Clearly, the old Venice Ballroom served a good purpose when it was opened as the Cheetah in early 1967. Headliners were primarily groups that had flourished in the suddenly-banned teenage nightclubs of the Sunset Strip during 1965/1966; Love headlined a Cheetah bill featuring Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. The Standells and the Leaves held the place in rapture another night. The Doors and Iron Butterfly played as well. Tonight, it's Sky Saxon's birthday party with a performance by the Seeds. Photo courtesy Hillary Paine.

The Cheetah was the California offshoot of New York City's incredibly successful Cheetah club, opened in 1966. The Cheetah Boutique was also opened inside of both clubs, with a line of clothing designed specifically for the Mod set. Opening for the Seeds at this engagement were the Boston Tea Party (who released a cool LP on the Flick-Disc label) and the West Coast Branch (regulars out at the Flying Jib in Redondo Beach . . . with 45s of "Spoonful" on Valiant in '66 and "Colors of My Life" on A&M in '67). Photo courtesy Hillary Paine.

Big Brother & the Holding Company came down to Venice from San Francisco to play the Cheetah; Janis Joplin had tried her first marijuana cigarette in a Venice coffeehouse in 1962. In from Arizona, a regular opening act at the Cheetah were the Nazz. They later signed with Frank Zappa's Bizzare/Straight Label and became Alice Cooper (due to the Pennsylvania band who'd recorded "Open My Eyes" already bein' around). The Strawberry Alarm Clock made their appearance in Psych-Out at the Cheetah — despite the film being based in San Francisco. On the first episode of The Mod Squad, the Other Half were shown performing "No Girl Gonna Cry" at the Cheetah. Just prior to opening, Herb Alpert filmed a dramatic segment in the old ballroom for one of his TV specials. Photo courtesy Hillary Paine.

— BRIAN CHIDESTER & DOMENIC PRIORE

NITECLUBS

On Thursday, June 2nd, Dumb Angel attended the debut of Kitty Diggin's incredibly well-thought out theme club Dandy at Safari Sam's on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. The first night's soiree was subtitled An Evening of Candy Stripes, Brocade, Ruffly Sleeves and Absinthe-Inspired Visions. The audience came decked out in '20s gear, with DJs Prickle and Shauna spinning an intense mix of songs somewhere between Duke Ellington's "The Mooch" and Peter & Gordon's "Lady Godiva". The correlation between '20s and '60s fashion and music was complete, with the Kinks' "Dandy" somewhat defining the direction of ensuing affairs. "1960s Carnaby Street had this wealth of appreciation for the '20s," Diggins told Dumb Angel, "Lavender velvet pantsuits, paisley shirts with ascots and scarves, plus the flapper bob hairstyle were all a huge part of Carnaby's flair and lasting appeal." A group of appropriately-attired Go Go dancers were workin' all night, with the evening's musical highlight coming from New York City's Armen Ra — Master of the Theremin. Classically-trained, and from a family of musicians in Tehran, his Middle Eastern melodic sense raised the bar in an already unique evening of fun, dancing and sound. The next Dandy (July 13th) promises to be every bit as enlightening, this time subtitled: Bastille Day Go For Barouque.

— DOMENIC PRIORE

A wild tyme was had by all at Dandy. Photo courtesy of http://www.drunkrockers.com/.

Miss Primm. Photo by John Scott Perreira.

Sir D'Andy Luxe and Kitty Diggins. Photo by John Scott Perreira.

Creekbird. Photo by John Scott Perreira.

Miss Primm. Photo by John Scott Perreira.

Prince Poppycock. Photo by John Scott Perreira.

A few Absinthe-Inspired Visions. Photo by John Scott Perreira.

Mr.Uncertin and the Pobelle Twins aka "Uncertwin." Photo by John Scott Perreira.

Armen Ra w/ Theremin. Photo by John Scott Perreira.

Armen Ra takes the mood beyond. Photo by John Scott Perreira.

Dandy attendee Melissa Jean on the veranda, Sunset Boulevard in the background. Photo by John Scott Perreira.

Master Showman Kitty Diggins. Photo by Dr. Mangor.

Dandy audience member Tiffany

Dandy ended with an incredible '20s / '60s DJ mix by Prickle (who took most of these photos) and Shauna. In this rockstar-free environment, the participants were the headline act.

In tribute to the cool vibe at Dandy, Dumb Angel here reprints a series of photos from a similar party covered in Surfing Illustrated during February, 1966:

Surfer girl goes Bonnie Parker

Mickey Munoz and Hidie Edwards dance it up in their flapper attire

On a Loony Tunes level . . . host Greg Noll receives a bomb for his new surfboard factory from shaper / competitor, Hobie Alter

Promotional program for Dirty Feet, from 1965, written by producer/director Ted Nikas about his experiences in making the film around his coffeehouse, the Prison of Socrates

To see all of this and more, please join Dumb Angel at Sponto Gallery (7 Dudley Ave., Venice, CA) on July 19th, 2006, at 6:30 p.m. The screening will include boss clips from various beatnik-related films, a slideshow of SoCal beat coffeehouses, the Dirty Feet feature film and live music by the Insect Surfers. Ted Nikas, the filmmaker who created Dirty Feet, will be on-hand for Q&A

Encinitas

2006-05-15T15:26:00.000-07:00

The hidden gem of old Surf Route 101

Long-gone venacular architecture, Surf Route 101, Encinitas, California

Moonlight Bay, Encinitas, California, 1960s

Yogananda's Self-Realization Fellowship, opened in Encinitas during the early 1950s. Surfers saw this sitting above one of California's greatest surfing locations and (in a primitive manner) dubbed the spot "Swami's," like, "hey, that's where the swami's go!" In 1963, the Beach Boys referenced this in "Surfin' U.S.A." when they sang "at Haggerty's and Swami's" . . .

The terrain surrounding Swami's. The hills curve perfectly to create a beautiful, long ride on the waves.

Surf Route 101 became the title of the Gary Usher album for the Super Stocks, and, a different song by Jan & Dean (from their Drag City album) written by Jan Berry, Roger Christian, and Brian Wilson — featuring boss spoken interludes by Jill Gibson. Usher's Surf Route 101 album includes a song called "Oceanside," which is also nearby in San Diego County.

The Longboard Grotto is the only place you can purchase most of the independent Surf movies from the 1950s and 1960s discussed in the article "Cat on a Hot Foam Board" from Dumb Angel #4: All Summer Long. They definitely deserve a plug . . . it's to your benefit; call (760) 634-1920 . . . or reach them at www.thelongboardgrotto.com

The La Paloma Theater is where the Crawdaddys used to go see The T.A.M.I. Show . . . it has operated as an underground theater for years.

An excellent Psychedelic boutique with lots of Mod gear exists today in the heart of Surf Route 101, Encinitas

Flashbacks has done a great job with the design of their store posters and logos . . . a definite point of interest (and where I bought that Waltah Clarke shirt seen on the 2004 Ear Candy website).

There are two outstanding Taco joints on Surf Route 101 in Encinitas. Karina's stands out because they make their own fantastic sauce, the shredded beef is bitchen, and they havea nice, hard shell. They also own a refreshing fruit smoothie shack right next door . . . all home made. But, as Geetz Romo said on the How to Speak Hip album, “Juiceheads are the lowest, man.”

Juanitas Taco Shop is a bit more popular with the locals in Encinitas, and was featured on Huell Howser's PBS television show California's Gold. The sauce is in no way comparable to Karina's, but, they make up for it with heavy doses of cheeze, lettuce, meat and a nice, crackly shell.

Superb coffeehouse Panakin is spacious, relaxed, and rests inside an old, wooden train station. Artist Mary Fleener, Folk singer Cindy Lee Berryhill, and author (plus '60s editor of Crawdaddy! magazine) Paul Williams are some of Dumb Angel's fave rave local residents in the Encinitas / Leucadia area.

Pre-Panakin still exists on Surf Route 101

We need more Cheese-cut architecture like this in the world.

This Modrian-logo booze shack sells a great, independent trail mix inside.

The ideal place for dry-cleaning your threads

Uh-oh . . . yes, it's an irony-bored trailer park next to a '70s salty sea dog-themed restaurant-bar . . . if you're only here for the beer.

Lou's has always been one of the best record shops in the San Diego area. This, too, can be found on old Surf Route 101, as well as some great health food restaurants, and some wonderfully-refurbished Motor Hotels on the North side of Encinitas (in Leucadia).

Without a doubt, Ducky Waddles is the most interesting book store / art gallery in the San Diego area.

Dumb Angel #4: All Summer Long will soon host an art show here featuring Mike Dormer (Hot Curl, Shrimpenstein!), Frank Holmes (the 1966 Smile album cover) plus John McCambridge and Jay Nelson of Mollusk Surf Shop in San Francisco (see January blog). Live Surf instrumentals will be provided by the Sand Devils, a San Diego combo who wow'd 'em this year at Tiki Oasis.

Art, architecture, Burlesque . . . u-name-it cool, Ducky Waddles can match any book joint in New York, San Francisco or L.A. for a groovy presentation and content . . . it's that good.

— DOMENIC PRIORE

RECURRING BALBOA THEME

Dumb Angel is back with our fourth installment of Newport/Balboa coolness. This month, dig on some classic imagery from Corona Del Mar — a Modernist community that sits along a half-mile sandy beach framed by cliffs and a rock jetty to form the east entrance of Newport Harbor. Corona Del Mar is also a popular area for surfing and diving (see review below for Thump, a film about Corona Del Mar's famous bodysurfing spot, the Wedge). Also, more recent finds from Balboa music venues like the Prison of Socrates and the Rendezvous Ballroom.

Just above Balboa Island lies the untouched 1950s Modern residential community of Corona Del Mar

Arial view of the vintage coastline settlement

The tides of Corona Del Mar roll in around a set of jagged rocks. This low-angle postcard suggests the Noir elements of the sea were captured perfectly with nautical blues numbers by the Stan Kenton Orchestra, such as "Taboo," "Lamento Gitano," and "Reed Rapture" (all recorded locally at the Rendezvous Ballroom between 1941-42).

More rugged Corona Del Mar terrain, 1960s; close enough to land's end for teenage adventure

Overhead view of the popular public beach; the Balboa Jetty to the left is where civilization last saw Gilligan, the Skipper, Tina Louise and the rest of the castaways. The Wedge lies just to the other side of the Jetty.

Chillin' by the groovy beach pads in Corona Del Mar, 1960s

A scene from an episode of Where The Action Is, shot in Corona Del Mar in 1965.

Thump is the only film I know of so far that is solely devoted to the Wedge, a famous bodysurfing spot in the Newport-Balboa-Corona Del Mar area, which Bruce Brown dubbed "The Dirty ol' Wedge" in his 1965 indie-surf flick, The Endless Summer. But before you slide Thump into your DVD player, be sure to que up the grittiest LP of surf instrumental garage music you have in your collection. Try the Crossfires . . . no, better yet . . . the Original Surfaris. Yeah, okay . . . now grab that TV remote control, hit the "mute" button, drop the needle on your record player and press "play" on the DVD. Because here's the bad news, folks . . . Thump is a near-nauseating compilation of whimpy punk-pop and heavy metal that sits behind some seriously mesmerizing footage of the Wedge. The most egregius section of this film — titled "Super-Size It!" — marries a set of amazing surfers riding perfect big waves to a backdrop of death metal music. Adding insult to injury, the title card suggests that a McDonald's happy meal slogan best sums up the magic of the Wedge. Some of us know better than to swallow that pill. Don't say I didn't warn you . . . but also don't be disuaded from buying Thump either. With a little imagination, you can make this footage work to your advantage. (Thump is available at the Balboa Pharmacy).

Mark 56 Records was best known for the 1966 Surf instrumental album Real Cool Hits by the Avengers VI (sponsored by Good Humor Ice Cream). The label released LPs for businesses who wanted to advertise via vinyl. L.A. grocery store Alpha Beta sponsored this '40s nostalgia disc, with cheezy artwork namechecking Swing-era ballrooms of the Greater Los Angeles area. Balboa is represented by a prominent showing for the Rendezvous Ballroom, with the Balboa Beach Ballroom right above it. Also included are Huntington Beach's Pavalon Ballroom, Anaheim's Harmony Park Ballroom (like the Rendezvous, later a Dick Dale & his Del-Tones venue during the '60s), The Hollywood Palladium, The Pasadena Civic Auditorium, The Glendale Civic Auditorium, The Biltmore Bowl and the Trianon . . . wait . . . where is the Palomar Ballroom? ("On Third and Vermont," say the echos of Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa and Anita O'Day).

Fuck A Mighty Wind . . . dig Fink Records recording artist Susan Rennaker going it alone at the Prison of Socrates in Balboa. You can see her in the film Dirty Feet, playing one night only at Sponto Gallery in Venice on July 19, as the feature of Dumb Angel's "Beatnik Beach" film event.

— BRIAN CHIDESTER

SURF CITY USA

One of our readers asked us about the recent national articles covering the controversy surrounding the "official" location of Surf City in Southern California. The naming convention had been the subject of a public squabble between Orange County's Huntington Beach (where Dean Torrence of Jan & Dean resides) and the town of Santa Cruz to the north.

In the end, the town of Huntington Beach secured a federal trademark to use the phrase "SURF CITY USA" as a marketing slogan and money-making venture for Huntington Beach.

It's a controversial subject . . . but in the end, it's much ado about nothing. Huntington Beach (mentioned in the Jan & Dean song "Surf Route 101") gets to use the phrase "SURF CITY USA" to help sell products and make money for the town, and for Dean Torrence and others connected with the #1 smash single by Jan & Dean from 1963.

Despite the controversy, it's important for people to understand that it's merely a marketing ploy, and that the song (by Jan Berry and Brian Wilson) was not written about Huntington Beach, or any other specific location in Southern California.

This means that the town of Santa Cruz can indeed continue to use the moniker "Surf City" in marketing its various establishments associated with the SoCal beach culture.

And it's a safe bet that the town of Huntington Beach will not go after the beach towns on the East Coast which were incorporated as "Surf City" long before the 1960s, and long before the famous Jan & Dean song was written.

What's in a name? . . . It just depends on where you live and who you know.

To read more about this issue, be sure to check our "Comments" section, linked at the end of this blog.

To learn more about our forthcoming Jan Berry / Jan & Dean tribute album, please visit our site on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jananddeantribute

— MARK A. MOORE

Dumb Angel's Potpourri, Vol. 2

2006-04-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

This month’s DUMB ANGEL blog features a mish-mash of cool happenings, groovy releases we’ve deemed worthy of (cyber) ink and a tad more of that lost coolness that we’ve dug up from the far corners of SoCal’s beach towns.

LET US TURN YOU ON . . .

Dig a few new releases that we felt were worthy of special attention…

A Review of Mama Guitar Holiday

In a world where so-called "rockers" often can’t name four Chuck Berry songs, an all-girl trio from Japan has found the Chuck Berry-meets-surf tone that absorbed the entirety of the Beach Boys’ 1963 garage-band opus, Surfin’ U.S.A. One listen to Mama Guitar’s "Ready to Go" from their newest EP, Mama Guitar Holiday, and you’ll realize that their sound is no mistake. "After Dark" is a breezy, summer-night instrumental, replete with Mama Guitar’s gentle ‘la-la-la’ harmonies, akin to Brian Wilson’s blissed-out "Passing By" (from the 1968 Friends album). In keeping the vibe of 1963 real, during the break of Holiday’s "When We Put Our Bikinis On," lead singer Jun asks, "Am I so cute?" To which the chorus of Iris (bassist) and Yoko (drums) scream, "Yeah!" Jun retorts, "But I don’t wanna go!" Chorus: "Why not?" Jun: "Because I’m fat!" Oh no… this is all by design, friends. The lyrics and music only gets groovier from there. Dig these lunar lyrics to "Tomorrow’s Sea":

It’s time to leave here,
We’re in the sea breeze.

Somewhere else we’ll go,
Anywhere you want,
Dreaming of tomorrow’s sea.

White sand, moon, stars and you,
Only that moment, all of them are mine.

Mama Guitar's Holiday

Dumb Angel co-editor Brian Chidester sat down with Mama Guitar for a little Q&A.

Who are your biggest musical influences?
Jun (Guitar/Vocals/Songwriter): Brian Wilson, King & Goffin, Greenwich & Barry, Phil Spector
Iris (Bass/Vocals): Shangri-La’s and more.
Yoko (Drums): The Beatles!

What inspired you to do MAMA GUITAR HOLIDAY?
Iris: It’s a secret!
Yoko: Peaceful days.
Jun: We just put together some summer songs we already had been playing, and added a few more new songs.

If you could play anywhere in the world, at any venue, where would it be?
Yoko: California's beach or big grasslands somewhere.
Iris: I want to go to anywhere we can go!

Do you have a boyfriend?
Jun: No . . .
Iris: It’s a secret.
Yoko: I’m married!

What kind of boys do you like?
Jun: I like people who are kind, friendly and funny.
Iris: Gentle, and who has nice smile person!
Yoko: A gentle and bright person.

Favorite thing to do on a date?
Iris: Lunch in the park.

Mama Guitar, Hamburg Tour

Favorite bands?
Jun: The Beach Boys, the Zombies, the Hollies, the Beatles, the Monkees, Four Seasons.
Yoko: Sly and the Family Stone, the Kinks, the Beatles, the Zombies, the Hollies.
Iris: Shangri-La’s, Kinks, Serge Gainesbourg.

Favorite singers?
Jun: Annette, Robin Ward, Shelley Fabares, Ronnie Spector, Claudine Longet, Yui Asaka, Brian Wilson, Colin Blunstone
Yoko: Colin Blunstone, Ronnie Spector, Carol King, James Brown, Bob Dylan.

Favorite album?
Jun: The Beach Boys Today!
Iris: Anna.
Yoko: The Beatles’ Rubber Soul.

Your hobbies?
Yoko: Collecting dolls and cute things, and shopping.
Iris: Making sweets, sewing and frogs… I’m keeping many little frogs!
Jun: Taking naps.

Favorite movie?
Jun: The Trouble with Harry
Iris: Anna, Betty Blue.
Yoko: Toto the Hero, Times and Honors, Buffalo 66.

Favorite TV show?
Yoko: Animation of the Beatles!
Jun: Sukeban Deka, Little House on the Prairie

Favorite food?
Jun: Steak, Potatoes
Iris: Ice cream and spicy food.
Yoko: Cheese, seafood, chocolate.

Favorite candy?
Jun: Yogurt flavored Chelsea.
Yoko: Milk-flavored soft candy.

If you were trapped on a deserted island with one person, who would that person be?
Jun: Msama.
Iris: My darling.
Yoko: My husband.

Favorite Sanrio character/animal?
Jun: Pigs, hippos and elephants.
Iris: FROG!
Yoko: I'm not interested in Sanrio character, but I love Monchicchi! It's a monkey baby's doll.

Personal plans for the future?
Jun: I don't have any yet.
Iris: For now, I want to lose my weight!
Yoko: I want to be an owner of a little shop and I want to be a tender mother!

Are hippies ever cool?
Jun: It's not really my kind of style, so I don't have an opinion.
Yoko: I think so!

Do you like what Gwen Stefani is doing with pop culture today?
Jun: I don't know her, sorry.
Iris: Sorry, don’t know her.

—Brian Chidester

Mama Guitar's Holiday EP

A Review of Jan & Dean’s Popsicle (CD Reissue by Sundazed Records)

This is as good a place to get started with Jan & Dean as any. It’s pure 1966 marketing, which in itself is an enlightened thing. The Popsicle album was released by Liberty Records that year after Jan Berry’s accident, and the Sunshine Pop single climbed immediately up the charts... the last real Jan & Dean hit, in sequence. But... get this... "Popsicle Truck" (as it was originally titled) had been released on the Drag City album in 1963. That's the beauty of Popsicle; Liberty found a bunch of album tracks of ambient merit for 1966, and just pumped ’em out there. One can immediately recognize the quality of Jan & Dean's work, that is, stuff lyin’ around on their albums that coulda been singles, or that worked in another time zone. It actually becomes a collection of their most interesting material outside of the obvious hits, and therefore a new listener can come to the group with the whole thing being a fresh experience.

Jan & Dean's Popsicle LP Cover, 1966

These great tracks are also sequenced in a groovy manner that makes for cool and casual listening. Side two runs through a vibe so lucid, it includes a Jill Gibson song, a Brian Wilson song, a Brian Wilson song, then another Jill Gibson song... all collaborations with Jan Berry (with pals Roger Christian and Don Altfeld pitchin’ in on occasion).

Once the side kicks off with a very, very Psyhedelic Surf Pastiche Washout version of the Beatles’ "Norwegian Wood" (love it when Jan Berry emulates and eventually uses sitars, like later on "Fan Tan," "Mullholland" and others from the still-unreleased Carnival of Sound album from 1968), it goes to the Jill Gibson/Jan Berry duet "A Surfer’s Dream." For my money, this is the most idyllic song of the whole surf shebang. Jill shows up again on the Brian Wilson/Jan Berry chillout "Surf Route 101", this time doin’ the sexy voice of the girl who tags along for a surfari . . . Jill intones "I dig your Woody, lover, let’s disappear." Next we cut to a brilliant, generally unheard Berry/Wilson rocker, "Surfin’ Wild," where Jan finally figures it out; "Well I know what I want, yeh, got it all planned, gonna surf all day then sleep in the sand." Sounds good to me.

The expansive Jill Gibson number "Waimea Bay" follows, showing Jan Berry already capable of arrangements on the level of what Brian Wilson would achieve by the time of Pet Sounds. This earlier production fits in with the 1966 feel perfectly.

Closing side two’s sequence is a nod to the fashion controversy of the decade, Rudi Gernreich’s topless bathing suit. That's another beauty about this LP. Jan & Dean got this wired during 1964 with "One Piece Topless Bathing Suit," which made for an even better environment on Popsicle, due to the growing promiscuity 1966 seemed to envelop. The greens and yellows so prominent in clothing and album covers that year are nothing more than a shift toward sunlight and lovers lyin’ around in the tall grass with marigolds all around them. "One Piece Topless Bathing Suit," the grand dandy of ’em all, makes for an optimistic closer, a good vibe, a good feeling, evocative of graphic design where sunlight through her tan hair became a stock, indelible image always harking back to that very 1966.

Jan & Dean's tour booklet, designed by Dean Torrence in graphics class at USC, 1965

Then you get side one, too. After the joyous vibraphone and nonsense backing vocals of "Popsicle" comes "The Restless Surfer," kicking in the feel of wanderlust right away. This Gary Zekley tune title is what I plucked as a non-de-plume when I wrote the liner notes for those Surfer's Mood albums way back in the early ’90s (another golden decade, for people who loathe hessians, like me). Dean’s falsetto on the end of "The Restless Surfer" may also rank among the top yearning vocal moments in rock ’n’ roll, fully encompassing desire in the heart of the protagonist.

Next up is another boss, neglected Brian Wilson/Jan Berry number "She’s My Summer Girl," originally the flip side of "Surf City" -- the first in a series of Berry/Wilson hits including "Drag City," "Dead Man’s Curve," "The New Girl in School" and "Ride the Wild Surf"... (which you may already have somewhere). "Down at Malibu Beach" is a casual Chuck Berry workout; guitarist Billy Strange gets to pull a few hot licks, and that’s followed by another Malibu callout on "Summer Means Fun."

Without a doubt, this a cooler version of "Summer Means Fun" than the hit by Bruce & Terry, or the Fantastic Baggys’ fine version (which shares the same backing track as J&D). Jan Berry’s lead vocal just seems to capture the meaning of the lyric better, and in this respect, he’s in league with early Elvis Presley or Chuck Berry... again, having a real feel for rock ’n’ roll at its source. "Tennessee" closes, and at first it seems out of 1966 feel, but it’s great to go back to this 1962 track and hear Plas Johnson’s "Surfer’s Stomp"-like saxophone solo. It’s a hark back to R&B vocal times in a way similar to what the Mothers of Invention would achieve when they recorded Cruisin’ with Ruben & the Jets in 1968. Already, the psychedelic world was ready for a throwback.

The only cut that seems to be missing from this slapdash affair is Jill Gibson's "It’s As Easy As 1, 2, 3." But we won’t spend time second-guessing the uncredited Liberty Records employee who had the good sense to sequence this thing brilliantly otherwise. A year later, Paul Williams would write a review for The Byrds Greatest Hits in Crawdaddy! (later available in his book Outlaw Blues) describing the packaging and sequencing of this particular greatest hits package as an art form in itself. Popsicle manages that same artfullness for a collection of songs that, by Jan & Dean standards, would be their "underground" selections.

That packaging matched the gorgeous Watts Tower photographs of the 1966 Jan & Dean tour program designed by Dean Torrence — a precursor to his Kittyhawk Graphics work. In a year's time, Dean would be designing for the Turtles and did a similar tour program for the Mamas & the Papas. Jill Gibson also wound up in the Mamas & the Papas for a while (singing on the hit "Look Through My Window," and on plenty of the group’s second album). Popsicle, as packaging, can be seen as leaning in that direction, a sojourn both Jan and Dean would find on their own when recording the Psychedelic Surf Pastiche Washout masterworks Carnival of Sound and Save for a Rainy Day respectively. Popsicle, as music, shows that they had these expansive instincts with them during what may be considered, to some, as a more primitive juncture in their career. A time, however, that was high in both creativity and success.

If only their 1966 TV show pilot Jan and Dean on the Run would have been able to continue... a special nod here to "Time and Space" and "Capitol City" from that ready for Psych-Surf-Pastiche project. Oh well...

—Domenic Priore (with Mark A. Moore)

Jan & Dean at Simon Rodia's Watts Towers

RECURRING BALBOA THEME

The editors at DUMB ANGEL have dug up more goodies from the seemingly endless well of coolness that has come out of Balboa. In a now-recurring theme of this blog site, we present you with a pair of reviews, a batch of film glossies and a summary of DUMB ANGEL’s April 2nd gig, in the Newport/Balboa area (at Sid’s Blue Beet).

From the Balboa segment of Lord Love A Duck

Lord Love a Duck (1965)

United Artists, B&W, 105 Minutes
George Axelrod (Producer/Director)
George Axelrod and Larry H. Johnson (Screenplay)
Based on the Novel by Al Hine

Roddy McDowall and Tuesday Weld . . . punks in the classroom

The dark side, inner-workings of Beach Party-era star-making is just one of many social phenomena satired and deconstructed in the opulent, punk-spirited Lord Love a Duck. The hypocrisy and wasted time inherent to religion, the education system, psychoanalysis and used car sales are all equated; nothing is taboo. Roddy McDowall is a Dada-meets-Go Go version of the somnambulist in Fritz Lang’s The Cabinet of Dr. Calgari, one step ahead of everyone in his world. Tuesday Weld plays his foil, a High School vamp who is part and parcel to McDowall’s schemes. Harvey Korman (Blazing Saddles, The Carol Burnett Show) is typically despicable as the school principal. Students look bad-ass wearing sunglasses in class. Weld graduates from the lame rules of the Cashmere Sweater Club in school, and becomes a beach flick movie star, getting everything she wants through McDowall’s wise-guy maneuvers. On a trip to Balboa Island for Spring Break, the director of "15 beach movies" spots Weld and eventually turns her into a 16-year-old version of Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard. There is much twisting, hully-gully-ing and watusi during the Balboa segment, and punk music is soundtracked by both Neil Hefti ("Batman" theme) and the Wild Ones, a New York City combo who were then house band at Arthur (they also made a great appearance in The Fat Spy with Jayne Mansfield, played the After Hours shows at Hullabaloo on Sunset in '66, and at the L.A. version of Arthur when it opened at 666 N. La Cienega Boulevard in 1968).

—Domenic Priore

New York Go Go in a Hollywood way, 1965

Tuesday Weld, mid-'60s

Back to Balboa, by the Stan Kenton Orchestra (1958)

In 1958, Stan Kenton organized his latest version of the Stan Kenton Orchestra and took them back to where Kenton Mach One broke in 1941… the town of Balboa (and more specifically, the Rendezvous Ballroom). Back to Balboa was recorded live during the Kenton Orchestra’s last residence at the Rendezvous in 1957-58, and features a bevy of placid Lennie Niehaus sax solos, adding to the album’s overall lounginess. Label this another seaside tone-poem to be included in DUMB ANGEL’s ever-growing pantheon of Balboa LPs and singles. Several cuts feature the word "blue" in the title (a locale-description later employed by Joe Saraceno for his moody Mar-Kets hit "Balboa Blue"), while "Rendezvous at Sunset" wouldn’t have sounded out of place in the seasonal ’50s flick A Summer Place. The symphonic trumpet blasts that open the song (in classic Kenton pomp) quickly give way to a mellow moodiness rarely found in ’40s or ’50s Kenton. The dawn of "Champagne Music" had arrived.

—Brian Chidester

The Orange County Launch Party for Dumb Angel #4: All Summer Long… Featuring the Ghastly Ones, the Boardwalkers and special guest Billy Hinsche, Sunday, April 2

Last night’s show at Sid’s Blue Beet in Newport Beach went off like a charm. The Boardwalkers kicked open the bill and impressed everyone with their fine-tailored surf instrumental skill. Billy Hinsche followed, providing the folk enlightenment for the evening. He performed "Two in the Afternoon," "Tell Someone You Love Them," "Lady Love" and "Thru Spray-Colored Glass" (the theme song from 1969’s surf movie soundtrack, Follow Me), plus songs from his career retrospective Mixed Messages. The show was closed with an absolute punk-out by the Ghastly Ones, who brought the house down with their organ-drenched, garage-fuzztone. Tunes from the Ventures’ psychotic Wild Things! album were performed ("Fuzzy and Wild"). Celebrities in the audience included Rockin’ Jelly Bean (from Jackie & the Cedrics), Darian Sahanaja (of the Wondermints and Brian Wilson's band), 1976 World Surfing Champ Peter Townsend (who doubled for William Katt in Big Wednesday) and Jim Frias (from the original 1964 Santa Ana surf band, the Nocturnes… also a short-term member of the Chantays and the Trademarks). Here’s a few pictures from Sid’s, we’ll have more next month.

Formerly with the Beach Boys during the mid-’70s, Hinsche’s band (Dino, Desi & Billy) recorded “Thru Spray-Colored Glasses” in 1969 for the surf movie soundtrack, Follow Me. Tonight he performed the song, for the first time anywhere, at Sid’s Blue Beet. © 2006 William Robert Thompson. All Rights Reserved.

Debbie Shair (Marizane, Candypants) and Darian Sahanaja (Wondermints, the Brian Wilson band) share a moment of meditation and reflection with Dumb Angel Co-Editor Domenic Priore — © 2006 David Wilson. All Rights Reserved.

Jim Frias (left), original Surf-era saxophonist of the Nocturnes (from Santa Ana), drops in to the Blue Beet . . . and was stoked to hear DJ Domenic Priore spin the 45 "Baha-Ree-Bah" by the Trademarks (another band he performed with back in the day). The Nocturnes' recordings can be heard on Rare Surf Vol. 2 (AVI), while the Trademarks were comped on Wail on the Beach (Satan Records) — © 2006 David Wilson. All Rights Reserved.

DJ Penelope Pitstop chats with Domenic Priore and Audrey Moorehead (the It's Happening crew) while friend Ingo Pfenning, visiting from Germany (lower right), checks out a Greater L.A. area environment that hasn't been seen since the release of How To Stuff A Wild Bikini in 1965. — © 2006 David Wilson. All Rights Reserved.

Newport by the Pier

2006-03-07T20:02:00.000-08:00

The Orange County Launch Party for Dumb Angel #4: All Summer Long

Featuring the Ghastly Ones, the Boardwalkers, and special guest Billy Hinsche, who will be performing songs from the 1968 psychedelic surf film soundtrack for Follow Me — Sunday, April 2 — 6:00 p.m. to Midnight.

Do you smell it? The fresh salt water, the smell of seaweed crashing up against the pier barnacles, and the whiff of fresh seafood coming out from behind basin doors at the Dory Fleet?

There’ll be plenty of places to park right along the pier and oceanside, April 2nd, for the show at Sid's Blue Beet

The Dory Fleet boats bring in fresh fish. Sid's Blue Beet is in the alley between the brick buildings at the center of this photo.

Can you see it? There’s Charlie’s Chili, and next to it is the Sea Shell Shop . . . they have stuffed models of huge Alaskan crabs and Sand Sharks. You walk along the beach, there’s a ledge to sit on and watch the sunset. There’s plenty of waffle cones, corn dogs and strips to be eaten. And then you can get up and make your way to the end of the pier . . . just another wide-angle view at the end of the earth. You can look down the coast and see where others watch land’s end. Piers each way; to the North, Huntington Beach Pier, to the South, Balboa Pier, and you’re in the middle at the Newport Beach Pier in Newport Beach, California.

Beneath the Newport Beach Pier

Do you hear it, or will you hear it? Phil & the Flakes pounding out crunch-chords at Sid’s Blue Beet, a brick cabaret open since 1912, but more recently (1950s/1960s) a Beatnik Folk club hosting Flamenco guitarists, Bebop Jazz, Bluegrass and Folk music. Folk festival performers such as Jess Boggess would sing, or Chuck McCabe – real drop out kind-of shit . . . he was inspired by a girl he met at a clothing-optional resort. And when you walk out the beat goes on, via the angry young man pounding his bongos on the beach. All around, beach-side, angular apartments are rented by Surfer teens looking for girls or guys over the verandas, while the carry-all record player inside blasts out the Beach Boys’ Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!!) album. This is how it was in 1965.

Let's Eat! D.I.Y. dining cultivation at the Newport Beach Pier, 1960s

When you drive up to the pier area, the overwhelming scent of good food, and the ocean, hits you right in the face. There’s a fancy, Victorian-looking steak restaurant, Pizza joints, the smell of Bay seasoning at the Crab Cooker, Fish and Chips at Woody’s Wharf, Mexican food aura everywhere . . . and the tar of the salt water . . . this smells like California.

The environment around the Newport Beach Pier, 1960s

What we’re trying to do here on Sunday, April 2nd is bring actual Surf instrumental music back to the area, back to a place long-forgotten even in Los Angles, a locale purely "local" in recent years. In bygone times, the whole of the Greater Los Angeles area shook to phenoms from Balboa – the Stan Kenton Orchestra (’40s) and Dick Dale & his Del-Tones (’60s). This year, 2006, we’re bringing two of the finest Surf instrumental combos on the planet – The Ghastly Ones and the Boardwalkers – to Sid’s Blue Beet. On top of that, an acoustic set by Billy Hinsche (formerly of Dino, Desi & Billy, who also recorded great versions of "Mony Mony" and "Honkin' Down the Highway" with the Beach Boys during the '70s). Billy will be performing songs in support of his new CD, Mixed Messages, along with Beach Boy related songs written with Brian Wilson and performed by Carl Wilson. A few Dino, Desi & Billy gems will be thrown in for good measure. Don't miss it! The sound will dwell into the deep pumice underneath our coastline existence. Go Go dancers will quake and shiver above the equatorial splendor of sounds right out of The Munsters theme. You just have to be there.

By BRIAN CHIDESTER and DOMENIC PRIORE

SID'S BLUE BEET – 107 21st Place, Newport Beach, California – Sunday, April 2nd from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. The Ghastly Ones, The Boardwalkers, Go Go dancers Kari French (etc.) and DJs Penelope Pitstop, Domenic Priore, and Brian Chidester – editors of Dumb Angel #4: All Summer Long. Plenty of parking next to the pier on Sunday nights.

Directions to Sid's Blue Beet:

From the Santa Ana Freeway (Interstate 5) or the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405), go to the NewportFreeway (55) and head West toward Newport Beach . . . all the way to the end. This becomes Newport Boulevard. As the road splits, bear to the right (Balboa Boulevard). Finally, make a right on West Oceanfront. Park in the lot next to the Newport Pier, which can be seen in postcard #2 from the '40s on this blog. Sid's Blue Beet is in the first alley in the brick-walled business district seen in that same postcard.

Domenic's suggestion: Spend the afternoon seeing the Balboa Fun Zone, have an early dinner in the Newport Pier area, or head to the Blue Beet at 6:00 when the Boardwalkers start playing. Sid's Blue Beet serves burgers, fish 'n' chips and a bunch of other stuff.

This is what it will look like at Sid's Blue Beet on Sunday, April 2nd, 2006
at 6:00 p.m. Don't be late!

Billy Hinsche, formerly of Dino, Desi, & Billy . . . with the cover of the soundtrack for Follow Me

Newport’s own version of Don the Beachcomber

The Modernism of Newport-Balboa Savings, 1960s

NEWPORT PHOTO TRAVELOGUE BY DUMB ANGEL #4 CO-EDITORS BRIAN CHIDESTER & DOMENIC PRIORE:

Dig the resemblance between the Charlie's menu art and Michael Dormer's classic boho mural during the credits of Muscle Beach Party

Charlie's Chili (established 1967)

Dory Fishing Fleet (established 1891)

"To live in an old shack by the sea, and breath the sweet salt air. To live with the dawn and the dusk, the new moon, and the full moon, the tides, the wind and the rain, and know the thrill of lonliness, to lose all sense of time… and be free." – eden ahbez

Collecting shells and sea creatures of this size is a competitive tradition amongst locals of Newport Beach

Oceanic book shelf of Terry Beattie (a.k.a. the Shell Guy)

21 Oceanfront Restaurant boasts a sleek Victorian dining room akin to a high-class New York City steakhouse. The paintings on the wall here are inspired by 18th Century Rococo whimsy, with hints of exotic oceana.

This painting sits above the side exit at 21 Oceanfront . . . the door dumps you out onto the pier area, with an incredible view of the ocean.

Established 1963 . . . just in time for the reign of Eddie & the Showmen

Newport Beach is home to one of the last beachside stands that offers strips . . . thee classic snack treat of surfers and beach-dwellers from the '60s.

1960s postcard drawing from the Crab Cooker. Many locals did great Beat drawings of restaurants and cafes . . . The best of these artists was Earl Newman, who drew such classic venues as Shelly’s Manne Hole, the Insomniac Café and Pacific Ocean Park . . . L.A. artist Frank Holmes employed a similar style for the front cover of Brian Wilson's 1966 Smile album. The artist signature on this postcard is Hart Lawrence. Other artworks unknown.

The Crab Cooker (established 1951) — not the Whisky a Go Go corner, but an incredible simulation . . . and much cooler these days, for sure.

A great example of the California Crazy signage genre.

Woody’s old boat sits on top o' the restaurant. All other fish & chips plates must kneel before Woody's Wharf

Mermaid tiki carving along the wall of the entrance to Woody's Wharf. Inside you can have dinner right on the Bay waters

We had a great reaction for the '60s Stuft Shirt photo from last month’s blog about Balboa. So, for all those out there clamoring for more . . . here's a color shot of the building taken in March, 2006. The restaurant is long closed, but water reflection still dances beneath the shell-curves of the cantilever roof.

Ed "Kookie" Byrnes takes his date to the Stuft Shirt building (here designated the Captain’s Grotto) in a mid-’60s issue of the 77 Sunset Strip comic book

The Balboa Pharmacy Library

2006-02-02T21:08:00.000-08:00

Why Balboa, you ask? Which town did Gilligan, Skipper, Tina Louise and the rest take off from? Where did Dick Dale & his Del-Tones, in the summer of 1961, take off from? Where did Van Dyke Parks first witness crowds of surfers pack in the Rendezvous Ballroom to see the Beach Boys one night? He witnessed this standing in front of the Prison of Socrates folk club, across the street in Balboa. And what would you say if I told you that one segment of the Pet Sounds/Wall-of-Sound musicians started life as members of the Stan Kenton Orchestra? And that their concerts at the Rendezvous are where Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and his pals would head to in the late 1940s? What locale, in the head-spinning summer of 1963, did Sports Illustrated choose to depict on its cover as the center of "The Beach Explosion in Southern California"?

Dig the Sea & Ski and Coppertone tanning lotion Pop art beach umbrellas

Let me back up for just a second. Let me tell ya how it came to me. Here's a quotation . . .

"So listen, man . . . Paul Johnson (who played his song "Mr. Moto" at the Rendezvous with his band, the Belairs) once told me this . . . are you ready? Paul Johnson said to me, 'You know Domenic, this whole California Myth thing . . . it's really neat and compelling and all. But the truth is always more bizarre and interesting.'"

Balboa Peninsula boardwalk and beach, featuring summer teen fashions from the mid-'60s — Balboa Pavilion in the background

Thus started the day I traveled with Domenic Priore through Orange County's Pacific Coast Highway selling new copies of Dumb Angel #4: All Summer Long to stores in the region. We headed down there with the intent of reminding the natives of Balboa about their groovy, locally-derived music scene.

Bay Arcade photo booth. A perfect example of how sometimes, American "Mod" outstrips the British variety, as heard in those Garage 45s from '65/'66. (Photo by Brian Chidester)

The Wet Seal clothing boutique — mid-1960s

Before you, behold the locally-produced library of Balboa history and folklore we found when we got there:

Old Balboa Island Stories from 1907 to the Millenium by Jim Jennings (No Publisher)

An old man's personal history of daily life in Balboa. However, he tells it with a sense of wisdom and inherent coolness from simply living through this quieter era, that it's to reading what listening to an Arthur Lyman album would be like.

Tales of Balboa by Jim Fournier (No Publisher)

An encyclopedia of important people and places in Balboa's history, told by the town historian. Sort of a miniature version of Los Angeles A to Z: An Encyclopedia of the City and County (University of California Press)

The Newport/Balboa Map

General Newport Beach, Balboa and Corona del Mar area map, including illustrations of key locations and a list of phone numbers for local businesses.

Newport Beach: A California Postcard History by Jeff Delaney (Arcadia Publishing)

Postcard shots of Newport/Balboa/Corona del Mar from 1900 on.

Newport Beach: Images of America by Pamela Lee Gray (Arcadia Publishing)

Archival photo paste-up book about Newport and Balboa's history. Besides a host of deserted beach shots from the Victorian Era, there are four shots of the Rendezvous from Stan Kenton period through to Dick Dale, and ultimately when it burned down in 1966.

Newport Beach by Gayle Baker, PhD (HarborTown Histories)

A linear account of how the Newport/Balboa towns developed during the early 1920s. The best re-telling of the Rendezvous Ballroom origins, and an unseen photo of the structure to boot. I would consider this to be the most literary of all the Balboa books thus far.

The Wedge DVD

Documentary of the 'Dirty ol' Wedge' . . . the spot with the most intense body-surfing experience in the Greater Los Angeles area.

Dirty Feet DVD

1965 feature film about Balboa folk singer Tim Morgon, shot on location at the Prison of Socrates coffee-house. To watch this movie is to be transported to a way of life that no longer exists, with shots of Morgon's cool girlfriend Vicki passing out flyers to surf dwellers near the Balboa Pier, and rowdy folk music enthusiasts tearing up the joint by movie's end.

We are proud that Dumb Angel #4: All Summer Long has joined these fine books and films in the Balboa Pharmacy Library

Special thanks to Mike and Tom of the Balboa Pharmacy for keepin' it real.

Balboa Pharmacy and Balboa Pavillion, 1950s

Coppertone clock relief — Balboa Pharmacy. (Photo by Domenic Priore)

Rounding out the sphere . . .

The complete collection of albums and singles on the Fink Records label (all of which were local-artist albums released out of Balboa's Prison of Socrates coffee house).

Artists include Tim Morgon ("Dirty Feet" b/w "Mike Fink") and Phil & the Flakes ("Chrome Reversed Rails" b/w "Blower Scoop," 1965).

By BRIAN CHIDESTER (with editing, ideas and lots of laughter from Domenic Priore)

More detail about Balboa can be viewed and discussed at Sponto Gallery, in Venice, on July 19, 2006. Dumb Angel will host a screening of the Dirty Feet film, plus Bob Denver's wild beatnik surf scene in For Those Who Think Young, Michael Dormer's painting during the opening credit sequence of Muscle Beach Party (soundtracked by Les Baxter) and a slide show of all the long-gone beach coffee-houses in the Greater L.A. area during the '50s and '60s (indeed, Sponto was one of them — The Venice West Café). Others featured will be the Insomniac Café in Hermosa Beach, Sid's Blue Beet in Newport Beach, Prison of Socrates in Balboa, and Café Frankenstein in Laguna Beach.

Original mural from inside the Prison of Socrates folk club, now displayed at the Balboa Historical Museum on South Bayfront Ave. The mural is in a section of the museum devoted to Balboa's folk scene during the early '60s. The display also features a selection of Tim Morgon album sleeves, one of Tim's guitars and various Prison of Socrates posters, including one for a Hoyt Axton show. (Photo by Domenic Priore/Brian Chidester)

Dirty Feet Soundtrack — Tim Morgon, Susan Renaker, John & the Bazooki Band (Fink Records LP 1007)

Never has one album so summed up the general feeling of Balboa during the early '60s than this 1965 soundtrack to the rare indie film Dirty Feet, starring folk singer Tim Morgon and his sidekick Vicki Arthur. Morgon contributes two vocal numbers, the anthemic "Dirty Feet" and the hootenanny sing-a-long "Mike Fink." What lies between these captures faithfully that rare environment between Balboa's Island, Pavilion and Pier. The "Prison of Socrates" instrumental cut is traditional Greek folk music, and sets the stage for musical references that informed the Middle Eastern exoticism of many surf instrumentals. The moody "Gamblin' Man" breaks stride with what is, otherwise, essentially a folk album . . . this being a breezy surf instrumental inflection of the night-time moon and tides. "Camping Song" sounds like surfboards sliding through the pilings . . . it works as happy music for anywhere. The Grecian formula-flavored "Odessey" rolls along with its combination of Amerian rock 'n' roll and European flair, and can be DJ'd along with any other Bosstella numbers you may prefer (not as frantic as the soundtrack to The Day the Fish Came Out, but on the way there). Next up, the instrumental backing track to Tim's vocal number "Dirty Feet" works as somber 12-string guitar "walking music." Susan Renaker's "Summertime Wine" sounds like an ode to Joan Baez, with a strong falsetto vocal landing somewhere between "Kum-Baya" and an exotica siren. (NOTE: "Summertime Wine" is the title of a book that Tim Morgon is reading during the opening credits of Dirty Feet, his feet set on a bamboo table with empty bottles.) "Angel's Camp" could refer to the Sunset Strip-esque Pop and Op shop, at 614 N. Doheny Drive back then, or, someplace in the San Gabriel mountains. Either way, it's killer surf. "Cotton Candy" mind checks the prime dietary capital of the Balboa Fun Zone, and is a romatic surfer's mood number. It's followed by a slowed-down version of "Odessey" and a chugging Folk instrumental rendering of "Mike Fink." The "Dirty Feet" theme is reprised vocally by Morgon in a profound, slowed-down version, and the LP closes. Generally speaking, the Dirty Feet soundtrack employs the same placid moodiness found in the Mar-Kets' "Balboa Blue" single, only spread across an entire album. Though the whole affair might seem like a mind-altering trip to some lost astral plane, when you watch the film and walk around the town of Balboa, you get a sense that it is all really real, and that this type of music poured into the streets on any given 1964 night.

BRIAN CHIDESTER / DOMENIC PRIORE

The Prison of Socrates Building Today. (Photo by Domenic Priore)

DIRTY FEET — LYRICS

Dirty feet, dirty feet . . .
Say that youth and life are much too sweet,
To be bound or confined.
Shoes are things that steal my peace of mind.

I want to feel the good earth under me,
The warmth of the sand beneath my toes.
Even mud squish when it rains,
It's my life and I don't care who knows.

Let me be foot loose and free,
Then with music every step will sound . . .
Though I walk with my head in the clouds,
My feet will be on solid ground.

Dirty feet, dirty feet . . .
Tell of summertime that was too fleet.
Soon enough, I will be,
Saying 'fare thee well' to liberty.

But now I must run barefoot through grass,
And find what waits over the hill.
Skipping puddles in the rain,
There's part of me that's a kid still.

I am sure as can be,
Lots of folks would find life more complete . . .
If they took off their shoes for a while,
And ran around in dirty feet.

Happy dirty feet!

— "Dirty Feet," by Tim Morgon, 1964

Barefoot Action — '50s Balboa Fun Zone — You can almost hear 'Surf Beat' just by looking at this shot!

Sublime, early Psychedelic Surf Pastiche Washout disc, 1965

THE BEST OF FINK . . .

From Christopher Peake's column "Take a Walk on the WARPED side," in his 1984-1986 'zine 45-45

Phil & the Flakes "Chrome Reversed Rails" b/w "Blower Scoop" (Fink 1010)

A long-time favorite, it's the label copy that gets your attention right off (see photo copy). This demented surfer (P. Pearlman is the writer's name for both sides) is putting on a joke; it can only be. Top side starts out with what gives the listener the impression is going to be a good Surf instrumental tune, but then we get a two-part vocal group coming in and adding more to the intro, and then Phil comes on with his opening line; "When I go surfin', my baby loves me so, she loves my chrome rails, how they gleam and they glow; . . . It's my chrome reverse rails, woe-oh, that stuck my baby on me; . . . shoo-be-do-wah-pa-do-wah" (it's just gotta be heard)!! All this is going on with the two-part female "vocal backup" now doing it up to a true "warp level 13," with one part singing in unison with Phil on his lines, and one part which resembles (for lack of better likeness coming to mind), doing some Turkish harem-trip kind of high warbling part!? The lyrics remain just as cool throughout, until the mid-break, which sports some of the hottest Surf-guitar playing ever laid down!! "Blower Scoop" is right in the same groove (with another super Surf-guitar break), but the lyrics maybe get evermore far out there (if that's possible). We know you don't believe us . . . (editor's note: . . . so check out the incredible Surf comp Wax 'Em Down for a good repress of the flip).

— CHRISTOPHER PEAKE, 1985

"It seems that Phil and his pals were cruisin' to drag and get in a quarter mile showdown with a rod equipped with a blower scoop. Well, just as the scooped coupe is about to pass, Phil's buddy throws his ICE CREAM CONE into the oncoming supercharger and puts the kibosh on the guy's mill! This genius platter is on Fink Records, who obviously felt proud enough of Beardo Weirdo Phil to put his hairy mug on the label." — Deke Dickerson and Johnny Bartlett, from the liner notes of Wax 'Em Down, 1995.

Phil & the Flakes were a house band in 1965/1966 at Sid's Blue Beet, on the North end of the Balboa peninsula, near the Newport Beach pier.

Listen to "Chrome Reversed Rails" at Pegg Records.

For the full story of Phil & the Flakes, plus other related projects from this artist, checkout The Beat of the Earth.

Photo by Brian Chidester

The Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa . . .

The two most important live recordings from the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa can be heard on these records:

LEFT: The Original Rendezvous Ballroom / RIGHT: The Rendezvous building today. (New photo by Domenic Priore)

The Kenton Era — Stan Kenton (Capitol EOX 569). The opening eight numbers from this definitive early-'50s release were recorded live at the Rendezvous from July through September of 1941. The selections include "Artistry In Rhythm," "Two Moods," "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good," "Lamento Gitano," "Reed Rapture," "La Cumparsita," "St. James Infirmary" and "Arkansas Traveler". "With the college and high school crowd that colonized the little resort town on weekends, holidays and vacations," wrote Bud Freeman, "the young Kenton was an immediate success. Red Dorris, tenor saxist and vocalist, became a local idol within a few weeks. Howard Rumsey, who played amplified bass with spastic abandon, was known by his first name to every Jazz enthusiast in the area." Rumsey later held sway with his Lighthouse All-Stars at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach. The Kenton band would nourish, through the '40s and '50s, the school of musicians later referred to in Jazz circles as West Coast Cool.

Surfer's Choice — Dick Dale & his Del-Tones. Released in early 1963, this collection is crucial to any Surf music collection. Most, if not all of the tracks were recorded live at the Rendezvous, including the insane "Surf Beat" (lots of great audience noise that pushes the actual content of the record), "Sloop John B.," "Let's Go Trippin'," "Surfin' Drums" (a takeoff on Bo Diddley's "Hush Your Mouth"), "Mr. Peppermint Man" and the expanded guitar workout "Miserlou Twist". Some of the Del-Tone 45s ("Jungle Fever," notably) also feature the Rendezvous in rapture.

— DOMENIC PRIORE

The Stuft Shirt Resaurant

Balboa Blues — A lounge piano album featuring the bar room keyboard masters from the Stuft Shirt, Berkshire’s and the Reuben E. Lee restaurants. Side one opens with a cool cocktail take on “Satin Doll,” and ends with a night/tide version of “Girl from Ipanema.” Side two starts out with some standard Broadway fare, including “Hello Dolly,” sprung from the Reuben E. Lee (a riverboat/restaurant out to sea). Best of all, the piano lounge players are boarded on Balboa’s Ferry Boat (with a grand piano) for the album cover. — BRIAN CHIDESTER

"Henry Mancini keeps a boat here." — from the liner notes to Balboa Blues, Mark 56 Records, mid-'60s.

Reuben E. Lee Matchbook

TRIBUTES TO BALBOA

"Balboa Memories" b/w "Long Way Home" by the Breakers (Marsh 206)

What you have here is a Cascades-esque trip through the teenage hot-spots and inherent romanticism of Balboa, circa 1963. The Breakers slide effortlessly through a swirl of vocal harmonies and lyrics which suggest the whole city of Balboa was once akin to the P.O.P. theme park in Venice (with mentions of the Fun Zone, Bay Arcade, Ferry Boat and the Jolly Roger). The backing track is mid-tempo and Modern, bringing images of mini-yachts, cotton candy and sea shells to mind. Their world must have seemed perfect. — BRIAN CHIDESTER

"Those Memories of You" by the Bobby Fuller 4

Written by Jim Pewter, his original 1964 demo appeared on Surfin' Roots in 1977. Pewter produced another cool version with Dick Dale for GNP-Crescendo in 1975.

Ace local photos of Balboa from a resident can be viewed and purchased at www.TalesOfBalboa.com

Dumb Angel Readers,

I thought I should share this with you. Brian Chidester and I went to Orange County on a Monday afternoon in January, and it was just empty . . . "off season" for these beach towns. We did our sales thing, but the sky had this forever sunset that was just amazing . . . Catalina fully visible over the Dana Point/Laguna Beach area . . . and while the sun was dipping outta sight, we crossed from Balboa Island to Balboa on the Ferry, looking West . . . Without cueing it, we just happened to be listening to "Busy Doin' Nothin'"and "Diamond Head" from the Beach Boys 1968 Friends (!) album while on the Ferry boat, floating on the water, in the car. Outtasight!!! . . . to hear those steel guitars and percussion emulating volcanoes . . . true Brian Wilson Exotica music on a slow boat. Here's Chidester's e-mail to me the day after. I think you'll appreciate the sentiment in it.

— DOMENIC PRIORE

LEFT: The Balboa Ferry in the 1960s / RIGHT: The Ferry Today. (New photo by Domenic Priore)

I'm still riding high from that trip yesterday. I was just so sad and overwhelmed by how amazing Southern California once was. But zoning in on just the cool elements and having that music in the background, it melted my heart and made me long so hard for the days when beach houses and mini-yachts looked the way "Let Him Run Wild" sounded. Crossing that empty street on Balboa Blvd. to walk into the pharmacy . . . I had the most odd feeling. It was as though the wind was whipping some salt-air comfort over me, whistling the tunes of Tim Morgon out of the Prison of Socrates and Dick Dale playing "Greenback Dollar" from the Rendezvous. I felt so at home talking to that local in the Pharmacy and looking at the books and the homemade documentary about the Wedge. How could I get that sense? I never lived through 1963. I felt the way a scientist must feel when he makes a discovery that he knows is so profound, yet is going to be impossible to explain to the outside world. It was really heavy. Hard to even put into words. If we would have heard Jill Gibson's "Easy As 1, 2, 3" last night after eating at Woody's Wharf, I would have cried. Seriously. I would have balled my eyes out. I felt so emotional about SoCal last night . . . it was ridiculous. Such a cool day.

— BRIAN CHIDESTER

1st Record / 1st Concert

2006-01-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

Domenic Priore's early record buying, live show experiences and 1969 Garage band photo (The Blockbusters) from Art Fein's website: http://www.sofein.com/mess/2005/fm0705.html

Dumb Angel at Mollusk, San Francisco

2006-01-10T19:20:00.000-08:00

When Brian Chidester and I headed North from Los Angeles to San Francisco for the Rick Griffin, Frank Holmes and John McCambridge art show at Mollusk, it looked real gloomy. I mean, I'd lived in San Francisco for six years and had never seen the sky so dark. And, it was a torrential downpour of a tropical storm. Man, we thought this event was sure to be a bust. None of the San Francisco newspapers or weeklies had covered this display of pre-Fillmore Rick Griffin work, which only bolstered my general disdain for the self-enamored Bill Graham/Grateful Dead boosterism still left over in the city. Yes, it looked grim, very grim in the dead of winter for this All Summer Long art show.

However, once we got inside, the gloom ended real quick. McCambridge and Chidester got the Rick Griffin art up in a flash, Frank Holmes had his wall lookin' fantastic, the DJ gear was up, the oil lamp groove was on the ceiling, and the people started pouring inside from the pouring rain outside (at around 7 p.m.) We all got warm and interior together, with Mollusk feeling like the inside of Winnie the Pooh's tree. I gave the cat in the upstairs overlook the Surf movies, which he projected on a huge upper wall just beneath the oil lamp show on the ceiling.

By now, I was well down with DJing all this stuff... I brought 4 boxes of rare Surf instrumental singles I'd bought off of Bob Dalley when he needed the bread to publish his book Surfin' Guitars, plus a stack of similar rare Surf movie soundtracks -- Harry Betts' The Fantastic Plastic Machine, Lalo Schifrin's Gone With The Wave, the Sandals' Last of the Ski Bums, Dominic Frontiere's On Any Sunday and the Stu Phillips / Dino, Desi & Billy Psych/Surf/Pastiche masterpiece Follow Me.

All was goin' cool, and by my guesstimate, about 200 people showed up. It was swingin'... Mollusk seems to have its own, built-in crowd of relaxed, 1969-style Surf people who do not remind me of anyone I see in the water in Southern California these days. They seem to carry the same calm, confident smile on their faces that the P.S. I Love You -- Palm Springs, California celestial sun bumpersticker carried in '69... somewhere between Mod and that first Crosby, Stills & Nash LP vibe. John McCambridge has designed the interior of his shop with a really cool paint job on the circular interior windows, and it runs down to all elements of his shop, right down to the table loaded with great new T-shirts by both John McCambridge and Thomas Campbell, the artist responsible for Paul Frank's line last summer. A few of Campbell's prints were for sale up front, as well.

Some of my friends who showed up included French singer/songwriter Helene Renaut, whose minimalist combo Beam is a recent fave, Brett from the Flakes and his gang of pals, Mike Markesich (from New York, compiler of the Teenage Shutdown series) and his gal-friend Sherry Lowinger. Paul Grushkin, author of both
The Art of Rock and The Art of Modern Rock dropped in with some ace commentary, and New York City public releations man Sal Cataldi drove all the way in from his vacation in Lake Tahoe (despite bunk weather) to make the event. Also present was Alec Palao, who I always call "the guy who put together the Zombies box set" but in fact has done much, much more than that for Ace Records. This includes the bitchen Nuggets From The Golden State series... for my money, the best music to have come out of San Francisco during the '60s (i.e., tons of Folk-Rock and Garage from Autum Records, usually produced by Sly Stone).

With Alec present, it gave me the charge to play a whole hour or so of Psychedelic Surf Pastiche Washout stuff like "Mrs. Bluebird" by Eternity's Children, "Just Can't Wait" by the Full Treatment and "Awake in a Dream" by the Giant Jellybean Copout. Lots of Psych/Pop romp. During all this, Brian Chidester played host of the art show, describing to all who were asking the connection between Griffin's early work and the comical, thematic Psychedelia of Frank Holmes' work for the Beach Boys' unreleased Smile album. Brian Chidester was able to use the music in the air to draw a narrative line from early Surf to early Sunshine Psych.

Next was a Soul music set (beginning with Billy Stewart's "Summertime") by my pal Dennis Cabuco from the band Harold Ray Live in Concert! (a bunch of Garage/Mods if that makes sense... just a wild band to dance to, o.k.?) As the show went late into the evening, we brought out one special film clip that made sense of it all. I was still spinning records (cooling out the room with Nick DeCaro's A&M version of "Caroline, No"), and as I cued the 45 "It's As Easy as I, 2, 3" by Jill Gibson, we played Mike Dormer's opening credit sequence to Muscle Beach Party. This huge painting may still be lost, or somewhere in some drifting-through-corporate-space archive in A.I.P.'s fragmented years of being bought out and split up. But here on film, we were able to enjoy pans, sweeps and zooms of all the characters Beatnik/Surfer Dormer threw together in his brilliant Hot Curl style. The remaining crowd (it was after midnight) stood around kind of stunned... it was a true moment of awareness, all of us caught up in a swell of sound and vision, all of us looking at the same thing and realizing where this all came from, how it all happened, and how it was so common, yet so rare in our midst. Frank Holmes could not believe what he was seeing, and the film guy in the crow's nest (Tyler) just nodded to Brian Chidester, like... "got it!" Mollusk Surf Shop & Gallery really gave us the opportunity to bring the spirit of these cartoonish Surf characters from 1960-1966 alive, and we all became amoeba Surf dwellers throbbing in the sounds of the dwell knob.

Jan & Dean-related material that helped kick in the groove:

"La Corrida" by the Matadors (co-written, arranged, and produced by Jan Berry, Colpix Records, 1963)

"The Theme From Leon's Garage (Hal Records Scab Dates There)" (produced by Dean Torrence and arranged by Gary Zekley, on Dean's Bre'r Bird Records, 1965)

DOMENIC PRIORE
Founder / Co-Editor of Dumb Angel No. 4: All Summer Long
Author of Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece (Sanctuary Publishing), 2005

Welcome to the Dumb Angel Weblog

2006-01-07T15:11:00.000-08:00

This is where we'll provide occasional descriptions and updates of Dumb Angel related events.