Garage rock is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is characterized by basic chord structures played on electric guitars and other instruments, sometimes distorted through a fuzzbox, as well as often unsophisticated and occasionally aggressive lyrics and delivery. Its name derives from the perception that groups were often made up of young amateurs who rehearsed in the family garage, although many were professional.
"Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a standard in pop and rock. The song is based on the tune "El Loco Cha Cha" popularized by bandleader René Touzet and is an example of Afro-Cuban influence on American popular music.
Herman's Hermits are an English rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester and fronted by singer Peter Noone. Known for their jaunty beat sound and Noone's often tongue-in-cheek vocal style, the Hermits charted with numerous transatlantic hits in the UK and in America, where they ranked as one of the most successful acts in the Beatles-led British Invasion. Between March and August 1965 in the States, the group logged twenty-four consecutive weeks in the Top Ten of Billboard's Hot 100 with five singles, including the two number ones "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and "I'm Henry VIII, I Am". Their other international Sixties hits include "I'm into Something Good", "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", the two covers "Silhouettes" and "Wonderful World", "A Must to Avoid", "There's a Kind of Hush", "I Can Take or Leave Your Loving", "Something's Happening" and "My Sentimental Friend", all of which were produced by Mickie Most. They also appeared in four films, two of which were vehicles for the band.
The Kingsmen are a 1960s American rock band from Portland, Oregon. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the Billboard charts for six weeks and has become an enduring classic.
Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era is a compilation album of American psychedelic and garage rock singles that were released during the mid-to-late 1960s. It was created by Lenny Kaye, who was a writer and clerk at the Village Oldies record shop in New York. He would later become the lead guitarist for the Patti Smith Group. Kaye produced Nuggets under the supervision of Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman. Kaye conceived the project as a series of roughly eight LP installments focusing on different US regions, but Elektra convinced him that one double album would be more commercially viable. It was released on LP by Elektra in 1972 with liner notes by Kaye that contained one of the first uses of the term "punk rock". It was reissued with a new cover design by Sire Records in 1976. In the 1980s, Rhino Records issued Nuggets in a series of fifteen installments, and in 1998 as a 4-cd box set.
The Shadows of Knight were an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, that played a version of British blues influenced by their native city. When they began recording in 1965, the band's self-description was "the Stones, Animals and the Yardbirds took the Chicago blues and gave it an English interpretation. We've taken the English version of the Blues and re-added a Chicago touch," to which rock critic Richie Unterberger commented: "The Shadows of Knight's self-description was fairly accurate."
Vince Taylor, born Brian Maurice Holden, was an English-American rock and roll singer. As the lead singer of Vince Taylor and His Playboys, sometimes Vince Taylor and the Playboys, he was successful primarily in France and other parts of Continental Europe during the late 1950s and early 1960s, afterwards falling into obscurity amidst personal problems and drug abuse. He is best remembered for his 1959 song "Brand New Cadillac", which the Clash covered on their album London Calling. He was among the inspirations for David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust character.
Bobbie Clarke was an English rock drummer. He was regarded by critics as an important figure in the configuration of early British rock and roll, although he is often chiefly remembered for his long term association as the drummer with Vince Taylor and the Playboys.
Washington, D.C.'s Slickee Boys' third "proper" album, Uh Oh… No Breaks! was released on LP and cassette in March 1985 by Twin/Tone with the catalog number TTR 8544. Almost half of the album is re-recorded versions of songs they had previously released. There are cover version of songs originally by the French band the Dogs, 1960s garage band the Squires, Perry Como, and D.C. all-star punkers the Afrika Korps.
The Premiers were an American garage band in the 1960s, best known for their 1964 hit, "Farmer John."
Herman's Hermits on Tour is the second album released in the US and Canada by MGM Records for the band Herman's Hermits. It was released in 1965. The cover drawing was by Jim Spanfeller and the design was credited to Michael Malatak.
A Postcard from the Day is the second live album by the Washington, D.C. band The Slickee Boys. The album, compiled by guitarist Marshall Keith, collects recordings from 1980 to 1982, taken from shows in Maryland, Virginia, D.C., and New York City.
"Road Runner" is a 12-bar blues song performed by American rock and roll performer Bo Diddley, originally released as a single by Checker Records in January 1960, and later released on the LP record Bo Diddley in the Spotlight. The song reached #20 on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B Sides chart, and #75 on the Hot 100. The song has since been recorded by many artists.
The Daily Flash are an American folk rock and psychedelic band founded in 1965, active until 1968 and reformed in 2002. originally based in Seattle and later in Los Angeles. The group was composed of guitarist/singer Steve Lalor, lead guitarist Doug Hastings, bass player/singer Don MacAllister and drummer Jon Keliehor. According to Mike Stax, they "had become a major force in the growing Seattle underground scene by 1965." Their sound, which incorporated elements of folk music and jazz as well as rock stood in contrast to the garage rock sound typical of the Pacific Northwest at the time, anticipating the sound that came to be identified with San Francisco.
Jack Brown Ely was an American guitarist and singer, best known for singing the Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie". Classically trained in piano, he began playing guitar after seeing Elvis Presley on television. In 1959, he co-founded the Kingsmen and with them recorded "Louie Louie" in 1963; Ely's famously incoherent vocals were partly the result of his braces and the rudimentary recording method. Before the record became a hit Ely was forced out of the group and began playing with his new band, the Courtmen. Ely died in Terrebonne, Oregon, on April 28, 2015, at age 71.
"Farmer John" is a song written by Don "Sugarcane" Harris and Dewey Terry, and first recorded by the two as the American R&B duo Don and Dewey, in 1959. Although the original version of the composition did not receive much attention, it was reinvigorated by the garage rock band the Premiers, whose raving remake of the song was released in 1964. The song's raw and partying atmosphere was immensely popular, reaching number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. Following the group's national success, several additional interpretations of "Farmer John" were released, making the tune a classic of garage rock.
Don and the Goodtimes were an American garage rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon, United States, in 1964. Fronted by Don Gallucci, former keyboardist of the Kingsmen, the group made a name for itself in the Northwest rock scene performing in a similar style as their contemporaries the Wailers and the Sonics. Over time, Don and the Goodtimes honed their vocal harmonies and earned two hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967, including their biggest hit "I Could Be So Good to You". The band released their album, So Good, and later experimented with psychedelia under the moniker Touch before disbanding in 1969.
The Iguanas were an American garage rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1963. Beginning as a duo, the group is best-remembered as the launching pad for the musical career of influential punk rock artist Iggy Pop. The band was one of the most popular acts in Michigan during 1965, and recorded one single, a cover version of Bo Diddley's "Mona", along with additional material later released on compilation albums.
Into Something Good: The Mickie Most Years 1964–1972 is a 4-CD box set by British pop group Herman's Hermits, released 2008 on EMI.
