Tuesday, October 25, 2005


Another awesome record I found at the Truro dump is this (sans this poorly designed jacket cover) one- "Bang Bang , You're Terry Reid". I took it for the cover of "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot me Down)", which was recently made popular by the Kill Bill soundtrack. His take is fucking heavy and rad. On first listen I thought he must have been the singer for one of those famous heavy rock british bands who with this record was trying to strike out solo. Not quite. Terry's band was called the Jaywalkers, and though they toured with the Stones and had some British fame, they never broke through in the States. Terry hung around with and toured with the best of that era's band- Cream, the Yardbirds, Small Faces, etc., but never quite made it with them musically. He was very nearly hired as the vocalist for Led Zeppelin but lost the spot at the 11th hour to you-know-who. After that disappointment it was nearly a straight shot to state-side oblivion and the limey Pub-rock hero circuit (God, first "The Office", now this.. am I becoming an anglo-freak?). Anyway, Zeppelin-like vocals can be heard here, as well as elements that might remind you of Blue Cheer (a searing version of Summertime Blues) or early Slade. There's also a cover of Donovan's psych classic "Season of the Witch", on which Reid tries so hard to distinguish his phrasing from that of the far more mellow troubadour that it's rendered nearly incoherent. Fantastic.

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