Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Sebastian and the House Rockers - Nobody Can Do The Dog Like I Do


What we have here is a nifty little record that's a medley of Rufus Thomas's "The Dog" and The Isley Brothers' "Nobody But Me". And it makes for a nice, pounding stomper indeed. Not sure what year it was released but, given the ground it covers, I'd guess sometime around 1963.

Sebastian is on his own vocally, through "The Dog". There's some good guitar, the occasional horn and a big drum beat. And there are also the obligatory barking dog sound effects. Then, the bridge leads into "Nobody But Me", where ol' Sebastian is joined by some back up singers. And of course, in this version, the dog is one of the dances nobody can do like him.

What impresses me most about the record is the ultra crude, lo-fi sound that's drenched in echo. Or is that reverb? Hell, I'm not even sure but the whole thing goes together with terrific results. It's lo-fi, yet manages to sound big.

Info on Sebastian and the House Rockers is pretty dodgy. All that I really have to go on is the Richmond, VA address on the label. Maybe someone out there knows more.

Find it and slap it on at your next house party.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

They were a Richmond, VA band and the song was from 1963. Beyond that, I can't add anything except that I, too, have a copy! Flip side has a great misspelling!!

Anonymous said...

I was in a band at that time, and Sebastian & The House Rockers mainly played in the Tidewater area (Norfolk, Ocean View, Va. Beach, etc.). I am from Richmond, and I always thought this band was a Norfolk group. During the time I was working in the same area (summer, '64) I saw them at the Peppermint Beach Club in Va. Beach and the Jolly Roger in Ocean View.
The thing about that record is it has a 'live sound' that is exactly like many bands sounded during the period - Fender amps, column speakers for PA, etc. Being a sax player, the thing that always struck me about this group was the great two-tenor sax sound they always had.

Elle' Wiggins said...

Correct, Sebastian and The Houserockers are from Norfolk, Va. I would know best, because Sebastian Williams is my uncle

Anonymous said...

This was an excellent band. We went to see them many times at the Ebb Tide in Va Beach. Sebastian was a character! Always joking and fooling around. I'll remember them always and "Walking the Dog."
jB

Anonymous said...

I heard Sabastian and the House Rockers many times at a Sunday jam session at Howard's Steak House on Jefferson Davis Hwy, Richmond, Va. In 1963,1964. Loved watching him.
Ron

Anonymous said...

Joe ,really knows best. There were a lot of those William kids. I watched them rehears at his apartment on 40th and Parker Ave ,in Lamberts Point many times. The Saxaphone player grew up on 45th street. General Johnson was from a section of Norfolk call Huntersville, but when he got his call to Motown, he also was living in Lamberts Point on 41st street . I grew up in the Point and I knew them all. They all will be missed, but not forgotten

Unknown said...

Yep Norfolk VA I love my uncle Pluto and his favorite fan was little Rob

Skippah said...

I was a fan of Sebastian and the House Rockers when I lived in Norfolk, VA in the early 60s. In those days we could get into live music bars like The Ebb Tide by posing as 18, when it was legal to buy 3.2% beer (they stamped the back of our hands with a luminous green mark to distinguish us from the 21+ folks 😂. Anyway, I remember well their sax harmonies, but my favorite was Sebastian’s guitarist, who played through a Magnatone amp that produced a synthetic Leslie Cabinet sound using a pitch shifting vibrato feature. With it he duplicated the guitar sound in the early 1964 hit by The Tams, “What Kind of Fool (Do YouThink I Am)” (in 1969 Bill Diehl and the Rhondels successfully covered it). Those were the days, my Friend 🥰