Here's a little pre-Halloween nugget for you, one I hope you will enjoy. It comes from a man who Gene Vincent once said "was gonna be a big star." Unfortunately, like so many other hopefuls, it didn't happen. But he did leave some tasty, raucous 45s for us to savor, of which this was one. The person in question is named Gene Summers.
Summers is better known to fans of rockabilly due to his recordings on the Dallas record Jan ("School of Rock & Roll, "Nervous, "Gotta Lotta That" (a personal fave)) and Capri ("Alabama Shake," another fave). In his early days, he performed with a virtual catalog of stars including Ronnie Hawkins and a whole host of others. This particular recording was made in 1966, originally for Major Bill Smith's Charay label. It was picked up for wider distribution by Mercury, which is the 45 on display here.
The song itself is a frantic piece with lots of organ, pounding bass, chirping guitar and frenetic drums. It's all about the monster of the title who comes around to make young lovers believe in lies. "But if you trust the one you love," and all your love is true, then the monster will hang his head in shame "and slink away from you." Doesn't sound too scary to me, but at least it's still a cool song. I hope you think so, too.
2 comments:
Never knew that Summers had made the 'big' time.
I'll post up his 'garage' disc on Tear Drop on eventually.
It's a great track I might have to include it on a Halloween podcast
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