We take a look at those camp kings the Cramps and their early music illustrating their success by playing the original songs by the original artists, the Cramps demos and live bootlegs and then finally contrast those efforts with the final album version.
Then blast head first into the first two albums with Sunglasses After Dark, Mystery Plane, Twist and Shout which ends up released as Drug Train.
Finally, we look at the tracks from Psychedelic Jungle. Jungle Hop, the Crusher, and Rocking Bones.
Geta master class in the Cramps and the cover songs that made them famous.
Listen to the growth and evolution of Cramps classics from their first EP such as Human Fly, The Way I Walk and Domino or the ULTRA RARE Red Headed Woman from the same sessions.
The Cramps "Human Fly" short 16mm film promo by Alex de Laszlo shot in New York City circa, 1978. I dig how instead of the film makers going for the obvious, and attempt to literally illustrate the lyrics, they just chose to use the images with the weird creepy vibe of the song.
If you still remain uncertain as to the the impact the Cramps have had on Rock & Roll, Henry Rollins lays forth a very certain viewpoint for you to at least dig a little further. The greatest thing about Henry is how he still comes across in this monologue as a music fan first despite his years as a successful front man himself.
In Canada, our version of MTV was MuchMusic. Originally, just as MTV did, MuchMusic were all about the music and videos, before alas, becoming a tween/teen lifestyle channel, then finally cancelled by its new owner Bell Media. One thing that MuchMusic did well was to promote music that wasn't necessarily mainstream at the time.
In advance of their concert at the Masonic Temple in Toronto in May of 1990, Lux and Ivy interview with Erica Ehm, who, em . . . seems a little unsure of what to make of the pair. Still an entertaining video package.
As far as concert films go the famed and notorious "Live at Napa State Mental Hospital" is perhaps the most incredible, ballsy and original concert ever recorded. The Cramps performed a free concert given for the patients at the California State Mental Hospital in Napa, CA, on June 13, 1978, a time when Napa was more known for the hospital than for its burgeoning wine industry.
Once upon a time, a hospital castle was Napa Valley’s centerpiece Kirk Kirkpatrick Feb 20, 2018 provides the reader with a fantastic and sympathetic history of the grounds, the castle and programs offered to the less fortunate amongst us. Well worth the read.
The videotape of The Cramps performing the free show for the patients at The Napa Hospital was intended initially as strictly a documentary. How the tape changed hands to become released by Target Video is widely disputed, what's not is the authenticity of the band and more importantly the that of the audio members.
The videotape was recorded on a 1/2" Sony Portapak, B/W camera, and single microphone. This equipment was some of the first of its kind to be made available for public or consumer use. The release version we have was taken from an original VHS tape and then colourized by an avid fan. Don't expect anything more than amateurish camera work, but you should expect to see a band who were not afraid or put off by the audience putting on s show of shows. Hint: while Lux and Ivy are synonymous with the band, watch Bryan Gregory on the left hand side of the stage . . . He's the master distortion and fuzz.
Playlist
In this episode we take a look at the history of one of the most recognized and widely covered surf songs -- Misirlou.
Dick Dale
Taken from the film "A Swingin Affair" released in 1963. The band also performs another tune in the film but its not as good.
Spliced together from clips taken from the movie "Pulp Fiction" this version is sonically the same, simply using the originally recorded studio track and setting it to the film clips.
We trace the song from its origin as a middle eastern folk song in the 1920's through to its re-invention as a modern day surf classic from Dick Dale, to its impact on cinema goers as the theme song for Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction.
Learn to Play Misirlou
In this short clip you'll learn the basics of how to play the classic on the electric guitar.
In this Misirlou guitar lesson, I will show you to play this Dick Dale classic note-for-note.
We will be using standard tuning. The most obvious technique used by Dick Dale throughout "Misirlou" is the rapid fire tremolo picking. In order to accomplish this and also make the guitar tone brighter, he chose to pick very close to the bridge.
Picking very close to the bridge makes the string feel tighter, which in turn can make it a bit easier to rapidly pick the string.
You will need a lot of endurance to make it through the entire song. The most important thing to remember is to try and keep your right hand wrist and forearm as relaxed as possible. That is very difficult to do because the picking is almost non-stop. "Misirlou" is a great exercise in staying relaxed during fast picking passages.
There is also a short chord section where the guitar takes a rhythm guitar approach underneath a trumpet solo. I will show you the chords used during this section of the song and it gives a chance for you to relax your picking hand a bit.
So I hope you enjoy learning this surf rock guitar workout!
Carl...
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