Shakin' the Blue Cheer Family Tree Deux

SAVAGE RESURRECTION - S/T (1968)

This platter, made by a Pack of Phucked Up Phurry Phreaks from Richmond, California was recommended to me by none other than Nick Saloman, aka Bevis Frond-- no, I don't know the fucking guy, but he dropped their name so many times in early interviews that I knew I hadda get my mitts on a copy if they wuz even close to being the uncrowned acid-deities he claimed they wuz.

Well... chalk one up for Nick-- imagine, if you will, a Hendrix-damaged combo with the feral intensity of the MC5, ceptin' in this case, ya got Randy Holden subbing for Sonic Smith on second six-string ear-shreddin'. Matter of fact, before the advent of the intraweb, it was whispered in reverent tones that it wuz indeed Master Holden providing some hot licks uncredited-- which I'm assuming is due to the fact that one guit-fiddler bears the first name Randy-- Randy Hammon, that is, who also happened to be Blue Cheer skin-basher Paul Whaley's cousin. To further cloud matters, this here LP was produced by Abe "Voco" Kesh, sound-sculptor of "Vincebus Eruptum." The truth is that Mr. Hammon and bandmates Bill Harper (vox), John Palmer (lead guitar), Steve Lage (bass) and Jeff Myer (drums) were too busy executing the classic one-album-then-crash-n-burn-to-total-public-indifference cliché to even wonder who the hell Randy Holden was.

Punkified mind-shaker "Thing in 'E'," vaguely reminiscent of the Who's "Young Man Blues," kicks things off in fine style with killer call-and-response vocal/guitar trade-offs and thee most excellent "done me wrong" chest-beating refrain, "My world's better than your world." From there, they delve into them mournful, Honky Voodoo Blues with leaden, wah-wah'd to Saturn guitar riffs on the effervescent "Tahitian Melody"-- exquisite downer rock for drug casualties everywhere. But fuck it, the songwriting here is almost an afterthought-- they were bashed out in a week due to record company pressure for original material. As far as I'm concerned, the main attraction here is the perpetual axe-duelin' of Messrs. Hammon/Palmer.

Very seldom does one of 'em stick to strummin'-- they're impatient bastards, champing at the bit to get the fingers flyin', and when they do, the result is nothing short of psychedelic sorcery. I have no idea if they gave two shits about Ornette Coleman or harmolodics, but with their total disregard for stomping all over each other's lead breaks, they create a reasonable facsimile of "free" playing-- albeit within far more primitive song structures than one associates with jazz. Don't matter though, the effect is the same; their solos are divergent pieces of music that stand on their own. In particular, check out how they bob 'n' weave around each other in the otherwise banal, "Jammin':" Palmer provides some thick, heavily sustained notes while Hammon's fingers shimmy all over the fretboard creating a mutant counterpoint that somehow never becomes a nerve-rattlin' trainwreck of masturbatory excess.

This is one "undiscovered gem" that not only lives up to the hype, it exceeds it. Look in the comments and come on back and tell me whatcha think.