The Darts - Hollywood Drag
released on LP
I was browsing through one of those "community garage sales" which was actually more like a swap meet where people from almost all over town gathered in a parking lot to sell their stuff. People would have their own spots usually with a couple of tables and their vehicle behind them. I came across a couple who had a couple of boxes of records. Most of the records were easy listening or sort of "space age pop" material. They did have three records I wanted to buy and the record featured in this post was one of them. The price of each record was $1.
At first, I thought this was a car sounds record as I didn't look at it closely enough. The liner notes only list drag racing terms and their definitions such as "drop the hammer", "put the can in", "haulin' mother", "feather footed", etc. along with a brief background of drag racing. It would be nifty to have another record of car noises as you know by now I like these things if you've been visiting this blog for a while. This turned out differently than I expected.
The LP is actually an album of early rock 'n' roll instrumentals which the style is referred to as hot rod music on the back cover. No date of release was given, but I'm guessing early 1960s. I'm not really disappointed that this wasn't what I thought it was as I actually enjoy this LP. I'm fond of the fifth track, "Monkey Do" where a tape containing a guitar part sounds like it's been slowed down while all the other parts seems to be at the correct speed; perhaps an early attempt at studio experimentation. Yes, there are car noises mixed with the music. Since summer is almost here in the northern half of the planet (for those in the southern half, stay warm), it is a good time as any to bring out this LP as the music was made for doing fun outdoor activities like cruising, making people envious by showing off one's hot rod, and drag racing as already mentioned.
Tracklisting: (link will be back soon)
Side 1
1. Alky Burner {2:28}
2. Top Eliminator {2:16}
3. Hippy's Delight {2:19}
4. Street Machine {1:43}
5. Monkey Do {2:14}
6. Gaucho {2:00}
Side 2
1. Slauson & Soto {1:28}
2. Detroit Iron/Hollywood Drag {4:10}
3. Cruisin' {1:46}
4. Shop Talk {1:40}
5. Corn Pone {2:08}
1963
ReplyDeleteThis LP is actually worth $25-$50 in VG condition (which is a lot lower quality than Mint or VG+ -- LPs of higher quality would go for more money). The LP cover looks like it's in great shape (another plus, pricewise). And there is a wide range of record collector categories that this would fit into -- instro, surf/hot rod intro, West Coast garage; not to mention the collectors who'll buy anything produced by Bob Keene/released on Del-Fi.
ReplyDeleteThe price would go even higher if this turned out to be another studio group featuring Gary Usher, or Tommy Tedesco, or any of the other now-famous session people who seem to be on all these California-based instro LPs.
So, my question is:
Is it against the rules to post something in The Basement that's actually worth money to "normal" people?
Oh, by the way, I forgot to say Thank You for this one.
ReplyDeleteIt's in STEREO !!!!! The $25-$50 range is for a VG Mono copy. This means the LP is worth more.
ReplyDeleteIt may not be "Advanced Elk Calling," but you got a good bargain for $1.
I was intrigued by your mention of 'Monkey Do'. That song was a favorite of mine when I was younger.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, there must be at least two songs with that name, as the one I remember was different.
I believe the song I know was on a Batman cash-in record. The title track was Neal Hefti, but I don't know if the rest of the songs were his as well.
My version was more funky, mainly instrumental, and was peppered with exclamations of "Monkey Do" in a deep echo-heavy vocal.
Allmusic lists 12 songs with this name. The Darts have four of those cites, the others are predominately reggae.