Album Reviews

Mining America's musical blue highways is Sundazed's specialty. This collection of Wray's Swan singles, “A” and “B” is a perfect example of what the label does best. Best known for his classic hit, the trend-setting, iconic “Rumble,” the guitar twanger had a long, if not quite as successful recording career afterwards, specializing in rock'n'surf tinged, raunchy instrumentals. When he did sing, it was Elvis all the way-and a good Elvis it was, augmented by some hard-edged falsetto screaming.

Restless Wray was always looking for ways to stay current and on this set of Swan singles he covers The Beatles' “Please, Please Me,” recorded in 1965 but never before issued, Dylan's “Girl From the North Country,” also in 1965, and what may be the grungiest edition of “Batman Theme,” ever put to wax.

The titles tell the tale: “Jack the Ripper,” “The Black Widow,” “I'm Branded,” and the rest are teenage twangbar surf music-served up East Coast greasy style. Listening 40 years after the fact, you can hear a guitarist and group trying to make musical strides, but caught in a stylistic bind with no apparent way to get out. The group tries playing faster, adding some electric piano or cheesy Farfisa organ, they try rhythmic variations and starts and stops, but they fall back on what even then had become musical convention within the genre.

Still, within the limited progress they made, are hints of where others would take rock music, and it's fun to hear them bang against the musical glass. Plus, Wray's juicy, menacing guitar strums and his note bending pyrotechnics remain effective. Ultimately, most of this is local two-lane music in a world where the Interstate had begun to dominate the scene.

The mono sound is nothing to shout about. It is what it is, and what it often is, is distorted and amateur-sounding, even as it has a certain immediacy and charm. Bob Irwin has done that most with a raw series of recordings, some actually pretty good, but most “rough around the edges.”

Sundazed's packaging is, as usual, first-rate, and Bill Dahl's annotation gives good background. Still, this is a connoisseur's set, not likely to appeal to a great deal of you, but for those of you who love surf/raunch guitar, it will be a treat. Sundazed's $24.95 for a 180g twofer helps sweeten the deal.