10.09.2006

The best garage bands had a sense of rawness and urgency. Many were the local touchstone of the ideals that rock n' roll embodied. Many bands gave their stamp to a host of garage standards but the best were also able to add at least a nugget or two of original material to their sets and thus set them apart from being just a great cover band.

The Other Half - The Other Half
The Other Half straddled the line between the waning of garage and the onset of psychedelia. Randy Holden's fuzzed out leads tearing over the thunderous bass of Larry Brown made for a heavy combination. At the time it
was recorded their record received modest attention but with the inclusion of a later single, Mr. Pharmacist on the Nuggets compilation, their popularity was revived. The single brought them further notoriety after being covered at the time by The Fall. Of course by the time this occured the band was long disbanded. Following the demise of The Other Half Randy went on to form play in Blue Cheer.

Download:
[MP3] The Other Half - Oz Lee Eaves Drops
[MP3] The Other Half - Flight of the Dragon Lady

The Remains - A Session With The Remains
The Remains recorded this session as a demo to audition for Capitol Records. Following their massive success in their native Boston they recorded a few singles for Epic records and then decided to
pound out a incredibly raucous and candid session. The session included a slew of covers and their always high energy original "Why Do I Cry." The live session's electricity comes through and makes this a great portrait of a band at the top of its form.

Download:
[MP3] The Remains - Why Do I Cry?
[MP3] The Remains - Hang On Sloopy

Bookmark and Share
posted by dissensous at 11:34:00 PM

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cool album, but Randy actually went on to replace Leigh Stevens in the existing Blue Cheer. He appears on one half of their third album, "New! Improved!". He then went on to make a record under the name Population II, which is back in print (on vinyl anyway), and recommended for fans of his Blue Cheer work.

6:12 PM  
Blogger hotdoorknobs said...

The Remains effing rule!!!!! Even the "Session With" version of "Like a Rolling Stone" does it for me....

My buddy told me they opened for the Beatles @ Shea. I think that might even be in the liner notes.

Anyway, good shit ya'll!

12:31 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home