{"id":25329,"date":"2023-05-24T05:30:54","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T09:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=25329"},"modified":"2024-01-12T09:27:36","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T14:27:36","slug":"album-review-the-satyrs-dont-be-surprised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/24\/album-review-the-satyrs-dont-be-surprised\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: The Satyrs \u2013 Don\u2019t Be Surprised"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"UPDATE: Welcome, visitors from that site that provides a free (illegal) download to the album. If you like the music, please consider supporting the artists and buying it rather than stealing it.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

The point has been made often \u2013 and by many writers besides and before myself \u2013 that in the wake of the success of British Invasion bands like the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Yardbirds, countless American teenage boys took up instruments, convened in their parents\u2019 garages and set about making music of their own. And a remarkable number of these (as they\u2019ve come to be known) garage rockers had a good \u2013 sometimes even great \u2013 song in \u2018em. Maybe not two<\/i>, mind you, but quite often one.<\/p>\n

By most accounts, it appears that most every American city or town had its own garage rock band. It may well be that in smaller municipalities, there wasn\u2019t enough garage-rocking activity to warrant use of the word \u201cscene\u201d to describe what was happening, but even a then-small city like Asheville, North Carolina (where today I happen to live) was in fact home to such a scene. Bands like The Ron-De-Voos<\/a>, The (Fabulous) Wunz<\/a> and Orange Purple Marmalade<\/a> thrived \u2013 if briefly \u2013 with their mix of original songs and cover material.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Lenny Kaye<\/a> for lighting the fuse that shone a light (forgive that mixed metaphor if you can) on the \u201cgarage rock\u201d scene with his influential Nuggets<\/i> compilation, an appreciation for the low-budget and homespun character of garage rock has endured. The first vinyl era brought forth the Pebbles<\/i> and Back From the Grave<\/i> series of compilations, collecting seemingly countless rare sides that showcased the music of these garage rockers. They did their thing without the backing, support or notice of the major labels, rarely bobbing their heads above the waterline of obscurity.<\/p>\n

And select audiences \u2013 including this writer \u2013 still remember. The venerable Ponderosa Stomp festival went so far as to convince members of Texas’ own Green Fuz to reunite in 2008; I had the honor of seeing, hearing, meeting and interviewing the band during the festival in New Orleans. I wrote about it<\/a> for Shindig!<\/i> Magazine. And some years later I interviewed members of Asheville\u2019s local garage rock scene for a story that would run (in truncated form) in WNC Magazine<\/i>. Here\u2019s the full version<\/a>. That would be my first of many features on the subject.<\/p>\n

A regionally-focused Facebook group, Carolina Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll Remembered, was launched to connect garage rock-era participants and fans alike; archivist-historian-collector Ken Friedman was and continues to be an active member of that group. Some years ago, Friedman curated the Tobacco A-Go-Go<\/i> sets, bringing together rare sides from \u201860s-era North Carolina garage rockers. And much more recently, he was deeply involved in compiling Psychedelic States: The Carolinas in the 60s<\/i><\/a>, a seemingly exhaustive compendium of such music. Across 3 compact discs, that set would have seemed to have exhausted the vaults.<\/p>\n

Alas and happily: no. As one of the compilers of Psychedelic States<\/i> told me at the time, one of the most compelling bands out of Asheville\u2019s garage rock scene was intentionally left off of that set. And the reasoning for the omission was sound: there was enough material for an album! So it is that another Western N.C. quartet, The Satyrs, now have their own (somewhat belatedly released) album. It may run under a half hour, but then so did many albums of the early- and mid-\u201960s. What Don\u2019t Be Surprised<\/i> lacks in length, it more than delivers in (a kind of) quality.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s sometimes posited that technical (instrumental, vocal) limitations were a key feature \u2013 not a bug — of garage rock. That thinking holds that the very primitivism of the music was an inherent part of its charm and value. And while there\u2019s some truth to that idea, skilled rock\u2019n\u2019roll practitioners weren\u2019t wholly absent from the garage rock scene. The Satyrs were solid songwriters, excellent musicians and talented vocalists. The ten songs they cut in 1964 and \u201865 display their creativity, and while the production values are quite elemental, the mono recordings captured on Don\u2019t be Surprised<\/em> are a delight.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cDon\u2019t Be Surprised\u201d is the band\u2019s most well-known cut (\u201cwell-known\u201d being a relative term, of course). Written by bassist Bucky Hanks, it\u2019s filled with catchy vocal harmony and a solid melody. And it\u2019s presented here in much, much higher fidelity than the circulating YouTube clips.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet Out of That Rut\u201d is a more gentle number, not miles away from some of Glen Campbell\u2019s early work. \u201cIt Won\u2019t Be Long\u201d (not the Beatles song) was co-written by Hanks and rhythm guitarist Jeff Phillips; it\u2019s characterized by more strong vocal work and a wonderfully jangling 12-string guitar. Rick Haynie\u2019s lead guitar sounds like a string section.<\/p>\n

\u201cTicky Tacky\u201d is a true garage rocker in the mold of, well, most garage rockers. Wailing harmonica, delightfully loose-limbed playing and unbridled enthusiasm characterize the track. A spotlight number for lead guitarist Rick Haynie, the moody \u201cTry Not to Cry\u201d underscores just how immensely talented the group was, with tight vocal harmony and some top-notch lead guitar work.<\/p>\n

The shimmering \u201cTo Be With You\u201d opens Side Two; the crooning vocal is miles away from the rock vibe of Side One\u2019s tunes. The sonorous lead guitar licks and the transistor organ work also set it apart from those tracks; it feels almost as if it\u2019s by a different group.<\/p>\n

The Satyrs focused on original material for most of their recording sessions; one exception is a cover of Johnny Cash\u2019s \u201cI Walk the Line.\u201d Hanks\u2019 busy bass line and the jangling guitar work are applied in a rocking reading of the tune. The muddy production values seem to obscure what was likely a spirited performance; it\u2019s still worthwhile, though. And the fact that the band modulates mid-song should serve as a reminder that these guys could play<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Shortest Road to You\u201d is also the shortest song on the set. It\u2019s a heartfelt c&w ballad, and as such doesn\u2019t feel quite at home on the set, but it\u2019s quite well done; Phillips\u2019 voice and guitar are a treat.<\/p>\n

The annotation tells us that \u201cBlue Blue World\u201d was previously released on Wal-Mor. Apparently \u2013 or so says Discogs \u2013 it was the only release on the label, based at Hi-Fi Sales on Asheville\u2019s Biltmore Avenue. (A quick bit of research suggests that Hi-Fi Sales was located a mere few hundred yards from my current home.) The song hints at the sound and style that Chris Isaak (for one) would pursue decades later.<\/p>\n

And that record\u2019s flip is another recording of \u201cDon\u2019t Be Surprised.\u201d It concludes this new LP, and while it\u2019s similar to the first version, it features a deeply strange middle eight during which the vocals go some strange places. It\u2019s weirdly wild stuff, capturing \u2013 in its own way \u2013 the freedom and exuberance that characterized the garage rock scene.<\/p>\n

The LP \u2013 pressed at Citizen Vinyl<\/a>, mere steps from where the band members would have hung out in the \u201860s \u2013 is on transparent yellow vinyl, housed in an attractive sleeve. Though it’s marred by some needless hyperbole ( \u201cThis is the shit that killed Elvis\u201d indeed) a liner note essay effectively sets the scene. Don’t Be Surprised<\/em> is recommended to anyone with even a passing interest in the garage rock scene of the 1960s.<\/p>\n

Postscript: More than a decade ago, another writer tracked down the Satyrs and wrote about them for Mountain Xpress<\/i>, our local altweekly. That story\u2019s here, and well worth reading<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATE: Welcome, visitors from that site that provides a free (illegal) download to the album. If you like the music, please consider supporting the artists and buying it rather than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,33,49,62,64,65,73],"tags":[237,5154,5153],"class_list":["post-25329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compilation","category-garage","category-new-release","category-rawk","category-reissue","category-review","category-vinyl","tag-asheville","tag-ken-friedman","tag-the-satyrs","cat-19-id","cat-33-id","cat-49-id","cat-62-id","cat-64-id","cat-65-id","cat-73-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25329"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26793,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25329\/revisions\/26793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}