Monks "Five Upstart Americans" Omplatten FJORD 005 1999 (36:06)
Monktime (2:22)
We Do Wie Du (2:42)
Boys Are Boys (1:50)
Pretty Suzanne (3:47)
Higgle Dy Piggle Dy (4:11)
Hushie Pushie (2:58)
Love Came Tumbling Down (3:01)
Oh How To Do Now (2:53)
Space Age (2:39)
I Hate You (4:00)
There She Walks (2:37)
Boys Are Boys (3:06)
The Monks: Gary Burger (lead vocals, guitar), Dave Day (electric banjo, vocals), Eddie Shaw (bass guitar, vocals), Larry Clark (organ, vocals) and Roger Johnston (drums).
The Monks were a five piece band of American servicemen stationed in Germany in the 1960's. They began as a duo called The Torquays, quickly expanding to The Five Torquays, playing various rock and roll covers and originals in the night clubs near the military bases. In September of 1965, the band entered a studio just outside Stuttgart for two days to record the sessions found here (with the exception of the final two bonus tracks, The Torquays' "There She Walks" / "Boys Are Boys" single recorded in 1964). The bulk of these tracks are the primitive rough sketches for the songs that would make up the legendary (in an underground, cult classic sense) 1966 Monks album, "Black Monk Time", the definitive version being the unfortunately out of print 1997 cd re-release complete with 7 bonus tracks and a very nice 14 page insert on Infinite Zero Records. The Monks were rather unique, especially for mid 1960's Germany, in that they all dressed in black and shaved their heads to look like monks. Add to that their "anti-Beatles" take on rock and roll and that's what set them apart from the crowd ... these guys were "punk" before the word had any meaningful connotation. The songs are minimal and repetitive with every member of the band contributing to the rhythm via organ, cymbal-less drums, bass and electric guitar and 6 string electric banjo. They were experimenting with instrumentation and exploring the joys of distortion and feedback before Hendrix! Add to that Gary's lilting lead vocal and the choral vocals of the others and you have one hell of a great racket. The Monks' lyrics were also simple and repetitive, which helped to effectively communicate with the mostly German audiences, and shared the same devious sense of humor as their music and image. A few lyrical examples, from "Boys are Boys": "boys are boys and the girls are joys ... to you and me they're more than joys!" and "I Hate You": "I hate you baby ... but call me!" Although the songs here sound a bit unfinished, which they are, they still sound great and are a fascinating foreshadowing of what was to come. "Black Monk Time" perfected the sound and took it to the next level, but "Five Upstart Americans" is still a fun and very welcome companion piece. Plus, you get the Five Torquays single, 2 previously unreleased tracks ("Pretty Suzanne" and "Hushie Pushie") and a 6 page insert which has b/w in the studio/promo photos and liner notes by Eddie Shaw and Gary Burger. This is one of those rare chunks of little known rock and roll history that is now thankfully preserved on a 5" disc for eternal reference. It's Monk Time!
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Riouxs Records.