The Sonics is a garage rock band from Tacoma , Washington , which emerged in 1960 and became one of the most famous and influential representatives of this trend, who played an important role in the development of hard rock and proto-punk music. A prominent member of the garage rock wave from the Northwest Pacific Coast, the group was among the founders of the influential Seattle rock scene along with its predecessors The Kingsmen and The Wailers .
| The sonics | |
|---|---|
| basic information | |
| Genres | garage rock proto-punk |
| Years | 1960-1968 1972 since 2007 |
| A country |  USA |
| Where from | Tacoma , Washington |
| Labels | Etiquette Norton |
| Composition | Jerry Rosley Larry Paripa Rob Lind Dusty Watson Freddy dennis |
| Former the participants | Andy Paripa Bob bennett Ricky Lynn Johnson Don Wilhelm |
| Other projects | The Searchers, The Wailers , The Daily Flash |
During their existence, The Sonics released 4 albums, of which the most famous are Here Are the Sonics ( 1965 ) and Boom! ( 1966 ). A significant portion of The Sonics’s material was cover versions of Little Richard , Chuck Berry , Link Ray , garage standards such as Louie Louie , classic rock and roll and rhythm and blues such as Do You Love Me . " At the same time, the group recorded a number of their own songs in traditional chord schemes, such as "Psycho", "Strychnine", "The Hustler".
The Sonics, like the overwhelming majority of garage rock bands, did not have massive success during their active years, but influenced many generations of rock musicians , including Jesse Hughes , Jimi Hendricks and Kurt Cobain (the last two also debuted on stage Seattle ).
History
The story of The Sonics began in 1960 , and at first it was an instrumental group. The original lineup of The Sonics included guitarists Larry Paripa and Stuart Turner, drummer Mitch Graber, as well as saxophonist and acoustic bass player whose names are unknown. Soon, Stuart Turner joined the army; Rick Koch, who previously participated in The Wailers , and the first-ever vocalist in the group's history are Marilyn Lodge. At the same time, drummer Bill Dean replaced Graber.
In 1963, Koch and Lodge left. Ray Michelsen became the new vocalist, before that he became a local celebrity, acting as a vocalist in several groups at the regional level. Bill Dean was not particularly involved in the development of the group, and Larry Paripa began to look for a new drummer, who became Bob Bennett from the local band The Searchers. Michelsen soon left the band, and in 1964 two new members came from The Searchers - vocalist Jerry Rosley and saxophonist Rob Lind. Together with bass player Andy Paripa, they formed the classic lineup of The Sonics.
Initially, The Sonics performed at small local dance floors. However, The Wailers bassist John "Buck" Ormsby took the band to The Wailers 'own label, " Etiquette Records ", on which the band's debut single, "The Witch / Keep A-Knockin'," was released in November 1964 . The be-side , “ Keep A-Knockin ' ”, was a cover version of Little Richard , but the song “The Witch” was owned by The Sonics themselves. She made a splash in the local rock scene and became the best-selling local single in Northwest history. A text that even hinted at misogyny , somewhat interfered with playing the song on the radio, but did not interfere with its rapid success. The song from the second single - “Psycho” - also hit the regular rotation on the Seattle-based “AM Radio”.
In 1965, The Sonics began recording their debut album. Here Are the Sonics was recorded on a two-track tape recorder in a Seattle studio led by sound engineer Kenny Burton. Although the recording quality was rather low - for example, there was only one microphone per drum kit - one of the prerequisites was the knobs of all amplifiers twisted to the maximum. The recording turned out to be unusually noisy, dirty and energetic; The Sonics independently discovered new ways of distorting the sound, Jerry Rosley's vocals were furious and screaming (sometimes called “White Little Richard ”), and the distortion effect was actively used to record the guitar and saxophone. The texts of his own writings, authored by Jerry Rosley, were intentionally primitive and touched upon gloomy topics - witches (“The Witch”), psychopaths (“Psycho”). A typical example is one of the most famous compositions of the group - “Strychnine”, in which it was sung: “Someone loves water, someone loves wine, and I prefer pure strychnine.”
In February 1966, The Sonics released their second studio album, Boom! . The sound of the album was somewhat milder; however, The Sonics continued to experiment, in particular, when recording in the country and folk- oriented studio Wiley / Griffith in Tacoma, the sound insulation systems were removed from the walls in order to get a more “lively” sound. Among other things, the album released a version of “ Louie Louie ”. In 1966, The Sonics acted as the opening act for many famous bands - The Beach Boys , The Mamas & The Papas , Herman's Hermits , Jan And Dean , Jay & The Americans , The Kinks , The Lovin 'Spoonful , The Byrds .
In the wake of the success so significant for the regional garage team, The Sonics signed a contract with Jerden Records and recorded their third album, Introducting The Sonics, in Hollywood at Gold Star Studios. The sound engineer of the recording was Larry Levine, who made the sound of the band too soft and emasculated; the album sold poorly, and the band members themselves recalled it as "utter rubbish."
In 1966-1968, the classic composition of The Sonics underwent decay: the musicians left the group to study at the university or went to other groups. In 1968, no one was left from the original composition, and in fact the group ceased to exist. The new lineup, led by vocalist Jim Brady, continued to perform until 1980 under the name "Jim Brady & The Sonics" [1] , but it was a completely different band with a completely different sound.
The Sonics' classic line-up came together one more time - in 1972 they performed live and released a recording of this concert (Live Fanz Only). Despite numerous suggestions, the group no longer intended to meet, and Jerry Rosley said that this was not possible under any circumstances.
However, in 2007, The Sonics reunited. The composition included two new members: drummer from The Wailers Ricky Lynn Johnson ( Ricky Lynn Johnson ) and bass player from The Daily Flash Don Wilhelm ( Don Wilhelm ). The rest of the participants remained from the previous composition: Jerry Rosley - vocals / keyboards, Larry Paripa - guitar, Rob Lind - saxophone. This event was enthusiastically received by the fans of the group. The Sonics began to give concerts again, in 2008 they toured Europe and planned the release of a new album and DVD.
Style
The sound of The Sonics, influenced by the toughest rock and roll artists such as Bo Diddley and Link Wray And His Ray Men , was unique for 1964-1966: few at that time managed to achieve such a heavy, brutal and tough sound. Jerry Rosley's aggressive vocals, interspersed with screaming and howling, were greatly influenced by Little Richard . On amplifiers, to which electric guitars were connected, The Sonics sought to find the most heavy and loud sound.
The fuzz effect on the guitar was found by The Sonics on its own, although around the same time Gibson's first “fuzzbox” came out. Andy Paripa recalled this: “My brother (Larry Paripa) always played with amplifiers. They were always overloaded. Or he would disconnect the speakers and make holes in them. That's why we finally sounded like after a train accident. ” The principles of heavy guitar solo, on the basis of which Jimmy Hendricks , Cream and Led Zeppelin formed their sound, were also found by The Sonics already in the debut single “The Witch”, regardless of “ You Really Got Me ” The Kinks , traditionally considered the first song of this kind.
Both the cover versions and Jerry Rosley’s own songs, performed by The Sonics, were mostly built in traditional rock and roll and rhythm and blues chord patterns, played as hard and aggressive as possible. The lyrics of their own songs were either deliberately absurd (“Strychnine”), or dedicated to some difficult and unpleasant topics (“The Witch”, “Psycho”, “He's Waiting”), or to the traditional teenage theme of rock and roll compositions - to girls , guitars, surfing, cars ("Maintaining My Cool", "The Hustler").
The band members recalled differently about the time spent at The Sonics. “We were a wild, dirty, gorgeous band,” Bob Bennett recalled. Larry Paripa responded differently: “We were disgusting. All that you heard about us is true. ” One way or another, both musically (aggressive, hard rock'n'rolls) and textually (either defiantly or intentionally lightweight lyrics) The Sonics became one of the bands most closely related to punk rock of the 1960s . The song Psycho is sometimes called the first punk rock record in history.
Impact
There are not so many versions of The Sonics songs. Among their performers are the garage band The Swamp Rats, who recorded the Psycho version, and Paul Roland , who sang Strychnine. However, the style and sound of The Sonics had a significant impact on rock music . The guitar style of the group significantly influenced the formation of both hard rock ( Jimmy Hendricks , Cream ) and proto-punk ( The Stooges , MC5 ). The influence of The Sonics can be traced in punk rock of both the 1970s ( The Clash ) and the 1980s - this is also due to the revival of the principles of garage rock sound ( The Lyres , The Fleshtones , in the 2000s - The Hives ) .
Eagles of Death Metal band leader Jesse Hughes said: "These are the guys who inspired The Stooges ... They created what was later called punk rock ." Kurt Cobain considered the sound of The Sonics drums unique [2] : “... They had only one microphone on the drums ... And yet this is still my favorite drum sound. It seems that he is knocking harder than everyone I knew. ” James Murphy said so about the bands that influenced the song “Losing My Edge” LCD Soundsystem : “... The Sonics, The Sonics, The Sonics, The Sonics ...”.
Composition
Classical composition (1964-1966)
- Gerry Roslie - vocals, piano, organ
- Larry Parypa ( Larry Parypa ) - solo guitar, backing vocals
- Andy Parypa - bass
- Rob Lind - saxophone, backing vocals, harmonica
- Bob Bennett - drums
Other members
- Stuart Turner ( Stuart Turner ) - guitar (first composition, 1960)
- Mitch Graber ( Mirch Graber ) - drums (first composition, 1960)
- Rick Koch ( Rich Koch ) - guitar (second composition)
- Marilyn Lodge ( Marylin Lodge ) - vocals (second cast)
- Bill Dean ( Bill Dean ) - drums (second composition)
- Ray Michelsen - vocals (1963-1964)
- Jim Brady - vocals (since 1966)
Discography
Studio Albums
- Here Are the Sonics (Etiquette, 1965)
- Boom! (Etiquette, 1966)
- This is The Sonics (Revox, 2015)
Mini Album
- 8 (The Sonics Record Co., 2010)
Live Albums
- Live Fanz Only (Etiquette, 1987)
- The Sonics - Busy Body !!! Live in Tacoma 1964 (Norton, 2007)
Singles
- The Witch / Keep A-Knockin ' (Etiquette, 1964)
- The Witch / Psycho (Etiquette, 1965)
- Psycho / Keep A-Knockin ' (Etiquette, 1965)
- Boss Hoss / The Hustler (Etiquette, 1965)
- Don't Be Afraid of the Dark / Shot Down (Etiquette, 1965)
- Don't Believe in Christmas (The Sonics) / Christmas Spirit ( The Wailers ) (Etiquette, 1965)
- Cinderella / Louie Louie (Etiquette, 1965)
- You Got Your Head on Backwards / Love Light (Jerden, 1966)
- Like No Other Man / Love Light (Jerden, 1966)
- The Witch / Like No Other Man (Jerden, 1966)
- Psycho / Maintaining My Cool (Jerden, 1966)
- Love-itis / You're in Love (Jerden, 1967)
- Lost Love / Any Way the Wind Blows (Piccadilly, 1967)
- Any Way the Wind Blows / Lost Love (UNI, 1967)
- Dirty Old Man / Bama Lama Bama Loo (Burdette, 1975)
- The Witch / Bama Lama Bama Loo (Great Northwest, 1979)
- The Witch / Keep A-Knockin ' (Norton, 1998)
- Psycho / Have Love Will Travel (Norton, 1998)
- Cinderella / He's Waitin ' (Norton, 1998)
- Boss Hoss / The Hustler (Norton, 1998)
- Strychnine / Shot Down (Norton, 1998)
- Louie Louie (The Sonics) / Louie Louie ( The Wailers ) (Norton, 1998)
- Don't Believe in Christmas / Santa Claus (Norton, 1998)
Compilation
- Merry Christmas (Etiquette, 1965)
- Introducing the Sonics (Jerden, 1967)
- Explosives (Buckshot, 1973)
- The Sonics (SRT, 1978)
- Full Force! The Best of Sonics (1987)
- Maintainig My Cool (1991)
- Fire & Ice: The Lost Tapes (2 CD) (1996)
- Psycho-Sonic (2000)
- The Savage Young Sonics (2001)
- The Jerden Years 1966-69 (2003)
Notes
- ↑ Darryl Riffero, Bill Majkut, Danny Hoefer, Dean Quackenbush, Steve Tuba, Dave Talbott, Jim Sailors, Marty Woodard, Scott Batchelder, Colin Weinmaster, Rick. Jim Brady & The Sonics - Seattle, WA (1967-1980) . Pnwbands.com (February 17, 2013). Date of treatment July 7, 2015.
- ↑ Nirvana vs. Nardwuar . Nirvanaclub.com (January 4, 1994). Date of treatment July 7, 2015.