From the garage

I was out running errands earlier and on my car stereo, which is tuned to XM and to Little Steven's Underground Garage, I caught this tune.



The guitar tone on this cover version of this song is one thing that truly stands out here.

What occurs to me is that mid 60s American garage bands like the Sonics represent a (I am hesitant to say the) true spirit of rock and roll, which is why their music sounds so refreshing. The Sonics, from Tacoma Washington, a band that was active for most of the 1960s (later to reunite), produced a musical sound that certainly paved the way for the musically stripped down punk revolution to occur at CBGBs by the mid-1970s. In fact, when I saw CBGBs veteran Tom Verlaine, live in the mid 1980s, his shows always contained their share of garage punk. Lenny Kaye, of the CBs scene and of the Patti Smith Group, was probably the most important figure in garage punk revivalism, having put together the great Nuggets compilation. And some credit, too, is due to record producer Richard Gottehrer, producer of Blondie and a key member of the seminal 1960s band, the Strangeloves

Anyway, back to the proto-punk of the Sonics and the specifics of this particular song. This is, arguably, the rawest version of this song, a song that has been multiply covered, even by these guys, and that, of course, is featured very prominently in a classic scene from this classic comedy from the late 70s, the era of Lenny Kaye and Tom Verlaine still playing fairly regularly at CBGBs.


Of course, one could possibly make a case for the also raw version of the song by the very obscure Charlie and the Tunas. Or perhaps the intense 80s hardcore version by Black Flag. And of course, the best known version, that is, the hit version by the Kingsmen, is the one that let to lots of speculation about the likelihood of some truly filthy lyrics buried under the muck. But whatever version floats your boat, this is a song that once you hear it, you won't soon forget it.

America has many national anthems and this song is one.