Sleigh Ride, The Ventures (1965) Straight outta Tacoma, with over 110 million records sold worldwide, The Ventures are the best-selling instrumental band of all time.
Don’t Be Lonely, BoDeans (1987)
Classic guitar-driven midwestern rock-pop group BoDeans formed in 1986 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and they’re still at it.
[Top image found here, with caption: Twice a year at Asakusa’s famous Sensoji temple an old ceremony of dancers dressed as white egrets or herons take place, once in April and once in November. The ceremony is called Shirasaginomai (白鷺の舞) and was revived in 1968 using an old scroll as a basis that had been found in the temple, depicting a ceremonial dance in 1652.]
Help Me Make Up My Mind, Joyce Jones (1969) Born in Mississippi in 1949, Joyce Jones, (along with Reginald Hinesinger) wrote Help Me Make Up My Mind as an answer song to Tyrone Davis‘ Can I Change My Mind (1968). Jones was a member of the Philadelphia soul/disco group First Choice from 1972-75.
Riverside, The Beat Farmers (1990) From their album Loud, Plowed & Live. The Beat Farmers (1983–1995) were a great band from San Diego, California (best experienced live with lots of beer) and featured the late Country Dick Montana.
Uschi Siebert, Kulenkampffs reizende Assistentin, und Gerti Daub, Miss Germany 1957, lieben auch den guten BLAUPUNKT-Ton.
Millionaire Hobo, The Fantastics (1959) Formerly known as The Pharaohs, The Holidays and The Passions, they became The Fantastics when RCA Victor discovered that the other names were taken. (This is not the same group that began as The Velours and moved to the UK.)
[Top image: Colorized ad for 1957 Blaupunkt Palma 2435 radio. The seven-tube set retailed for 390 Deutschmarks, and tuned both the longwave and mediumwave broadcast bands, FM (up to 100 MHz), and shortwave. Caption on original ad translates to “Uschi Siebert, Kulenkampff’s charming assistant, and Gerti Daub, Miss Germany 1957, also love the good BLAUPUNKT tone.”
Crawlin’ (The Crawl), Untouchables (1960) Sparce information on this group, too many others by the same name. Written by guitarist Frank W. Perry and issued on Rello / To-Da Music, this recording is a less sleazy cover of Crawlin’ by Richie Mayo and the Paramours (1957).
Boogeyman, The Atomic 44’s (2021)
Blues/roots supergroup The Atomic 44’s formed in 2020 when Eric Von Herzen (harmp player for Walter Trout, Social Distortion, The Atomic Road Kings, Junior Watson) joined guitarist/vocalist Johnny Main (The 44’s).
[Top image: Colorized magazine photo, unknown source, with caption “Rich Palmer ran the nation’s largest volume hobby shop in Parsippany, New Jersey. Aurora hired him to organize its Monster Customizing Contest in 1964. Aurora received national television attention when the CBS Evening News visited his shop. Walter Cronkite and Palmer held a conversation in the “Monster Korner” of the store. Big Frankie occupies the top shelf in the Monster Korner.” More info in this forum.]
Goin’ Down South, R.L. Burnside w/ Lyrics Born (2004) Burnside recorded several versions of Goin’ Down South over the years. He was born in Lafayette County, Mississippi, learned from Mississippi Fred McDowell who lived in the next county over. Burnside and his family, tired of the life of sharecroppers, moved to Chicago in the early 50s. Subsequently his father, two uncles and two brothers were murdered there. In 1959 he returned to Mississippi, was convicted of murder himself, and served time at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, aka Parchman Farm. [h/t Suzanne P.]
Tacky Raccoons 