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| That looks pretty goddamn must-see to me. |
I think I can sum up the proto-garage/proto-punk Los-Angeles-based band, The Standells, in two quotes and one long-form fact.
“The Standells’ band name was created by Larry Tamblyn, derived from standing around booking agents' offices trying to get work.” (source)
“I got this big slab of meat and like any kid I wanted to have catchup on it. I'll never forget Jagger said: ‘You bloody Yankee...’ (Laughs). He didn't use the word bloody. He used a four letter word there.” (source)
The Standells are best-known for the song, “Dirty Water,” lately adopted as a Boston, Mass anthem. Even with all the guys who passed in and out of the line-up before and during their days on the main stage, not even one of them had stepped foot in Boston, never mind hailed from there. The song was written by Ed Cobb, their producer when they landed at Capitol Records, and finally found a good fit. The inspiration for the song came from Cobb getting mugged while crossing over the Charles River. It’s a good song, or at least I like it. I wouldn’t put it on a playlist, but it’s the first song on the list of one-hit wonders I’m mining for this One-Hit No More project that actually sounds like the kind of music I’ve gravitated toward for most of my adult life.
“The Standells’ band name was created by Larry Tamblyn, derived from standing around booking agents' offices trying to get work.” (source)
“I got this big slab of meat and like any kid I wanted to have catchup on it. I'll never forget Jagger said: ‘You bloody Yankee...’ (Laughs). He didn't use the word bloody. He used a four letter word there.” (source)
The Standells are best-known for the song, “Dirty Water,” lately adopted as a Boston, Mass anthem. Even with all the guys who passed in and out of the line-up before and during their days on the main stage, not even one of them had stepped foot in Boston, never mind hailed from there. The song was written by Ed Cobb, their producer when they landed at Capitol Records, and finally found a good fit. The inspiration for the song came from Cobb getting mugged while crossing over the Charles River. It’s a good song, or at least I like it. I wouldn’t put it on a playlist, but it’s the first song on the list of one-hit wonders I’m mining for this One-Hit No More project that actually sounds like the kind of music I’ve gravitated toward for most of my adult life.
Authenticity, or something close enough to it, has been a big touch-stone in the music I like, so that's a healthy lesson for me. That’s where the quotes come in: based on my limited research, The Standells come off as a nice bunch of kids who wanted to get famous playing rock ‘n’ roll. As much as Tamblyn, who played keyboards and took over vocals when Dick Dodd wasn’t around, sticks up for their contributions, nothing suggests The Standells as the project of a musical visionary. They had enough material to play long-running residencies at places called P.J.’s and the Peppermint Lounge (wait…am I crossing up that name?), which means they paid their dues and earned as working musicians. They could play instruments and, per Tamblyn, rearrange Cobb’s original composition to their liking, but they had more taste and awareness than artistic ambition.
