Genre: garage
Rating: 2 stars **
Title: Raisin' Hell
Company: private press
Catalog: 3262
Year: 1962
Country/State: Andover, Massachusetts
Grade (cover/record): VG- / VG
Comments: tape along top and bottom seams; minor soiling; lite marks on the vinyl, but plays without any skips
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5609
Price: $150.00
Led by lead guitarist Al Gordon, this seven piece group were formed in 1961 while attending Massachusetts Phillips Academy (the same place responsible for The Ha'Pennys, The Rising Storm, The Torqueys. and others). That lineage combined with the fact the album is rare and was featured in one of the Hans Pokora Record Collector Dreams books seems to account for most of the album's notoriety.
According to the liner notes "They are a somewhat informal organization, holding their meetings in such places as the shower room at the gym. Through numerous appearances at parties, dances, and concerts all over New England, they have answered the stirring cry of modern America's youth." Their 1962 private press LP "Raisin' Hell" (quite a risque title for the times) frequently gets labeled as a garage effort, but that's pretty much a misnomer since most of the album would be better categorized as frat-rock with an occasional bluesy number thrown in the mix. Ten of the 11 tracks were instrumentals; none carrying writer credits The fact the line up featured two sax players (Martin Wishnatsky and Dwight Stephens), gave instrumentals like 'Church Key', 'Honky Tonk' and 'Detour' kind of a late 1950s bluesy feel. If you were looking for sophisticated writing and super professional performances this wasn't the place to come since most of these songs were fairly crude affairs. Lead singer Carl Corey was only featured on a pair of songs ('Sugar-Coated Love' and 'The Twist') and while he didn't have much to offer in the way of subtlety, his bluesy growl made for a nice change to the instrumentals. Not bad in a low-tech fashion though certainly nothing that would change your life ...
"Raisin'
Hell" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Church Key (instrumental) - 2:15
2.) Honky Tonk (instrumental) - 3:36
3.) Last Date (instrumental) - 2:15
4.) Alabama Jubilee (instrumental) - 1:14
5.) Sugar-Coated Love - 2:46
6.) Detour (instrumental) - 1:30
(side
2)
1.) The Twist - 2:35
2.) Mink Slide (instrumental) - 2:17
3.) Summertime (instrumental) - 4:24
4.) Ivory Marbles (instrumental) - 2:26
5.) No Trespassin' (instrumental) - 1:55
I don't know if it's the same guy, but there's a Martin Wishnatsky who's attracted considerable media attention for his anti-abortion stance. The guy actually ran for US President a couple of years ago and managed to garner 14 votes.