Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Texas Spotlight: The Wig - Crackin' Up/Bluesscene


Day 8 of our Texas Battle of the Garage Bands takes us back to Austin, Texas. Right where we started.

We do that with The Wig and their monster single, Crackin' Up. Crackin' Up came to fame with it's inclusion on the original Pebbles series. The group of lads that were known as The Wig are Benny Rowe on lead, Rusty Wier on drums and vocals, Jess Yaryan on bass, Johnny Richardson on guitar and Bill Wilmot on Organ. A previous incarnation of the band apparently also included Boz Scaggs and Steve Miller.

Crackin' Up was the second, and last, single the band ever did. It was released on BlackKnight Records in 1966. It is a real monster with kick ass guitar leads throughout, a nice time-change and a cryptic vocal delivery. But it is the end of the song, with what sounds to this listener like an organ being run through a Tremolo, that really caps it off nicely. Rusty Wier composed the number and sings on it. He went on to same success in the country scene of Texas.

I don't own the record so I can't give you the Flip-Side, Bluescene. A rocking instrumental that shows the band's skills. Here is a YouTube vid of it. The band looks a bit like an Awkward Family Photo candidate in the pic shown on there.
Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

8 comments:

  1. That solo guitar work is certainly better than your average stuff that came out during this period. The rhythm guitar work is pretty damn good too, come to think of it.

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  2. That rhythm work, particularly after the bridge, is really super cool. Thanks for pointing it out.

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  3. What a fabulous example of garage punk.

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  4. Killer! It's actually spelled Rusty Wier. As in, don't step on one.

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  5. TITS!!!!
    Seriously though. This is my favorite blog. You guys are always putting up great stuff. Thanks!

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  6. G.M. B. dug "Light of Fire " , bizarre version !

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