Pacific Northwest Spotlight: The Bootmen - Ain't It The Truth Babe/Wherever You Hide.

Day 9 of our Pacific Northwest Battle of the Garage Bands has us spinning another 45 from Riverton Records, the Etiquette subsidiary.

The Bootmen hailed from Tacoma, Washington and released three singles in their brief career. The first was a pair of instrumentals on Etiquette Records and then two more singles, with vocals and all, for Riverton. We focus today on their swan song of a single, Ain't It The Truth Babe with Wherever You Hide, released in March of 1966.

The band appeared to change members quickly but it looks like a core of the band was Duane McCaslin on bass, Neil Anderson on guitar, Barry Bellandi on drums and Mike Moore on organ and Ron Gardner on vocals. But we can't swear that is the lineup here.

We don't know too much more about them expect Dickerson, Moore and McCaslin penned the excellent a-side, Ain't It The Truth Babe. Vocals are awash in reverb. Dig that guitar solo.

The flip-side is pretty amazing as well. Wherever You Hide has a nice snappy rhythm to it and, to this listener, sounds like it would fit in with some of the great Aussie singles featured on Ugly Things. Now that I listen closer, it sounds like they may have been listening to Questions I Can't Answer, by Heinz.

Photo below is courtesy of Pacific Northwest Bands website.

 Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Pacific Northwest Spotlight: Paul Bearer and the Hearsemen - I've Been Thinking/Route 66

This is why we love garage music. From the small town of Albany, Oregon, a town not too far from the college town of Corvalis, comes the brilliantly named Paul Bearer and the Hearsemen. Yeah, baby.

Paul Bearer and the Hearsemen released one single in July of 1966. It was released on Riverton Records, a subsidiary of the Seattle based Etiquette Records.

Flipping this record over, as usual, we are going to start with I've Been Thinking. The 2:40 second blitzkrieg was composed by the band's guitarist, Ed Westby. Ed, along with his brother, Jim, who is on vocals here, Marshall Adams on bass, Peter Brown on drums and Gary Snyder on organ, created one of the most manic, aggressive records ever. And it came out in 1966. Holy crap.

The A-side is a brilliant cover of Bobby Troup's standard, Route 66.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!