All Categories — LPs  

One man rockabilly firebrand and Chicken Walkin' madman Hasil Adkins – done justice once more by his longtime champions at Norton Records! The title is as cheeky nod to the Velvets, but Hasil ain't no NYC art scenester, nope – he might be the true king of rock and roll, stumping out raggedly brilliant rockabilly wierdness all by his lonesome (for the most part...a fella named Sanford Stovers sings some on "Turn My Coat Tails Loose") at his home in West Virginia from the late 50s to mid 60s. Includes "Roll Roll Train", "Woke Up This Morning", "Donnio Boogie", "Donnio Shuffle", "Lonely Graveyard", "Somebody Help Me" and more.

We love this one – a lot more than we expected from the stupid cover! The record is a great blend of retro and easy tunes – some with a bit of a beat to them – but a lot more that are in a mode that's completely Bacharach, completely baroque, with bits of soul, soundtrack, and bossa running through the mix. These guys actually do the job right – and take the easy tunes at an easy pace, the breezy ones at a breezy pace, and don't try to muddle things up with too much remixology. They're also great writers and darn good producers – and the record sparkles on many tracks like some lost A&M classic! Titles include "Coconut Conga", "Freedom Right Now", "We Are A&C", "Up", "BB Electro", "5th Dimension", and "Ocean Drive".

A decade of Kim Fowley produced, arranged and recorded madness – proto garage, sleazy surf styled rumbles, pulpy vocal pop, and fuzzy tunes galore – some credited to Kim Fowley and more savage tunes from Bruce & Jerry, Renegades, Mo And Jo, Blue Bells, Althea And The Memories and more! It's fantastic stuff, some never before issued, and rare singles for labels and imprints like Kimco, Alsand, Arwin and American International. Seedy rockers galore! Includes "I Saw Her First" by Bruce & Jerry (Bruce Johnson, later Beach Boy), "Late Late Show" by Patterns, "Big Fat Alaskan" by Donnie And The Outcasts, "The Rebel" by Players, "Daybreaker" by Kim And The Skippers, "Music Is The Magic" by Kim Fowley, "Surf Pigs" by Kim Fowley And Mars Bonfire and more. 16 tracks in all.

A never-issued session from a young Terry Manning – later a big force on the Memphis scene, thanks to his work for Stax and Ardent – but here heard in one of his first musical outings ever, a small trio with just his own vocals and guitars, plus drums and percussion! The recording quality is nice and raw, and the lack of bass or any other instrumentation really makes the sound of the group very gritty – just shakey guitar over rattling percussion – with Terry's vocals captured in this echoey brilliance that really lives up to the Wild Ones promise of the group's name! Hats off to Norton for digging up this gem, dusting it off, and providing us with notes that even tell the tale of Manning bringing Stevie Nicks to a high school dance. Titles include "Just This Once", "You're In Love", "Mathilda", "Forever Christine", "Patty Baby", "Sorry", "The Dog", and "Nervous Breakdown".

Amazing sounds from Sun Ra – vocal recitations, weird words, and spoken bits – all set to some mighty cosmic music! The work here is all previously unissued, and pulled from rare tapes recorded in 1966, 1968, and 1982 – an amazing discovery in the Ra archive, with a real focus on his more poetic side! The set begins with some wonderfully echoey bits – Ra's vocals in the lead, and some cool abstract sounds and electronics behind him. Other tracks have even more obscure elements in the background, and a few others provide some more familiar jazz elements – but overall, the whole thing's got a wickedly spaced-out feel – very much what you might expect if you'd ever heard the myth of Ra before hearing one of his records! Titles include "The Universe Is Endless", "The Sub-Dwellers", "Music Is A Universal Language", "The Universe Sent Me", "A Cosmic Dimension Of Music", "They Taught Me To Share", and "Worship Of A Statue".

Stunning sounds from the farther reaches of the El Paso scene – amazing music that really gets at the rich array of underground acts working in the shadow of bigger local hero Bobby Fuller! The cuts here are very heavy on guitars, and often recorded with an echoey approach that makes each twang as resonant as thunder – a perfect way to make a heck of a lot out of a little, and really bring the best out of some of these groups! Our favorite cuts here are by Bob Taylor & The Counts – a combo that sports some really wicked guitar right up front, and raw vocals and tumultuous drums that almost recall the sound of early work by Johnny Burnette. Bob Taylor titles include "Taylor's Rock", "Child Fortune", "Thunder", and "Jill" – and other cuts include "You're Wrong" and "The Shadows Dance" by Johnny Garmon & The Shadows, "Be Mine" and "Jim's Jive" by Jerry Bright & The Embers, "Runaway" by Rock Kings, "Party" by Al Sims & The Alpine Two, "Little Rome" by Max Alexander & The Hi Fi Combo, and "Finders Keepers" by Don Guess & The Rock Kings.

Badass sounds brewed up in the border town of El Paso – amazing guitar-driven gems recorded for a handful of indie labels in the late 50s and early 60s – served up here with wonderfully great sound, and a full set of notes as well! The set's a stunning volume in Norton's deep-digging project on the El Paso scene – and it's really rich with discoveries throughout – loads of rough-edged rockers that lie somewhere in a space between rockabilly and 60s garage – every one a treasure. Titles include "Across The Bay" by Joe Richie, "Lonely Before Dawn" by Night People, "I Love You Baby" by The Ravons, "Cradle Rock" by Rhythm Heirs, "Long Grey Highway" by Frank Thayer & The Lyonals, "Sarah Jane" by Don Orr & The Original Rockets, "Lonely Teardrops" by The Fortunes, "Jungle Bunny" and "Bacardi" by Jerry Bell & The Original Rockets.

Raw rock from the El Paso scene of the early 60s – most of it material produced by local music hound Calvin Boles – a force as important to that scene as Lee Hazlewood was to Phoenix! Boles has a great ear for a sharp guitar line – and really manages to bring the best out of all the players here, giving the tunes an echoey feel that's mighty nice – and which really serves to fan the sparks of genius into a much longer-burning flame! Norton's done a great job with this volume – and have managed to unearth some rare Bobby Fuller tracks, along with gems from contemporaries on the Yucca and Exeter labels. Titles include "Black Out" and "Tickler" by The Sherwoods, "Hot Rod Ford" by DY & The Motivaters, "Lonely" by David Hayes & The Pawns, "Pawn" by The Pawns, "You Hold My Letters" by Bill Taylor & The Sherwoods, "Judy" by The Chancellers, "Dance To The Palisades" by Frank Gonzales & The Palisades, and "You're In Love" and "Say Honey" by Bobby Fuller.

Great rockabilly sounds from a tiny Texas label – an imprint so small it only pressed up 300 copies of each of its singles – and never reissued them at all! This long-overdue package really digs deep into the Wolf-Tex label – to come up with a handful of gems that really illuminate the company's contribution to music at the start of the 60s – raw tunes that bring together the best elements of early rock, rough-edged country, and even a trace of Western swing at times. All tracks are pretty rare, and the set also features a few unissued numbers too – and titles include "How Much Do You Miss Me", "The Gospel Will Speak", and "Back To Old Wyoming" by Harold Montgomery; "Rock In My Arms" by Herman Stone, "Marguerite" by Ralph & Roy, "My Three Sorrows" by Col Ralph Red McKee, "Waves On The Bayou" by Ramblin Roy Cunningham, and lots more – including some songs by unknown artists, and even a bit of a radio show too!

A great blend of early rock and monster movie aesthetics from The Dynamic Del-Aires – a north New Jersey group who only cut a handful of singles, but also managed a key appearance in The Horror of Party Beach before fading away into obscurity! Despite that short time in the record racks, though – the group is totally great – a combo that almost blows away the best of the Northwest, and certainly has their same sort of raw, rocking, instrumental-heavy approach – although some numbers also feature some cool vocals too! This package brings together the rare singles, the movie tracks, and even some unissued live and demo tracks too – all in a beautiful-looking package with lots of photos of the group in action. Titles include "Drag", "So Far So Long", "Zombie Stomp", "The Crawl", "Stubborn Kind Of Fellow", "Berserk", "Treble Rock", "Sing Sing Sing", "Someplace Else", and even a "Horror Of Party Beach" movie trailer!

North Hills teen instrumental romps from the early 60s – savagery from The Outcasts, Galaxies, Keys, Mad Haters and Sonics – raw, incendiary and hard-grooving cuts from the regional US scene in the years leading up to the garage rock renaissance that hit every city and 'burb in the US! Really riveting stuff and well worth this nice Norton compl. Includes "Scotora Mull", "Sleepy Hollow Rock" and "Burning Rubber" by The Outcasts, "Malibu Beach" by Galaxies, "Raw-Hide" by Mad Hatters, "Blow Out" and "Super Sport" by Sonics and more.

We love Kim Fowley, and can never get enough of his genius – and no matter what the setting, Fowley always seems to move around the maddest corners of rock and pop music! This raw batch of gems is all pulled from the Fowley vaults – and features a host of indie singles recorded in LA between his bigger bursts of fame – some with Kim in the lead, lots more with lesser-known talents all given Fowley's forceful treatment in the studio – a push forward that makes just about every track here sparkle like some long-lost garage rocker or weird novelty number. Norton provides very detailed notes that are as much a musical journey as the cuts themselves – and titles include "The Knight In Shining Armor" by Knights Of The Round Table, "Kalani Honey" by John Paul Jones, "Young & Wild" by Renegade Five, "Big Bad Wolf" by Kim Garry & The Rhythm Kings, "Watch Your Step" by Larry Green & The Rhythmaires, "Goin Away Baby" and "Golden Apples Of The Sun" by Grains Of Sand, "Wanted Dead Or Alive" by The Rogues, "Moses" by Navarros, and "The Trip", "Astrology", and a rare radio spot all by Kim Fowley.