Intoxica! Strange and Sleazy Instrumental Sounds from the Socal Suburbs [Import]

Various Artists (Artist), Ed Burkey (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 25, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Ace Records UK
• ASIN: B000EJ9KH6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #270,638 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Intoxica - THE REVELS

2. Night Scene - THE RUMBLERS

3. Se Acabó - THE DEL RIO BROS

4. Eight Ball - THE HUSTLERS

5. Night Rider - ED BURKEY

6. Bandido - THE PASTEL SIX

7. Here Comes The Bug - THE RUMBLERS

8. Sound of Mecca - THE BLAZERS

9. Hava Nagila Part 1 - GINNY & GALLIONS

10. Migraine - THE HUSTLERS

11. Night Scene - CHUCK HIGGINS

12. A Week From Tuesday - THE PASTEL SIX

13. Inertia - THE HUSTLERS

14. Comanche - THE REVELS

15. Theme Of Etiquette aka Roses - THE HINDUS

16. Blockade aka That's It - THE RUMBLERS

17. Dreams Of Downey - ED BURKEY

18. Ghost Of Mary Meade Part 2 - LITTLE CAESAR & THE ARK ANGELS

19. Third Man Theme - GINNY & GALLIONS

20. Water Wheel - CHUCK HIGGINS

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

At last Ace Records start to exploit the large, quirky and fascinating Downey Records catalogue.

This is the first in a series presenting the Downey output by genre. Interestingly, the first compilation out of the gate is an instrumental collection, but not a surf comp. (Everyone knows ‘Pipeline’, but they’ll just have to wait). The Downey vaults have been trawled thoroughly in order to bring straight-from-the-masters quality (and in doing so, discovering that the released sides were only the tip of the iceberg).

This collection features instrumentals from the young bands from the California beach communities and as far east as Las Vegas; cabaret acts from the lounges of Lake Tahoe and Palm Springs; mixed in with some great R&B names who used Downey’s studio and cut some fine instrumental of their own. The theme that links them is a quirky sense of drama and fun, a certain sleaziness, a movie theme creativity, and all recorded in an experimental fashion the equal of Joe Meek, who was working contemporaneously in London.

This collection will appeal to instrumental collectors, who have to have all sax/guitar tracks they don’t yet have, and this comp has oodles of rare sides and seven unreleased gems. They will be familiar with the likes of the Revels, Rumblers, Nevegans and Hustlers. At the same time it has appeal for the lover of lounge-sleaze.

A treat for connoisseurs of the strange.

Includes ‘Comanche’ as featured in Pulp Fiction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sleazy is no joke..., February 29, 2008

By 

Sean J. Stanley (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Intoxica! Strange and Sleazy Instrumental Sounds from the Socal Suburbs (Audio CD)

I bought this CD because my lady absolutely shivers when she hears "Comanche". She will even skip over it on the "Pulp Fiction" soundtrack, blaming the sense-memory recall it invokes of that uh "uncomfortable" Ving Rhames/Bruce Willis scene in the film. You know the one I'm talking about. She told me "I bet every song by that band sounds sleazy...". So I dug around and found this collection. I got it for her birthday and immediately played it when it arrived. She didn't know what to make of it, wasn't sure why I'd buy her a surf rock album, until that guttural saxophone kicked in. She freaked out, and said "You didn't!". I totally did, and they did too - the producers who put the album together did a fantastic job. The Revels are only a small chunk of the wonderful Downey catalogue. She eventually enjoyed listening to the album, with the caveat that I skip over the offending track 14 ("Comanche") whenever it comes on. I enjoy the entire album. It is one of those small chunks of rock-n-roll ephemera so removed from mainstream consciousness, yet close to anyone who has listened to later artists who were influenced by the sound. Pre-psychedelica, low-fi, unbridled, and you can tell the musicians knew how to enjoy themselves. A fantastic party album, also great for driving, but probably not mood music for love unless your name is Zedd and you have a ball-gagged gangster tied to a pommel horse in your basement. Good times...

4.0 out of 5 stars ODDLY GOOD COLLECTION OF INSTRUMENTALS FROM THE EARLY SIXTIES, April 14, 2011

By 

Stuart Jefferson (San Diego,Ca) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Intoxica! Strange and Sleazy Instrumental Sounds from the Socal Suburbs (Audio CD)

65 minutes of music. The original analogue tapes have been digitally remastered, and the sound is clean and open. The booklet contains information on Downey Records and the artists on this release. There's also several period photographs that add depth to the story. Ace Records have done their usual good job with the notes and photos. Curiously, a similar cover photo can also be seen on an Ace Records' release by Elmore James-"After Hours" (I believe it's titled). The model is placed differently in the shot, and the guitars are absent, but the long red boa is still very evident.

This music should make collectors happy. There are a number of hard to find or rare tracks on this set, some which have never seen the light of day since they were recorded. All these tracks were recorded in the early/mid 60's in Southern California. The area was a hot bed of garage bands of all types. This instrumental collection has a bit of surf music, honking sax workouts, r&b/soul, and a number of tunes that are just left of center (the title track for example). They're individual instrumentals that you would never hear on the radio, even back in the days when groups had a better shot at airplay on the local station. There's even string laced tunes ("Dreams of Downey Part 2") by Ed Burkey-who was no slouch on the guitar when called for, and "Ghost of Mary Meade Part 2", by LITTLE CAESAR & THE ARK ANGELS. "Third Man Theme" by GINNY & THE GALLIONS (actually a husband/wife team plus one other) is a good example of this slightly whacked out music. The well known surf tune "Hava Negila" (again by GINNY & THE GALLIONS), is a different animal than Dick Dale's version. "Se Acabo", by THE DEL RIO BROS, is a hot latin percussion workout with chanted vocals. "Eight Ball", by THE HUSTLERS, has a slightly down and dirty feel to it. "Hot Licks" by THE RENDELLS, has a surf guitar sound, combined with a slightly salacious ("hot licks-ooo!) girl vocal backing. On the other hand, THE HINDUS are here with a straight surf-style tune "Frenzy", which is about as normal a song here. "Space Battle", by STORIES IN SOUND, is a combination of driving rhythms, insistent horns and piano, and some weird "space" sounds and explosions. I think by now you're getting the picture.

For the most part these instrumentals are highly individualistic. The combination of (then) current styles, along with the artists sometimes slightly woozy sounding interpretations, make this set valuable to collectors, and an eye opener to what at least one mom and pop label was recording. Wanting to make money from a hit record, the folks at Downey recorded virtually anyone who walked in the door of their back room studio. This music has a certain something (if your tastes run toward this stuff), an almost odd appeal that makes you want to hear the next track, and so on. The uptempo numbers are rump shakers, and the slightly different arrangements of the slower tracks will make you sit up and wonder just where these groups came from. But in the end this collection goes beyond mere curiosity, or rarity-it's a great collection of music from an era long gone, and from bands that had (at best) a fleeting chance at "making it".