mix for Era Skateboards
Barny at Era Skateboards asked me if I'd be up for doing a mix for a series of Era Sounds mixes he was starting to commission. I'd seen that graphic designer Jonathon Cooke had written a piece for the Era blog about Ivy League fashion so I suggested I dig out a bunch of surf instrumentals from the same place and time period: California, 1959-1965.
OK, so I didn't stick 100% to the geographical side of the brief as I wanted to bring some bone fide Californian surf anthems such Pipeline by Chantay's and Bustin' Surfboards by The Tornadoes together with some lesser known instrumental records from other parts of the US that no-doubt Dick Dale and his surfing buddies would have dug back in the day. These include a 1959 track recorded in New Orleans by Mac Rebennack (aka Dr John), an obscure but wonderfully frenetic instrumental recorded in Florida in 1959 by The Original Starfires (I've included the sleazy sax-drenched flip of that single too), and a recently unearthed, unreleased recording by Link Wray that practically redefines the surf sound. Named Son of Rumble, this follow up to Wray's iconic 1958 instrumental track Rumble is set to be released on 7" by The Black Key's Dan Auerbach via his Easy Eye Sound on April 13th 2018. I've pre-ordered my copy!