The Electras

by The Electras

Overview

Especially in the D.I.Y. environment ushered in by the start of the Rock Era in 1955, many young people have picked up a guitar or sat behind a drum set in their high-school years, playing with friends for their own enjoyment, and not a few have taken the next step to play for school dances and other semi-professional engagements before stashing their instruments in the closet and moving on to their real adult careers. Even before the days when inexpensive recording equipment became common, some of the more well-heeled of such youthful amateurs managed to put their efforts down on tape. But it may have taken the special arrogance bred into prep school students on their way to the Ivy League and world domination actually to have arranged for copies of their recording to be pressed up on an LP by paying RCA Victor Records to do it. But that's what The Electras, a group of students at St. Paul's School in Concord, NH, did in 1962. The band aspired to the then-current trend in instrumental rock bands like the Ventures, although lead guitarist Larry Rand may not have been up to handling the fleet playing of the Ventures' Bob Bogle, and instead the group covered others such as the Virtues ("Guitar Boogie Shuffle") and the Fireballs ("Bulldog," "Torquay").They also adapted folk group the Brothers Four's "Greenfields" to the guitar-instrumental style and even came up with a couple of vocals ("Summertime Blues," "Ya Ya") that had something of the feel fellow New Englander Jonathan Richman would get into his work almost a decade later. The playing had that just-learned-their-instruments sound of eager amateurs still trying to get all the notes right without yet worrying about anything as sophisticated as interpretation. Still, if you were the entertainment director at a small college or fraternity in 1962 and this record landed on your desk, you might well have considered hiring the Electras for your Friday night dance, provided they didn't charge much more than beer money. The 2004 reissue of The Electras confirms that its members followed their true destinies as lawyers, doctors, and stock brokers, with the longest write-up in the CD booklet going to the bandmember whose contributions are least audible, bassist John Kerry, who went on to a well-publicized career as a Vietnam veteran, war protestor, and politician. "He is currently the 2004 Democratic Presidential candidate," the bio notes. While his hard-to-hear efforts on the disc seem steady (certainly the playing is not too liberal!), they indicate that, like his compatriots, he made the right decision to opt for a career outside the music business. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	09/07/2004
Label:	Wepecket Island Records
UPC:	0634479191459

Tracks

1. Guitar Boogie Shuffle
2. Three Blind Mice
3. You Can't Sit Down
4. Greenfields
5. Shanghaied
6. Summmertime Blues
7. Bulldog
8. Ya Ya
9. Sleepwalk
10. Electra
11. Because They're Young
12. Torquay
13. Yellow Jacket

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Electras   Primary Artist