Shockabilly "Vietnam" recorded 1984 re mastered 2008
Shockabilly was a band which couldn’t be “genre-fied” and which included guitarist/vocalist Eugene Chadbourne, and Shimmy Disc founder Mark Kramer(known more commonly as simply Kramer) on vocals and bass, “cheap organ” and other instruments. Shimmy alum David Licht handled percussions. Licht played on many Shimmy projects during the 80’s and early 90s when the label folded due to the breakup of Kramer’s band Bongwater and the subsequent lawsuit over royalty disputes with former partner Ann Magnuson. Kramer and Chadbourne also split for for royalty dispute and creative differences. Kramer once called Chadbourne “the second best guitar player in rock history behind Jimi Hendrix…”
Your USA and My Face
This is most probably Chadbourne’s self-made electric rake – an instrument sounding like a cross between a tenor guitar and a taut A-string in a cello. Ever scary sounds of neighing horses (remember Steve Moore’s “The Threshold of Liberty”?) play but an auxiliary role. The song rocks despite its acoustic context, set against musique concrète canvassing. The tapes are but an ornament, and fail to melt the structure of the song to follow the steps of John Fahey’s “Requia” nearly 20 years before. But despite being merely a decorative element, these industrial sirens and animal whinnying do affect our capacity to discern the instrumental tone quality of the band.
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