Posted on 09/08/2004 4:06:33 PM PDT by NYC GOP Chick
ALBANY, N.Y. - This could finally be the Electras' breakout year.
Rare vinyl copies of their lone 1961 recording are fetching prices north of $2,000, even though the band tended to stray from the beat. Two separate CD versions of that same recording are being sold after some "Behind The Music"-style intra-band squabbling.
Of course, it's not musical chops that has renewed interest in this obscure garage rock recording; it's the bassist: Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites).
"Their enthusiasm is only muted by the fact that they weren't that good," summed up Chuck Miller, an Albany-based columnist for Goldmine magazine who recently bought a slightly scuffed copy of the vinyl album.
The Electras were formed in the fall of 1960 at St. Paul's School, a tony private boarding school in Concord, N.H. The band was named for a cool looking Buick — not the Greek mythological character — and they played pre-Beatles standards by Eddie Cochran (news) and the Ventures at local school dances.
The seven members (with help from their parents) put together about $1,000 to produce their one album in 1961. In a basement music room with a single microphone, the teen rockers ripped through covers including "Summertime Blues" and "Ya Ya."
The songs tend to sound like surf music with an overlay of boogie-woogie piano. Most tracks are instrumentals. Careful listeners can pick out the steady thump of Kerry's bass — nothing fancy, though the liner notes credit him as the "producer of a pulsating rhythm." (The same notes also call the diplomat's son a resident of Oslo, Norway.)
"Frankly, I think he and I were probably the best musicians in the band," said Electras pianist Jack Radcliffe, now a Boston-area newspaper editor who still performs as "Ragtime" Jack. "Although his beat wasn't great for a bass player."
Kerry left the band after high school, although he reportedly strums the Spanish classical guitar on the campaign trail and is learning to play patriotic nuggets like "This Land is Your Land."
Of the 500 albums pressed, the few that have shown up on the market have sold for big money. Miller recently paid $800 to a dealer for a less-than-mint copy that has the name of an old St. Paul's schoolmate inked on the cover. Another copy sold this year for about $2,500, to the amazement of the old band members.
"Somebody has to be crazy to pay anything like that for the album," said Larry Rand, the Electras' lead guitarist and vocalist, better known as a constitutional law scholar and semiretired teacher in Connecticut.
Rand helped spearhead a remastering of the original tape now available through www.electrasrockandrollband.com for $14. He said the reissue was essentially done as a lark now that his old bandmate is running for president.
But Radcliffe, the pianist, balked at the agreement signed by the rest of the band earlier this year, saying the maracas player and the saxophonist were being denied their fair share of proceeds. He noted the saxophonist's image was expunged from the group shot on the Web site.
Radcliffe produced an alternate CD for the same price through www.johnkerryandtheelectras.com. He said his version preserves the original album cover artwork, a scrawled line drawing of a generic rock band, and the liner notes.
Neither Rand nor Radcliffe have gotten feedback from Kerry about the CDs. Kerry campaign spokeswoman Juanita Scarlett confirmed the candidate has no involvement with the reissues, but added: "It's not surprising that John Kerry's album is a hot commodity now. He's a man of many talents."
Rand said the original profit cuts were determined by lawyers based on contributions to the album, but the band members have since decided to share equally seven ways "in the spirit of fairness."
Both versions of the CD are attracting sales — Radcliffe said he has moved about 400 copies, and Rand said he's sold more than 500 — but interest in Kerry's first band of brothers could really heat up if he becomes the next president.
While a lot of presidents played musical instruments — including Thomas Jefferson (violin), Warren G. Harding (cornet) and Harry Truman (piano) — a victorious Kerry also would enter the far more exclusive club of presidents who rocked, along with saxophonist Bill Clinton (news - web sites).
Rand speaks hopefully of an Electras reunion, maybe at a Kerry inauguration.
Miller, who bought the album to include in a record guide he wrote, plans to sell his vinyl copy for a nice profit if Kerry prevails.
And if President Bush (news - web sites) wins?
"It will probably go on my wall," Miller said.
___
On the Net:
www.electrasrockandrollband.com
www.johnkerryandtheelectras.com
www.kerryrocks.com
http://www.electrasrockandrollband.com
http://www.johnkerryandtheelectras.com
http://www.kerryrocks.com
And it comes with a free bonus track! "I served in Vietnam/I served in Vietnam!"
It'll be worth a $1.50 on Nov. 3rd.
PULL!
I saw this on FR earlier this year. I downloaded the sampler, and it's not all that bad. (Not all that good either, though.)
There's one on eBay now:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=306&item=4034502321
What do you bid, freepers? Are we all done at $400?
Yo!
Kerry's campaign is buying up this stuff left and right, along with any and every copy of The New Soldier that they can get their hands on.
Kerry is an awful bass player. Made that expensive Fender he used sound like junk.
The Electras were somewhat known in the 60s punk collectors scene. About average. I think that album was going for a lot even in the early 1980s. However that genre of instrumental/fake surf rock wasn't much preferred then, which didn't help prices.
Chuck Miller holds his copy of the only album made by The Electras, in 1961, at his home in Albany, N.Y., Aug. 1, 2004. It is not the band's music that makes the album collectable but the fact that the bassist is Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites), standing far right with the bass. Miller, a columnist for Goldmine, says 'Their enthusiasm is only muted by the fact that they weren't that good.' (AP Photo/Jim McKnight)
That's because The Electras featured a young bass player named John Kerry -- the same John Kerry who happens to be the Democratic candidate for president.
Rare vinyl copies of their lone 1961 recording of 1950s rock standards have fetched prices of more than $2,000. But if you can't afford that, two separate CD versions of that same recording are being sold.
"The Electras were formed in the fall of 1960 at Saint Paul's School, a boarding school in New Hampshire. Its seven members put together about $1,000 to produce their one album. Chuck Miller, a columnist for Goldmine magazine, recently paid $800 for a less-than-mint copy of the Kerry album.
Miller said the future Massachusetts senator and his bandmates "weren't that good."
Among the cover tunes on 13-track Electras album are "Summertime Blues," "You Can't Sit Down" and "Sleepwalk." The band started selling a CD reissue copy of the album on its Web site earlier this summer.
I've been wondering about that - as far as I can tell, on the album cover he's holding a Precision Bass, but his tone on the album sounds like a Jazz Bass using the rear pickup alone. (Which is kind of a strange choice.) Maybe he used a different bass on the recording.
Probably was told to by the engineer because he might have had bleed (remember they had two-track ... at best). Still, the bass sounds awful. Even for a garage band, the sound is well, stupid and unprofessional.
Why would using a Jazz Bass set to the rear pickup help?
Still, the bass sounds awful.
True. Chris Squire or Geddy Lee he ain't.
Even for a garage band, the sound is well, stupid and unprofessional
I don't know - I think they sound adequate for a garage ban, just nothing special. One among many, who would have been forgotten today except for Kerry.
Listen to the buzz. Kerry's fingering was awfully suspect. Imagine what it sounded like with the treble pick-up.
They weren't anything special, but that bass sounded horrific even for garage. Guess we know who paid for the recording sessions.
This album is just another example of Kerry as a total poser. First a "rock star", then "soldier", then amateur filmmaker, then war protester and benedict arnold, then hippie, playboy, kept man, playboy absentee senator, and gold-digging hubbie, presidential candidate, anti-war, pro-war and the list goes on.. and on... and on...
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