eddiecd1.jpg (7824 bytes) Eddie And The Showmen – Squad Car CD (AVI)

Toes On The Nose, Border Town, Squad Car, Scratch, Las Olas, And The Angels Sing, Showmen Stomp, Movin’, Mr. Rebel, Lanky Bones, Far Away Places, Dark Eyes, We Are The Young, Young And Lonely, Break Time, Then He Kissed Me, Wayward Wind

This here CD is a perfect example of the incredible surf music reissues that the folks at AVI were putting together, and the big bummer that AVI isn’t around anymore. Despite their major stature in the original surf music scene in SoCal in the 60s, Eddie and the Showmen never did release an album. Guitarist Eddie Bertrand had released recordings with the Belairs before splintering off to lead the Showmen – and of course they had major success with singles like Squad Car and Mr. Rebel – but they had a handful of great, wild surf that was never released until the AVI wizards put out this collection. Eddie and the Showmen differed from the Belairs in having a harder sound with heavier reverb on the guitar and some wild performances. And The Angels Sing is played in an absolutely frenetic style, similar to a classic tune like Bahareeba. Also plenty of south-of-the-border influences, and even a fun vocal number in Showmen Stomp. The bad news is that this one’s pretty hard to find these days with AVI out of the picture. I got my copy from Norton Records mailorder – they know their stuff and had the smarts to get a heap of this and other AVI releases when they came out.