Road Gore: The Band That Drank Too Much, Jerry Jerry & The Sons Of Rhythm Orchestra & Show # 580

Road Gore: The Band That Drank Too Much is the debut album released by Edmonton, Alberta’s Jerry Jerry & The Sons of Rhythm Orchestra. Although the album was released in 1985 on OG Records (and on CD in 1990), the band first got their start in 1982. Their first release was an EP in 1984 entitled Fighting Socialism put out on Rubber Records. Apparently the only release on this label, Rubber Records was an independent label put together by the band’s soundman, Barry Peters. However, it wasn’t until after opening for Deja Voodoo at the Edmonton Ski Club that Jerry Jerry & The Sons Of Rhythm Orchestra were signed to OG. Reportedly the band drank six cases of beer, smoked several packs of cigarettes and played for approximately 45 minutes, but something about the band’s uninhibited sound and energy drew in the members of Deja Voodoo. Road Gore emphasizes that alone in its title, but the music contained on the record is something else entirely. In thirteen tracks, the band blasts through rockabilly, country, surf, gospel, and garage musical styles with a feral energy that some might also call punk rock.

The album opens with a surf song called “Gospel Surf” a short ramshackle song adhering to the elements of the surf music genre, but at the same time adding elements of garage rock and rockabilly music, featuring sound effects and random hollering from lead vocalist Jerry Woods. This song in its reckless abandon is a calling card for what was to come from the band and on the album. “Rhythm Crazy” comes in as song number two on this album with a clean rockabilly tone and tongue-in-cheek lyrics telling the story of a partying dancer with “soul in her big fat feet”. A more upbeat tempo comes in for the third song on this album “Color TV”, a song that touches on the commercialism of TV culture at the time and a character that becomes so transfixed by television she doesn’t notice a burglary that takes place in her house. The choppy rhythms of “Baby’s On Fire” recalls scratchy garage rock burning with lyrics relating to jealousy, “Livin’ On Top” looks at the US culture through a Canadian lens and “Daddy Was A Peacock” is a sloppy R&B take on a story that recalls a fathers glory days.

Side of two of Road Gore starts with the song “Happy Nun” with fuzzy guitar riffs and lyrics that juxtapose a happy nuns demeanor vs. a more raucous lifestyle, “Bad Idea” echoes with sleazy roots rock and country influences with an anti-socialism message, as the ramped up country of “Rancher King” seems to question the traditions of the rancher lifestyle. Songs such as “You Make Me Blue” travels into bluesier pastures before “Judgment Date”, which after several songs dealing with mischievous drinking related activities, brings us to an Armageddon-gospel themed track that builds and burns with as much intensity as the album’s first track. Following two more songs featured on the It Came From Canada compilation albums on OG Records (“Radical Look” and “Yap Yap”), the band relocated to Montreal in 1986 and released their second full-length album, the critically acclaimed follow-up Battle Hymn of the Apartment in 1987.

According to an interview with Exclaim in 2000, the album’s title was inspired by a road trip to Saskatoon with another band featuring Moe Berg (later of The Pursuit Of Happiness), but it was also around this time that the band made the connection with Deja Voodoo and OG Records and were put on the path towards their sound and ethos. Jerry Woods has often said that when The Sons Of Rhythm Orchestra started he didn’t take them that seriously, but on Road Gore: The Band That Drank Too Much, there are a multitude of different things growing beneath the surface. Whether it is the cow-punk dynamics of the music that also featured elements of garage, surf and blues or the lyrics, on Road Gore: The Band Who Drank Too Much, Jerry Jerry & The Sons Of Rhythm Orchestra started on a road less travelled with something different to say and to spread their own gospel.



Saturday Night Playlist:

1.  Jerry Jerry & The Sons Of Rhythm Orchestra - Gospel Surfer
2.  Jerry Jerry & The Sons Of Rhythm Orchestra -  Rhythm Crazy
3.  The Syndicats - Crawdaddy Simone
4.  The Dirty Pretty Things - Don’t Bring Me Down
5.  Monomyth - Transmission
6.  Telstar Drugs - Pulley
7.  Ought - Celebration
8.  The Buttons - I’ve Been Lookin’
9.  The Colonials - Crawdad
10. The Sadies - The First 5 Minutes
11. The Sadies - Leave This World Behind
12. Johnny Cash - Train Of Love
13. Richard “Rabbit” Brown - James Alley Blues
14. The Space Plan - Tread Lightly
15. The New Dimensions - Chicky Run
16. The Sentinals - Exotic
17. The Libertines - Heart Of The Matter
18. The Intelligence - Refuse To Pay The Dues
19. Shannon & The Clams - It’s Too Late
20. Rock “N’ Roll Monkey & The Robots - Love Is Chemical
21. Neon Boys - High Heeled Wheels
22. Simply Saucer - I Take It (Demo)
23. The Verlaines - You Say You
24. David Kilgour - Living In Space
25. The Slit Plasters - The Dung Fly
26. Fake Tears - Heart Break Loud
27. MC5 - Baby Won’t Ya

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for October 3. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

As a side note and for those keeping count, episode 579 of Revolution Rock was a repeat episode that originally aired back in August 2015. You can download that episode here and find the playlist in this post.

It Came From Canada ... Og Music & Show # 494

Og Music was established in Montreal, Quebec in 1983, by Gerard Van Herk and Tony Dewald, who were also in a two piece primal Sludgeabilly band called Deja Voodoo that drew on elements of 50’s Rock & Roll, Rockabilly, Garage and Punk music for their sound. While the label was initially established as a means to put out music by Deja Voodoo, it quickly grew into something larger going on to set new standards for independent Canadian music. Amongst a world of synthesizers and overindulgent music, Og Music set out to do things different taking things back to basics. The label would go on to not only release music within the Garage and Punk genres, but also Roots Rock, Rockabilly and associated genres and set up a network with other Canadian bands on a national scale. This was put forth in part by their It Came From Canada compilation album series and Deja Voodoo’s touring connections.

The first two releases on Og were released on cassette format only, 1983’s Gumbo by Deja Voodoo, and Condition’s Dirty Business, but the label would switch to vinyl format following this and remain that way until the label was dissolved in 1990. The first vinyl release on Og, was a seven inch single compilation release entitled From Montreal, which can be seen as a precursor to the It Came From Canada compilation albums which would follow starting in 1985. These compilations would feature bands such as The Gruesomes, Jerry Jerry & The Sons of Rhythm Orchestra, Ray Condo & His Hard Rock Goners, Chris Houston, Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, Cowboy Junkies and many others. There were five It Came From Canada compilations in total, in between these releases Og would put out full length albums and releases by The Gruesomes, Supreme Bagg Team, The Dik Van Dykes, and more. The labels first release from a band that was not within the Montreal scene was the 1985 album Road Gore: The Band That Drank Too Much by Jerry Jerry and The Sons Of Rhythm Orchestra who originated from Edmonton, Alberta.

Deja Voodoo drove around to their gigs with a willingness to play anywhere in a 1959 Ford Edsel which seemed to be a character of its own. The car would generate questions and at times confusion, but the label would draw attention from a variety of sources in addition to touring connections. Og bands and releases were also supported strongly by campus radio stations across Canada and CBC late night programs such as Brave New Waves and Night Lines, which further helped the labels status. An annual event was also put on called Voodoo BBQ’s, which started as a reason to bring the bands together featured on the It Came From Canada compilation albums. This live event would start in Montreal, but would also be held in other parts of Canada later on, such as Toronto and Ottawa. Deja Voodoo even went on to play shows in Europe building a following and releasing a live album entitled Live at the Backstage Club, Helsinki Finland in 1990. This album would be not only one of the band’s last releases, but also one of the last releases for the Og Music label.

Many of the bands featured on the It Came From Canada compilations went on to varying degrees of success. The Gruesomes were an extremely popular band on the label that did very well. Two other notable bands would be Canada’s instrumental combo Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, who would go on to greater fame in Canada when supplying the theme song for the Kids In The Hall TV show and The Cowboy Junkies, who would only have one song featured on the label, “Blue Moon Revisited”. This song would be featured on 1988’s It Came From Canada Volume 5 and was an outtake from their Trinity Sessions album, which would go on to sell millions of copies when the band signed to a major label. Just before CD’s became the dominant format of choice in the 90s, Deja Voodoo and Og Records called it quits in 1990. Gerard and Tony went on to pursue other careers in different avenues, Gerard in the education field, Tony in the brewing of beer.

Og Music was a small, but largely influential label at the time. It can be seen as a metaphor for the beginnings of independently released music on a more national level in Canada. In the 90s and even today, Canadian music thrives in this regard. Deja Voodoo, the first band to put out a release on Og further serves as a symbol of what was essentially at that point in time the primal beginnings of Canadian artists taking matters into their own hands in terms of how they would release music. When the primal cycle outgrew itself, Og Music ended, leaving behind a blueprint that was seminal for releasing music that was alternative to the mainstream in Canada.

Listen to the interview I did with Gerard Van Herk here:



Og Play List:

1. Deja Voodoo – Boppin’ 88 (Gumbo 1983 – OG 1)
2. Terminal Sunglasses – Terminal Theme (Wraparound Cool 1985 – OG 6)
3. Drums Along The Gardiner – Vagabonds (Mr. Garager’s Neighbourhood 1989 – OG 21)
4. Desmonds – Bureaucrat From Hell (It Came From Canada Volume 5 1988 – OG 25)
5. Ripcordz – Long Dark Train (It Came From Canada Volume 5 1988 – OG 25)
6. Captain Crunch and Let’s Do Lunch – Goes Without Saying (More Baroque-Post Industrial Hillbilly Launch Music 1989 – OG 23)
7. Ray Condo & His Hard Rock Goners – High Voltage (It Came From Canada Volume 2 1986 – OG 9)
8. Dusty Chaps – Yukon Buddy (It Came From Canada Volume 1 1985 – OG 8)
9. Chris Houston – Surfin’ On Heroin (It Came From Canada Volume 1 1985 – OG 8)
10. Cowboy Junkies – Blue Moon Revisited (It Came From Canada Volume 4 1988 – OG 17)
11. Deja Voodoo – Too Cool To Live, Too Smart To Die (Too Smart To Live, Too Smart To Die 1988 – OG 12)

GERARD VAN HERK INTERVIEW (DEJA VOODOO/OG RECORDS)

12. Deja Voodoo – 48 Bucks (Big Pile Of Mud 1988 – OG 18)
13. The Mongols – Sleepwalk (It Came From Canada Volume 3 1987 – OG 13)
14. Dik Van Dykes – Curling (Nobody Likes The Dik Van Dykes 1987 - OG 16)
15. Condition – Too Hot To (From Montreal 1983 – OG 3)
16. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet – Good Cop Bad Cop (It Came From Canada Volume 2 1986 – OG 9)
17. Jerry Jerry & The Sons Of Rhythm Orchestra – Bad Idea (Road Gore:  The Band Who Drank Too Much1985 – OG 7)
18. Vindicators – If I Were You (Vindicators 1989 – OG 29)
19. The Gruesomes – For All I Care (Tyrants Of Teen Trash 1986 – OG 10)
20. The Gruesomes - Hey! (Hey! 1988 - OG 20)
21. Deja Voodoo – Coelacanth (Swamp Of Love 1986 – OG 11)

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for February 4. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Coming Up on Revolution Rock in February 2014!

February is theme month once again for Revolution Rock. I will be doing a different themed program for each of the four weeks in February. Each program will air on a Tuesday from 10:30-Noon and can be streamed/listened to online via www.cjam.ca or on the FM dial at 99.1 FM in the Windsor/Detroit area.

The programs will be as follows:

 Og Records Radio Feature
February 4th, 2014
10:30 AM – Noon
CJAM 99.1 FM (www.cjam.ca)

In 1983, Gerard Van Herk and Tony Dewald of the two piece sludegabilly duo Deja Voodoo formed the record label Og Records. This independent Canadian, Montreal, Quebec based label initially started releasing primarily cassettes, but quickly gravitated toward vinyl releases. This highly influential label would not only release material by Deja Voodoo, but also artists such as The Gruesomes, Terminal Sunglasses, and Jerry Jerry And The Sons of Rhythm Orchestra. Og Records is also notable for their highly sought after compilation series It Came From Canada. There were five volumes and the compilations were responsible for exposing bands such as Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet and Cowboy Junkies, who would later go on to achieve more mainstream successes. Og Records only ever had 29 releases and ceased operations as a label in 1990. This program will features a selection of music from this short lived label and an exclusive interview with co-founder of Og Records and Deja Voodoo Gerard Van Herk.

City Slang – Music From Detroit
February 11th, 2014
10:30 AM – Noon
CJAM 99.1 FM (www.cjam.ca)

Detroit, Michigan and its surrounding areas have often delivered a variety of highly influential music in a variety of differing genres. This program will focus on some of the music to have come from Detroit, Michigan, and the surrounding areas. The program will focus primarily on Garage Rock and related sub genres, but will also feature some of the differing genres and styles of music to come from the surrounding cultural hub of artistic diversity that is commonly referred to as Detroit. Expect to hear music from MC5, The Stooges, White Stripes, John Lee Hooker and more!

Revolution Rock Celebrates Black History Month – Grant Greens’ Solid
February 18th, 2014
10:30 AM – Noon
CJAM 99.1 FM (www.cjam.ca)

Grant Green is often viewed as an unsung hero of Jazz guitar and was very underrated during his lifetime. Green has been on a multitude of recordings both as a sideman and solo artist, which were primarily released through the Blue Note label. Solid was one of two albums recorded in 1964 (the other album being Matador), yet they remained unreleased during Green’s lifetime. The musicians on Solid were pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones, both of which made up two thirds of John Coltrane's rhythm section. Some felt that this album contains some of his Green’s finest work, but it remained unreleased for fifteen years before getting a proper release in 1979. This episode of Revolution Rock will feature a selection of tracks from this album, as well as a mixture of other genres in celebration of Black History Month.

Revolution Surf (The 8th Edition)
February 25th, 2014
10:30 AM – Noon
CJAM 99.1 FM (www.cjam.ca)

Tuesday, February 25th, will mark my 8th annual Surf Rock program on CJAM 99.1 FM. The yearly program was initially started as a reason to incorporate a collection of Surf music that I had into the Revolution Rock radio program, which initially just featured 70s Punk and New Wave music only. I have since incorporated Garage Rock, Alternative, Indie, Surf and a variety of other sub related genres into the program on a weekly basis. The annual Surf program entitled Revolution Surf has however stuck, each year at the end of February I have one program devoted to this musical genre. This year’s program will also feature, as have past programs a special guest segment from Derk Brigante formerly of CJAM’s Surfphony of Derstruction, which now continues as a podcast online. This year’s program will feature a mini spotlight on Surf Rock from Japan with a focus on Japanese Instrumental Surf guitarist Takeshi Terauchi and his 1966 album with The Bunnys, Let’s Go Terry.