Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA The Lively Ones - Heads Up!
 | This second best of volume contains all cover material. Hang Five was such powerful collection, it left only lesser material availble for this second volume. This leaves only "Baja" and a few others not comped. As a means of filling out your Lively Ones collection, Hang Five plus this disc is far more efficient than buying all of the reissues, and only misses a few tracks. |
Picks: Pipeline, Surfin' U. S. A., Let's Go Trippin', Heads Up, Tequila, Hot Pastrami, Soul Surfer, Malibu Run, Rumble, Wipe Out, Surfin' Safari, Tuff Surf, Surfer Boogie, Stoked, Guitar Man, Surf City, Mexico, Latin'ia, Wild Weekend, Sleep Walk, Forty Miles Of Bad Road, Torquay, Shut Down
Track by Track Review
Surf (Instrumental)
Probably the best period cover of the Chantays' surf archetype. The dribbling glissando opener is stunningly effective, and the whole track reeks power and speed. A totally great track.
Surfin' U. S. A. Surf (Instrumental)
Like the other Beach Boys' covers, it is uninspired and just so-so.
Surf (Instrumental)
A pretty standard cover of Dick Dale's first instro hit.
Surf (Instrumental)
Freddie King' "Heads Up" is given a fairly tepid treatment.
Surf (Instrumental)
While this is a tame session, it does include a spoken introduction of the band.
Hot Pastrami Surf (Instrumental)
Pedestrian rendition of the Dartells' tune, complete with the expected shouts of food dishes.
Surf (Instrumental)
Wetter tones and thinner sound than the Johnny Fortune original, but it's a good take, with really strong double picked bridges.
Surf (Instrumental)
A variation on the "Paradise Cove" / "Surfers Lament" theme. Moody, pretty, stunning bottleneck slides. Almost Polynesian, but still a dirge. Very cool.
Surf (Instrumental)
A faster lighter variation on the Link Wray definition of ominous rock instro. Cool, but no where near as great as the Linkster.
Surf (Instrumental)
This required repertoire number has been covered and covered, and then covered some more. No one does it like Ron Wilson. Still, this is a serviceable rendition.
Surfin' Safari Surf (Instrumental)
Like the other Beach Boys' covers, it is uninspired and just so-so.
Surf (Instrumental)
A sax rant with great surf guitar backtrack. It has a quirky melody line, and a sax feel like Ace Cannon's "Tuff.." I usually dislike sax lead instros, but this is damn fine.
Surf (Instrumental)
A spirited surfization of Frank Virtue and the Virtues' "Guitar Boogie Shuffle," fast furious, and way happy fun.
Stoked Surf (Instrumental)
A sax number in the Bill Black vein. Bluesy and OK. Not the Beach Boys' tune.
Guitar Man Surf (Instrumental)
A pedestrian cover of the Duane Eddy ego salve single, just with more reverb, without Steve Douglas' flair on sax, and sans the chorus, thank you very much...
Surf City Surf (Instrumental)
Jan and Dean classic without the vocals. Spirited, but just OK.
Mariachi Surf (Instrumental)
The Eddie and the Showmen arrangement of the Bob Moore hit single. It's got all the right Latin bits, the double picked guitar, and the surf sound.
Surf (Instrumental)
About half way between the Sentinals' original and the Challengers' cover, this version is clean and precise. Interesting, but not killer.
Surf (Instrumental)
A credible surf cover of the DJ theme turned hit single from the Rockin' Rebels.
Surf (Instrumental)
Standard fair, with pretty decent slides to simulate the lap steel. Slow dance romantic.
Duane Eddy Surf (Instrumental)
Pre-surf guitar hero Duane Eddy's classic, surfed up for maximum enjoyment.
Surf (Instrumental)
A trad cover of the Fireballs' classic.
Shut Down Surf (Instrumental)
The Beach Boys' classic without the annoying words, and with a "Linda Lou" backtrack. OK.