Las Vegas Grind Part One (1956-1965)
The concept here is that back in the 50s and 60s, strip clubs in Las Vegas featured bands that played along with the, uh, show. Strip released four LP volumes and two CD volumes compiling vinyl rips of these collectible 45s in 1992. The Part One CD collected most of the tracks from LP Volumes One and Two, with the Part Two CD collecting most of LP Volumes Three and Four. From there, Strip apparently morphed into Crypt Records. These two CDs were re-released in 1995, along with LP Volume Five, collected on Part Three CD. Confusingly enough, in 2000 LP Volume Six was released with a corresponding Part Six CD. So, there is no Part Four or Part Five on CD...
The mastering on these tracks is pretty mediocre. There appears to have no attempt to clean these scratchy old 45s up. Also, the packaging contains absolutely no information on the tracks or artists themselves. I spent about six hours online researching the various tracks. Six hours! Well, that's what I get for being "detail oriented," I guess! It paid off, though. I was able to find out the release year for all but two of the tracks and specific vinyl release info for all but eight. I placed what vinyl release info I could find in the comment field tag, including original a-side and b-side listing, record company and serial number.
During the research, I discovered that these bands were from all over the US and the original vinyl releases fetch pretty high prices. It occurred to me that this isn't really a compilation of rock 'n' roll bands that played Las Vegas strip clubs (although some of them may have), but more a collection of obscure raunchy and gritty rock 'n' roll tracks from the 50s and 60s. Mostly instrumental, but many of the tracks feature yelling or oddball narrative bits. Tracks three and four were flip-flopped on the CD track listing. I only noticed because the Peter Gunn theme is unmistakable. I ended up making corrections to four of the track titles and six of the artist names. I love finding mistakes. Also, although this is listed as Part 1 on the cover and disc itself, I went with Part One because it is listed that way on the spine.
I mail-ordered this back in 1992 direct from Strip. Even though I enjoyed it, I unfortunately never got around to ordering the later volumes. Too bad, as they seem to all be out-of-print and are priced fairly high as collectibles. I scanned the cover myself. It's slightly different than the 1995 Crypt Records re-release.
Las Vegas Grind Part One (1956-1965)
1. The Upsetters - The Strip [1958] (2:04)
2. James "Red" Holloway - Ala Carte [1960] (2:29)
3. The Jesters - Peter Gunn Twist [1963] (2:18)
4. Bob Taylor - After Hours (Flyin' High) [1962] (2:02)
5. Ken Williams - My Very Own (Trash Can) [1965] (2:45)
6. Buddy Miller - Teen Twist [1962] (2:21)
7. The Crescendos - Countdown [1963] (2:20)
8. The Wild Tones - Shut-Ups [1958] (2:40)
9. Tic & Toc - Jibba Jab [1956] (2:20)
10. Joe Dodo and the Groovers - Groovy [1958] (2:30)
11. The Dyna-Sores - Jungle Walk [1960] (2:28)
12. The Casual-Aires - (What's the Word) Thunderbird [1958] (2:34)
13. John & Jackie - Little Girl [1958] (2:10)
14. The Genteels - Take It Off [1962] (1:56)
15. Jack Hammer - The Wiggle [1962] (2:38)
16. The Frantics - The Whip [1960] (1:46)
17. The Rockin' Bellmarx - Torture Rock [1957] (1:56)
18. The Periscopes - Beaver Shot [1965] (2:05)
19. Bobby Bunny and the Jackrabbits - The Joker [1957] (2:37)
20. The Epics - On the Rocks [1964] (2:52)
21. Barbara and the Boys - Hootie Sapperticker [1963] (1:39)
22. Bobby Christian - Enough Man [1957] (1:48)
23. Louie Overseas - A Studio Session (3:08)
24. The Lushes - Drunken Guitar [1963] (2:11)
25. The Empallos - Hiccups [1963] (2:00)
26. The Hollywood Persuaders - Drums A-Go-Go [1965] (2:19)
27. Ric Gary - Pimples & Braces (2:09)
28. Barney Kessel - Honey Rock [1957] (2:10)
29. The Vikings - Nicotine [1963] (2:06)
30. The Originals - The Whip [1959] (1:46)
31. Jimmy Heap & His Orchestra - Gismo [1959] (2:00)
155MB ZIP archive
MP3: Variable bitrate (308kbps average)
Exact Audio Copy 1.0b3 (Secure mode) w/LAME 3.99.5 (-V0)
DOWNLOAD
48 comments:
Awesome! Much appreciated!
Thanx a bunch, Kevin.
That's just an excellent post, puts you in the right x-mess mood...
All the best to you.
Dukester
Dude. Thanks so much for what you do. This is GREAT!!!!!!!
Thanks! Its gonna be a hot one tonight in the audio pleasures department! :)
Mmmmm... Maybe I'm doing something wrong, it doesn't work for me...
I entered the password, but it says that it's impossible to extract it...:(
good music, BUT the gain is too loud, extremely loud, if you record the line in signal from turntable you have to look that the signal is not clipping(!)-> http://www.tubecad.com/2006/05/27/hard-clip.png
Anonymous, I appreciate the picture of the clipped sine wave and all, but your gripe is more with Strip Records than me. I ripped this direct from their factory pressed CD and didn't touch the levels. I'm very picky about sound quality, which is why I use the best MP3 encoder (LAME) at a somewhat overkill bitrate. These tracks were digitally mastered from old vinyl 45s fifteen years ago. Being the small label that they were, I'm sure that they weren't using state of the art tools either. My guess would be that "master tapes" don't even exist for this material anymore, so vinyl rips are all we're going to get. The fact that this music is as obscure as it is means that it is highly unlikely that any company will revisit it.
Of course, being that these original singles were issued by small labels in the late 50s and early 60s, it's entirely likely that even a mint 45s (if any exist) wouldn't sound that great to begin with. I can only imagine what low-rent recording techniques were employed at the time.
In the end, I'm extremely picky about sound quality and my set-up at home here reflects that, but I'm more grateful that I am able to hear these songs at all! I'm not such a snob that a little surface noise or occasional clipping will make something unlistenable. Particularly if that's all that's available.
If you can't get by that, then don't listen to it. Delete it and move on. But this is the best quality that exists for these tracks and likely the best we'll ever get. If that's not enough, well, then it's your loss.
Glad to see these still up, I've been looking for a copy for awhile now. thanks.
i have volumes I-V in 96kbps mono mp3, which sound fine to me
i'm posting them up on my blog as we speak:
http://zambonisoundtracks.blogspot.com
my question to you, having the vinyl and all, is whether the songs are all in mono on the vinyl to begin with
Y'know, I'm not sure. Some of these tracks were recorded in the "stereo era" so to speak. The way CDs work, the tracks that aren't true stereo were mastered as dual-channel mono, meaning that the left and right channels are the same. But then again, if they were exactly the same, the LAME encoder would likely have sensed this and encoded at a lower bitrate in joint-stereo mode. Seeing that the average bitrate used for the tracks on this CD ranges from 251kbps to 308kbps, I'd say there are significant enough differences between the left and right channels to warrant a higher bitrate. 'Course these "differences" could easily be a slight time delay, analogue tape sound variance, mastering effects like echo or just plain old clicks and pops.
In the end, after all this typing, my answer is still "Y'know, I'm not sure..."
:)
tanx for sharing - 600 downloads, eh? How many comments?
you can find all las vegas grind volumes, easy...so! buy a turntable, support your local vinyl dealer...
long live vinyl the real stuff! save the vinyl! buy it play it! analog rules! mp3 cd djs sucks...
vinyljunkie, if you hate CDs, MP3s and digital media in general so much, then why are you visiting a full-album music blog?
:)
hey cool - thanks
Oooooooooh... I'm having a blast listening to these.
Of course, I'm also giggling down the sidewalk to the beats through my headphones and looking particularly sexy-'60's-trashy doing it.
Which, I guess, is the point. Except people are kinda looking at me strangely... .
Many thanks!
Didn't work for me either even after downloading theSendspace Wizard and changing from Acrobat Reader to WinZip
the family cat, thanks for the comment.
Check out the section at the top of this post. It's called "Please Read This First." It explains what programs you should be using to open password-protected RAR archives. I'm not sure what "theSendspace Wizard" is or why you would be using Adobe Acrobat or WinZip to open up a RAR archive.
It sounds like you're using Windows, so you should grab and install 7Zip. It's freeware with no spyware/adware:
http://www.7-zip.org/
Again, though, please check out the "Please Read This First." section at the top of every page in my blog for more detailed instructions! Believe me, it's worth the effort!
Well it opened them and converted to a zip older of mp3s.The 7Zip is what I downloaded off another site and seemed to be called Sendspace.
Downloading otherwise puts the whole thing in Acrobat Reader so you have to right click and open up the sub menu choosing 7Zip and Extract
But what use are RAR files I wonder when the media player can't open them?
Am playing them right now-love the way somebody gets an idea and 100 people copy it!
Yes I wondered just what Vinyljunkie was doing here-probably some trouble maker-it always takes one
CDs make it over vinyl any day if only for the fact that so much music is made possible now-and the fact that CDs by many artists were actually no existent in a vinyl album eg Bonnie Lou who got no further on microgroove than the odd track on a compilation
Nos 2 & 3 don't work-it says broken link when you open the zip
the family cat, I'm not exactly sure what "Nos 2 & 3 don't work-it says broken link when you open the zip" means, but I double-checked this post (Vol. 1) and the Vol. 2 post and the download links ("Grab It") both work fine.
I haven't posted Vol. 3.
Seems I was thinking of another blog where 4 of a similar content were posted only 2 worked.These 2 are fine.
Whoaaa!!!!
Great blog! Thumbs up for Las Vegas Grind! Love the grease!
Thanks so much - I wish I could draw you a picture of a big smiling face during the Holiday Season, cuz that's what I feel like after finding all this great stuff like Esquivel, Three Suns, etc. I have a handful of these on vinyl but there's nothing like having it come already wrapped and waiting under the xmas tree. Again, thanks so much.
I doubt it will be any consolation (and I hope it doesn't come off like I'm plugging my band unnecessarily) but you might hear some interesting sounds (and sights, if you check out the videos) here:
http://www.myspace.com/lesbianafternoon
which is my band Lesbian Afternoon. and i've posted hundreds of video clips of concerts over the last few years on my youtube channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/vacantmoon
Cheers to you and Happy Holidays, Mike/LA
Muchas gracias!
Estos discos son la bomba!!!
This is mother's milk to my wicked ears. Thanks, man!
I've been looking for this for awhile. Thanks!!
you are the best!!! thank you so much, this is so cool to find!! my night, week and month have been utterly made! haha :D
Thanks for these!
I really appreciate your attention to detail in researching and correcting errors in these compilations! I always want to know the original performers of many of these old tracks that were covered by dozens of different bands.
Crypt always had amazing compilations of old obscure rock. Besides Las Vegas Grind, I LOVE the Back From the Grave and Teenage Shutdown series of 60s garage rock. The Strummin Mental series covered early rock instrumentals.
Anyway, keep up the good work!
thank you!
from one blogger to another I just think it's atrocious that anyone would have the nerve to complain about something someone ELSE posted on their blog. Especially when the poster worked so hard. So, I'm just here to tell you THANK YOU for all your hard work! :)
http://leechmama.blogspot.com
Very late to the party but want to say thanks! I am working through converting all my music and got to my Las Vegas Grind part3 and the cd is missing! Did a search for it and found this blog. Anyone out there have part 3?
thanks!
Share has been uploaded to MediaFire and is available now!
Share has been re-uploaded to MediaFire and is available now!
Share has been uploaded to Rapidgator and is available now!
this is great job Kevin........Although a code was requested, to download the album, (and I don't know it), thanks very much for your offer. Be well !
B.A.
B.A., let me see if I can help. When you click on the "DOWNLOAD" link on my blog, you'll be taken to a Rapidgator download page. They want to sell you premium membership, but you don't need it to download from them. Click on the gray button labeled "SLOW SPEED DOWNLOAD". You'll see a 30 second countdown timer. When it reaches zero, you'll be taken to another page where you'll have to type in a captcha. If you've never done that before, it's their way of making sure you're not a machine! Type in the letters you see in the graphic in the "Your Answer" box and then click the "Send" button. Finally, if you typed it in correctly, you'll be taken to another page. Click on the orange "CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD" button and the zip file will start downloading.
One more note, some of the ads that show up are designed to look like download links, with big "DOWNLOAD" graphics and such. They're trying to trick you into clicking those! Follow my directions and you should be able to get the music!
Sorry that I had to start using the more complicated Rapidgator over MediaFire, but MediaFire started removing some of my shares, so I had to switch.
For improved sound quality, I re-ripped the CD with the latest version of the LAME MP3 encoder. Because Rapidgator has become unreliable, the share has been uploaded to Game Front and is available now!
Way back in 2006 when you first posted the Crypt collection LAS VEGAS GRIND Part One you said you "placed what vinyl release info I could find in the comment field tag, including original a-side and b-side listing, record company and serial number." I don't see this information among the 38 comments for this entry. I am as detail-oriented as you and would very much like to see the track info you so painstakingly amassed. If you still have it, could you repost or email it to me at onlybizet AT yahoo?
Only Bizet, I put that information in the actual MP3 tags for each file. Download the set and check the metadata tags and you'll see it there in the Comment field for each file.
In 1990, I was studying abroad in London and playing hooky one day, flipping through some vintage movie posters and porn mags at Vinmag located in the red light district of Soho and the song Groovy by The Groovers came on. I asked the shop owner what it was and I've been seeking out this whole album ever since!!! AMAZING AND THANK YOU!!!!!!!
FYI: The song "Pimples & Braces" is really a track by the great Spike Jones and is from his album 60 YEARS OF "MUSIC AMERICA HATES BEST" (Liberty, 1960). For some reason, "Pimples" was later collected on a 45rpm in 1966 with an upstate New York garage band named the Fallen Angels and attributed to someone named Ric Gary. One wonders how a company in Germany got hold of it.
Thanks for all this, by the way.
Song # 24 "Drunken Guitar" is actually by British pop star Tommy Steele and was released on British Decca 11372 in 1960. The Decca 45-rpm label adds that the accompaniment is directed by Ian Fraser. I presume "The Lushes" moniker was a 1963 attempt to circumvent the UK copyright?
FYI:
Song # 23 is really called "Rock and Roll Session" and is by a one-shot act named Wiggles and Waggles. It was released as Coral 45-61943 in 1958. Songwriting credits are Roy C. Bennett and Sid Tepper, who wrote for Elvis, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Eartha Kitt, Frank Sinatra, Cliff Richard, et al. Given the nature of these songs, I would venture a guess that this is their own little project, since there doesn't seem to be any other star involved, at least in a prominent way. This info is from the Rock & Roll Hoo-Ha What What blog
[http://rrhhww.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html]
Incidentally, Roy C. Bennett just died in July 2015.
Thanks for all this, Kevin!
Song # 21 by Barbara and the Boys is properly spelled "Hooty Sapperticker." It was originally released on # 1 Records 0001 ca. June 1958. The flip was an instrumental called "Cobra" and attributed to The Boys (which included Plas Johnson on sax). # 1 Records was out of Hollywood, CA. Songwriting credits on both songs was Sherman-Roberts-Sherman. This single was later picked up by the Dot label and re-released as Dot 15794, also in 1958.
Thanks for all the extra info, Only Bizet!
I really need to revisit this blog and give it a new coat of paint. Or, at the very least, find a new host for image storage and then update all the links! It looks awful the way it is, but I do my best to keep the download links up!
Thanks again, much appreciated!
When I go to download the file (gamefront.com), I get all kinds of warnings from Firefox and Kaspersky that the hosting site is malicious and contains reports of malicious code embedded in the .zip file. What gives?
Anonymous, I use Firefox myself and got the warning too. If hit Ignore, you can still download the ZIP file, but I don't like that either. I've been moving some files over to my Uploaded.net account, so I moved this too. Thanks for the heads up!
Share has been uploaded to Uploaded.net and is available now!
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