26 REDS & A BOTTLE OF WINE

"From a distance, you could mistake the sound for just another nighttime drag race. But, then, if you're close enough to hear it at all, you might as well move in and see what the shouting's about... Butch Berman is stitching together guitar leads in the style of a sewing machine gone manic, while the writhing dancers do their best imitation of the Poseidon disembarkation."
-Bart Becker, Lincoln Journal, March 31, 1977

At some point I'm going to write a long and confusing diatribe on garage rock and the history of rock and roll. That point is not now. Now is the point where I go eat tacos. But before I do enjoy this.


Charlie Burton and Rock Therapy - Guitar Case (Wild Records, 1977)

Dolled Up Cutie 4:05
Guitar Case 3:13
Even as We Speak 2:45
Breathe For Me Presley 2:21
50/50 3:23
unknown title 2:20
Love or What 1:50
Cow Cow Yippy Yippy Yeah 3:42
2 Packs a Day 2:44
Rabies Shot 3:46
Garage Sale 1:56
Something Fierce 2:25
Rock and Roll Behavior 3:00

This record is nearly impossible to find a stitch of information about. Burton has the kind of wild brash style that you would associate with 1977 but with a twang that is definitely not coastal. Sounding closer to The Seeds than to any of his counterparts in New York, Burton sounds like he's grown up in a bubble. A beautiful bubble in the middle of nowhere. Having said that, he shares beats and cords with The Undertones and The Members (Breathe for me Presley sounds just like Pretty Vacant by The Sex Pistols). When this record is at it's best it's all amplifiers and sweat and rock and roll. NOBODY does this shit anymore!!