The Chesterfield Kings
The legendary Chesterfield Kings have been a lot of things to a lot of people in their
always colorful career: Stones-worshipping cave stompers (early days), Dee Dee
Ramone-supervised nouveau-punks, defiant Upstate glam-rockers, (mid-period)
Stone-throwers, and now -- a surf combo?! Well, Pendelton shirts
notwithstanding, this delightful album is much, much more than just another
Beached Boy riff-off: these boys actually got down and get wet grappling with
the real thang, be it Domenic Priore-approved instrumental work-outs or Sloan
& Barri-composed bingo-blanket ditties. The thirty-two (count em!) selections
packed onto this disc more than prove Greg, Andy and the guys have spent their
due time pouring over Surfaris and Fantastic Baggy albums, to say nothing of
the late, greatly missed Gary Usher's considerable song folio, yet it's Brian
Wilson's ultra-challenging "No Go Showboat" which shows the Kings, unlike the
majority of other mere mortals who might attempt such a task, possess even the
vocal chops to pull it all off. More surprising still is that among several
equally authentic swipes at the dreaded Hot Rod genre herein, the coolest by
far is the band's own composition, "Shelby GT 356" which would easily pass
mustard on the flipside of any Jan & Dean 45, believe you me! I only hope The
Chesterfield Kings will now go that extra quarter mile and attempt this
endeavor on stage (now that would surely separate the ho-dads from the
gremmies!), but even if this is one incarnation of the band's that is
destined to exist only on record, and possibly only this once, these guys all
get my stamp of approval for riding this particular killer wave all the way in
and living to stomp about it.
Eight Questions for Greg Prevost, singer for the Chesterfield Kings
1. "Munsters" or "Addams Family" -- which one's for you, and why?
Actually "The Munsters", because it was a logical extension of one of my
fave shows, "Car 54, Where Are You?" "The Addams Family" was
OK, especially Caroline Jones (the main reason to watch it!),
but overall though, "Munsters".
2. Who in the world, living or dead, would you most like to play a game of
"Twister" with?
Anne Francis, Beverly Garland, Nancy Sinatra, Bethel Leslie.
3. How many Sid King & The Five Strings records do you own?
I don't know!
4. Got any good Dee Dee Ramone stories?
Not really.
5. Ginger or Mary-Ann -- which one's for you, and for how long?
When the show was on in '65 to '66, I was eleven to twelve. Ginger was my
fave.
Looking at it now, though, I would have to go with Mary-Ann. What a doll!
6. What single song, living or dead, do you most wish you'd written and why
didn't you?
Too many to wish that, but I'd have to say the theme from Ben-Hur, or
possibly Mozart's 19th.
7. Whose guitar would you most like to be reincarnated as?
To reinstate: is the question who are some of my fave guitarists? Jeff
Beck, Randy Holden, Jimmy Page, Leigh Stevens, Jorma Kaukonen, Keith Richard, Ron
Wood...
8. In 2000 words or less, your hopes, aspirations and goals, musical and
otherwise, for your life and your country?
To own every TV show from 1947 to 1967!
As a long-time fan of The Beach Boys, The Stones AND The Chesterfield Kings, Gary Pig
Gold is still impatiently counting down the days until Greg Prevost & Co. are
themselves eligible for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
(Rochester division).
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