Garagerocktopia checks in with the Standells

The Standells never set out to be the “Godfathers of Punk” or really to have any say-so in the future of rock and roll. To hear Larry Tamblyn, the band’s lead singer and keyboardist tell it, they just did what all good artists do -- that is, play what they felt inside. And we here at Garagerocktopia were luck enough to have Tamblyn tell us all about it.

For those that don’t know, the Standells were a rock band from Southern California who began in the early ‘60s. It’s doubtful that anyone who calls himself or herself a fan of garage rock would not know who they are.

Their brand of rock and roll, considered to be edgy and hard-rockin' in the ‘60s, would directly inspire the creation both of punk and heavy metal. Their keyboard driven sound would be the chrysalis in which garage rock to morph into psychedelia.

According to Tamblyn, though, the band wasn’t interested in building a legacy or create new genres -- they were just trying to kick out the jams.

“We were just doing what came naturally,” revealed Tamblyn, talking by telephone from the L.A. area. “We used keyboards to make rock and roll way before other groups did. And we always did hard rockin’ stuff. Every group had their own sound. The Byrds did Folk Rock; Blood, Sweat and Tears did Jazz and Soul rock. Everybody had their own take. We just had one that very few others had.”

So few others had that sound, but in later years so many other bands would try. Along the way, they themselves would go on to legendary careers of their own, making the Standells to be one of the most influential rock bands ever. The band also included Dick Dodd, Tony Valentino, and Gary Lane and would later include John Fleck and Dewey Martin, amongst others.

Like so many other bands on this blog, the Standells have a history going back almost 60 years, and it’s tough to say all that can be said in one article. But the band is still together, still making music, and has an amazing amount of cool music to listen to. Consider this article merely to be an appetizer.

 

 

Ground-Breaking From the Beginning

A little Standells 101 for you: Formed in 1962 with roots in surf music, the band took their name from standing around agent offices. Many still think the band was from oston, which they’re not but there are good reasons why people would think so.  Contrary to what has been written, they were never clean-cut teen idol types.

In fact, along with bands like the Barbarians – who actually were from Boston (Cape Cod, actually) – the Standells had long hair and were amongst the first American bands to cultivate a bad-boy image. That image would resonate for generations to come.

“The Ramones were inspired by the Standells,” said Tamblyn, “and so were a lot of metal groups like Guns ‘N Roses, Aerosmith, U2, the Sex Pistols. Other people did our songs. You can’t be an artist without being inspired by others. We ourselves were inspired by Chuck Berry, Little Richard and the people of the era.”

When the Standells hit the scene, rock was still fairly new and the fragmentation that is so characteristic of the music was barely beginning.

“Our sound was very different for its time,” Tamblyn explained. “Some say our sound is the what originated garage rock. Rock wasn’t broken down into so many genres back then, but with the way we accented our singing, the way we used speech in the songs, it’s the sound people equate with garage rock.”

For a time in the mid-‘60s, the Standells became one of the most visible rock and roll bands in America. They were frequent visitors to “American Bandstand” and other teen-oriented music shows.

One of their most famous appearances was guest role on an episode of the Munsters as a hot rock band hiding out from rabid teen fans (mea culpa – this was when I first got into them). Fairly unknown at the time, rather than one of their own songs, they performed a rather unrepresentative cover of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.”

The band also graced the big screen, including a performance of the title track of the film “Riot on the Sunset Strip.” The band also appeared in “Get Yourself a College Girl.”

The term “garage rock,” at least with ‘60s, is thought to refer to bands who had one hit and not much of anything else worth listening to. Of course, fans of that music would probably not describe it so. And even if they did, the Standells would not be accurately described so.

More Than Just a One-Hit Wonder

“Dirty Water” may have been their best-known song, but the band had albums worth of edgy, hard-rockin’ songs. Songs like ‘Rari” and especially “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White” were fine rockers that would be listened to by many generations of rockers.

But more than having success in their day, the Standells would inspire so many other acts. Few find this more surprising than Tamblyn.

“In the ‘80s, we started hearing that we were the ‘Godfathers of Punk,’ Tamblyn recalled. “I started seeing articles, and I couldn’t believe it. They were comparing the Pandoras and the Ramones to the Standells. Then the terminology, calling us the ‘Godfathers of Punk, and I just said ‘Whoa …’ I never dreamed we would take hold like we did. It amazes me that people still talk about us, and I’m very humbled by it, to tell you the truth.”

If you had to pin down one quality that made their music so influential, perhaps the place to start is honesty, which, it seems, always resonates with rockers who are more interested in rocking than selling. We love the music here at Garagerocktopia that is honest, that really says something that’s in the artists’ hearts. And that seems to be what Tamblyn and the Standells were all about.

Working Class Heroes

“We felt like we were more or less representing the working class,” said Tamblyn. “We wanted to represent their wants and their needs. The message we had was ‘don’t judge me by my income – just judge me by who I am.”

Many say “Dirty Water,” written by their producer, Ed Cobb, was the first punk song. It’s ridiculously simple riff and lyrics about frustrated women was far from mainstream at the time (and probably still is). The song didn’t quite crack the top 10 but hung for a very long time on the charts.

  

Because the song – based on Cobb being mugged – is all about Boston, many mistakenly believed the Standells were from Beantown, a misconception that hung for a very long time. Some weren’t too happy to find out that the band was actually from sunny SoCal.

“People used to get outraged when they found out we weren’t from Boston,” said Tamblyn, “but it doesn’t happen so much anymore.”

Larry Tamblyn in 1967

When one song sticks out so much, some bands lament the fact that the rest of their oeuvre gets overlooked in the process. Not so for Tamblyn, who says you can harp on “Dirty Water” all you want.

“The song was about the dirtier side of life,” Tamblyn admitted.  “It was one giant hit, though, one that became iconic. It’s still one of the most watched videos on YouTube.  The guitar lick is the first one that many wannabe rock and rollers learns. It’s now used by all of the sports teams in Boston. We’re a part of the culture there. How many groups can say something like that?”

But perhaps because of the edginess of the Standells music and image, at some point trouble was sure to follow. And because of one song – and a very opportunistic media mogul – that trouble came in the later part of the decade.

Self-Righteous Grandstanding

A huge part of the problem with rock and roll today is media consolidation. One or two corporations control radio; they control the labels; they control concert venues, they seem to control all aspects of what used to be known as rock and roll. To our minds here, it’s no accident that mainstream rock has become more homogenized and soulless than ever. And the Standells found out the hard way the devastation that one powerful person with a bug up his behind can cause.

Gordon McClendon was a revolutionary broadcaster who, like it or not, changed American radio, in particular its ownership. He owned and operated scores of radio stations across the country. And by the ‘60s he was a also hardcore culture warrior, portraying himself as a champion of traditional American virtues fighting the changes he thought were being forced on our society in the ‘60s. 

In 1967, the Standells released one of their best – and ultimately most infamous songs – “Try It.” It’s slinky, cheeky lyrics were the stuff that the kids got – or at least thought they got -- in the ‘60s that panicked the adults. McClendon – thinking it was some call to innocent babes to fight the so-called “Sexual Revolution,” sought to have the song banned. With ownership so many radio stations, he had power to do it.

“’It’” is anything you want it to be,” Tamblyn contended. “You can take it for what it is. It seems innocent enough to me. Maybe it was sung a little suggestively. A lot of radio stations picked it up, but Gordon McClendon banned it. He said it encourages young girls to have sex, which it doesn’t.”

The band challenged McClendon to a televised debate on Art Linkletter’s House Party. No doubt, McClendon expected to administer a good old fashioned red-white-and-blue verbal spanking on a bunch of wastoid longhairs. In fact, the band members did their homework before the TV appearance.

Gordon McClendon

“Like many finger pointers, he was a major hypocrite,” said Tamblyn. “We talked to his employees and found out he had some real skeletons in his closet. For starters, he was a friend of Jack Ruby’s (strip club owner and later assassin of Lee Harvey Oswald). We asked him a lot of questions he couldn’t answer, about songs of his day with suggestive titles (“Love For Sale” anyone?). We also asked him why he didn’t go after the Rolling Stones, who about that time had a hit with “Let’s Spend the Night Together.”

Most observers felt the Standells, even in the heavily-edited version that eventually aired, handed McClendon’s behind to him. But, it’s one thing to win; it’s another thing when the guy you beat up still holds all the cards.

“The Beginning of the End”

“Try It” was by no means a flop. Outside of McClendon’s reach, the song did well.

“It was the number one-selling record in LA,” Tamblyn recalled, “and it was number one in the many markets that played it. That was the beginning of the end. We did last several more years.”

As a follow up, the Standells recorded “Can’t Help But Love You,” which reflected the growing interest – at least on the part of white kids -- in Soul music. The problem was, though, it was very un-Standellish. 

“It was more R&B than rock,” said Tamblyn. “We brought in some experienced R&B players. It was a good song, but it wasn’t really representative of what the Standells were all about. It got on the charts, but it didn’t sound like us. We couldn’t prove it, but we thought the record companies may have made some deals with McClendon (to poorly distribute it.)”

Problems began to bubble up with Cobb, whom Tamblyn said became more of a challenge to work with.

“Ed Cobb changed over the years,” Tamblyn lamented. “He was easygoing but he became more and more dictatorial, especially when he decided to make “Can’t Help But Love You” the next release.”

As with so many other bands of the era, there were a series pf personnel changes. For a time, Lowell George, founder of Little Feat, would be a Standell. But as rock changed, the Standells began to fade. Coming from a showbiz family (yes, Larry is the brother of Russ Tamblyn and uncle of Amber Tamblyn), Tamblyn kind of knew what to expect.

“I felt that I was going to ride the wave, then go onto other things, which is exactly what I did,” said Tamblyn. “I thought that, by 1969, it would all be over.”

Not Fade Away

But it was only chapter one that was over. After being copied and covered by so many bands, especially in the early and mid-‘80s, it was inevitable that interest in the Standells would flare back up. Members – including Fleck and Valentino – were asked to play at more and more gigs. The band reformed a few more times but today, the Standells are once again a working rock and roll band.

“I never dreamed, though, that the Standells would be revived,” said Tamblyn. “I am just honored. I get asked how I feel about the success, and I feel very lucky and very fortunate. I know so many musicians, my age, older, younger, and more talented than me who never got that break. When I look back on it, I feel so fortunate to have been a part of the music, the sound and not only having a good ride but a resurgence as well.”

In fact, the band is still writing music and making albums. In 2013, the band released Bump. New songs, keeping with their celebration of working people, include “Mr. One Percent” as well as some tasteful covers, including the Lyres “Help You Ann.” Last year, The 60's The Standells, a live album, was released, also with new material. Both albums again demonstrated why they have become one of rock’s most influential bands ever.

“I score music for motion pictures, and so, unfortunately, I don’t have much time to listen to other people’s stuff,” Tamblyn confessed. “When we wrote Bump we didn’t want to unconsciously copy other groups. When all of this music is out there, you can’t help but pick some of it up.”

The band was recently taped as part of American Garage, an episode Chicago Public Television’s Cornerstones of Rock series. Also appearing in the show will be other garage rock greats, including Shadows of Knight. The show is set to broadcast in Chicago in December (note: we are trying to interview the producers).

“We’ve been working steadily,” said Tamblyn. “We had a national tour, playing in 18 cities, and we headlined a festival in Parma, Italy. We’re not a tired old ‘60s group. We get out there and put on a great show, complete with new songs. We’ve had our best reviews during the last five years. We’ve kept true to our vocal style and sound. We’ve been a little quiet this year, but we’re going to have a busy year next year.”