FUZZY FOLLOW UP!

 Hi! Rich Arithmetic here, following up with a P.S. to my previous post about Fuzz Guitars.  

In the first aftermath of a few instances of fuzz guitar in mid-to-late 1965, by 1966 we were seeing the chart appearances of "Talk Talk" (Music Machine) and "Don't Bring Me Down (The Animals) that made fuzz guitar a central element of their records. 

And the striking thing was that aside from The Beatles' fuzz-bass in the pop-perfect "Think for Yourself" from Rubber Soul, the fuzz-tone was increasingly associated with the rebellious side of rock 'n' roll, as my friend Dennis Steinseifer reminded me with these Opening Credits of the American International Productions film about quasi-outlaw motorcyclists in "The Wild Angels" starring Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra.

 

 

DAVIE ALLAN & THE ARROWS - "Blues Theme"

  By 1967, however, after "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" made it all right to present drugs in a pop context, fuzz-tones would take another turn, no less rebellious but now associated with the drug culture and acid rock, and this quirky hallucinogenic tune would hit the charts, combining its psychedelic dreams with tremolo-laden fuzz guitars and overlaid with generous helpings of reverberation. As Jimi Hendrix infamously said about acid-inspired rock: "Surf music is dead." Thank goodness, surf music wasn't really dead, but, certainly, at least for a time, we were all enthralled by the visions of the fuzzy new music.

 

THE ELECTRIC PRUNES - "I Had Too Much Too Dream Last Night"