The IMPACT Sound of Kenney and The Kasuals - Live at The Studio Club
Studio (simulated live) album by Kenny and The Kasuals
Released 1977 [originally released in 1966]
Recorded 1966
Genre Garage Rock
Length 30:56
Label Mark Records
Producer Mark Lee
The IMPACT Sound of Kenney and The Kasuals - Live at The Studio Club is a 1966 album of covers that was actually neither live or recorded at The Studio Club.
Kenny and the Kasuals are an American, Dallas-area garage rock band originally formed in 1962, whose records are considered Òamong the most collectable LPs of the Õ60sÓ. The band was formed at Bryan Adams High School in Dallas, Texas, by Kenny Daniel, and was managed by Mark Lee, who later opened DallasÕ punk club, The Hot Klub. In 1967, their self-released single Journey To Tyme garnered some national radio airplay, including the Number One spot in both Buffalo, New York, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Top Ten on Dallas station KLIF.
Prior to recording Journey To Tyme, the band had released an album titled The IMPACT Sound of Kenny and the Kasuals Live At the Studio Club (although it was neither live nor recorded at the Studio Club). Only 500 copies of this album were pressed, and nearly half of those destroyed by Texas summer heat, but the remaining copies have become one of the most sought-after vinyl records of the 1960s. In 2010, a very-good condition copy sold for over $2,100 at auction.
The band broke up after management troubles led to a failure to sign with United Artists. However, in the late 1970s Kenny reformed the band as a more punk rock oriented band. The Impact album had, in bootleg form, become a hot-seller in France, and the new band took advantage of this buzz to tour as openers for such acts as Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, and The Boomtown Rats.
Kenny still performs in and around Dallas with his current band, KGB, which includes his cousin Gregg Daniel on bass and long-time Dallas drummer Dennis ÔBoomÕ Howard on drums, as well as former bandmates Alan McDaniel and Dennis Caviliere.
The Fuzztones recorded a version of ÒJourney To TymeÓ for their 1985 release Lysergic Emanations. Many other bands have covered the song since.
In 2009, record label Psychic Circle released a compilation album by Nick Saloman entitled Journey To Tyme: 80 of Rarest 60s Garage Tracks. While featuring Texas Blues rock standouts The American Blues, the compilation does not, however, include a song by The Kasuals.
Review on Surfadelic:
One of the finest US 60's garage groups came from Dallas, Texas. Famed for legendary, classic '67 Psych/Punk 7" "Journey To Tyme" [Riff taken from The Kinks "Come On Now"]. They recorded this real cool [fake live] slab for local Mark Records. Only 500 copies of this album were pressed, and nearly half of those destroyed by the band members, so remaining copies have become one the most sought-after vinyl records of the 60s, selling for 1000's bucks. Well, the record itself dig in the bunch o' wild covers of Stones, Them, Zombies, Kinks, Yardbirds, Premiers. If you ask me, this is the REAL, 1st rate Garage slab that you got to dig right now! Dig!
Biography by Richie Unterberger:
This Dallas group -- too accomplished to be called a garage band in the usual sense of the term -- was pretty popular in their hometown in the mid-'60s, but never made any noise on the national level. It's ironic that much of their reputation rests on a live album of covers, Impact, that ranks among the most collectable LPs of the '60s, as the group actually wrote a lot of their own material. Starting in the mid-'60s as a sort of raucous Dave Clark Five-meets-the Stones combo, the Kasuals progressed to acid punk with their most popular local hit, "Journey to Tyme" (which would become one of the most valued singles by '60s garage collectors). They were a typical '60s group in that they also cut covers of popular R&B and British Invasion tunes, and sappy pop ballads that were most likely encouraged by the shortsighted local label owners for whom they recorded. The group tried their luck in New York City briefly and split in late 1967. A spin-off group (without leader Kenny Daniels) released a promising single with progressive and folk influences under the name Truth, and the group reunited very briefly before splitting again after several members were drafted.
LP track listing
Side One
1. "Chicago 60616" (Nanker Phelge) - 1:24
2. "Money" (Berry Gordy) - 3:06
3. "All the Day and All the Night" (Ray Davies) - 2:15
4. "You Make Me Feel So Good" (Rod Argent) - 2:59
5. "I'm Not Talking" (Mose Allison) - 2:07
6. "Empty Heart" (Nanker Phelge) - 2:39
Side Two
7. "It's All Right" (Ray Davies) - 2:34
8. "Gloria" (Van Morrison) - 3:38
9. "You Better Move On" (Arthur Alexander) - 2:46
10. "Baby, Please Don't Go" (Bert Berns) - 2:45
11. "Got a Good Thing Going" (Ozeh) - 2:51
12. "Farmer John" (Dewey Terry, Don Harris) - 1:52
Personnel:
* Kenny Daniel - guitar, vocals
* Jerry Smith - guitar
* Lee Lightfoot - bass
* Paul Roach - organ
* David Blachley - drums
* Tommy Nichols - vocals