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The Iguanas - Jumpin with The Iguanas (1964)

Track listing:
  1. Mona 2:42
  2. I Don't Know Why 2:32
  3. Again & Again 2:21
  4. Twist & Shout 2:36
  5. California Sun 2:36
  6. Slow Down 3:03
  7. I Feel Fine 2:37
  8. Blue Moon 2:44
  9. Things We Said Today 2:53
  10. Louie Louie 2:39
  11. Wild Weekend 2:03
  12. Tell Me 3:19
  13. Summertime 2:54
  14. Outer Limits 2:12
  15. Johnny B Good 2:45
  16. Perfidia 1:24
  17. Travelin' Man 1:52
  18. Louie Louie 2:10
  19. Wild Weekend 2:17
  20. Surfin' Bird 1:53
  21. Walk Don't Run 1:57
  22. Tequila 2:05
  23. Wipe Out 3:27
  24. If I Had A Hammer 1:23

Notes

Jim Osterberg (drums)
Jim McLaughlin (gt, voc)
Sam Swisher (sax)
Nick Kolokithas (gt)
Don Swickerath (bs)

Does the name Jim Osterberg ring a bell? Ann Arbor Michigan 1963? Class President in High School? Published writer? How about 1966 Ann Arbor blues band the Prime Movers? Still not sure? Well, his nick name developed at about this time - Iggy! Got it now? The Iguanas were the first band for a fledgling Iggy Pop, the first place he performed "Louie Louie", and they did surf. Iggy Pop in a surf band! Yeow! Some of the tracks on this CD are from an actual studio, though the sound has not survived too well, and the rest are from home recordings. All were intended as demos only. Historically wonderful. Even without the surf instros, there's some amazingly unique stuff here. Imagine Bo Diddley's "Mona" with surf guitars doing the chops, or a Beatle-esq "Twist & Shout" with wet reverb, or the Beatles' own "Things We Said Today" with surf guitars. The Rolling Stones' "Tell Me" with wet guitars is very odd indeed! Even the Rivieras' "California Sun" is an odd arrangement with sax & guitar trading the leads. There are two versions of "Louie Louie" here too! Instrumentally, this band had a unique vision, half way between surf & the sax-based rock of the prior decade, not entirely unlike that of the Rumblers, just more raw.

The Iguanas — as in Iggy, get it? — were part of that pre-Beatle grease-combo thing that pressed on during the British Invasion, and the kind of racket that infested their bandstand set list is here to savor on this Norton compilation. Culling all three sides from their lone studio session ("Mona," "I Don't Know Why" and the originally unreleased "Again and Again," Iggy's first attempt at songwriting) with a demo session from 1964 and an acetate of the original sax-guitar-drums trio from 1963, this is one potent blast of a prototypical shake-'em-on-down unit in full cry. Sometimes downright astonishing in its crudity ("Johnny B. Goode" is the very first track you should cue up, trust me on this), this generous 18-tracker replicates a good night in a VFW Hall way better than most '60s frat band compilations do. For those who wish to be transported back to that time period, the color cover shot is unbelievable, and yes, Iggy sings "Louie Louie" on this, too.