Monks: Black Monk Time 1966 + The Early Years (1964-1965) 2009 + Five Upstart Americans 1999

 

The Monks, referred to by the name monks on record sleeves, were an American garage rock band

formed in Gelnhausen, West Germany in 1964. Assembled by five American GIs stationed in the country, the group grew tired of the traditional format of rock, which motivated them to forge a highly experimental style characterized by an emphasis on hypnotic rhythms that minimized the role of melody, augmented by the use of sound manipulation techniques.
                                             

The band's unconventional blend of shrill vocals, confrontational lyrics, feedback, and guitarist David

Day's six-string banjo baffled audiences, but music historians have since identified the Monks as a pioneering force in avant-garde music.
                                               

The band's lyrics often voiced objection to the Vietnam War and the dehumanized state of

society, while prefiguring the harsh and blunt commentary of the punk rock movement of the 1970s and 1980s. The band's appearance was considered as shocking as its music, as they attempted to mimic the look of Catholic monks by wearing black habits with cinctures symbolically tied around their necks, and hair worn in partially shaved tonsures.
                                   

[Biography by Richie Unterberger

One of the strangest stories in rock history, the Monks were formed in the early '60s in Germany. After their discharge, the group stayed on in Germany as the Torquays, a fairly standard beat band. After changing their name to the Monks in the mid-'60s, they also changed their music, attitude, and appearance radically. Gone were standard oldie covers, replaced by furious, minimalist original material that anticipated the blunt, harsh commentary of the punk era.
                                                 

Their insistent rhythms recalled martial beats and polkas as much as garage rock, and the weirdness

quotient was heightened by electric banjo, berserk organ runs, and occasional bursts of feedback guitar. To prove that they meant business, the Monks shaved the top of their heads and performed their songs, crude diatribes about the Vietnam war, dehumanized society, and love/hate affairs with girls, in actual monks' clothing.
                                                

This was pretty strong stuff for 1966 Germany, and their shocking repertoire and attire were received

with more confusion than hostility or warm praise. Well known in Germany as a live act, their sole album and several singles didn't take off in a big way and were never released in the U.S., it was rumored, because the lyrical content was deemed too shocking.
                                                

They disbanded in confusion around 1967, but their album, one of the most oddball constructions in all

of rock, gained a cult following among collectors, and has ironically made them much more popular and influential on an international level than they were during their lifetime. Bassist Eddie Shaw's 1994 autobiography, Black Monk Time, is a fascinating narrative of the Monks' stranger-than-fiction story.]

MEMBERS

                                        

Gary Burger - Lead guitar, lead vocalist
Larry Clark (born Lawrence Spangler) - Organ, backing vocals, piano
Eddie Shaw (born Thomas Edward Shaw) - Bass guitar, backing vocals, trumpet, brass instruments
Dave Day (born David Havlicek) - Banjo, rhythm guitar, banjo guitar, backing vocals
Roger Johnston - Drums, backing vocals

Studio album

Black Monk Time
Released: March 1966
Label: International Polydor Production (249 900)
Formats: Vinyl LP, CD
    
EP

Hamburg Recordings 1967 EP
Released: June 23, 2017
Label: Third Man Records (TMR-374)
Formats: single-sided vinyl, CD

Compilations and live

Five Upstart Americans
Released: November 2, 1999
Label: Omplatten (FJORD 005)
Format: CD

Let's Start a Beat – Live from Cavestomp
Released: October 31, 2000
Labels: Cavestomp Records, Varèse Sarabande (302 066 193 2)
Format:CD

Demo Tapes 1965
Released: August 8, 2007
Labels: Munster Records (mrcd-278); Play Loud! Productions (pl-cd-3)
Formats: CD, LP

The Early Years 1964–1965
Released: April 14, 2009
Label: Light In The Attic (LITA 041)
Formats: CD, LP

MONKS - BLACK MONK TIME 1966

                                                                     

Label: Light In The Attic – LITA 042
Format:    CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered 2009
Country: US
Released:
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock, Psychedelic Rock

TRAXS

                                                                

01. Monk Time    2:42
02. Shut Up    3:11
03. Boys Are Boys And Girls Are Choice    1:23
04. Higgle-Dy-Piggle-Dy    2:28
05. I Hate You    3:32
06. Oh, How To Do Now    3:14
07. Complication    2:21
08. We Do Wie Du    2:09
09. Drunken Maria    1:44
10. Love Came Tumblin' Down    2:28
11. Blast Off!    2:12
12. That's My Girl    2:24

BONUS TRACKS

13. I Can't Get Over You    2:42
14. Cuckoo    2:41
15. Love Can Tame The Wild    2:38
16. He Went Down To The Sea    3:03
17. Monk Chant [Live 1966]    1:59
18. I Hate You [Demo 1965]    3:24
19. Oh, How To Do Now [Demo 1965]    2:39

MP3 @ 320 Size: 120 MB
Flac  Size: 295 MB

MONKS - THE EARLY YEARS (1964 - 1965)  2009

 

                       

Monks – The Early Years 1964 - 1965
Label: Light In The Attic – LITA 041
Format:    CD, Compilation, Reissue, Remastered
Country: US
Released: Apr 20, 2009
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock

TRAXS

                                                  

01. Monks – Monk Time    2:25
02. Monks – Love Came Tumblin' Down    3:03
03. Monks – Boys Are Boys    1:53
04. Monks – Space Age    2:41
05. Monks – We Do Wie Du    2:43
06. Monks – I Hate You    3:58
07. Monks – Pretty Suzanne    3:48
08. Monks – Higgle-Dy-Piggle-Dy    4:14
09. Monks – Hishie Pushie    2:58
10. Monks – Oh, How To Do Now    2:55
11. The 5 Torquays – Boys Are Boys    3:05
12. The 5 Torquays – There She Walks    2:36

MP3 @ 320 Size: 88 MB
Flac  Size: 221 MB

MONKS - FIVE UPSTART AMERICANS  1999

 

              

Label: Omplatten – FJORD 005
Format:    CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 1999
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock

TRAXS

                                          

01. Monks – Monktime    2:22
02. Monks – We Do Wie Du    2:41
03. Monks – Boys Are Boys    1:50
04. Monks – Pretty Suzanne    3:46
05. Monks – Higgle Dy Piggle Dy    4:10
06. Monks – Hushie Pushie    2:57
07. Monks – Love Came Tumbling Down    3:01
08. Monks – Oh How To Do Now    2:53
09. Monks – Space Age    2:39
10. Monks – I Hate You    3:59
11. The Five Torquays – There She Walks    2:37
12. The Five Torquays – Boys Are Boys    3:05

MP3 @ 320 Size: 87 MB
Flac  Size: 244 MB