The Chesterfield Kings: The Berlin Wall Of Sound 1989 + Where The Action Is! 1999

 

Upstate New York's Chesterfield Kings landed upon the growing punk/new wave scene in the late '70s

with an unbelievably raw '60s rhythm & blues sound that borrowed heavily from pre-1966 Rolling Stones. The group, so unlike any other underground sensations of the period, arguably kickstarted the entire '80s garage rock revival, which flourished in small circles until the end of the decade.
                                                            

Their first broader public exposure came when a track on Greg Shaw's 1981 Bomp! Records compilation Battle of the Garage netted them a series of dates at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. After releasing two scene-defining LPs, "Here Are the Chesterfield Kings" and "Stop!", the

combo changed its lineup and sound. With only singer Greg Prevost and bassist Andy Babiuk remaining from the Kings' 1979 incarnation, the band rescinded its promise never to sound like anything from rock's post-1966 history, and began to generate a '70s Rolling Stones/Flamin' Groovies hard rock image and sheen, which culminated in its 1994 LP, "Let's Go Get Stoned", a sendup/tribute of post-Aftermath Rolling Stones.
                                                        

They then turned to a harder-edged rock sound for "Don't Open Till Doomsday" (1987) and "Berlin

Wall of Sound" (1989) featuring the blues guitar work of new band member Paul Rocco. The group's next album was an acoustic blues record "Drunk On Muddy Water" (1990). Still, the Kings have never drifted too far from their garage band roots, and the group's subsequent albums, which include "Don't Open Til Doomsday" (1997), "Where the Action Is" (1999), "The Mindbending Sounds of the Chesterfield Kings" (2003), and "Psychedelic Sunrise" (2007), have all been cut from the same fabric.
                                       

Their "Psychedelic Sunrise" (2008) was an extension of sorts of the group's previous album. "Got

Live…If You Want It" (2009) was a dual live recording and DVD set, as well as the group's final release. The Kings' full-length feature film Where is the Chesterfield King? (2000) is described on their web site as "A comedy/drama in the vein of The Bowery Boys, Batman, The Monkees Show, A Hard Day's Night, Hawaiian Eye, and The Munsters, with a little Three Stooges slapstick to boot…"
                                     

In 2011, Prevost took the solo route releasing a 45 "Mr. Charlie" b/w "Rolling Stone Blues" (Mean Disposition Records MDR45001) in 2012, and in 2013 releasing the blues-rock album Mississippi Murderer (Mean Disposition Records MDLP 001-vinyl & CD format). Mean Disposition is a division of Penniman Records out of Barcelona, Spain.

THE BERLIN WALL OF SOUND 1989

                                               

After taking three years off from recording, the Chesterfield Kings finally released The Berlin Wall of

Sound in 1990 and no doubt frightened many longtime fans by relinquishing every grasp on '60s garage-rock, instead delivering a New York Dolls/Heartbreakers approach. Retaining only original singer Greg Provost and original bassist Andy Babiuk, the album is surprisingly heartfelt, despite a wooden blues progression and some overblown, metallic nonsense that borders on the edge of ridiculous. The Hammond organ has disappeared, but The Kings make the new sound work for them, at least until the end of the record.

The Chesterfield Kings – The Berlin Wall Of Sound
Label: Mirror Records Inc. – CD-15
Format:    CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1989
Genre: Rock
Style: Rock

TRAXS

                                

01. Richard Speck    3:03
02. Dual Action    3:29
03. No Purpose In Life    3:19
04. Coke Bottle Blues    3:34
05. (I'm So) Sick And Tired Of You    4:36
06. Love, Hate, Revenge    4:02
07. Branded On My Heart    3:35
08. Teenage Thunder    2:38
09. Come Back Angeline  (Drums – Doug Meech/Engineer – Harris Johns/Written-By – Daniel Ray, Dee Dee King)  2:57
10. Pills  (Written-By – E. McDaniel)  2:45
11. Who's To Blame    2:50
12. Coke Bottle Blues Revisited (A Tribute To Johnny)    1:12

Bass, Backing Vocals – Andy Babiuk
Drums, Backing Vocals – Brett Reynolds
Guitar [Additional], Piano [Additional] – Richie Scarlet
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Paul Rocco
Lead Vocals, Other [Animal Violence] – Greg Prevost
Producer – Richie Scarlet
Written-By – A. Babiuk (tracks: 1 to 5, 8, 11, 12), G. Prevost (tracks: 1 to 8, 11, 12), M. Pappert (tracks: 1, 2, 8), P. Rocco (tracks: 5, 6, 8, 12)

MP3 @ 320 Size: 90 MB
Flac  Size: 268 MB

WHERE THE ACTION IS!  1999

                                                 

Where the Action Is (1999) was a return to garage band roots, a mix of covers and 1960s-styled

originals.
In 1999, the Chesterfield Kings were still doing pretty much the same thing they were 15-20 years earlier: an album comprised mostly of covers of '60s garage classics, with a few originals in the same style. In fact, just four of the 17 tracks here are group compositions, the covers spanning nuggets relatively obscure (the Spiders' "Don't Blow Your Mind," the Electric Prunes' "Ain't It Hard"), hits (by the Syndicate Sound, Blues Magoos, and Hollies), and kinda cultish cuts (the Yardbirds' "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago," the Kinks' "I'm Not Like Everybody Else," the Standells' "Sometimes Good

Guys Don't Wear White"). By this time, it should be clear to everybody that the CKs are not innovators but popularizers of the form, just as some contemporary blues band would be popularizing B.B. King and Muddy Waters on a mostly covers disc, or a Scottish folk singer would be popularizing reels and jigs.

The Chesterfield Kings – Where The Action Is!
Label: Sundazed Music – LSD 13, Living Eye Records – LSD 13
Format:    CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1999
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock

TRAXS

                                                            

01. Action, Action, Action  2:10
Written-By – B. Hart, T. Boyce
02. Ain't It Hard  2:34
Written-By – R. Tillison, T. Tillison
03. Wrong From Right  2:54
Written-By – A. Babiuk, G. Prevost, J. Okolowicz
04. I'm Five Years Ahead Of My Time  2:21
Written-By – R. Evans, V. Pike
05. Where Do We Go From Here?  3:16
Written-By – A. Babiuk, G. Prevost, M. Lindsay
06. Misty Lane  3:01
Written-By – M. Siegel
07. I Walk In Darkness  2:57
Written-By – A. Babiuk, G. Prevost
08. Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White  2:32
Written-By – E. Cobb
09. Don't Blow Your Mind  2:36
Written-By – Dunaway, Furnier
10. Look Through Any Window  2:20
Written-By – Silverman, Gouldman
11. 1-2-5  2:27
Written-By – B. Burgess, J. Peters
12. I'm Not Like Everybody Else  3:49
Written-By – Davies
13. (We Ain't Got) Nothing Yet  2:21
Written-By – E. Thielhelm, M. Esposito, R. Scala, R. Gilbert
14. A Lovely Sort Of Death  4:55
Written-By – A. Babiuk, G. Prevost
15. Little Girl  2:38
Written-By – B. Gonzalez, D. Baskins
16. You Rub Me The Wrong Way  2:31
Written-By – D. Passerllo
17. Happenings Ten Years Time Ago  4:10
Written-By – J. Beck, J. McCarty, J. Page, K. Relf

MP3 @ 320 Size: 116 MB
Flac  Size: 316 MB

The Chesterfield Kings: Let's Go get Stoned (1994) on Urban Aspirines HERE