"R.P.M." - THE FOUR SPEEDS

[ecnalubma696969]

I'm only 45 but I love this song.

[rob1tnt]

@ecnalubma696969 Im 24 and in the same boat! The Gary Usher sound is Iconic!!!!!!!!!!

[sidDkid87]

@ecnalubma696969 Only 45? LOL!

[LashoutUK]

I've heard this song on Spotify - but it's listed as being by a band called 'The Grand Prix'. Go have a listen! They've got a few others on there, one brilliant one called '41 Ford. They're on a compilation called Hot Rod City (Digital Version). I wonder if they're one and the same?

[CanadaAstro]

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated.

[up2space]

this song is for cognesenti, not the squares who may rebuild hotrods.. this is for the dreamers, get it jack.

[latexkat1]

love it 1961 all over this ..

[surfrider1962]

A great sond R.P.M.'s, CHALLENGE 9187, 1962...Produced by Gary Usher.

[beatsters]

According to the book DUMB ANGEL:THE LIFE & MUSIC OF DENNIS WILSON by Adam Webb, Dennis is the drummer & sings background vocals

[MrSurfinbeat]

this song just listen to it....pure surf ....the sound...the songs is just about a speed of the car.....where it is going...who cares........what a really good song.....

[IBNED]

I have always liked this song...yeah so what? Well being a teenager in SC in the mid 60's WAS the thing. Lions drag strip, Stone woods and Cook. So I have looked for a listing of the lyrics...can't find it. Some of it you can make out "I got a big bored Chevy mill with a 4:11 rear, 5 grand 6 grand RPM," Anyone got the whole song?

IBNED

[BobBerkeley]

@IBNED This song is one of the all-time all-timers! The first verse sounds like this:

I gotta knock a second off to get a trophy run

One grand, two grand, R.P.M.

If I keep breaking loose on the line, then I'm done

Three grand, four grand, R.P.M.

That’s why I'm winding out, I'm winding out, I gotta get my R.P.M.

[sidDkid87]

If you like tunes like this then do yourself a favor and check out Zombos Record Party (10a to 3p, ET, USA) on WRCT 88.3 FM (it's ON LINE, BABY, NO EXCUSES!!!) . . . check it out, thank me later

[rfb3011]

This gets played on KFXM in Lancaster, CA. Just heard it in the last day or two.

[MikeBlitzMag]

As great as this record is (and it is a masterpiece), the flip side, "My Sting Ray" is even better. Intense and drowning in impeccable vocal harmonies. Absolutely indispensible!

[KillerKad]

@MikeBlitzMag I actually like this song better than My Stingray, but that does not change the fact that Stingray is a great tune.

[CanadaAstro]

Gary Usher Strikes again! Love that Farfisi Organ.............

[asorls1]

@CanadaAstro This song was from 1962. The farfisa organ was not invented until 1965. It was made until 1968. This is a Hammond organ.

[interestingfailure]

All I remember is buying "Cheater Slicks" when it came out, taking it home, playing it, hating it, and getting my money back. Don't remember how it sounded, actually.

By the way, there is another "Four on the Floor," an instrumental by a group called the Rangers, on the B-side of their version of "Ghost Riders in the Sky", and a pretty decent tune.

[asorls1]

Four on the Foor / Cheater Slicks is a classic 45. [ the groups other single.] Both were also done by the Super Stocks and other Gary Usher groups.

[interestingfailure]

Killer song and performance. The organ solo has a kind of epic quality to it and there is a kind of melancholy to the song, the singer wondering if his car is fast enough. Takes me back to l962, when it was a decent hit here in LA. Actually, they did another single, I think it was called "Cheater Slicks"--it was terrible.

[chevyman6671]

Great song....love the tone.....only 22 years old but man this is great stuff!

[starchief59]

Same thing here! Check out Hot Rod City. That's a bad ass CD if you like stuff like this

[colindominy]

Yep .. you're so right. Everybody's Goin To Hot Rod City, Here We Come .....

[fronkykoko]

Gotta get my RPM!

[SirBasildeBrush]

Wow!!! Great song, never heard it before. Got that great Beach Boys sound, somewhere between County Fair & Cherry Cherry Coupe.

Big thanks.

[jackhandy0001]

Great organ grinding...

[colindominy]

You got that right, SirBasildeBrush !! Not surprising, seeing that the writer is Gary Usher, one of Brian Wilson's earliest buddies & collaborators. If you think this is good, have a listen to the flip-side song, "My Sting Ray" (see the side panel) - see what you think !

[SirBasildeBrush]

I just did. Good recommendation, great song similar to this one, although I prefer the more driving beat of this one - and I'm a sucker for anything with fairground sounds.

[futurefire2310]

@SirBasildeBrush I was listening to "County Fair" the other day and was annoyed to find that they recycled the verse melody for their rarity song "I Do". R.P.M. is a great song tho

[SirBasildeBrush]

@futurefire2310 Interesting, didn't know that. 

[WarrensWarriors]

@SirBasildeBrush That's because Gary Usher collaborated with the Beach Boys and co-wrote many of their early songs.

[jpinnacle]

Dennis Wilson on drums here.

[beacboy61]

Fantastic Gary Usher record this guy was god to all who love surf hot rod songs,a genius..

[colindominy]

A power-laden rocker from Brian Wilson's life-long buddy, Gary Usher, under the guise of his group The Four Speeds. This song is GREAT - but the reverse side single cut "My Sting Ray" is even better - one of THE BEST hot rod songs ever !!

[CanadaAstro]

Gary Usher! What a Genius.......Nothing like driving down the highway on a Sunny day and listening to this stuff full blast..

Crank up those RPM's!!!!!!!!

Thank you for posting this!

[BB45s]

Great Gary Usher studio group around his 409-era with the Beach Boys.

{Click BB45s for the Rare Beach Boys Video Channel}