The Shaggs - Wheels

Pictorial tribute to their well-recorded cover of the classic guitar instrumental, from their second release, "Shaggs' Own Thing". This is the Shaggs at the peak of their technical skills.

Wheels was written by Jimmy Torres and Richard Stephens. Performed here by the later, four-piece version of The Shaggs. (Feat. Rachel on bass guitar). Or maybe not. Actually, I do not hear an actual bass guitar track on this recording. But this was a later recording, and the Shaggs had allegedly added a bass player, so I don't quite know what to make of it.

They're playing Avalon guitars, which were inexpensive Japanese knock-offs modeled on the American Mosrite (Think, Johnny Ramone) and other quality brands like Burns, an English guitar maker. The AV-2T six-string shown here was inspired by the Mosrite "Ventures" model (and possibly the Burns "Bison"). Apparently,

The Shaggs bought their guitars at the place they were taking music lessons...The Academy of Music in Manchester, NH.

Given that they were taking lessons when they recorded this, maybe their inspiration came from the Chet Atkins lesson book by Mel Bay. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzL4ntNwpH8&feature=related

All Shaggs photos courtesy of the Shaggs website. Buy The Shaggs at Amazon.com or Itunes.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• shaggs
• bad
• worst
• ramones
• instrumental
• guitar
• ventures
• sadies
• unpretentious
• bad art
• alternative music
• absurd
• better than the beatles

[HappyDesertSeagull]

Are there any bootlegs of their performances when they got better? I'm interested to hear how some songs from Philosophy of the World sounded like when played more proficiently.

[KingZerxst]

This sounds like Liquid Tension Experiment after listening to My Pal Foot Foot...

[kc7fys]

@HappyDesertSeagull Seems like "more proficiently" would remove an essential element of their sound, bringing them into the mediocre. The beauty of The Shaggs was that they landed smack-dab in the middle of avant garde quite naturally. It is utterly impossible to reproduce their sound without pretense and "faking it."

[vampyros1]

They got better and regressed.

[semiza]

The ending reminds of the first time you ride a bike, balance. Check, Pedal, check. Steering, check. Stop and get off. Uh'oh

[mosheeshel]

@mjmcnult I was surprised that they sounded as good, but then the end of the piece showed me I had the right idea after all and that this is just a fluke

[AUDIOPHILE1956]

Glad to hear after all those years,,, the drumming,,,, still kept that totally unique hemeola flavour. I bet the underground ''unauthorized '' versions are to die for !!

Brings a whole new meaning to,,, ''this band rocks !""

[EdiblePlanets]

Exhibit A.

The murder weapon.

0:31

[pronihilo]

@mjmcnult That is the truth.

[foghat77]

This is the 4th Shaggs video that I've watched/listen to in a row. Please someone get over here and kill me. What...nobody will stop me? Then I'm clicking on another Shaggs video.

[setyourselfonfireeee]

I disliked it because they didn't stay true to their sound