The pyramids

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The Pyramids were an American surf rock band that formed in 1961 with Will Glover ( guitar ), Skip Mercier (guitar), Steve Leonard ( bass ), Tom Pitman ( saxophone ) and Ron Mc Mullen ( drums ) Long Beach , California , formed. The band was best known for their top 20 hit penetration .

biography

The "Pyramids" were undoubtedly one of the craziest surf rock bands of the 1960s and probably also one of the best marketed ones. With the start of the British Invasion and as the “American answer” to the Beatles , the band members shaved their heads on the initiative of their manager John Hodge. During their performances, they wore Beatles wigs, which were fired into the audience halfway through the show to then present the bald heads. Paid girls stormed the stage or the “Pyramids” appeared for their performances by helicopter or on elephants.

In 1959 Willy Glover started playing the guitar. In 1961 he moved with his parents from North Carolina to Long Beach, California, and began performing there with some new friends at the club "The Hutch". At the end of 1962 they recorded the single The Pyramid Stomp under the name "The Pyramids" in the line-up of Willy Glover, Skip Mercier, Steve Leonard, Tom Pitman and Ron McMullen . A friend of Glover, John Hudge, offers to release the single on the "Best Records" label. After extensive live performances by the band in 1963 , the band decided to make a record. Glover had written some songs like Here Come Marsha or Carol Ann and Leonard liked Chantay's hit Pipeline . In a different version, Pipeline became penetration . In the "Western Recordings" studio in Hollywood they finally recorded the single Here Come Marsha / Penetration .

After a decent airplay of the single on radio stations such as "KFXM" or "KRLA" in Los Angeles , the single began to hit the charts and ended up in the top 10 of the Billboard charts for 13 weeks. With success, Hudge suggests that the band should shave their heads as a distinguishing feature. Another album will be recorded within three hours of studio time.

Numerous TV appearances followed and a. at " American Bandstand " on the "Bob Eubanks Show" or at "Dave's Hullabaloo". For the film Bikini Beach ( Gary Usher ) they recorded the titles Drag-Bikini and Run-Rekord in “Sunset Sounds Studio” . In 1964 the "Pyramids" played a gig in front of 18,000 people together with the Beach Boys , Jan & Dean , Marvin Gaye , Bobby Freeman , Bobby Vee , The Hondells , Martha & the Vandellas and Chuck Berry at the "Cow Palace" in San Francisco . The Pyramids play four songs, u. a. the Beatles cover " I Saw Her Standing There ".

Although the "Pyramids" see little money for their gigs and records and manager John Hodge is not honest with them, they take on the singles Midnight Run / Custom Caravan and Contact / Pressure under his management. Frustrated by the mismanagement, Ron Mc Mullen leaves the band and is replaced by Greg Jacobs. In early 1965 , Drake Jenkins took over the drums . Her new manager John Hudge tries to "iron out" John Hodge's mistakes and arranges a meeting with the owner of "Azusa Music". They record three more singles, Stay With Me , I Don't Want To Cry and I'm Gonna Love Ya , until Glover and Leonard are drafted into the reserve and Mercier into the army.

After retiring from the army, Glover and Leonard found the band Family Cat u. a. with Art Munson (guitarist for Dick Dale & The Deltones ). The band signs a record deal with "MGM Records" and Ron Mc Mullen and Skip Mercier later join Family Cat.

Discography

Singles of the Pyramids

  • 1962 Pyramid's Stomp / Paul
  • 1963 Penetration / Here Comes Marsha
  • 1963 Contact / Pressure
  • 1964 Midnight Run / Custom Caravan
  • 1964 Contact / Pressure
  • 1964 Penetration / Here Comes Marsha

Pyramids albums

  • 1964 The Original Penetration
  • 1964 The Pyramids EP

Appearances on compilations

  • 1981 New Wave Surf Party
  • 1982 The Pyramids
  • 1982 The History of Surf Music: Original instrumentals hits 1961 - 1963
  • 1984 What Surf I
  • 1986 What Surf II
  • 1989 surf hits
  • 1989 Battle Of The Surfguitars - Vol. 1!
  • 1991 Axes & Saxes: The Great Instrumentals
  • 1994 Surf Guitars Rumble
  • 1995 penetration! The Best Of ...
  • 1995 Pulp Rock Instros - Vol 1
  • 1996 Cowabunga! Surf box
  • 1997 Kahuna Classics
  • 1998 Hard Rock Records - Surf
  • 1998 Surf! Sand! Sun!
  • 2000 Teen Beat - Vol 5
  • 2003 Lost Legends Of Surf Guitar - Vol. 01
  • 2005 Strictly Instrumental - Vol. 08

Members of the Pyramids

The Pyramids were founded in 1961.

Founding members

Other members

Web links

literature

  • John Blair (Ed.): The Illustrated Discography Of Surf Music. 1961-1965 . J. Bee Productions, Riverside CA 1978, ISBN 0-9601880-0-2 .
  • Robert J. Dalley: Surfin 'Guitars. Instrumental Surf Bands of The Sixties . Surf Publications for RJ Dalley, Azusa CA 1988.