The Jiants: Tornado (1959)

 |   |  <1 min read

The Jiants: Tornado (1959)

When the rock'n'roll wave hit Marion, Indiana in the late Fifties what else was a poor boy to do but play in a rock'n'roll band . . .

The short-lived Jiants (1959-61) were an enthusiastic five-piece but their star was guitarist Jerry Hedges who on this, their local hit, worked a throbbing and twanging style which was such an aural fingerprint for many of the best acts of the era.

And you gotta love the "break beat" around the midpoint of this minimalist rocker.

A minor classic for those two reasons and doubtless the soundrack to the lives in Indiana kids who were loud, fast and out of control.

This track recently reappeared on British DJ and archivist Keb Darge's rockabilly/rock'n'roll collection Legendary Wild Rockers for which he pulled together 20 rare tracks by Fifties bands whose names will doubtless be unfamiliar to just about most people. Great collection.

Like the sound of this, then check out this

For more oddities, one-offs or songs with an interesting backstory use the RSS feed for daily updates, and check the massive back-catalogue at From the Vaults.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   From the Vaults articles index

Son House: Levee Camp Moan (1970)

Son House: Levee Camp Moan (1970)

By 1964 when the British blues explosion was starting to take off, the great and tetchy Son House was living in retirement and spent most of days drinking. He hadn't played much since his friend... > Read more

Maxine Brown: Funny (1961)

Maxine Brown: Funny (1961)

There's something very satisfying about don't-care-anymore songs. The world is awash with the luvvy stuff but every now and again a song comes along which says, "Yep, but I'm over you".... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

TARANAKI WOMAD CONSIDERED (2017): Another Womarathon of world music

TARANAKI WOMAD CONSIDERED (2017): Another Womarathon of world music

The best speeches by dignitaries are short and, fortunately, they were when the Taranaki Womad launched last Friday. The most memorable comment – aside from the figure of $104 million... > Read more

GUEST WRITER NICK D on a weird night and Indo-dance pop

GUEST WRITER NICK D on a weird night and Indo-dance pop

Returning from the success of last year’s incredible sell-out reopening of Auckland’s St James Theatre, A Weird Night Out is back. On Friday 8 July, the Weird Together collective... > Read more