The Jiants: Tornado (1959)

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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.

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