The Chantays "Two Sides Of The Chantays / Pipeline" 1990

The Chantays were just a handful of kids when they recorded some of the best surf guitar licks of all time. The title track "Pipeline" is a legend for good reason, as theirs is probably the best recording ever of this often-covered classic. There are other tracks on this that deserve equal recognition, including "El Conquistator," "Continental Missile," and the great instrumental cover of the Johnny Cash classic "Riders in the Sky." - By downtownTwo Chantays albums on one CD, comprising much of the surf band's early '60s repertory. The "Move It" that opens the disc is not the Cliff Richard song but a slower, raunchier number with vocal choruses carrying a lot of the melody. "Maybe Baby" is the Buddy Holly song, however, and the group does a decent job of singing it. Unfortunately, not a lot of what else is here is exactly first-rate material -- "It Never Works Out for Me" is a tuneless bore, and much of the rest is similarly uninteresting, and generally vocals were not this band's strong point, based on the evidence here. "Beyond" is a follow-up to "Pipeline" with a similar opening, and it is far and away the best track off of that album. The Pipeline album includes several attempts to emulate that hit, repeating its introduction and mimicking passages, but without much of the vitality or excitement of "Pipeline." The best parts of the album are the band's instrumental cover of Del Shannon's "Runaway," which is a tense, exciting workout for the entire band -- and that goes double for lead guitarist Bob Spickard and pianist Bob Marshall, and "Blunderbus," an almost bluesy number that, if not for the piano, could almost pass for a Yardbirds demo. "El Conquistador" gives Spickard a chance to play an electric version of Spanish guitar. The sound is excellent, perhaps too good in the sense of being almost too clean -- surf music was supposed to have its loud, aggressive edge, like early rock & roll, and Steve Hoffmann's domestic remasterings of the Chantays' releases for DCC have that hard edge. - Review by Bruce EderPersonnel:

Brian Carman (vocals, guitar); Bob Spickard (guitar, vocals); Bob Marshall (piano); Bob Welsh (drums) Arranger: Tony Asher

trax:

01 Move It 02 Maybe Baby 03 It Never Works Out For 04 Love Can Be Cruel 05 I'll Be Back Someday 06 Only If You Care 07 Three Coins In The Fountain 08 Beyond 09 Greenz 10 Space Probe 11 Continental Missile 12 Retaliation 13 Pipeline 14 The Lonesome Road 15 Tragic Wind 16 Runaway 17 Blunderbus 18 Banzai 19 Sleep Walk 20 Night Theme 21 Wayward Nite 22 El Conquistator 23 Riders In The Sky 24 Last Night 25 Monsoon 26 Scotch High's