GABRIEL & THE ANGELS, "CHUMBA" C/W "HEY!," AMY 802 (REL. 6/1960)

Gabriel and The Angels hailed from the desolate factory town of Camden, New Jersey. They gave rock ‘n’ roll one of its early gems of streetwise irony with their 1959 single “That’s Life (That’s Tough).” Reissued in 1962 by Swan Records, when it charted, it contains this priceless philosophical exchange: “What’s life?/a magazine/well, how much does it cost?/it costs 20 cents/I only got a nickel/oh, oh…that’s tough!”

Prior to this timeless slice of youthful angst, the group made a couple of kickin’ instrumental singles for the then-new Amy label in 1960. We’ll dig their debut disc today. Faithful listener(s) of the podcast will recognize that, a year-ish back, an episode named after our first track played both sides. Since there’s almost zero audience overlap on this little-seen daily post, I feel no compunction in this double-dip.

Gabriel was Richard Smith Kellis, who sang the soulful lead on “That’s Life” and played sax in the group’s instrumental line-up. He composed both sides of this disc, which fuse rock ‘n’ roll instrumental with the exotica style of music as popularized by Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman. Filtered through the cynical lens of Jersey teens, the vibe is different from “Quiet Village.”

“Chumba” opens with the unforgettable group chant “choom-bah choom-bah choom-bah chew-bow-wah,” the melody is carried by sinuous electric guitar and twin saxes. Kellis plays with a pleasing lack of vibrato; keys change and the funky bed of lo-fi percussion gooses this mood-piece along its woozy way. Kellis’ sax is double-tracked, and it’s possible guitar guy George Jones does the same. The results are eerie and earthy.

Cash Box was hep to the Jersey jive.

“Hey!” is a slice of Russian/ska fusion that reminds of the UK instrumentals produced by Joe Meek. Jones’ guitar dominates this moody minor-key mover; he double tracks to enticing effect on this emission from the twilight zone of teen music. No one in America made records like this at the time. This is a guitar instrumental devoid of typical influences, performed with skill and polish by a well-rehearsed group who were superstars on the Jersey shore and nowhere else.

The group’s lone charter, “That’s Life,” just missed the Top 50 in 1962—an impressive feat for a rough-hewn record from four years earlier. It has become a cult classic and is the song and performance this group will be remembered for making. I’d add today’s single with its European-inspired and eccentric version of instrumental rock ‘n’ roll.

Tomorrow: another installment of one-side-good 45s, featuring Detroit rockabilly by Danny Zella and crazy, atmospheric slow-grind melodrama by The Ravons. Late ‘50s twilight-zone magic!