Eddie & The Showmen, "Squad Car" c/w "Scratch," Liberty F-55608 (rel. 8/1963)

Eddie Bertrand was the Mozart of surf guitarists. No other musician in his field could get anywhere close to his chops, precision and passion. With his group The Showmen he delivered a series of top-tier singles for Liberty Records. Had one of them been a national hit--even at the lowest rungs of the Hot 100--Liberty would've issued an album on them. Alas, that didn't happen. Many of the group's members tasted success outside the band.
        Bertrand was part of an earlier surf guitar group The Bel-Airs, with guitarist-composer Paul Johnson. They had a national chart hit with their 1961 Arvee single "Mr. Moto," a classic minor-key mover that showed Bertrand's range of guitar skills. Showmen drummer Dick Dodd (a former Mouseketeer) became the leader of seminal garage band The Standells, of "Dirty Water" fame. Rhythm guitarist Larry Carlton is an acclaimed jazz musician and Rob Edwards continued as a respected surf guitarist.
         This SoCal supergroup suffered from Liberty's casual promotion of their newer groups. Like its co-label Imperial, Liberty signed local and regional talent, recorded 'em and threw 'em on the market with minimal push. Multitudes of worthy singles went unheralded over the years. Same ol' same ol', in other words.
        Several years ago, we played Eddie & The Showmen's debut single, "Toes on the Nose"/"Border Town." An excellent single, it's the easiest by far of their five 45s to locate. For their follow-up, the group revived a song from The Belairs' then-unissued recordings "Squad Car" was penned by Paul Johnson, and recorded in LA's legendary Gold Star Studios circa 1961. That version, which can be heard HERE, is rawer and tenser than today's rendition. 
        This said, the Showmen take kicks some serious butt, with Bertrand's fiery, rapid-picked guitar runs the generator of dramatic excitement. With siren effects to suggest a cop car in hot pursuit of some wrongdoer, it's quite the, er, ride and only suffers from being one minute shorter than the Belairs take. (To be honest, I prefer that earlier version.)
            This single became a grail record for surf collectors and remains an envious disc; when I posted my recent find of this single on a Reddit collectors' group, several comments attested to its desirability. 

Cash Box didn't spare the gibberish for its praise of this 1963 single.
A teen ear-opener? Ouch!

"Scratch" offer a better showcase for Bertrand's guitar-god antics. This melodic, bright mover is wall-to-wall pickin', twang and pyrotechnics from this fleet-fingered lad. The group's sax players are heard; the group generates enormous energy on this side, which suggests what they must have sounded like as a live band. It is indeed no-let-up rock business from the crew.

In 1996, AVI Records released a CD that collected all known tracks by Eddie and The Showmen. Squad Car, which introduced Bertrand's guitar genius to a new audience. This long out-of-print disc goes for 20-50 dollars at present, but eagle-eyed browsers might spot it in a record store's dollar bin, as CDs are looked down upon at present.

Tomorrow: it's always a good day when a Fortune Records single is played. From 1956, Joe Weaver and The Don Juans make Michigan magic with a ramshackle delight from this ultimate hole-in-the-wall record label. Don't miss!