 NextUNDER-APPRECIATED ROCK BAND OF THE MONTH FOR SEPTEMBER 2010: THE STILLROVEN Minnesota is probably not often thought of as a hotbed of rock stardom, even though two of the brightest stars of the past half-century come from the Land of 10,000 Lakes: Bob Dylan, from Hibbing, and Prince, from Minneapolis. The state is not often mentioned in the garage rock world either, but Minneapolis produced one of the finest examples from the genre, the Trashmen, whose legendary 1963 hit “Surfin’ Bird” transmogrified two hit songs by a doo-wop group called the Rivingtons, “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” and “The Bird’s the Word” and showed America just what surf rock music was capable of producing. They continued to produce several minor hit singles – I bought “Bird Dance Beat” myself when it came out – and made enough music that a box set was released of Trashmen recordings (by Rhino Records if memory serves – actually it was Sundazed Records). All this by a band that hailed from a state that is as far from an ocean as it is possible to be and still be in the United States. THE STILLROVEN came from a Minneapolis suburb called Robbinsdale and reappeared seemingly out of nowhere when the 1960’s reissue label Sundazed Records released a retrospective album from the band, Cast Thy Burden upon the Stillroven in 1996. The band evolved from an earlier band called the Syndicate and had a rotating line-up over their history from 1966 to 1968. They made fine original songs such as “She’s My Woman” and “Sunny Day”; but in the garage rock tradition, they are perhaps even more adept at covers. Their second single, and the first that was widely available was of the 1960’s chestnut “Hey Joe”; and the flip side of their first single was a punky cover of the Monkees’ tuffest single, “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone”. Other notable covers are of more obscure songs from British bands, like “Cheating” (by the Animals), “Little Games” (by the Yardbirds) and “Tell Me Have You Ever Seen Me” (by Small Faces). Their later recordings edged into the psychedelic realm, and the band hit their creative peak with a mid-period single “Little Picture Playhouse” b/w “Cast Thy Burden upon the Stone”. (The latter song title is a Biblical reference taken from Psalm 55:22a). The retrospective album closes with a messy but quite listenable musical collage called “Freakout”. Reportedly the band has a full unreleased album from 1968 that Sundazed has also promised to reissue at some point. |
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