Green Fuz
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"The Cramps's sound was heavily influenced by Sun Records rockabilly and proto-rock'n'roll like Link Wray and Hasil Adkins, 1960s surf music acts such as The Ventures and Dick Dale, 1960s garage rock artists like The Standells, The Gants, The Trashmen, Green Fuz and The Sonics, as well as the post-glam/early punk scene from which they emerged. Production-wise they were influenced by Alex Chilton. Their influences and/or the songs they covered were compiled in the Born Bad series."--Sholem Stein |
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The Green Fuz were an American garage rock band in the late 1960s known for their one single, "Green Fuz", which has become a classic of the genre and was covered by The Cramps. On the single, the band was identified as Randy Alvey & Green Fuz.
The group was formed in Bridgeport, Texas. The members were Randy Alvey (vocals), Mike Pearce (drums), Jimmy Mercer (rhythm guitar), Les Dale (lead guitar), and R.E. (Buck) Houchins (bass). Alvey and Pearce formed their first group, the Psychedelic Reactions, in 1967, and after some personnel changes they became The Green Fuz - named after Dale's green fuzz box. They played at dances and clubs, and gained enough local popularity to persuade the co-owner of Wash-Tex Records, Shorty Hendrix, to record their self-written theme song.
The recording took place in a deserted roadside cafe, chosen for its acoustics, and was issued locally in 1969. It was not a success, largely because the primitive recording techniques led to a muffled sound, which has subsequently contributed to its cult appeal.
The record resurfaced on a prominent garage rock compilation album, Pebbles, Volume 2 in the late 1970s and has since appeared on many similar compilation albums. One of these compilation albums, Acid Dreams Epitaph is subtitled 75 Minutes of Green Fuz. The band gained additional fans when "Green Fuz" was covered by The Cramps on their 1981 album Psychedelic Jungle. Alvey, Pearce and Houchins were later involved in another group, Natchez.
The roots music festibal Ponderosa Stomp, of New Orleans, featured Green Fuz in 2008, after its founder, Dr Ira Padnos found the Green Fuz's lead guitarist Les Dale in Virginia Beach, VA, retired, after two decades in the US Navy.
