The Pictones: Hashish (1962)

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The Pictones: Hashish (1962)

Not a lot was known about New Zealand's Pictones out of Levin, an instrumental group who delivered a nice line in country'n'western rock'n'roll on their 1961 single Pistol Packin' Mama which opened with galloping hooves, a whip cracking and a whinny. (The flipside of which was My Bonnie, recorded around the same time as the Beatles did it in Hamburg.)

Unusually however, they named this original after a drug which we must assume they were probably quite unfamiliar with, unless there was a lot of it floating about Levin at the time. Which seems unlikely.

But here it is, a Shadows-styled instrumental on the Tala label -- which probably plays well in Afghanistan.

For more oddities, one-offs or songs with an interesting backstory check the massive back-catalogue at From the Vaults.

There is also a feature/interview with the Pictones at audioculture here

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