The Jiants: Tornado (1959)

 |   |  <1 min read

The Jiants: Tornado (1959)

When the rock'n'roll wave hit Marion, Indiana in the late Fifties what else was a poor boy to do but play in a rock'n'roll band . . .

The short-lived Jiants (1959-61) were an enthusiastic five-piece but their star was guitarist Jerry Hedges who on this, their local hit, worked a throbbing and twanging style which was such an aural fingerprint for many of the best acts of the era.

And you gotta love the "break beat" around the midpoint of this minimalist rocker.

A minor classic for those two reasons and doubtless the soundrack to the lives in Indiana kids who were loud, fast and out of control.

This track recently reappeared on British DJ and archivist Keb Darge's rockabilly/rock'n'roll collection Legendary Wild Rockers for which he pulled together 20 rare tracks by Fifties bands whose names will doubtless be unfamiliar to just about most people. Great collection.

Like the sound of this, then check out this

For more oddities, one-offs or songs with an interesting backstory use the RSS feed for daily updates, and check the massive back-catalogue at From the Vaults.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   From the Vaults articles index

Alvin Robinson: Down Home Girl (1964)

Alvin Robinson: Down Home Girl (1964)

When the Beatles and the Stones covered songs by black American artists on their early albums and championed Motown soul (Beatles) and Chicago blues singers (Stones) they undoubtedly drew... > Read more

Gene McDaniels: Tower of Strength (1961)

Gene McDaniels: Tower of Strength (1961)

When Nick Lowe sang this oldie in concert at the Powerstation (see review here), it's a fair bet many in the audience either didn't recognise it, or hadn't heard it in over four decades. Lowe's... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

JOHN PSATHAS, COMPOSER. IN CONVERSATION (2021): From Wellington to the world

JOHN PSATHAS, COMPOSER. IN CONVERSATION (2021): From Wellington to the world

John Psathas is one of this country's most prolific and diverse composers, and the most internationally acclaimed. The New Zealand-Greek composer came to global attention when his music was... > Read more

Bako in Sarawak: Monkeys, metaphysics and heavy metal music

Bako in Sarawak: Monkeys, metaphysics and heavy metal music

There are many things you can expect at the famous Bako National Park in Sarawak, some 40 minutes from the capital Kuching by car then a small boat across the river. At Bako you could expect... > Read more