THE RUGBYS

“Hot Cargo”

The music that is most heavily imprinted upon my psychology is the music that served as the soundtrack to my puberty. In This Is Your Brain on Music, neuroscientist Daniel Levitin explains that this almost universal phenomenon is grounded in the influence of hormones (and music) on brain development, although I was completely unaware of the science at the time. And for me, the time was, say, 1969 until 1975 or so (I was a slow cooker!). If I am at a record store and contemplating buying an album or CD, the surest thing that can secure my purchase is a release date somewhere in that time frame. This is true regardless of the genre, as though there was simply something in the air that will speak to me—and virtually every time, it does. This was never more clearly the case than when I picked up a copy of Hot Cargo by The Rugbys, an album that so perfectly evokes that time period that I feel as though I have somehow tuned into a broadcast of Casey Casem’s American Top 40 from a very nearly parallel universe.

The Rugbys hail from Lousiville, KY, and their history is intertwined with that of another Louisville pop band, The Oxfords, whose Fly Up Through The Sky is yet another Lost Treasure. The Oxfords formed in 1964 following the explosion of Beatlemania. The original line-up consisted of brothers Steve and Jim McNicol on lead guitar and bass respectively, Chris Hubbs on rhythm guitar, Doug Black on saxophone and Jim Guest on drums. Then one of two things happened, depending on who’s account you believe: either the band changed their name to The Rugbys and Guest was booted or Guest fired the other members and kept The Oxfords name while the others carried on under the new name The Rugbys. In either case, Glen Howerton became the new drummer for The Rugbys. Two one-off singles and a few personnel changes later, the band was signed to Amazon Records by Nashville music impresario Shelby Singleton, the man who paired Jeannie C. Riley with Tom Hall’s “Harper Valley PTA,” resulting in one of Nashville’s biggest crossover hits. By the time the recording sessions for the album began, McNicol and Howerton were still in tow, along with new bassist, Mike Hoerni and keyboardist Eddy Vernon. Hot Cargo, their debut album, was released on Amazon in 1969.

As noted above, the music on the album is quintessential late ’60s/early ’70s AM pop-rock. None of the songs strike me as blockbuster hits, but they are all very strong and many are, in my view, better than much of the charting material from that time period. Touchstones include Steppenwolf, BST, Ides of March, Blue Cheer and other bands who sought to sound like heavy, serious rock musicians while still purveying three-minute pop singles. The opener is the standout cut: “You, I.” It begins with eight seconds of pure fuzz and then breaks into some heavy and memorable riffs before a rich, gruff voice begins intoning vaguely philosophical hippy nonsense—it’s that great! If it weren’t contemporaneous, it would be a remarkable pastiche. “Juditha Gina” follows pretty much the same blueprint—again, to great effect—though it features some pretty heavy vibrato—nearly operatic—in the chorus vocals. “Song to Fellow Man” is more aligned with pop-soul (think Spiral Staircase), but the answering vocals in the chorus are sung in sort of a hick/stoner/stroke victim style that is unique, at least in my record collection. It never fails to bring a smile to my face. “Stay With Me” is another highlight. It has some baroque pop touches, especially in the intro and the bridge, but is mostly a straight AM pop song, reminiscent of The Stampeders or The Looking Glass—and one with really solid hooks. “The Light” is more of the same: The Left Banke meets B.W. Stevenson as a harpsichord figure breaks into a huge strumming acoustic guitar. “Rockin’ All Over Again,” as you may guess, is a faux ’50s rocker. It’s completely serviceable and would have fit in nicely in The Rocky Horror Picture Show or Phantom of the Paradise. It is most noteworthy, in my book anyway, for the ending, in which all the band members riff up to the tonic note, but one guitarist falls a half-step short but with great confidence. I have never played it for anyone who has ever been in a band without eliciting a look of shock and/or a laugh. The closer is “Wendegahl the Warlock,” a curious character study that is, unintentionally I presume, quite funny. It reminds me of a song written by sixth-graders sung by the love-child of Meat Loaf and Tom Jones (though I recognize certain biological challenges to that scenario).

Three songs from Hot Cargo were released as singles: “You, I,” “Wendegahl the Warlock,” and “Stay with Me.” By far the most successful was “You, I,” which was a national Top 40 hit. While the band would not record a second LP, the Gear Fab label did issue a collection of previously unreleased material in 2008 (titled simply The Rubgys). McNichol would go on to write material and play guitar for Elysian Field while Vernon moved to jazz rock, playing and singing with the band Dreams.

Hot Cargo has been reissued on CD a few times. The version currently in print is a two-fer on the Collectables label that pairs Hot Cargo with an album by a band named Lazarus (also protégés of Shelby Singleton). That’s the version I have. There is also a dedicated reissue on Akarma that is a limited edition and very hard to find. Amazon (the website, not the label) is currently offering a CD-R on demand through Tam-Tam Media as well as digital downloads. Step into a time machine and have a listen!

=================================================

Pop Pioneer and “Lost Treasures” writer, Peter Marston is the leader of long-running power pop band, Shplang, whose most recent album, “My Big Three Wheeler” has been described as “the Beatles meet Zappa in pop-psych Sumo match.”  Peter has a new project in 2015 under the name MARSTON.   Marston have a track on the latest “Power Pop Planet – Volume 5” compilation just out now and available at:  www.PopGeekHeavenStore.com.

CHECK OUT SHPLANG out at this link:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/shplang

==================================================

[linebreak style=”25.png”]

LINKS:

Wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rugbys

AMG:  http://www.allmusic.com/album/hot-cargo-mw0000541670

Blog Post: http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2011/08/rugbys-hot-cargo-1969-us-garage-psych.html

Blog Post #2:  http://somethingelsereviews.com/2015/07/01/the-rugbys-hot-cargo-forgotten-series/

VIDEOS:

“YOU, I”

“WENDENGHAL”