The Basement Wall: Incredible Sound (US, 1963/69)

This fairly atypical garage punk band hailed from Baton Rouge, the State Capital and petrochemical industry centre in Louisiana. Perhaps they played in Texas a lot because they certainly seem to have been connected with the Lone Star State. Texas Punk, Vol. 8 (LP) and Acid Visions - Complete Collection, Vol. 3 (3-CD) captures a live recording of the band at the Act Ill in 1967. It's pretty raw stuff as they work their way through versions of Louie Louie, We Ain't Got Nothing Yet, Hungry, Double Shot Of My Baby's Love, Like A Rolling Stone and The Basement Exit.Never Existed, their stab at immortality, can be heard on Relics, Vol. 1 (LP), Relics Vol's 1 & 2 (CD) and Boulders, Vol. 10 (LP). The Cicadelic 60's, Vol. 4 (LP) also contains an alternate take of the song. Ronnie Weiss (Mouse And The Traps) was on hand in the studio to wield lead guitar on this master-piece.George Ratzlaff went on to form Pot Liquor, who recorded three albums of respectable blues-rock for Janus between 1970-73.
The retrospective on Cicadelic/Collectables may be a reissue of their original album on Senate, if indeed it was ever officially released. Many collectors are very dubious of its existence. Also of interest is Vol. 2/There Goes The Neighbourhood (COL-CD-0541), which contains 18 tracks, mainly covers of classic mid-sixties tunes.

Baton Rouge, LA-based garage band the Basement Wall were formed in 1963 by singer/bassist Terry Bourdier, guitarist Richard Lipscomb, and drummer Barrie Edgar. Drawing inspiration from the British Invasion, the group started its career playing Beatles and Rolling Stones covers. With the subsequent addition of lead vocalist and guitarist George Ratzlaff, the Basement Wall graduated from local frat gigs to nightclub dates as far away as Los Angeles, along the way becoming the highest-paid cover band in the southern U.S., according to the Louisiana Entertainment Association.
In due time, the Basement Wall also began writing original material, in 1968 signing to the Senate label to issue their lone official single, "Never Existed," a keyboard-driven regional smash similar in spirit to Texas punk, no doubt an outgrowth of the band's myriad Lone Star State gigs. Additional recordings were made but remained unreleased until the Cicadelic label compiled The Incredible Sound of the Basement Wall in 1985.
In 1968 Bourdier got married and retired from the road. Despite adding bassist Duke Bardwell, who later toured with Elvis Presley, the Basement Wall soon dissolved. Ratzlaff later resurfaced in the blues-rock outfit Potliquor, recording three LPs for Janus and scoring a Hot 100 hit with the single "Cheer." In mid-June of 2005, the original Basement Wall lineup reunited for the first time in close to four decades, gigging in honor of the band's induction into the Louisiana Entertainment Hall of Fame.

The Basement Wall hailed from Louisiana and was formed in 1966. The band recorded one album in 1966 for a small regional U.S. label , that despite limited distribution, won over a large following across the nation. The band combined the sounds of the Beatles, Zombies, and Association to form a unique psychedelic pop sound that was becoming popular with the underground music fans. The New Breed hailed from California and despite the surf movement of the area, decided to explore a psychedelic and garage sound. The band recorded a number of singles for various labels before recording an album entitled Want Ad Reader. The album contained and was named after the band's biggest hit, the title track. With no label support for the album it was never released and The New Breed evolved into Glad and recorded one album for ABC records before breaking up in 1969. Band members went on to become part of such notable '70s acts as Redwing ,Poco and the Eagles. This single CD release compiles all of the two band's recorded output including rare singles and the unreleased album.

BASEMENT WALL
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