Dec 14

Bruce & Terry

BRUCE & TERRY

 
Bruce & Terry  were Bruce Johnston and Terry Melcher.  The pair were instrumental in the development of surf rock, recording under a variety of names, most notably with the band The Rip Chords.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
The Rip Chords had one of the biggest hits of the surf era in the early 1960’s with “Hey Little Cobra” – maybe THE biggest outside of those by Jan & Dean and the Beach Boys – when it reached #4 on the charts in early 1964 (back in the early days of Beatlemania).  They don’t get a lot of respect though; since many people think that L.A. wunderkinds Bruce Johnston and Terry Melcher – who also recorded as Bruce & Terry – bullied their way into the band, this led a lot of people to conclude that they were only a studio fiction.
 
(July 2011)
 
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Much to my surprise, in the Rip Chords I finally found a rock band that did not have a listing in Wikipedia with a genuine hit song; their single “Hey Little Cobra” was one of the biggest hit songs in surf music, making it to #4 in early 1964, even though the surf scene was already in significant decline following the recent arrival of the British Invasion.  I had recently picked up the second album by the Rip Chords, Three Window Coupe, and it is every bit as good as their common first album, Hey Little Cobra and Other Hot Rod Hits.  I was able to debunk the idea that the Rip Chords weren’t a real band but just a studio fiction that revolved around Bruce & Terry, i.e., Bruce Johnston, who later joined the Beach Boys (and is still in the band) and top producer Terry Melcher (Doris Day’s son). 
 
 (July 2013)
 
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The album, Pebbles, Volume 4 LP was the first time I had heard of Bruce & Terry, two LA studio whiz kids, Bruce Johnston, now a member of the Beach Boys, and Terry Melcher to be specific.  (The surf scene seemed to have people like that by the carload – others include Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Jan Berry of Jan & Dean).  When I looked up the Rip Chords in Wikipedia before starting my post on the UARB, I was redirected to their entry on Bruce & Terry. 

 

The Pebbles, Volume 4 CD has only about half of the songs that are on the Pebbles, Volume 4 LP; even the title song “Summer Means Fun” by Bruce & Terry was omitted, so there is a different subtitle, “Surf ’n’ Tunes”.  In addition to the head-scratcher “School is a Gas” by the Wheel Men, the CD also includes the original “School is a Drag” by the Super Stocks.  Other highlights include “Move out Little Mustang” by the Rally Packs, a screaming cover of “Shortnin’ Bread” by the Readymen, “Wine, Wine, Wine” by the Bleach Boys (another hot inland surf band, this time from Sioux Falls, SD), and “The Big Surfer” by Brian Lord.  Lord is a San Bernardino DJ who is backed here by Frank Zappa, Ray Collins, Paul Buff and Dave Aemi; the big surfer is evidently President John Kennedy, and the song sounds like it could have been an outtake from the hit comedy album The First Family. 

 

(December 2014)

 

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Perhaps believing that there was only room for one Annette in show business, Annette Kleinbard changed her name to Carol Connors and had a lucrative career as a songwriter and performer.  For instance, with Terry Melcher (Bruce Johnston’s partner in Bruce & Terry), Carol Connors co-wrote the hit song “Hey Little Cobra” for past UARB the Rip Chords.  

 

(January 2015/1)

 

Last edited: March 22, 2021