Psychedelic Jungle is the second LP by the American garage punk band The Cramps. It was released on I.R.S. Records. It was engineered by Paul McKenna and recorded at in January 1981 at A&M Studios. It was self-produced by The Cramps. The back photo on the cover of the album was taken by noted photographer and director Anton Corbijn. (More from Wikipedia)
I got Varshons myself, because it includes a cover of one of my TOP TEN favorite songs of all time (maybe my VERY FAVORITE even): “Green Fuz”, a minimalist song by a Texas garage rock band called Randy Alvey & Green Fuz. The Cramps previously included “Green Fuz” as the opening track on their album Psychedelic Jungle. Any version of “Green Fuz” is welcome in my record collection; but (despite truly terrible sound quality) the original is simply untoppable, with 15-year-old Randy Alvey’s growling lyrics backed by a fine band that includes drums that are unlike any that I have ever heard before. To this day, when the original “Green Fuz” comes up on an album I’m playing, it is as if the world stops spinning: My mouth goes slack, my muscles freeze up, and my mind focuses entirely on this incredible recording.
The Cramps were careful to match the timing of their recording of “Green Fuz” to that of the original song (2:06) – though they made only a half-hearted attempt at the drum solo toward the middle of the song – but the Lemonheads took a more leisurely approach to the song.
(March 2013)
