The Power Of The Pyramids!
Mike King | Taunton, MA United States | 01/25/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Long Beach, California's Pyramids consisted of lead guitarist Skip Mercier, bass guitarist Steve Leonard, rhythm guitarist Willy Glover, saxophonist Tom Pitman and drummer Ron McMullen. Steve Leonard wrote "Penetration" as a variation on the song "Pipeline" by the Chantays, but ended up creating a unique classic in its own right. The Pyramids are perhaps best remembered for their appearance in the Frankie and Annette movie "Bikini Beach." As they are about to perform a song, their wigs fly off to reveal their shaved heads! "Penetration" peaked at #18 in 1964. After recording one album and a few singles, all of which are contained in this collection, the Pyramids disbanded in 1965.
PENETRATION - There's no sound effects of crashing waves, or heavily echoed reverb. This song is a simple, solid, super surf classic.
ROAD RUNNAH - The sound of a revving engine signals the start of this sizzling hot rod instrumental. With a strong beat and great guitar playing, this sounds like a big hit that somehow missed.
PYRAMID STOMP - This rocking instrumental is a showcase for Ron McMullen's fantastic drumming, with the rest of the Pyramids firing on all cylinders.
KOKO JOE - This rocking vocal about "the coolest little monkey in town" is very close to being a novelty song.
STICKS AND SKINS - After a couple of guitar licks, this instrumental is one long, rocking drum solo.
EVERYBODY - The vocals on this version rival those of Tommy Roe on his original hit version.
PAUL - This is a rocking instrumental without much of a melody.
LONG TALL TEXAN - This humorous song would have been better suited for the Coasters.
DO THE SLAUSON - In the tradition of Chubby Checker's dance songs, the Pyramids sing about the slauson. Evidently, the slauson dance craze didn't extend much beyond Los Angeles.
OUT OF LIMITS - The Pyramids cover the Marketts' classic instrumental and do the song proud.
LOUIE LOUIE - The Pyramids cleaned up the lyrics to this classic. Their sanitized rendition pales in comparison to the hit version by the Kingsmen.
HERE COMES MARSHA - This sounds like a standard love song from the fifties, and is the low point of this collection.
WALKIN' THE DOG - The Pyramids do a rocking version of this Rufus Thomas song.
CONTACT - This is another outstanding surf instrumental, which rocks from start to finish. It was one of the singles, released after their album, which failed to hit it big.
PRESSURE - This surf instrumental is a combination of "Pipeline" and "Penetration," and yet somehow manages to sound unique.
PYRAMID'S STOMP (45 VERSION) - The saxophone accompaniment to the guitar is gone on the single version of this song, giving it a heavier sound.
CUSTOM CARAVAN - This vocal hot rod single sounded more polished than the vocals on their previous album.
MIDNIGHT RUN - This rocking hot rod instrumental features a memorable melody and strong guitar playing. Its failure as a single hastened the end of the Pyramids.
RECORD RUN - Written by Gary Usher and Roger Christian, the Pyramids perform this song in the movie "Bikini Beach." It's a hot rod classic, featuring great harmonies on the chorus.
BIKINI DRAG - This is another Usher/Christian composition from "Bikini Beach." It's a scorching instrumental, featuring great saxophone and drumming, and closes this collection out on a strong note."
Pyramid Power
Johnny Heering | Bethel, CT United States | 07/04/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This CD contains all the known recordings of the Pyramids. The Pyramids were a surf group that had a hit with "Penetration", and that's about all most people ever heard from them. But they did record an album, which contained the first 12 tracks here (albeit in a different order). Half of these tracks are surf instrumentals, which are all quite good. The other half are a mixed bag of songs with lyrics, none of which sound like surf music. They are not bad, but not that great either. The rest of the CD contains the remainder of their recorded output, including a couple of unreleased songs. This consists of five surf instrumentals, two surf songs with lyrics and a cover of "Walking the Dog". The surf music is really good, but "Walking the Dog" sounds like any garage band of the time period. Despite have a few mediocre tracks here, it's nice to have all the Pyramids recordings on one CD."
Track Listings (20) - Disc #1