Search - Arch Hall Jr, Archers :: Wild Guitar

Probably will be the compilation reissue of the year

TimothyFarrell22 | Massachusetts | 06/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So far, no 2005 reissue has been so much fun for me as this one has. I knew I'd love it even before I received it in the mail for two main reasons. There isn't a Norton Records album I own that I don't like, and I love the films of Arch Hall Jr. This teenage rock 'n' roll cult hero is best known for his infamous caveman ressurected film "Eegah". People who enjoy that cult classic (featured on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" once) will enjoy this CD. While most of his films were unintentionally hilarious turkeys (with the exception of "The Sadist") he wasn't a half bad guitar strummer. While not on the level of Hendrix, he knew a mean lick or two, and could write catchy songs. As cool as his movie tunes are, his live stuff is even better. Obviously loving what he does, Hall plays through some originals and covers with a sense of fun not found in a good amount of today's music. If you're into pre-Beatles rock 'n' roll or are a fan of Hall's films, this is worth a purchase. I probably won't play this everyday, but when I do play it, it's still fun."

Not a Novelty Record

Graboidz | Westminster, Maryland | 05/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you plan on buying "Wild Guitar" as a goof or as a funny novelty record, you are going to be very surprised. Anyone familiar with Arch Hall Jr.'s movie career will be surprised that Arch actually plays a pretty good guitar, and has some decent vocal skills. Mixed in among some great early sixties guitar rock are bits of dialogue from some of Arch's films, which is pretty fun. All of Arch's "hits" are on this disk, from "Konga Joe", "Monkey in my Hatband" and "Guitar Twist". You can tell Arch was influenced by surfer rock bands like "The Ventures", but there are also a couple cool blues tunes on here, as well as some decent ballads. Plus you get the themes and background music from most of Arch's movies. The last half of the disk is Arch and Archers performing before a crowd at a Florida Drive-In. This is gold. Arch jokes with the band, does some decent covers of rock classics like "Hello Mary Lou" and "Susie Q". What really amazed me is that you learn that Arch is only 19 years old at this point! He already had 4 movies under his belt, and was touring the country leading his own band! So however you discovered Arch Hall Jr., through MST3K or just happened to stumble across one of his flicks on late night TV, you owe it to yourself to pick this CD up. It's lots of fun, and will probably stay in your CD player for quite awhile."

Arch Hall Jr on CD for a limited time!

The Patriarch | 08/01/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Alright everybody. This is just an amazing CD. I recently sold most of my CDs, mostly because I have everything on MP3 now. I hung on to this one and a few others though. Why? This is a true one of a kind CD that will probably be unavailable very soon. I can't believe it was made in the first place, it's marketability is practically zero.



Perhaps you grew up seeing Arch Hall Jr. movies in the drive in, or like me you saw him in Eegah from MST3K and craved some more. Arch Hall Jr. was a B movie star or wannabe star pushed in the business by his father. His father was certain that Archie was going to be the next Elvis or something. The fact that his father tried so hard to do something so impossible is amazing. Oh yeah, anyway back to this CD. It has almost every song from the Arch Hall Jr. movies. This alone is worth the price of the CD, but we're given extras too.



Oh boy are we given extras. This CD has 48 tracks. 13 of these tracks are never before released live material mostly from a Wild Guitar promotion event. The actress that plays Vickie is even there and does a short interview and comic routine with Archie. This is priceless. The CD has sound clips from various arch hall movies. This is kind of cool, but can also be seen as an interruption of the music. That's not all though. The CD just look cool. When you take out the CD there is a picture of Archie and Vickie from the climax of the Wild Guitar movie. Also included is a 28 page booklet. Not some flimsy one-sided piece of paper. The booklet is filled with rare pics of behind the scenes photos, memorabilia-yep there is memorabilia including pics of the singles that the group released. Not only that but we also get the complete Arch Hall Jr. story!- a short biography of Arch and how his father got him into the film business. Also we get "I remember the Archers" A short essay by Arch about the band's line up. There a few other quotes of Archie's as well.



Why only 4 stars? Because for no reason the song Valerie is not included on this CD. This song was from Eegah and one of my favorites. There is no reason why this song should be excluded, especially since the CD is filled with so much else material. Maybe it was a legal thing.



You have heard some of these songs from the movies no doubt if you are looking at this, but I should describe what the music sounds like. Arch is no professional musician. But he does alright. It's like 60s garage rock, long before 60s garage rock became popular. He can play a guitar and sing alright and some of the songs I like a lot. The live stuff is really good, in my opionion. Mostly cover songs of blues/rockabilly hits. And they play it pretty good. The audience really doesn't seem too into it though. They clap politely though. At one point he tries to get them to dance, apparently to no avail.



In short, pick this up while it is available. If you are an Arch Hall Jr. fan or fan of classic B movies this will be a priceless addition to your collection. They did a great job making this a collectors item instead of just a music CD."