Super Stocks
By Frank Youngwerth
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At first the Super Stocks didn’t resemble the Beach Boys; they sounded more like a cross between Hank Williams and King Curtis: the rough-edged, twangy lead vocals bespeak an adult driver (albeit with an adolescent car obsession) as tenor saxophonist Steve Douglas roars mightily over a chugging rhythm and organ walking bass lines. On the four Shut Down tracks Usher’s humble three- and four-chord tunes and basic vocal harmonies tread the ground between country and western music and R & B. The band never quite finds a groove–hiring an actual bassist would have helped–though hand claps and car sound effects add some spice to the proceedings.
Once Shut Down went gold, Capitol wanted more. Hot Rod Rally, another compilation, had six new Super Stocks tracks, some with lead vocals by Usher. Singing like you might expect Wally Cleaver would sound, Gary had an awkward, nasal voice that practically guaranteed no airplay. But Capitol didn’t need radio to sell these records. Around the same time it even put out an album with just car sounds and narration, The Big Sounds of the Drags.
When this album was first issued on CD in Japan several instrumental demos were included as bonus tracks. They’re pleasant enough as mood pieces, but come off as one-dimensional when compared to the finished productions. As quickly as he was working, Usher could still afford to discard some of his weaker ideas.
