Gritty Garage / R&B Mover from The Tarantulas

The Tarantulas “Vera Brown” (Stop, 196?)

Happy Memorial Day to you all, I hope none of you have friends or family out in harm’s way and if you do, may they return safely. 

Today’s 45 is by The Tarantulas, most well known for their eponymous Atlantic single with the Black Widow flip, they were one of those great 60’s bands that everyone can lay claim to; surf-rock, R&B and rockabilly (is that everybody?).

A great band who recorded in Memphis, TN, The Tarantulas (originally named The Spyders), included Bob Tucker, the writer of today’s song, who later became the stand-in for Bill Black in 1963 when he began to be to ill to tour.  Upon Black’s death in 1965 Tucker purchased Black’s studio in Memphis and continued to tour with the Bill Black Combo for the next 30 years.  (Here’s an interesting piece about Tucker finding the Ampex recorder he bought from Sam Phillips in the back of his Bus Warehouse.)  Many of the other members of The Tarantulas ended up in the Bill Black Combo (sans Black) to tour with The Beatles (at their request) in 1964.

About the record, there’s another issuing of this 45 out there on the Silver-Dollar label with an address listed in Memphis with no production credits but my copy is on the Boston based Stop label (though I did find this record in New England, I’ll be damned if I’ve ever seen a record on that label in all my years digging in Boston…) and it lists “Skippy” White as the producer and he was based out of Bean town.  Despite the “production” credit, based on The Tarantulas small reach and immersion in the Memphis scene, my guess is it was released on Silver Dollar first then picked up by the (relatively) larger Stop.

I can’t find anything out there on the year it was released but I’m swinging for the fences with 61?

All the best, see you soon.

-George / Snack Attack

Edit:  It appears Stop was owned by Pete Drake, the legendary lap steel guitarist and based out of Nashville, Skippy White was a Boston producer that worked in Gospel, Blues and R&B so that fact seems to sit right, just not sure how the two meshed.  Would love to hear any ideas you all have!

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