As a mastering technician, John Golden’s name is on thousands of records, many of them classics. Getting his start in the late ’60s, he’s particularly noted for his impact on punk, underground and indie rock. If you own records released by SST, Sub Pop, K, Touch and Go, and Merge, there’s a good chance Golden is listed in the credits. But prior to that, as a youngster, Golden was guitarist-frontman for the Columbiana, OH outfit Johnny’s Uncalled Four. They cut a pair of singles in 1964-’65, but the Vietnam draft broke them up and their LP went unreleased…until July 21 via Daptone subsidiary Wick. If a modest venture, The Lost Album still manages to deliver the uncut essence of mid-’60s teen R&R in the USA.
Succinctly, The Lost Album was found when Gabriel Roth of Daptone Records overheard a playback of the tapes while attending a session at Golden Mastering. Impressed, Roth and Wick Records founder Mikey Post culled two tracks for a single in 2000 that went down so smashingly it spurred the decision to release a 14-track full-length.
The Lost Album is far from a groundbreaking one, but more interestingly, it is a document of a fully functioning band that played 208 shows from February 1964 through October 1965, with one of them as openers for Lou Christie and Tommy Roe. The Uncalled Four’s sound is described in the PR and liners as post-Elvis/pre-Brit Invasion R&R, and that’s largely but not entirely accurate, as the set features a solid cover of “Glad All Over” by the Dave Clark Five.
But the point is well-taken, as there are no bold Beatles moves amongst the selections here, with “Glad All Over” definitely a geographical exception in the scheme of things. A sizable chunk of the record is instead devoted to Ventures-like surf and post-Eddy twang instrumentals, with opener “Movin’ Groovin’” drawing on both sides of the equation. Later in the sequence, a non-vocal take of “The House of the Rising Sun” emerges, assumedly inspired by The Ventures’ version of The Animals’ smash hit. But who knows, maybe Golden and his mates were fans of Dylan’s debut LP.
There’s nothing resembling folk-rock on The Lost Album, however. Instead, a pleasant straight-ahead, slightly Bobby Fuller-esque take of Buddy Holly and the Crickets’ “Maybe Baby” does a nice job establishing the ’50-ish foundation from which the band springs. If securely teen R&R, Johnny and the Uncalled Four don’t really fall into the proto-garage category, even as “Please Say” is an effective stomping rocker that was smartly picked as the A-side of the band’s second 45 (and additionally Wick’s reissue single).
“Every Beat of My Heart” and “Every Time I Close My Eyes” reinforce the ’50s connection, both Golden originals strong enough that I assumed they were covers. These tracks do highlight the record’s modesty of scale while simultaneously driving home the seriousness of the endeavor, and if the draft hadn’t derailed their momentum it’s not difficult to envision the Four scoring wider success (Golden did land a solo single with Warner Bros. prior to the Four’s breakup, but that’s not on this LP).
The playing across the set, courtesy of Golden, second guitarist John Heron, bassist Don Davis, and drummer Dennis Beery, is consistently sharp. And there’s some additional range, as the instrumental “Daydream” nods to Santo & Johhny, “Hold on Baby” features a nifty “Twist and Shout” lift, and they even cover “Summertime” two years (at least) before Big Brother & the Holding Company put their stamp on it.
The grade below might seem a little generous, but The Lost Album gains considerable value as documentation of what an industrious regional band was capable of in the no-frills teen R&R era. That Johnny’s Uncalled Four worked up a wholly enjoyable full LP is a major achievement, as most bands of their ilk were lucky to pull off a competent B-side to their single.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
B+
