the bushmen

• Complete '65 live performance available for the first time!
• LP on white vinyl, cut & pressed at Third Man Pressing!
• Other than the cuts included here from their blistering 45, the rest is totally unheard!

Unearthed Garage Glory!

You can't get much closer to the raw, beating heart of garage punk than this. The Bushmen were a quintessential explosion of teenage hormones, primal rock 'n' roll, and absolute abandon. Their short-lived garage assault never brought the group into a recording studio; the reel of these 9 cuts encompasses the only known evidence of their reign, and we can all be forever thankful for its discovery!

For young rockers in and around the band's hometown of Fresno, the Rainbow Ballroom was the prestige gig, and by ‘65 The Bushmen had become frequent faces on its stage. "Down Home Girl" kicks things off with bee-sting guitar licks, gear-grinding Farfisa organ blasts, and reverb-baked vocal yelps. The band steamrolls through a set of covers including the Stones, Kinks, and more, with their version of “Hitch Hike” feeling like a closer sonic kin to the Velvet Underground's "There She Goes."

The Bushmen's glory days were brief. By 1966 they were gone, without ever having entered a recording studio, so this crowd pleasing performance is the only known evidence of their time together.

Track Listing

• Down Home Girl 4:39
• Just Like Me 3:42
• Long Green 4:10
• You Can't Sit Down 3:04
• Hitch Hike 3:47
• Empty Heart 5:11
• Route 66 4:38
• You Really Got Me 3:14
• The Last Time 3:26