From the Vinyl Bin: The Sonics - Have Love Will Travel

This month in the vinyl bin I came across an old song, by Tacoma, Washington garage rock legends The Sonics, called "Have Love Will Travel" which is originally by Richard Berry. This song is easily one of the most influential of the 1950's and 60's. Since it was written it has been covered by artists like Raul Revere and the Raiders, Stiv Bators of The Dead Boys, The Black Keys, and Jim Belushi.

This song is a true testament to the garage rock sound and comes complete with distorted guitars and wailing screams from the mic. This song can seem slightly repetitive a minute or so in (like most generic 50's and 60's songs). Then it hits the sax solo adding something totally different and giving the song somewhat of a bluesy feel.

The interesting and little known fact about this song, and even this band and the movement that they were a part of is that it is (or was) punk rock. That's right I said punk rock.

So how do we get the accelerated and distorted power chord progressions, quick drumbeats, and leather jackets complete with studs from an early 60's rock band? Listen to the song and think about the music of the time. Bands like The Sonics, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Kingsmen, and The Wailers (no, not Bob Marley's band) pioneered that fast and distorted rock sound that was referred to as punk, but is now called garage rock.

This sound is obviously not quite what punk is. A good modern comparison would be The Hives, who sound heavily influenced by bands like The Sonics. Over all though it was this music that has been the driving force behind the punk movement, grunge (which started in a similar area), and the garage rock bands of our day.
The Sonics: Have Love Will Travel

Wanna know more? Wikipedia, MySpace, and fan sites are your best bet. Just Google the band you'll find the limited information fast enough. Just like information on them, the band's music is somewhat scare and not always easy to find, so if you ever find some pick it up, listen to it, and hear to the sound that's helped make rock today what we've known it to be.