Report/Photos: Norton Anniversary Fest

Held Nov. 10-13, it was indeed an All Star Spectacular at Brooklyn's Bell House.

Text & Photos by Michael Passman

Opening Night Thursday, November 10th had Norton Records Employees The Nor-tones, Dex Romweber Duo, The Phantom Surfers, The Alarm Clocks, The 5,6,7,8's, and The Black Lips.

The Norton Records 25th Anniversary was a practically non stop rock ‘n' roll party for four days straight.  The best in garage/surf/primitive R&B all gathered around Norton Records and its founders, Billy Miller and Miriam Linna.  There was never a less than stellar act playing and never an unhappy person in the room.  Some of the acts were legendary, some of the acts popular, some of the acts were new but make legendary rock ‘n' roll, but nearly everyone, both attendees and acts, gathered together, mingled, and watched the weekend unfold to some of the greatest acts in rock ‘n' roll.  It was a party, a rock ‘n' roll extravaganza reminiscent of the older rock ‘n' roll tours that combined Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Elvis, Buddy Holly, etc. 

The Nortones opened every night of the party with a great blast and a lot of fun with their Norton High letter sweaters.  They improved nightly and most people got there at opening time every night to catch them. 

The Nor-Tones

The always memorable Kim Fowley emceed for most of the weekend and participated with his vast knowledge and experience about great rock ‘n' roll in all its glory and perversity.

Kim Fowley

Dex Romweber Duo brought in the opening night with their own mix of R&B, Memphis blues, and a good measure of Hank Sr. that gives them their famous combo or raunch, subtlety, country, and heartache.

Dex Romweber Duo

The Phantom Surfers followed with incredible tunes lined up with what looked like a double-necked Fender Jazzmaster and a performance that was out of this world.  An added treat for the show was Russell Quan (The Mummies, The Bobbyteens, and The Chuckleberrys) joining them on stage for more than a few fun antics and rock ‘n' roll silliness.

The Phantom Surfers (also with Russell Quan)

Cleveland, Ohio ‘60s garage rockers The Alarm Clocks came next with their trademark Gretsch fuzz and incredible songs to boot.

The Alarm Clocks

A surprise ‘hello' came afterwards from the Detroit legend and sharp dressed rock ‘n' roll survivor himself, André Williams.  Kim Fowley then joined him for some on stage perversion that's the stuff that legends are made of.

André Williams (also pictured at the top with Kim Fowley)

The 5, 6, 7, 8's followed.  An all girl trio from Tokyo, Japan best known in The West for their appearance in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill."  Japanese rock, like many Western things co-opted by Japan, is often considered exciting and fun, but more of a novelty instead of being important in its own right.  The 5, 6, 7, 8's was a little surprising since it was less raunchy than many of their recordings, but their sound of roots rock with hints of rockabilly and great surf guitar melodies proved they are a true rock ‘n' roll band and more than deserved their place in the lineup with better known modern acts and legends both old and new, as well as equal praise.

The 5, 6, 7, 8's

A special close to the first night was a late announced addition of The Black Lips, a self described "Flower Punk" act who have received much critical praise in their prolific career, as well as a dedicated following of mostly younger fans.  Many of the older attendees cleared the room for their performance since their fans have a reputation of rowdiness, nudity, and general youth debauchery that is part rock ‘n' roll, but is also at times merely showing off in elation to draw attention to themselves.  As expected, the crowd got rowdy for their show, but them being fans that came for the Anniversary and not their performance, it was the least rowdy crowd to be witnessed at a Black Lips show, which made their performance a lot more exciting.  The added treat was King Khan joining them onstage for a tune at the end of their set

The Black Lips (notice flying alcoholic beverage related projectile)

The Black Lips with King Khan

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Day 2, Nov. 11

With a phenomenal opening night and looking forward to the lineup for the next few days, we all knew it was going to be great, but we had no idea how one great night can build into another and another.  Friday night's festivities were no exception, starting with early readings by André Williams and Kim Fowley in support of their books "Sweets" and "The Lord of Garbage," respectively. The weekend "house" band, The Nor-Tones, made a louder ruckus than the night before rose to the occasion of playing on par with so many stellar bands and legends.  Great Gaylord with the Condo Fucks made a rousing, soulful noise to start with.  The frontman sounded way too young for his talents and gave many an almost "Where the hell did this guy come from?" impression.

Great Gaylord with The Condo Fucks

Mark Sultan, a one man band legend, also shared in the night's performances.  Mark Sultan has constantly been touring for yours.  Although he's among those who have been seen the most compared to others in the weekend lineup, Mark has a soulful voice and a songwriting ability that seems to keep evolving into something greater.

Mark Sultan

A great swinging band from Japan came up next that absolutely wowed the crowd with crazy on stage antics and great surf music with garage and rockabilly overtones, Jackie And The Cedrics.  They've had a few brief stints touring The States a few years back, but few people in general knew about them other than their Norton 10 inch.  They left a lasting impression.

Jackie And The Cedrics

The Reigning Sound was the band that everyone was waiting to see that evening.  Gregg Cartwright and Co. have put out music that some revere to be among the best album ever made, "Too Much Guitar", and they've transcended the typical garage rock labeling with a broad and loyal following.  Their performance of songs like "I'll Cry" and "We Repel Each Other" brought the crowd to a roar.

The Reigning Sound

The final lineup for the evening was the revolving lineup of the Norton R&B/Soul Revue.  This definitely was an all star show from start to finish that included Marcus "The Carcass" Natale from The A-Bones on bass and Mick Collins from The Dirtbombs as the backing band. The revue started with saxophone legend Lonnie Youngblood.

Lonnie Youngblood

A special appearance by The Mighty Hannibal, who was led onstage by King Khan, to the roar of the crowd.  Being blind and surviving a recent stroke, the only limitation noticed was him needing a few minutes to find his microphone.  The audience remained transfixed on him through the whole performance.  The man is a giant in R&B and rock ‘n' roll.  It was great to be part of an enthusiastic crowd giving him his due.  Joining in to take his place on the throne was the Happy Organ man, Dave "Baby" Cortez.

The Mighty Hannibal

Next to take the stage was André Williams, the great Chicago R&B singer/songwriter/producer whose hard life and periodic relapses into addiction are well known and harrowing.  André is a true survivor who still gets out to tour regularly, despite his increasing age, but his sobriety gives him much more vitality than he displayed years ago.  André is loved by all and is finally reaping the benefits of his contributions to music.  André was on fire, full of energy, and had the crowd in a frenzy by the time the band and him ripped into "Agile, Mobile, and Hostile."  About two thirds through the song, he stopped singing.  We then saw his wife rush up to the stage screaming "Andre, stop!"  The crowd got quiet while fellow musicians and performers came out from behind the curtain while the band continued playing the song.  We weren't sure what was happening, but everybody stood still while the music kept playing, waiting for an outcome.  Lonnie Youngblood and Mick Collins both moved over to either side of him and played the song the rest of the way through.  André caught his composure, finished up with the last song, and his set was over.  Maybe he over extended himself, but we were all very relieved that he was ok.

André Williams

The final act in the all star revue to come on stage was Melvin Davis, a Detroit producer and performer who's made some of the best soul songs in the past 50 years, among them being "Chains of Love" which was brought to the world by The Dirtbombs on their album "Ultraglide in Black".  More raves came from the crowd and mostly songs that few people were very familiar with, but in true Norton Records fashion, Melvin and the rest of the all stars took us backwards to show us how we got here.  That evening and the performers showed everyone what true rock ‘n' roll is, from the one man wail of Mark Sultan to the outrageous, high energy of Jackie And The Cedrics, to the incredible soul music of The Mighty Hannibal, André Williams, and Melvin Davis.  It was an unbelievable evening.

Melvin Davis

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Day 3, Nov. 12

A diversion uptown to check out The Left Banke interfered with catching The Nor-Tones, Daddy Long Legs, and The Hentchman (of whom I really, really dig, unfortunately).  I arrived back at The Bell House in time to catch The South Bay Surfers, composed of a rotating lineup of rock ‘n' roll hooligans. The Norton Anniversary version was Dave Klingaman, Lorin Peterson, Joe Cardinal, and the perpetually enthusiastic Russell Quan. A great act, but Russell tends to always steal the show no matter how hard he tries not to.

Lorin Peterson of The Subway Surfers

Joe Cardinal, Dave Klingaman, and Russell Quan of The South Bay Surfers

Another CA based act, Luis & The Wildfires followed.  Their upbeat, hell raising act leaned towards rockabilly, but it was definitely more rock ‘n' roll with a little rockabilly, including a rousing, crowd cheering cover of Joy Division's "Digital."

Luis & The Wildfires

Next was Untamed Youth, the Missouri based act led by legend Deke Dickerson.  All accolades and compliments warranted. One cannot say more other than mention the band participated go-go dancing contest that followed.  There were go-go dancers on stage, but all the band members danced better than them according to the crowd response.

Untamed Youth (3^rd pic: It's Not a Party Until Beer Goes Flying)

Deke pulled a double sitting in with another legend, The Randy Fuller Four following his previous set.  This act is steeped in garage rock history as well as Texas rock history, and it's a very rare treat to hear and witness.

Randy Fuller Four with Deke Dickerson (all cleaned up after the flying beer)

Question Mark & The Mysterians ended the evening in outlandish and outrageous style that was hot, soulful, and rousing.  Oh yeah, all anyone remembers from that one is singing along to "Da Doo Run Run" and "Be My Baby" with help from The Crystals La La Brooks supplying the helping pipes and her huge fro, then being outdone by Question Mark and The Mysterians ripping into "96 Tears" with their 66 year old leader's fringed arms in psychedelic shirt outstretched and putting the audience into a trip.  Exactly.

Day 4, Nov. 13

The notorious Bloodshot Bill opened up the final evening, in his pajamas, reasons unknown.

The Figures Of Light followed, a brand spankin' new band including the stellar Mick Collins and Miriam Linna

The Real Kids sadly had to pull out, but New Jersey's Swingin' Neckbreakers filled in the slot and joined the party:

The A-Bones, composed of Norton Records founders and showcase hosts Billy Miller and Miriam Linna hit the stage and got the crowd going, most notably with "Outcast", a song made famous by The Animals.

Suddenly, Flamin' Groovies Members Cyril Jordan and Roy Loney joined them on stage and the crowd turned into an elated pogo pit when they broke into "Shake Some Action", "Teenage Head", and "Slow Death." 

Cyril Jordan

Roy Loney

A mouth-watering treat came next with The Tandoori Knights, composed of King Khan, Bloodshot Bill, and an outstanding upright bass player.

That was a great evening, but it ended with the fathers of all things garage and distortion, The Sonics!  They were on fire.  Every song was eaten up by the crowd, including a few new ones that had a slight ‘80s lean on them, but were still great rockers.  "Strychnine," ‘Dirty Robber", "Boss Hoss", "Psycho", and of course, "The Witch".  The whole weekend was one revelation/incredible band after another.  It was also the best music festival EVER.