As you can see, the album title and cover art is a homage to Jerry Lee Lewis. This is not by accident. Memphis native Jason D. Williams is a boogie-woogie piano man with slightly unhinged lyrics and, according to talk around Memphis, may even be the Killer's illegitimate son. 

That particular rumor is addressed on the album's first track, the fittingly titled "Like Jerry Lee," where Williams sings "I don't know if he is or isn't/I could've found out once but I didn't/I figured either way it would be more than I could stand" before asking people to "quit wanting me to be Jerry Lee."

My own take, judging solely from his voice and looks, is that Williams is more likely than most to be Jerry Lee's kid, but either way the legendary rock and roll wild man isn't his only influence by any means. Throughout the album's 14 tracks, we also hear hints of the Rolling Stones, Moon Mullican, George Jones, and Todd Snider, who produced the record.

Perhaps the best track here is "If You Ever Saw a Baby With Its Pud," a Beefheartian slow rock ballad dealing with druggies, babies in the mud, John F. Kennedy, marijuana, Jackson Pollack, giants, and heartbreak. 

The next track finds Williams doing perhaps the perfect jukebox song, "You Look Like I Could Use a Drink," before covering Stick McGhee's "Drinkin' Wine Spo-dee-o-dee" (as popularized by Jerry Lee) and John Prine's "Daddy's Little Pumpkin," both of which display his exceptional skill as a performer.

Things get even weirder in the second half of the album with two gospel numbers ("Mr. Jesus" opens with the line "I've lost my pecker and I've lost my way/I don't have even a bale of hay"), a classical piano piece, and a honky tonk ballad referencing Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson.

This album isn't for everyone, but if, like me, you're a rockabilly aficionado with an affinity for the strange and eccentric, this is some of the best fun you'll have all year.

hey BonzoB,

There's no doubt in my mind that they are one and the same band. In fact, if I remember correctly, the song credits for the last tune "Just Call Me Sky," obviously fake-live, during which "Naz" introduces the rest of the band, actually go to members of The Damned. I'll dig around in my records to double check and let you know for sure when I find it. It might take a while though ; my records are in terrible order.

Dave re-The Damned/Naz Nomad & The Nightmares. Around the time Give Daddy the Knife came out I was working as a hack on my local newspaper and was lucky enough to interview Rat Scabies as the Damned were gigging in town later that week. In great trepidation I asked him what the deal was with Naz Nomad as I had heard the album and the strong rumours. His response: "Never 'eard of the geezer!" Call me naive but since then, even though Naz's vocals are a ringer for Dave Vanian's I have always had my doubts that both bands are one and the same...Of course there a million contractural and showbiz reasons why the Rat might not let the cat out of the bag to some local newspaper guy but...Anyone out there with a definitive answer?

Dave Improbable said:

That's a tough one, but I think I have to credit The Damned as Naz Nomad and The Nighmares, who put out a fake 60's psych film soundtrack called "Give Daddy The Knife , Cindy" of great garage covers: "Action Woman,"" She Lied,"" I Can Only Give You Everything" to name a few. I soon sought out the originals. Hearing The Shadows of Knight's "Dark Side,"  B-side of Gloria, on the quarter juke-box at the diner near my school was also pretty magical (yeah, I don't care if that sounds corny.)

 

It's sad, I live in such a shitty radio market, I didn't even know who the hell the Clash was until "Combat Rock" came out!  No friggin' lie!!!  Of course I dug it, but then I had to dig deeper and buy such classics as "London Calling" and their self-titled debut release!
Gareth Brown said:

Hi - i'm new to The Hideout... very much enjoying all of your responses... For me it was listening to 'London Calling' by The Clash that first got me interested in all things punk/garage/r'n'r related!

I think it was the Gruesomes "Tyrants of teen trash"

Besides just oldies radio?  Coming across the Hang It Out to Dry Comp at an Indie Record Store....  that change my music taste..

Yeah, zombies, UFOs and ladyboys. I think it's based on a true story.

joey fuckup said:

It's amazing what the Cramps have done for us!  Isn't "Wild Zero" that really wild exploitation/grindhouse-type flick that came out a few years back that had zombies, maybe?  I thought I had seen it advertised in the pages of "Videoscope" and "Rue Morgue"...

electrocute your cock said:

Off The Bone/Songs the Lord Taught Us. That's where I'm pinning the blame for all this. Before that I'd only heard MC5, The Stooges and a few songs here and there so I knew I'd like this stuff if I knew who the hell anyone was, but it's The Cramps who showed me the way. Guitar Wolf get an honourable mention for their appearance in Wild Zero.

Dave re-The Damned/Naz Nomad & The Nightmares. Around the time Give Daddy the Knife came out I was working as a hack on my local newspaper and was lucky enough to interview Rat Scabies as the Damned were gigging in town later that week. In great trepidation I asked him what the deal was with Naz Nomad as I had heard the album and the strong rumours. His response: "Never 'eard of the geezer!" Call me naive but since then, even though Naz's vocals are a ringer for Dave Vanian's I have always had my doubts that both bands are one and the same...Of course there a million contractural and showbiz reasons why the Rat might not let the cat out of the bag to some local newspaper guy but...Anyone out there with a definitive answer?

Dave Improbable said:

That's a tough one, but I think I have to credit The Damned as Naz Nomad and The Nighmares, who put out a fake 60's psych film soundtrack called "Give Daddy The Knife , Cindy" of great garage covers: "Action Woman,"" She Lied,"" I Can Only Give You Everything" to name a few. I soon sought out the originals. Hearing The Shadows of Knight's "Dark Side,"  B-side of Gloria, on the quarter juke-box at the diner near my school was also pretty magical (yeah, I don't care if that sounds corny.)

 

Hi - i'm new to The Hideout... very much enjoying all of your responses... For me it was listening to 'London Calling' by The Clash that first got me interested in all things punk/garage/r'n'r related!

Mine would be Thee Mighty Caesars "Lie Dectector". Changed my life.

I'll have to try and get my hands on that Damned LP, now that you mention it!
Dave Improbable said:

That's a tough one, but I think I have to credit The Damned as Naz Nomad and The Nighmares, who put out a fake 60's psych film soundtrack called "Give Daddy The Knife , Cindy" of great garage covers: "Action Woman,"" She Lied,"" I Can Only Give You Everything" to name a few. I soon sought out the originals. Hearing The Shadows of Knight's "Dark Side,"  B-side of Gloria, on the quarter juke-box at the diner near my school was also pretty magical (yeah, I don't care if that sounds corny.)

 

"Last Train To Clarksville" was definately my fave Monkees tune!  Would love to have had their car...
Joseph M Kirk said:

"Bird Dance Beat" was preferreed over "Surfin' Bird" but hey I was only 3 or 4 years old.  After the Trashmen, it was "Last Train To Clarksville" by the Monkees, and The Standells "Dirty Water" Lp was given to me when I was six.  It was a pure joy to stumble upon the Ramones and Blondie when I was 17.  I never really felt the need to listen to the radio, so I never really have.  That's a good thing since living in Philadelphia, radio station's are really lame.  And they remain that way even now except for some college stations.  And, yes I still listen to the Trashmen and the Monkees et al.

I do have a local vintage store that deals in vinyl as well, but it's usually hit and miss with what they carry, although I did score a cool Turtles 45 the other day...

Eargasm said:

you can still get many major label garage 45's reasonably cheap, Joey..most record shows should have a dealer who has a selection of this stuff for $5 and under..
Great thing is that with some diligence and perserverance you can still find many rare gems in the wild..

That's a tough one, but I think I have to credit The Damned as Naz Nomad and The Nighmares, who put out a fake 60's psych film soundtrack called "Give Daddy The Knife , Cindy" of great garage covers: "Action Woman,"" She Lied,"" I Can Only Give You Everything" to name a few. I soon sought out the originals. Hearing The Shadows of Knight's "Dark Side,"  B-side of Gloria, on the quarter juke-box at the diner near my school was also pretty magical (yeah, I don't care if that sounds corny.)

"Bird Dance Beat" was preferreed over "Surfin' Bird" but hey I was only 3 or 4 years old.  After the Trashmen, it was "Last Train To Clarksville" by the Monkees, and The Standells "Dirty Water" Lp was given to me when I was six.  It was a pure joy to stumble upon the Ramones and Blondie when I was 17.  I never really felt the need to listen to the radio, so I never really have.  That's a good thing since living in Philadelphia, radio station's are really lame.  And they remain that way even now except for some college stations.  And, yes I still listen to the Trashmen and the Monkees et al.

you can still get many major label garage 45's reasonably cheap, Joey..most record shows should have a dealer who has a selection of this stuff for $5 and under..
Great thing is that with some diligence and perserverance you can still find many rare gems in the wild..

Yes, I too dig the Animals!  They were one of the reasons I would listen to oldies radio, because it was a given they would be played!  Oldies stations now only seem to want to play tons of disco and contemporary '70's tunes...The one we had here in Roanoke, VA basically forgot about the '50's-mid '60's stuff, and then only played the Top 40 hits of the late '60's, and all of the '70's....
km said:

There was a Foundation skate video called "Art Bars: Subtitles and Seagulls" that came out in like, 2001 and the soundtrack was awesome.  My favorite song on there was from some old  band I had never heard of called the Outsiders doing Filthy Rich, and I really loved their style, but never dug too deep to find more cause I didn't realize there was a whole genre out there.

 

I always craved more of what I called "raw, heavy oldies" but didn't make the connection that there would be more where that came from.  I was a big fan of the Animals and Link Wray too, that was the closest I really got to it before I discovered this website and really cracked it open.

 

There was a Foundation skate video called "Art Bars: Subtitles and Seagulls" that came out in like, 2001 and the soundtrack was awesome.  My favorite song on there was from some old  band I had never heard of called the Outsiders doing Filthy Rich, and I really loved their style, but never dug too deep to find more cause I didn't realize there was a whole genre out there.

I always craved more of what I called "raw, heavy oldies" but didn't make the connection that there would be more where that came from.  I was a big fan of the Animals and Link Wray too, that was the closest I really got to it before I discovered this website and really cracked it open.

I'm not anti-Greg Shaw. I think he's done more good than anything but you can't be 100 % on EVERYBODY. Even Greg could be a little underhanded if he saw an opportunity, in this case, the Sonics LP. And if he'd just been a little more honest with bands stating that he would support them by putting their name out but it was going to be up to them to make their own money because honestly, he was just doing this as a fan and losing money (which I believe is true). But he never did, which is probably why a lot of bands starting having a lot of animosity toward him. It seems like only after SAVING THE WORLD ONE RECORD AT A TIME, did we get the real picture.

I always felt that punk got boring when it became more of a fashion than music..It was exciting at the beginning and eventually it just became another music to me..i remember when a Boston band called Third Rail released a 45 called "It's Over Now' somewhere around 1979..it pretty much summed things up....

Yep, if it wasn't for Greg Shaw i woulda lost interest in music completely after the first punk wave in the late 70's/eaerly 80's...Pebbles sure opened some doors for me!

And ya, Sinderella is definitely my least favourite Sonics LP.

Eargasm said:

Yeah, that Bomp album was pretty bad, but it was more than an attempt to cash in on The Sonics name..I'll get the facts together in my head, and come back to it...As far as Greg Shaw, I think a pretty good case could be made that none of us would be talking about this stuff if it wasn't for him...Nuggets may have been the first big wheel to get 60's punk rolling, but no one championed the burgeoning 70's punk, 60's punk and whatever the hell else was going on back then than Greg...Bomp magazine was an essential ingrediant in an era was information wasn't at your fingertips. It was being spread out by an ever growing fraternity of rock and roll zealots mostly word of mouth..
That being said, lightning rarely strikes twice, and it's difficult for 60 year old men to resurrect the impulses that created the phenomenom that is The Sonics...

Yeah, that Bomp album was pretty bad, but it was more than an attempt to cash in on The Sonics name..I'll get the facts together in my head, and come back to it...As far as Greg Shaw, I think a pretty good case could be made that none of us would be talking about this stuff if it wasn't for him...Nuggets may have been the first big wheel to get 60's punk rolling, but no one championed the burgeoning 70's punk, 60's punk and whatever the hell else was going on back then than Greg...Bomp magazine was an essential ingrediant in an era was information wasn't at your fingertips. It was being spread out by an ever growing fraternity of rock and roll zealots mostly word of mouth..
That being said, lightning rarely strikes twice, and it's difficult for 60 year old men to resurrect the impulses that created the phenomenom that is The Sonics...

Yer welcome....a fave song of mine! If you ever record it, feel free to send me an MP3 for radio airplay!

SIR DOMINICK said:

great DAVE, fantastic!

Many thanks ! This night we'll play it with the band !

great DAVE, fantastic!

Many thanks ! This night we'll play it with the band !

Try this link...

http://ontheflip-side.blogspot.com/2009/08/song-of-week-born-loser-murphy-and-mob.html

At least the Pogues are still in fashion. At least that song during the holidays.

Hideout Admin said:

Damn, it dropped to #21 this past week:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/update/singles