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Monday, August 8, 2011

The Rugbys - Hot Cargo (1969 us, garage psych, akarma remaster edition)



The Rugbys formed when all the members of the popular Louisville group the Oxfords left that band except the drummer, Jim Guest. Guest kept the Oxfords name and brought in members of the Spectres, soon releasing a good 45 on the Mala label.

The Rugbys took the Spectres' drummer, Glenn Howerton to replace Guest; the other members being Steve McNicol on lead guitar, his brother Jim McNicol on bass, Chris Hubbs on guitar and Doug Black on sax. The band's name supposedly came from wearing rugby shirts onstage.

At least, that was what I had read, but then Susan Harkins sent in this photo of the Rugbys signed by Jim Guest on the back, and Glenn Howerton's signature is not included. Perhaps the Oxfords changed their name to the Rugbys, then Guest left or was kicked out and restarted the Oxfords with new members.

In any case, their first release is this great version of a Doug Sahm song, "Walking the Streets Tonight", on the Top Dog label, from July, 1966. The flip side, "Endlessly", a ballad original by Steve McNicol, has been ignored until now, though mellow it's very good.

The Rugbys continued on until 1970 with some personnel changes, releasing several 45s and an album in a hard rock style.
Garage Hangover


Tracks
1. You, I (Steve McNicol) - 2:57
2. Juditha Gina (Eddy Vernon) - 2:42
3. Song to fellow man (Eddy Vernon) - 2:20
4. King and queen of the world (Steve McNicol) - 3:08
5. Stay with me (Steve McNicol) - 3:05
6. The light (Steve McNicol) - 2:26
7. Rockin' all over again (Mike Hoerni) - 2:17
8. Lines of thought (Mike Hoerni, Steve McNicol) - 4:00
9. For A Love gone (Steve McNicol) - 3:56
10.Wendegahl The Warlock (Eddy Vernon) - 6:20

The Rugbys
*Steve McNicol - Guitar, Vocals
*Mike Hoerni - Bass Guitar, Vocals
*Eddy Vernon - Keyboards, Piano, Vocals
*Glen Howerton - Drums

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the Free Text

16 comments:

  1. Great post! Thank you, Marios!

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  2. Loved the single growing up.Good post.
    Thank you

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  3. Big thanks for this one Marios. Back in 69-70 my garage band played 3 songs from this album.

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  4. Lots of thanks for this Marios!!!

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  5. There were only a small handful of the Akarma issues that I failed to (find) purchase. This was one of those. Thanks greatly for the tunes

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  6. One of my all-time favorite records. I enjoy this one from start to finish. Many thanks ...

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  7. Thank you Marios for sharing to us great music, very good album.

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  8. I loved the single from this when it came out, but I haven't heard it in years. Many thanks Marios for giving me the chance to hear it again.

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  9. thank you for sharing Marios

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  10. Where can I find to,purchase?

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  11. Hi anonymous;

    merlin.pl is an excellent site to buy CDs, I've already ordered several albums and never had trouble buying them. Normally you must wait seven days to implement the order, but after that time your purchase is effected. Any problems with the language, you can mitigate using google chrome!

    http://merlin.pl/Hot-Cargo_The-Rugbys/browse/product/4,557705.html

    They have several albums of Akarma label!

    Cheers!

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  12. has anyone heard the Lararus self-titled LP that was paired with this on CD? It's pretty solid, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Recommended.

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  13. Fantastic Lp,needs to be re-up when you can.You have an incredible collection of psychedelic stuff.It's a real bible!!

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