The Standells

by Richie UnterbergerThe Standells made number 11 in 1966 with Dirty Water, an archetypal garage rock hit with its Stonesish riff, lecherous vocal, and combination of raunchy guitar and organ. While they never again reached the Top Forty, they cut a number of strong, similar tunes in the 1966-67 era that have belated been recognized as 60s punk classics. Garage rock may not have been a really accurate term for them in the first place, as the production on their best material was full and polished, with some imaginative touches of period psychedelia and pop. The Los Angeles band were actually hardly typical of the young suburban outfits across America who took their raw garage sound onto obscure singles recorded in small studios. Theyd been playing L.A. clubs since the early 60s, with a repertoire that mostly consisted of covers of pre-Beatle rock hits. Drummer (and eventual lead singer) Dick Dodd had been a Mouseketeer on television, organist Larry Tamblyn was the brother of noted film actor Russ Tamblyn, and Tony Valentino was a recent immigrant from Italy. Gary Leeds (later to join the Walker Brothers) was an early member (though he was replaced by Dodd). The Standells pre-Dirty Water history is a little vague and confusing; they recorded some ordinary albums and singles for Liberty, MGM, and Vee Jay, appeared in the movie Get Yourself a College Girl, and did a lot of television work (most notably a well-remembered guest appearance on The Munsters, where they did a woeful version of I Want to Hold Your Hand). There were flashes of gritty inspiration on early cuts like Big Boss Man and Someday Youll Cry, but the group didnt really hit their stride until teaming up with producer Ed Cobb, formerly of the clean-cut vocal group the Four Preps. It was Cobb who wrote Dirty Water, which marked quite a change of direction from their previous clean-cut image. In fact, the group didnt even like the song, which took about six months to break into a hit. Their image now considerably toughened, the group churned out four albums in 1966 and 1967, as well as appearing in (and contributing the theme song to) the psychedelic exploitation movie Riot on Sunset Strip. Cobb, in addition to writing Dirty Water, also penned their other most enduring singles, including Sometimes Good Guys Dont Wear White, Why Pick on Me, and Try It (the last of which was widely banned for its suggestive delivery). The group did write some decent material of their own, such as the tense Riot on Sunset Strip, and the psychedelic All Fall Down, which bears an interesting similarity to some of Pink Floyds early work. Their albums were quite inconsistent — in fact, one of them, consisting of covers of big mid-60s hits, was altogether dispensable — which makes it advisable for all but the truly committed to look for greatest hits compilations that selectively weed out the best stuff.The Standells never had a stable lineup; bass players were constantly leaving (John Fleck, aka John Fleckenstein, who was briefly in an early version of Love, held the spot for a while), and Dick Dodd went solo in 1968, the year they released their last single. Tower, as was the case with most of its artists, didnt apply intelligent long-range planning to the bands career, issuing too many albums at once. The group didnt help their own cause by issuing an awful vaudeville-rock single, Dont Tell Me What to Do, under the transparent pseudonym of the Sllednats. They didnt record after 1968, though the group dragged on in one form or another until the early 70s (Lowell George was even a member briefly).