Various Artists - Surfin' The Great Lakes: Kay Bank Studio Surf Sides Of The 1960s (2023) [Hi-Res]

This compilation of unreleased & rare tracks from the Twin Cities’ Kay Bank Studios features 16 rip rollin’ cuts of some of the best surf and garage rock Kay Bank had to offer. Features The Trashmen, The Vaqueros, and more! Includes liner notes by John Blair!

Kay Bank Recordings in Minneapolis was certainly one of these historic studios. It was named after the wife of owner Vernon Bank. Although he had been involved in the recording business since the late 1940s, Bank’s recording studio operation got underway in 1957 when he moved into a building that was large enough to also establish a pressing plant. The studio provided a 3-track Ampex recorder, a 12-input recording console, and a live echo chamber.

According to a 1958 article in the Minneapolis Star newspaper, Kay Bank was pressing 60,000 records each week, and Vernon Bank claimed that his studio provided the most complete facility of any other studio “between Pennsylvania and California.” The sign above the building’s entrance stated, “A Complete Recording Service From Master Tape to Pressed Record.”

Sundazed Music recently acquired a large archive of the existing Kay Bank master tapes. Some of the surf, and related, recordings in that archive are included in this compilation, all recorded between June 1964 and August 1966- at a time when the British Invasion was ravaging the sales charts.

Tracklist:
1.01 - The Vaqueros - Jonah (2:32)
1.02 - The Boss Tweads - Heaven’s Devil (2:50)
1.03 - The Marauders - Caliente (2:57)
1.04 - The Vaqueros - Island In The Sun (2:14)
1.05 - The Mustangs - Shot In The Dark (2:25)
1.06 - The Readymen - Disintegration (2:45)
1.07 - The Vaqueros - Comin’ Home Baby (2:26)
1.08 - The Satisfactions - Girl Don’t Tell Me (2:45)
1.09 - The Vaqueros - 80 Foot Wave (2:52)
1.10 - The Valients - Za Boo (2:35)
1.11 - The Trashmen - Bird Gasp ‘65 (3:08)
1.12 - The Readymen - Surfer Blues (2:31)
1.13 - The Furys - Little Queenie (Instrumental Version) (2:56)
1.14 - The Vaqueros - Space Journey Ranger 7 (2:03)
1.15 - The Chancellors - Surf Beat (3:12)
1.16 - The Trashmen - Greensleeves (1:46)
1.17 - The Beach Boys - Wine Wine Wine (Instrumental Version) (2:25)
1.18 - The Pagans - Baba Yaga (Instrumental Version) (2:19)
1.19 - The Valients - Beach Girl (2:18)
1.20 - The Shandells - Hey Little One (Instrumental Version) (2:24)
1.21 - The Readymen - Shortnin’ Bread (Instrumental Version) (2:40)
1.22 - T Lawrence Sherwood Greens - Lizzy Lost Her Beach Ball (2:17)