The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2009. Their lineup rotated
frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. The band is credited as progenitors of the psychobilly subgenre, fusing elements of punk rock with rockabilly. The addition of guitarist Bryan Gregory and drummer Pam Balam resulted in the first complete lineup in April 1976. They released their debut album Songs the Lord Taught Us in 1980. The band split after the death of lead singer Interior in 2009.
The Cramps are a truly American creation much in the manner of the Cadillac, the White Castle hamburger, the Fender Stratocaster, and Jayne Mansfield. Often imitated, but never with the same
psychic resonance as the original, the Cramps celebrate all that is dirty and gaudy with a perverse joy that draws in listeners with its fleshy decadence, not unlike an enchanted gingerbread house on the Las Vegas strip. The entire psychobilly scene would be unthinkable without them, and their prescient celebration of the echoey menace of first-generation rock & roll had a primal (if little acknowledged) influence on the rockabilly revival and the later roots rock movement.
The saga of the Cramps begins in 1972 in Sacramento, CA, when LSD enthusiast and Alice Cooper fan Lux Interior (Born Erick Lee Purkhiser) picked up a hitchhiker, a woman with a highly evolved
rock & roll fashion sense named Kristy Mariana Wallace (Poison Ivy). The two quickly took note of one another, but major sparks didn't began to fly until a few weeks later, when they discovered they were both enrolled in a course on "Art and Shamanism" at Sacramento City College. These two lovebirds were soon sharing both an apartment and their collective enthusiasm for the stranger and more obscure sounds of rock's first era, as well as the more flamboyant music of the day.
Their passion for music led them to the conclusion that they should form a band, and Kristy picked up a guitar and adopted the stage name Poison Ivy Rorschach, while future vocalist Erick became Lux Interior, after short spells as Raven Beauty and Vip Vop. Ivy and Lux hit the road for Ohio.
They moved to Akron, Ohio, and then to New York in 1975, soon entering into CBGB's early punk scene with other emerging acts like Suicide, the Ramones, Patti Smith, Television, Blondie, Talking Heads, Mink DeVille, and fellow Ohio transplants Dead Boys. The lineup in 1976 was Poison Ivy Rorschach, Lux Interior, Bryan Gregory (guitar), and his sister Pam "Balam" (drums). In a short period of time, the Cramps changed drummers twice; Miriam Linna (later of Nervus Rex, the Zantees, and the A-Bones and co-owner of Norton Records) replaced Pam Balam, and Nick Knox (formerly with the Electric Eels) replaced Linna in September 1977.
In 1979, Miles Copeland signed the band to his fledgling new wave label I.R.S. Records, and their first 12" release was an EP featuring the material from their self-released singles, entitled Gravest Hits. That same year, the band traveled to Europe for the first time, playing as opening act for the Police and
stealing the show from the peroxide-addled pop stars many nights. The Cramps returned to Memphis with Chilton to record their first full-length album, 1980's masterful Songs the Lord Taught Us, but what should have been a triumphant U.S. tour following its release was scuttled when Gregory unceremoniously quit the band by leaving unannounced with a van full of their equipment. Lux, Ivy, and Nick opted to move the band to Hollywood, CA, and recruited Gun Club guitarist Kid Congo Powers to take over as second guitarist in time to record their second long-player, Psychedelic Jungle.
In 1983 they recorded Smell of Female live at New York's Peppermint Lounge; Kid Congo Powers subsequently departed. Mike Metoff of the Pagans (cousin of Nick Knox) was the final second guitarist – albeit only live – of the Cramps' pre-bass era. In 1985 the Cramps recorded a one-off track for
the horror movie The Return of the Living Dead called "Surfin' Dead", on which Ivy played bass as well as guitar. With the release of 1986's A Date With Elvis, the Cramps permanently added a bass guitar to the mix, but had trouble finding a suitable player, so Ivy temporarily filled in as the band's bassist. Their popularity in the UK was at its peak as evidenced by the six nights at Hammersmith in London, three at the Odeon (as well as many other sell out dates throughout the UK) and then three at the Palais when they returned from the continent.
It was not until 1986 that the Cramps found a suitable permanent bass player: Candy del Mar (of Satan's Cheerleaders), who made her recorded debut on the raw live album
RockinnReelininAucklandNewZealandxxx. This was followed by the studio album Stay Sick! in 1990, which spent one week at No. 62 in the UK Albums Chart in February of that year. Candy del Mar and Knox left the band in 1991. The Cramps went on to record more albums and singles through the 1990s, for various labels. Lux Interior died at 4:30 a.m. on February 4, 2009, at Glendale Memorial Hospital in California. The cause of death was aortic dissection.
The Cramps' music is played at varying tempos, with a minimal drumkit. An integral part of the early Cramps sound was dual guitars, without a bassist. The focus of their songs' lyrical content and
their image was camp humor, sexual double-entendre, and retro horror/sci-fi b-movie iconography. Their sound was heavily influenced by early rockabilly, such as Jerry Lott AKA The Phantom, whose 1958 single 'Love Me' they covered, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll like Link Wray and Hasil Adkins, 1960s surf music acts such as the Ventures and Dick Dale, 1960s garage rock artists like the Standells, the Trashmen, the Green Fuz and the Sonics.
01. THE CRAMPS - SONGS THE LORD TAUGHT US 1980
Continuing the spooked-out and raging snarls of their Gravest Hits EP, the Cramps once again worked
with Alex Chilton on the group's full-album debut, Songs the Lord Taught Us. The jacket reads "file under: sacred music," but only if one's definition includes the holy love of rockabilly sex-stomp, something which the Cramps fulfill in spades. Having spent Gravest Hits mostly doing revamps of older material, the foursome tackled a slew of originals like "The Mad Daddy" and "TV Set" this time around,
creating one of the few neo-rockabilly records worthy of the name. Years later Songs still drips with threat and desire both, testament to both the band's worth and Chilton's just-right production. "Garbageman" surfaced as a single in some areas, a wise choice given the at-once catchy roll of the song and downright frightening guitar snarls, especially on the solo.
The Cramps – Songs The Lord Taught Us
Label: I.R.S. Records – CD 00007
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 1989
Country: US
Released: 1980
Genre: Rock
Style: Punk, Rockabilly,Psychobilly
TRAXS
01. TV Set 3:12
02. Rock On The Moon 1:52
03. Garbageman 3:37
04. I Was A Teenage Werewolf 3:03
05. Sunglasses After Dark 3:48
06. The Mad Daddy 3:48
07. Mystery Plane 2:43
08. Zombie Dance 1:55
09. What's Behind The Mask 2:05
10. Strychnine 2:25
11. I'm Cramped 2:37
12. Tear It Up 2:32
13. Fever (Organ – Booker C) 4:17
14. I Was A Teenage Werewolf (With False Start) 4:48
15. Mystery Plane 2:41
16. Twist And Shout (Recorded By – Alex Chilton, John Hampton) 2:32
17. I'm Cramped 2:37
18. The Mad Daddy 3:16
LINE - UP
Lux Interior – vocals
Poison Ivy Rorschach – guitar
Bryan Gregory – guitar
Nick Knox – drums
AdDDITIONAL MUSICIANS
Booker C – organ on "Fever"
NOTES
Written-By – Burden (tracks: 2), D. Burnette (tracks: 12), Pullens (tracks: 5), Cooley (tracks: 13), F.L. Wray Sr. (tracks: 5), G. Roshie (tracks: 10), Rorschach (tracks: 1, 3 to 9, 14 to 16, 18), Davenport (tracks: 13), J. Burnette (tracks: 12), Interior (tracks: 1, 3 to 9, 14 to 16, 18), P. Burlison (tracks: 12), The Cramps (tracks: 11, 17)
Originally released in 1980.
Tracks 14-18 were previously unreleased tracks not included on the original release.
Flac Size: 318 MB
02. THE CRAMPS - PSYCHEDELIC JUNGLE 1981 + GREAVEST HITS 1978
Here, Kid Congo Powers and Ivy form just as fine a team as she and Gregory did on earlier releases, and if things aren't always as flat-out fried as on Gravest Hits and Songs, the same atmosphere of swampy, trashy, rockabilly-into-voodoo ramalama reigns supreme. The song titles alone
show the band hasn't really changed its sights any: the opening two cuts are covers, "Green Fuz" and "Goo Goo Muck," while originals include "Caveman," "Can't Find My Mind," and the brilliant "The Natives Are Restless." Then there's "Don't Eat Stuff Off the Sidewalk," which almost sounds worthy of a Frank Zappa freakout (at least lyrically). Other legendary tracks like "Primitive" and "Green Door" get the Cramps makeover this time out, with the proper mix of respect and hot-wired energy, while "The Crusher" sounds like Interior's on the verge of going completely insane, and Ivy is still one of the best guitarists around, her snarling reverb worth a thousand fret-shredders.
PSYCHEDELIC JUNGLE 1981
Label: Zonophone – 7243 4 96504 2 8, Zonophone – 496 5042
Format: CD, Album, Reissue
Country: Europe
Released: 1998
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychobilly, Punk, Rockabilly
TRAXS
01. Greenfuz (Written-By – Dale, Alrey) 2:06
02. Goo Goo Muck (Written-By – Cook) 3:05
03. Rockin' Bones (Written-By – Carter, Nalls, Rhodes) 2:48
04. Voodoo Idol 3:38
05. Primitive (Written-By – Venett, Groupies) 3:32
06. Caveman 3:51
07. The Crusher (Written-By – Nolan) 1:46
08. Don't Eat Stuff Off The Sidewalk 2:02
09. Can't Find My Mind 2:58
10. Jungle Hop (Written-By – Tyler) 2:04
11. Natives Are Restless 2:57
12. Under The Wires 2:43
13. Beautiful Gardens 3:56
14. Green Door (Written-By – Davie, Moore) 2:35
LINE - UP
Lux Interior – vocals
Poison Ivy Rorschach – guitar
Kid Congo Powers – guitar
Nick Knox – drums
NOTES
Recorded January 1981 at A&M Studios.
GRAVEST HITS EP 1978
15. Human Fly 2:12
16. The Way I Walk 2:38
17. Domino 3:05
18. Surfin Bird 5:03
19. Lonesome Town 2:55
LINE - UP
Lux Interior – vocals
Poison Ivy Rorschach – guitar
Nick Knox - Drums
Bryan Gregory - Guitar
NOTES
Recorded at Ardent Studio, Memphis, Tennessee, October 1977.
Flac Size: 241 MB
03. THE CRAMPS - SMELL OF FEMALE 1983
One gets the feeling from the title and cover art alone that if the Cramps could have released this
live document in Glorious Smell-o-rama they would have jumped at the chance. Even without it one can almost sense the whiffs of perspiration and energy the group was cooking up; recorded at New York's Peppermint Lounge with Powers on guitar, the quartet slams out a then mostly entirely new set of songs with, as expected, appropriate covers as needed. The wonderfully profane take on Hasil Adkins' "She Said" surfaces here, with Interior sounding like he's about to die more than once.
The Cramps – Smell Of Female
Label: Vengeance Records – 7 72766-2, Restless Records – 7 72766-2
Format: CD, Mini-Album, Reissue
Country: US
Released: 1990
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock, Psychobilly, Rockabilly
TRAXS
01. Thee Most Exalted Potentate Of Love 3:03
02. You Got Good Taste 3:26
03. Call Of The Wighat 3:47
04. Faster Pussycat 2:47
05. I Ain't Nuthin' But A Gorehound 3:16
06. Psychotic Reaction 3:54
07. Beautiful Gardens 3:07
08. She Said 5:18
09. Surfin' Dead 4:12
LINE - UP
Lux Interior – vocals
Poison Ivy Rorschach – guitar
Nick Knox - Drums
Congo Powers - Guitar
NOTES
Recorded at the Peppermint Lounge, Feb. 25 & 26, 1983.
Flac Size: 219 MB
04. THE CRAMPS - A DATE WITH ELVIS 1986
After Psychedelic Jungle, the Cramps experienced personnel and record label difficulties; they would not release another studio album until this one, four years later. Gone here are the tinny sound quality and
horror-flick-based lyrics of prior releases, replaced by clearer sonics and an often hilarious obsession with sex. There are numerous sly references in the verses to high and low cultural icons, including "Shake it one time for me". Most of the songs here are in various rockabilly-derived styles featuring either garage rock fuzz or Duane Eddy twanging guitar from Poison Ivy. Vocalist Lux Interior is in excellent form here, exhibiting a fair bit of variety within his usual 1950s-derived approach. This rollicking and energetic platter in particular is the equal of any in their canon, and an essential listen.
The Cramps – A Date With Elvis
Label: Enigma – 7 73579-2
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 1990
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock, Psychobilly, Punk
TRAXS
01. How Far Can Too Far Go 4:10
02. The Hot Pearl Snatch 3:16
03. People Ain't No Good 3:45
Chorus – The McMartin Preschool Choir
04. What's Inside A Girl? 3:21
05. Can Your Pussy Do The Dog? 3:20
06. Kizmiaz 2:59
Vocals – Poison Ivy
07. Cornfed Dames 3:16
08. Chicken 1:39
Arranged By – Rorschach, Interior/Written-By – Traditional
09. (Hot Pool Of) Womanneed 3:09
10. Aloha From Hell 2:32
11. It's Just That Song 2:32
Written-By – Skinner, Maupin
12. Blue Moon Baby 3:09
Written-By – Satalsky, Rowe
13. Georgia Lee Brown 1:39
Written-By – Zinn, Hafner
14. Give Me A Woman 2:32
Written-By – W. Jacobs
15. Get Off The Road 2:32
Musician [Motorcycle] – Kit Maira
Vocals – Poison Ivy/Written-By – H. Lewis
LINE - UP
Lux Interior – vocals
Poison Ivy Rorschach – guitars, bass guitar, vocals on "Kizmiaz" and "Get Off the Road"
Nick Knox – drums, bongos
ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS
McMartin Preschool Choir (includes Fur Dixon) – vocals on "People Ain't No Good"
NOTES
This album is dedicated to the memory of Ricky Nelson.
Recorded in fall 1985 at Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood.
Flac Size: 315 MB
05. THE CRAMPS - ROCKINNREELININAUCKLANDNEWZEALANDXX 1987
From 1986 to 1990, the Cramps eschewed studio work in favor of extensive touring; this album
documents a live show from August 1986. The sound quality is crude at best, but the Cramps' music and attitude are just as crude, so the already wild performances are actually somewhat enhanced. The repertoire relies heavily on A Date With Elvis and also features covers of "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Do the Clam."
The Cramps – RockinnReelininAucklandNewZealandXXX
Label: Restless Records – 7 72767-2, Vengeance Records – 7 72767-2
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 1994
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock, Psychobilly
TRAXS
01. The Hot Pearl Snatch 3:21
02. People Ain't No Good 3:18
03. What's Inside A Girl? 3:06
04. Cornfed Dames 4:49
05. Sunglasses After Dark 4:10
06. Heartbreak Hotel 3:35
07. Chicken 1:37
08. Do The Clam 2:43
09. Aloha From Hell 2:41
10. Can Your Pussy Do The Dog? 3:38
11. Birdfeed 4:09
12. Blue Moon Baby 2:43
13. Georgia Lee Brown 3:21
14. Lonesome Town 3:37
LINE - UP
Lux Interior -- Vocals
Poison Ivy Rorschach - Guitar
Candy Del Mar - Bass Guitar
Nick Knox - Drums
NOTES
This is a live recording made on August 30, 1986 at the Galaxy in Auckland, New Zealand
Flac Size: 312 MB
06. THE CRAMPS - STAY SICK! 1990
"I dig that god damn rock & roll/The kind of stuff that don't save souls." Less than three minutes
into 1990's Stay Sick!, the Cramps had summed up their entire aesthetic in a mere 16 words, and even if Lux Interior hadn't bothered to wail that deathless phrase, the buzzy, reverb-soaked report of Poison Ivy Rorschach's guitar and the primal earthquake stomp of Nick Knox's drums reminded us this band liked its music dirty, both sonically and thematically. If 1986's A Date with Elvis was an impressive return to form after a long recording layoff, 1990's Stay Sick! was in some respects an even
more powerful example of the Cramps' singular oozing psychobilly madness; with Candy del Mar, they had their best fourth wheel since Bryan Gregory left the band, a bassist whose solid, ferocious low-end thump made more room for Ivy's feral guitar work, and the band rarely sounded tighter or more effective than it did here.
The Cramps – Stay Sick!
Label: Vengeance Records – 672, Vengeance Records – VENGEANCE 672
Format: CD, Album, Remastered, Reissue 2001
Country: USA, Canada & UK
Released: 1990
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychobilly
TRAXS
01. Bop Pills 2:26
02. God Damn Rock 'N' Roll 2:38
03. Bikini Girls With Machine Guns 3:18
04. All Women Are Bad 3:08
05. The Creature From The Black Leather Lagoon 3:10
06. Shortnin' Bread 2:45
07. Daisys Up Your Butterfly 2:28
08. Everything Goes 3:46
09. Journey To The Center Of A Girl 4:49
10. Mama Oo Pow Pow 2:28
11. Saddle Up A Buzz Buzz 2:40
12. Muleskinner Blues 2:45
BONUS TRAXS
13. Her Love Rubbed Off (Studio) 2:58
14. Her Love Rubbed Off (Live) 5:04
15. Bikini Girls With Machine Guns (Live) 3:30
NEW 2001 BONUS TRAXS
16. Beat Out My Love 2:15
17. Jailhouse Rock 2:28
18. Jackyard Backoff 3:18
LINE - UP
Lux Interior – vocals
Poison Ivy Rorschach – guitar
Candy Del Mar – bass guitar
Nick Knox – drums
NOTES
Recorded at The Music Grinder in Hollywood, California.