THE CRAMPS INC.
THE CRAMPS - Gravest Gravy THE CRAMPS
****UNRELEASED STUDIO TRACKS FROM THE OCT 1977 MEMPHIS RECORDING SESSIONS THAT UNLEASHED HUMAN FLY!! MIXED BY ALEX CHILTON, POISON IVY AND LUX INTERIOR!!
With tracks selected and mixed in the late 1980s, Gravest Gravy was designated by Lux and Ivy for release years ago, but for reasons lost to time, remained shelved until now. Completely rippin’ versions of classic early Cramps tracks, two of which feature Alex Chilton on organ. Cut from the analog source tapes, and mastered expertly in Nashville. Stay Sick! Turn Blue!
In October 1977, the Cramps, who were at that time, Lux Interior on vocals, Poison Ivy on guitar, Bryan Gregory on guitar, and Nick Knox on drums, ventured into Ardent Studios with the extraordinarily talented musician and producer, Alex Chilton. These sessions were responsible for the first two Vengeance Records releases, both permanently disfiguring the music world in 1978.
Surfin’ Bird / The Way I Walk
Human Fly / Domino
In 1979, young British degenerates were treated to a five track 12” EP by the Cramps called Gravest Hits, which featured all four tracks released in the USA, along with another from the October 1977 sessions, a great channeling of Ricky Nelson’s hit Lonesome Town. From there, the band released their first LP, Songs The Lord Taught Us, again working with Alex Chilton, and went onward, releasing records and touring all over until the sad passing of Lux in 2009.
What Cramps fans might not know, was at Ardent, the band had planned to record their song T.V. Set to be their first A side, along with another track or tracks. Alex told them that he liked to have a band play every song they knew and the best of the batch would be committed to vinyl. This was fantastic advice, and luckily for us, that’s what the Cramps did. This is how Lonesome Town found its way to Gravest Hits. But, there was much more to the story.
In the late 1980s, Lux and Ivy endeavored to release more recordings from the October 1977 sessions. It was to be titled Gravest Gravy. It was a record for the fans, a journey back to Memphis, back to the first Cramps records, that, try as it might, the world has been unable to heal from. Lux and Ivy mixed several tracks between June 14 and 30, 1989 at Present Time Recorders, in North Hollywood. Alex mixed a few tracks in Memphis. The album had a title, a cover by the great Stephanie Chernikowski, who passed away recently, but for reasons lost to time, Gravest Gravy was shelved.
In 2026, we sought to change that. It was apparent that this record absolutely needed to be with the fans. A team, still severely cramped from initial contact with the band, began to form and got to work.
Greetings. Henry Rollins here.
I am beyond stoked to announce the formation of The Cramps Inc. that will restart the Cramps’ label Vengeance Records, create official merchandise, and venture into the vaults to unleash unheard recordings of this amazing band.
The Cramps Inc. is the artist formerly known as Poison Ivy Rorschach, Larry Hardy, owner and operator of In The Red Records, and Jimmy Maslon, a former Rollin’ Rock recording artist, film producer, and owner of the Herschel Gordon Lewis, and Doris Wishman film catalogs. Both have deep ties to Lux and Ivy, forged over decades. Ivy is the major beneficiary. Larry and Jimmy are handling all the logistics. They are perfect for this.
Ian MacKaye and I, operating as RAM Prod. (Rollins and MacKaye), are working on behalf of The Cramps Inc., coming up with release ideas, handling tape maintenance, editing, mixing, mastering and lacquer cutting responsibilities. We are aligned with Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, VA and Infrasonic Sound in Nashville, TN.
Many Cramps records and items, such as t-shirts you see on the Internet—are bootlegs. The Cramps Inc. is striving to right that wrong and recently made a deal with the merchandising company Easy Partners. Cool designs for official merch are well underway.
The tracks on Gravest Gravy were contained on seven 1/4 inch reels. Six were generated by Lux and Ivy, one by Alex. The tapes were carefully transferred by Brian Kehew. He was happy to report that all seven reels had withstood the test of time, and the tracks were in pristine condition. Many of the songs had multiple mixes. We had to determine which ones were the keepers. Over several nights of concentrated listening, and copious notetaking, I was able to get an understanding of the changes made from mix to mix. Within a few nights, I was able to determine that the last mix of each song was the keeper. Not only did the tracks sound to be at their fullest potential, it made sense.
I sent the mixes and my notes to Ian MacKaye, whose ears I trust more than anyone I know. I asked him to take his time, go through the tracks and form an opinion of my selections. Days later, he reported back that he agreed with me on all of them. He then volunteered to do some EQ and level adjustment on two of the tracks with Don Zientara at Inner Ear Studios, in Arlington, Virginia.
Days later, all the tracks were at Infrasonic Sound, an excellent studio in Nashville, Tennessee for mastering under the careful watch of engineer Pete Lyman. I sat for hours and listened as Pete coaxed the frequencies to be at their best. The results were two six song sides of the Cramps, extracted from a 1977 amber block, de-fossilized and ready to be inflicted upon the ears of those who would rather Stay Sick and Turn Blue than hope for sunny weather.
Gravest Gravy is an absolute treasure. You get a performance of Hungry by Paul Revere and the Raiders, released in 1966, which found itself in the band’s early set lists, but soon dropped out. To make it even more interesting, Alex Chilton jumps in on organ. Another early Cramps cover, Problem Child, written by Sam Phillips, is on the record. The band used to do an absolutely rippin’ version of the 1958 Jimmy Lloyd track, Rocket In My Pocket at some of their early shows. There’s a great version of it on Gravest Gravy. Also really cool are the songs that found official release on the band’s second album, Psychedelic Jungle, with Kid Congo Powers taking over the spot vacated by Bryan. These tracks would be Jungle Hop (also with Alex Chilton on organ) by Kip Tyler, released in 1958, The Natives Are Restless (with different lyrics), Can’t Find My Mind and Rockin’ Bones released in 1959 by the Blond Bomber himself, Ronnie Dawson. The approach to these versions is much different than on Psychedelic, and it’s never a bad thing to have more Bryan Gregory to listen to.
We were able to locate the exact photo of Stephanie’s that Lux and Ivy had envisioned for the cover. The back cover photo was taken by David Godlis at CBGB, and is easily one of the coolest Cramps photos ever.
What you have in Gravest Gravy, is sheer brilliance committed to tape by a band that was plugged in directly to the Rock ‘n Roll mainline, produced by a visionary maniac named Alex Chilton.
This new chapter for the band is a combined effort of people whose lives were changed by the music of the Cramps. As I’ve said many times, I first saw the Cramps on April 20, 1979 in a small bar in Washington, DC, and I’ve never recovered. Ian was standing next to me. We still talk about that show. The opportunity to bring this music to fellow Cramps fans is beyond a thrill. It is an absolute honor that we feel so fortunate to be a part of
“When I first saw the Cramps at CBGB, I was overjoyed — entertained and inspired! And there was a girl in the band! It all felt so real: a fresh take on a regional American sound, updated in a way that was fun, smart, and exciting. I was screaming!” - Debbie Harry
“The first time I saw the Cramps in 1977 at CBGB I was agog at the amazing characters and unearthly sound I was witnessing. The place was packed, although they had only one 45 out, and the crowd was going absolutely nuts. I was entranced. Funny, sexy, and dangerous, I was not sure if the concert would end in an orgy or a riot. Either would do. Imagine my surprise being invited into the band a few years later. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe it ever happened. But it did! And it was a real humdinger!” - Kid Congo Powers
“The Cramps created an occult sound world that you could escape into, full of rockabilly voodoo guitar damage from Poison Ivy Rorschach, with bug eyed psychotic wailings and swampsnake utterances from Lux Interior, driven into a backwoods frenzy by the pounding of Nick Knox’s zombie death drums and Bryan Gregory’s barbed wire feral guitar scrapings. It only took me one hit of witnessing them play live in Glasgow aged 17 in 1979 opening for The Police and I’ve been hooked ever since. Stay Sick / Turn Blue.” - Bobby Gillespie
Track List
A1 - T.V. Set
A2 - Weekend On Mars
A3 - Twist & Shout
A4 - Jungle Hop
A5 - Can’t Hardly Stand It
A6 - Hungry
B1 - The Natives Are Restless
B2 - Domino
B3 - Can’t Find My Mind
B4 - Rockin’ Bones
B5 - Problem Child
B6 - Rocket In My Pocket
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Relevant Record Café,
260 Mill Road
Cambridge,
CB1 3NF.
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Steepletone and Crosley Record Players
After having several “faulty” records returned to us (that in actuality had nothing wrong with them), we cannot guarantee that any records we sell will play correctly Crosley or Steepletone branded record players.