SHERIFF AND THE RAVELS
Total Doo Wop insanity from Brooklyn given notoriety through heavy endorsement by Lux and Ivy of The Cramps. No way to describe this adequately. File next to Rubber Biscuit by The Chips and Bila by The Versatones. Super R'n'B group ballad on the flip.
Limited reissue of VEE-JAY RECORDS release.
Originally a B-side to "Lonely One", Sheriff and The Ravel's "Shombalor" (1958, Vee Jay 306) is a massive slab of on-the-spot mic poetry, otherwise known as Doo Wop.
A different spelling of "Shombolar" was used on Songs The Cramps Taught Us, Volume One (2001).
It's possible that the song name printed on the original Vee-Jay record label was a mis-spelling of what the group called their tune: it certainly sounds like "Shombolar" when they sing it. I'm sticking with The Cramps' revisionist version of "Shombolar".
I'm guessing that Sheriff and The Ravels were a black group, because that's the Doo Wop demography if not its constituency, and I'd say they were from Chicago, because Vee-Jay was based there. But I don't know for sure. They've a heavy, steady rockabilly sound - probably why The Cramps dug the disc - anchored on slap bass, rim-shot drums, treble guitar and, I think, a tinkle of piano in the background. Beyond the bass undertones, the vocals including the lead are mid-range and don't venture into the outer space tones of, say, The Four Seasons' Frankie Valli. The guitar intro, flamenco-ing octaves up and down in double-quick time, is worth the price of admission.
I first heard "Shombolar" on Songs The Cramps Taught Us, Volume One and it immediately jumped ahead of the chips rubbier biscuitt(1956, Josie Records, Josie 803) in my mind's ear.
"Shombolar", like "Rubber Biscuit", has running through it echoes of reform school marching rhymes . It's "Go left, right, left, right" refrain and the lines, "I love left foot stomp and-a right foot drag, 'n-a / Hey it's good to march!" add a layer of reflexive sharpness to the song's expression of culture and make the cultural link between Doo Wop and the criminal justice system even more explicit than The Chips' rhythmic-linguistic allusions do.
"Shombolar" is as much a prison song as Sam Cooke's later and more famous tune, "Chain Gang" (1960, RCA Victor)
Either way of spelling/pronouncing "Shombalor" is similar enough to Shambhala, the mythopoeical predecessor to the fictional Shangri-la, to merit mention. Maybe there was a girl with an ebonic phonetic moniker involved. This usage may even be a popular memory trace of the 1930s and 40s fictional comic book and radio crime fighter, the shadow, who was trained in mystical Shamballah. Even though The Shadow radio programme went off air in 1954, there is evidence that his influence persisted in rockin'n'rollin' minds. Link Wray used The Coasters sinister moralising catchphrase, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" at the start of his instrumental "The Shadow Knows" (1964, Swan Records).
Or perhaps members of the vocal group came across Shambhala in contemporaneous references to the Dalai Lama's escape from Tibet and into India on 31 March 1959, which was all over the news, and incorporated it as a motif in their new tune.
In an attempt to enhance your listening experience, I've transcribed the words as I hear them. I'd be happy to accept plausible suggestions for alterations.
"SHOMBOLAR"
Go left, right, left right
Go left, right, left right
Go left, right, left right
Go left, right, left right
(Oh lady) Shombolar,
(Oh lady) Shombolar,
(Oh lady)
Chickenin' out and then a-root for it, chicken 'n-a, Shombolar
Baby, d'y'wanna move out, do it now?
Ya gettin' on the countdown, please?
Baby, wha' the fuck do you need, now?
Ya gettin' on the catfish knees? 'n-a
I love swing-ding,
Rickey-bing you're a healthy one, hubba!
And it's known to some that-a jigga-wah
I love pick-'em-up and lay-'em-down
(Oh lady) Shombolar,
(Oh lady) Shombolar,
(Oh lady)
Chickenin' out and then a-root for it, chicken 'n-a, Shombolar
And it's gonna - Wine-o Buy-No
Frees Jackie Frankenstein-oh,
Maybe Jackie came to dine, 'n-a
Forgettin' on he stole my wine, 'n-a
Asks George "You bing, you bong, you bong?"
Leaves Jimmy Jones, he skipped to one, a-hubba
And it's known to some that-a jigga-wah
I love pick-'em-up and lay-'em-down
(Oh lady) Shombolar,
(Oh lady) Shombolar,
(Oh lady)
Chickenin' out and then a-root for it, chicken 'n-a, Shombolar
Of all the animals in the world,
I'd rather be a bear (Raar!)
Climb the highest mountain,
Double to the rear.
(Oh lady) Shombolar,
(Oh lady) Shombolar,
(Oh lady)
Chickenin' out and then a-root for it, chicken in-a, Shombolar
I love fat man mambo,
Baby, do the king of the jungle,
You can only get it from the Congo
And you try to get it deftly
I love left foot stomp and-a right foot drag, 'n-a
Hey it's good to march!
And it's known to some that-a jigga-wah
I love pick-'
em-up and lay-'em-down
(Oh lady) Shombolar,
(Oh lady) Shombolar,
(Oh lady)
Chickenin' out and then a-root for it, chicken 'n-a, Shombolar
Of all the animals in the world,
I'd rather be a bear (Raar!)
Climb the highest mountain,
Double to the rear.
(Oh lady) Shombolar,
(Oh lady) Shombolar,
(Oh lady)
Chickenin' out and then a-root for it, chicken 'n-a, Shombolar
Go left, right, left right
(to fade, in a call-response duet with the lead singer)
The record is THAT good. Really. We need some more enthusastic words from ON THE RECORD SHOW blogspot:
It is also a prime example of why the record industry will never be vital again until it is taken over by people who actually like MUSIC you can go CRAZY to.
Who needs lame Disney-sponsored singers singing "keeping it positive" and "don't let anyone get you down, you are beautiful" lyrics over a horrid electric morass which is supposed to pass for melody, when you can turn this one ALL THE WAY UP and bug your square neighbors with some joyous, primal noise! On top of everything else, this record might (just might) have the first use of the F-bomb on a Rock'n'Roll record - listen carefully at about 25 seconds into it!
Titel: Shombalor
Stil: Doo Wop
Best-Nr.: VEE-JAY-306
Typ: 7 inch (Single)
Preis: 15.- CHF
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Songs:
Shombolar
Lonely One
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