Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus
Released
Kasenetz and Katz get preposterous here, forming an ‘eight-group all-rock orchestra’ from their stable of artists – with great names like Lt. Garcia’s Magic Music Box and J.C.W. Rat Finks – and pulling together a fake live album recorded ‘at the Carnegie Hall’. Yeah, right. Beatles and Righteous Brothers covers are part of the package, though they kind of disappear in the haze of the album’s ridiculousness – see the “Count Dracula” rant, Jamie Lyons’s various interjections. The hidden gem here is a lithe, lowdown and slippery version of rock’n’roll classic “Hey Joe,” with a buzzsaw tone to die for. You could measure the quality of a garage gang by their cover of “Hey Joe” – looks like you can also do that with bubblegum supergroups.