"Gary Usher Greats" 1964

Surf and hot rod genius Gary Usher was a budget-minded fellow -- not unlike director Ed Wood -- who could take a bunch of L.A. studio hotshot ringers into Gold Star studios for an afternoon and cut an album under any number of fake names and come up with something that not only was genre faithful, but pretty fine listening, too……A right-hand man in early times to Brian Wilson, Usher had hits on the charts and cranked this stuff out like sausage. This debut outing of his Capitol cut-'em-quick, cut-'em-cheap LP output combines two of his finer efforts, Black Boots and Bikes by the Kickstands and Hot Rod High by the Knights. The actual lineup of players and singers on these two albums reads like a first-call list on a Phil Spector or Jan & Dean session (Jerry Cole, Hal Blaine, Leon Russell, etc.) and the sound and style is a perfect match for any Capitol hot rod/surf album from that time period. - AllMusic Review by Cub Kodatrax:
The Kickstands:
01 Death Valley Run 02 Hill Climb 03 Mean Streak 04 Side Car 05 Two Wheel Showstopper 06 Haulin' Honda 07 Devil On Wheels 08 Ridin' Trails 09 Slow Ride South 10 Johnny Take Care 11 Scrambler
The Knights:
12 Hot Rod High 13 Midnight Auto 14 Lonely Little Stocker 15 School Days 16 Three Wheeler 17 Be True To Your School 18 Hot Rod USA 19 I Get Around 20 Ditch Day 21 Rock Around The Clock 22 Theme For Teen Love 23 Skippin' School