Nowhere, and at times sounds like it could be Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin or Free. ‘Madame Sunrise’ is an excellent six minutes of sun-drenched, roaming sound and feel that would fit nicely on David Crosby’s solo album If I Could Only Remember My Name. While none of the seven originals, or the cover of ‘(Ghost) Riders In The Sky’ jump out as individual classics, the record on the whole has a strong feel and is consistent.


“As for the Lightning LP, I have mixed feelings about it,” Caplan says. “The material I thought was good and we wrote all the songs except for ‘(Ghost) Riders’, but there were a lot of problems with the recording. For one thing too many chefs in the kitchen so to speak and the final version of the record I thought did not capture the rawness of the group, as well as the preliminary tracks we did at a different studio before cutting the actual album.


“Then there was the problem with Pickwick mastering it on a new machine that cut the grooves too hot so it wasn’t tracking properly on peoples’ turntables. We complained about this to the label but I don’t think they made any attempt to fix the problem. They also did a lousy job promoting and distributing it. As far as I’m concerned it could have been a great record and it turned out to be a big disappointment - at least for me.”


After this time, nothing much was heard from either The Litter or Lightning for the next two decades. Then, in ’90, The Litter got together for a reunion gig that would ultimately be released as Live At Mirage 1990. Sometime after that, they got back in the studio and laid down the tracks for what would become Re- Emerge. The playing on both releases is good, but neither adds much to the band’s legacy; and the studio tracks at times sound like formulaic, canned hard rock.


“We didn’t know what to expect,” Caplan says, of the band’s decision to re-form. “During the late ’70s and after our records were becoming real popular in Europe, partially thanks to the Pebbles compilation series, and people started referring to the group as the forerunners of the punk rock movement and naturally there were all kinds of bootlegs showing up of both Distortions and $100 Fine. I tried to do something about the bootlegs but didn’t get very far as it was all coming from overseas and attorneys here were telling me it would cost a lot and be difficult to get them to stop.


“Then in ’90 we started getting requests for the group to play live shows and coincidentally enough we were contacted by K-Tel in regards to re-issuing the first two albums on CD and cassette. We reformed and did the Live At Mirage CD release show here in Minneapolis and recorded the concert and had it videotaped as well.


“The group actually continued doing recording and live shows for most of the ’90s. It was in ’98 when Arf ! Arf!, a retro label in Boston, approached me about taking over both Distortions and $100 Fine for


continued release on CD and at that time they agreed to release Live At Mirage on CD along with the new studio album we recorded in ‘93, Re-Emerge.


“We stopped performing in ’98 and have only re-grouped once since, for our 40th Anniversary show here in Minneapolis on Dec 1st, 2006 with all original members except Jim Kane, who was too ill to make it.”


Erik Lindgren, a musician and composer himself, details his motivation in bringing The Litter and related acts’ work into his Arf! Arf! label’s catalogue: “Back in ’77, I picked up copies of Distortions and $100 Fine on a trip to Minneapolis and was immediately drawn to the brilliant songwriting and energetic performances captured by producer Warren Kendrick. Later I discovered other songs that Warren had penned and produced by his stable of artists for his Scotty label including work by The Electras, White Lightning, Scotsmen, Barbie Hess and The Second Edition. “In ’90, I was fortunate to meet with Warren and we discussed doing reissues of his work for my Arf! Arf! label. Brilliant songs such as ‘Action Woman’, ‘This Week’s Children’ and ‘Soul Searchin’’ rank as some of the best from that vibrant era and it’s been a real honour to personally get to know the extended Litter family and have this fabulous music archived on my label.”


Caplan has never fully put away his guitar, or his ideas for new musical concepts: “In ’99 I recorded a solo album. It was a project I had been wanting to do for years. It’s called Zip Caplan & Cast Of Thousands, Monsters And Heroes. The concept of the CD (check www.zipcaplan.com for details) is a compilation of music from old ’40s horror movies and serials and ’50s TV series done with rock instrumentation instead of a big orchestra. It took me two and a half years to record. The object was to capture the essence and the mood of the original pieces of music from the films but add the feel of rock, blues, funk, Latin, and other various kinds of music that fit the pieces. I’m very happy with the final product. I had some great musicians playing on that album: Nokie Edwards of The Ventures, Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds, Doug Nelson from Jonny Lang’s original group, Joey Molland of Badfinger. In all I used over 48 different musicians on the various 21 tracks including most of the guys from both The Litter and Lightning.


“When the album was done Bernie Pershey and I decided to go back to our roots and we formed an instrumental band called The Surf Dawgs in 2001 and are still playing dates with this group eight years later. Over the last few years we released a CD called Driving Guitars, recorded eight songs for iTunes and signed with Cleopatra Records in LA. This month we are doing another set of songs for iTunes, eventually we will probably release a second CD with the extra tracks.


“As for The Litter, we, of course, will always be happy to get back to together if the right situation were to arise.”


•


PICK UP THAT LITTER!


The Litter • Distortions (1967)


The reissue of the classic debut contains ‘Action Woman’ and 12 other slabs of adrenaline-fuelled, Yardbirds- influenced psych garage. Also thrown in are all seven of the live tracks they recorded at The Electric Theater in Chicago for possible use in the movie Medium Cool.


The Litter • $100 Fine (1968)


The Litter’s sophomore effort is less immediate and has less of an impact than their debut. Still, there’s some worthy psychedelia here, most notably in the tripped-out extended version of ‘She’s Not There.’ CD extras include 18 songs recorded by Zippy Caplan and a prior musical partner.


The Litter • Emerge (1968)


Although inconsistent, The Litter’s lone major label release has its rocked-out highlights. The opening pair of ‘Journey’ and ‘Feeling’ are high energy blasts of Funhouse-era


Stooges fused with Blue Cheer. Give them points for trying to do something unusual with ‘For What It’s Worth’ and ‘My Little Red Book’ too.


Lightning • 1968-71 (2007)


The original mix of the eight-song LP by the five-piece Lightning, which sounds like Free meets Crazy Horse. Both sides of the rare White Lightning ‘68 single are also here, as well as a smattering of unreleased tracks by both White Lightning and Lightning.


All of the above are available from Arf! Arf! Records 33


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