Never-before-released, Alex Chilton-produced 1977 album, mixed & mastered by Henry Rollins & Ian MacKaye
I’ve seen hundreds of bands over the last forty years, but none have come close to matching the sheer physical exuberance that was The Cramps live. Playing primordial shock and awe rock’n’roll, no venue was safe when Lux Interior took to the stage (nor was any mike stand – few would survive a set intact) as he clambered up speakers and ornate organ pipes*, smashed ceilings and the occasional stage itself. Meanwhile, his partner (and gang leader) in debauched rock’n’roll, Poison Ivy, would glare menacing into the crowd as she played dirty blues riffs. Whether pummelling his mike stand into the ground or performing fellatio on his microphone, Lux oozed a decadent charm that remained undiminished across his career.
*a legendary gig at Hull City Hall in March 1986
I was lucky to see The Cramps three times, including their final UK gig in 2006 at the much-missed London Astoria, where Lux shockingly appeared with blond hair instead of his usual jet-black mane. Sadly, Lux passed suddenly in 2009 and there have been no official releases from The Cramps camp since 2004’s ‘How to Make a Monster’ rarities album. There’s been an abundance of bootlegs flooding the marketplace (including out of print studio albums) but nothing official and naught to truly preserve The Cramps legacy.
This is where ardent fan Henry Rollins comes in, along with close friend Minor Threat/Fugazi’s Ian MacKaye, to rescue the situation. With Ivy’s blessing, Henry and Ian are reissuing a number of the albums, but first comes something truly special. Whilst going through the Lux and Ivy’s garage, a lost album that they were working on in 1989 was found on seven ¼ inch reels. This wasn’t an album of wholly new material, but unreleased recordings from the band’s very first studio session. The album even had a title; ‘Gravest Gravy’, and a cover photo by the late Stephanie Chernikowski. Alas, the idea was shelved indefinitely… until now!
In October 1977, Lux Interior on vocals, Poison Ivy on guitar, uber goth icon Bryan Gregory on guitar, and Nick Knox on drums, ventured into Ardent Studios in Memphis with the legendary Alex Chilton. These sessions were responsible for the band’s first two singles ‘Surfin’ Bird’/’The Way I Walk’ and the immortal ‘Human Fly’/’Domino’, released in 1978. The following year, a five track 12” single was released in the UK as ‘Gravest Hits’, which also added ‘Lonesome Town’ from those sessions.
At the time, the band had originally only planned to record their own song ‘TV Set’ for a single. Alex had other ideas, and got the band to record all the songs they had, originals and covers. This included many of the songs The Cramps included in their live set at the time. With the exception of the ‘Gravest Hits’ tracks and a different mix of ‘Twist and Shout’, none of the other songs from the session have seen the light of day – until now.
The band wanted ‘TV Set’ to be their first single and it’s fitting that it opens this collection. The pounding drum intro is immense on this version, as are the screeching guitars that leap out of the speakers to compliment a strong vocal from Lux. A live version of ‘Weekend on Mars’ appeared on the B-side for ’I Ain’t Nuthin But a Gorehound’, and there are bootlegs of later demos, but this version feels definitive as Lux goes into his demented Elvis mode.
‘Twist and Shout’ eventually morphed into ‘Drug Train’ with its locomotive guitars – the mix here is equally as good as the song it became. Kip Tyler & the Flips’ ‘Jungle Hop’ would eventually be recorded on the ‘Psychedelic Jungle’ album with Kid Congo Powers relacing Bryan Gregory. The version here is far rawer and includes little bursts of organ from Alex Chilton. The version of Charlie Feathers’ ‘Can’t Hardly Stand It’ here has a slightly harder edge to the one that appeared on the B-side of ‘Drug Train’.
One of the highlights of the album is a cover of ‘Hungry’ by Paul Revere and the Raiders – all fuzzy guitars and a gloriously seductive organ provided by Alex. ‘The Natives are Restless’ would re-appear on the band’s sophomore album, but here is the original, faster version with different lyrics and Bryan Gregory’s relentless guitar.
The band’s version of Roy Orbison’s ‘Domino’ is well known and the mix on this album feels a little rougher and punchier. Lux’s vocal on ‘Can’t Find My Mind’ is full of ominous echoes, and in my opinion, is better than the ‘Psychedelic Jungle’ version!
Ronnie Dawson’s ‘Rockin’ Bones’ has a harder edge, especially where the backing vocals kick in. ‘Problem Child’ by Sam Phillips might only be just short of two minutes in length, but what a glorious slice of deranged rock n roll it is. The album finishes with a magnificently mischievous stomp through Jimmy Lloyd’s ‘Rocket in my Pocket’, where Lux’s vocals threaten to enter proto-‘Psycho Killer’ territory. It’s a devilishly good ending to a great album.
The Cramps ‘Songs the Lord Taught Us’ wasn’t released until 1980, and here we have a full album of material recorded three years earlier that is equal, if not better than, that auspicious debut. Not one of the songs feels like a demo – each is already fully formed. Whether you are a lifelong Cramps fan or somebody who discovered the band through the appearance of ‘Goo Goo Muck’ on Tim Burton’s ‘Wednesday’, this album is an excellent addition to the band’s recorded legacy.
Stay sick! Turn blue!
Out on 21st August 2026, order your copy of ‘Gravest Gravy‘ from HERE
Main Photo – The Cramps at Bowery Basement 1977 – Credit: DAVID GODLIS
- TV Set
- Weekend on Mars
- Twist & Shout
- Jungle Hop
- Can’t Hardly Stand it
- Hungry
- The Natives are Restless
- Domino
- Can’t Find My Mind
- Rockin’ Bones
- Problem Child
- Rocket in my Pocket
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