Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA The Halibuts - South Bay Surf Band Reunion 1986



 | Phil Dirt introduces the Halibuts, and Eddie Bertrand interrupts them to say that they "put us all to shame" before jpinging them to play "Malagueña." Pete Curry - guitar, Rick Johnson - guitar, Bruce Paddy - keyboard, Kevin Daily - bass, Randy Haskins - drums, and Joey Lyou - sax. They were one of the most important revival bands, playing continuously in Southern California for close to 16 years, right from the beginning of the movement. |
Picks: Centipede, Shore Pound, Mr. Mysterioso, Exodus 5-0, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, The Man From H.A.L.I.B.U.T., Slaughter On Tenth Avenue, Skinny Dip, La Bamba, Let's Go Trippin', Forty Miles Of Bad Road, Malaguena, Batman, Pipeline, Walk, Don't Run
Track by Track Review
Surf (Instrumental)
This is just about their best song ever. It's infectious, and they play it so well. The swollen organ and excellent reverb, plus the sax magic all equal surf madness.
Surf (Instrumental)
Driven rhythm guitar, solid thump, and an infectious rhythm behind a sax lead. The mix is marred with too little sax. The ska rhythms are way cool.
Surf (Instrumental)
This excellent tune leans heavily on a ska back beat, and uses an excellent sax melody, plus pounding tom tom laden drums. Totally infectious.
Surf (Instrumental)
A merger of the theme from "Exodus" and "Hawaii Five-0." Fun and grin bearing.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly 


Surf (Instrumental)
Thee spaghetti western, thee organ whistle, thee lead guitar call, and thee chunky rhythm. Yikes!
The Man From H.A.L.I.B.U.T. 


Surf (Instrumental)
Hokey, movie spoof twin lead playfulness. The two guitars share the duty, trading lines in a playful way. The pace is moderate and deliberate. The almost start stop action between verses is pretty fun. The fast ska break is utterly unexpected and joyous. When it slows back down to a final verse, all is well with the world. So many changes, so little time. Recorded 9/15/86
Slaughter On Tenth Avenue 

Surf (Instrumental)
A standard cover of the Ventures' hit. Power, suavité, and ample fluidity. This is quite credible.
Surf (Instrumental)
High spirited surf instro, so spunky that Agent Orange issued a cover on a single a few years back. The melody is pure vintage surf, while the speed is faster and the sound is lighter. Great infectious stomp master track. Recorded on 8/28/86
Surf (Instrumental)
A slightly fuzzy delivery of the Richie Valens classico. Much like the Ventures' arrangement, and very fun.
Surf (Instrumental)
High energy delivery with Eddie Bertrand on lead guitar. Quite the spunky take.
Surf (Instrumental)
Every guitar player in the house was on stage by the end of the track. It was more than a jam, less than a tight performance. You had to be there.
Surf (Instrumental)
Incredibly fiery, and hot as Hell! Short, just a blastin' jam for fun, but just about as cool a piece of history as you can find.
Surf (Instrumental)
This is the Neil Hefty TV theme, arranged in a pretty standard surf band way. Not very interesting, but having seen them a bunch of times, I can tell you their audience loves this. The powerful glissandoes to a stop between verses works really well. Recorded 6/12/86.
Surf (Instrumental)
This is a pretty chunky version of the Chantays' classic. The energy is high, and the waves are pounding the shore.
Surf (Instrumental)
Punchy and fun, this cover of the Ventures 1960 arrangement is spot on, and closed the show.