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GARY USHER - BAREFOOT ADVENTURE: THE 4 STAR SESSIONS 1962-1966 (2LP)

Gary Usher Barefoot Adventure: The 4 Star Sessions 1962-1966 On 2 x Vinyl LP Set

In the early '60s while Berry Gordy was defining the Motown Sound, Stax and James Brown were inventing soul music, the Aldon table of songwriters was bringing sophistication to teen pop and The Four Seasons reinvented group harmony; a trio of songwriters named Brian Wilson, Roger Christian and Gary Usher were drawing up the blueprints for the West Coast sound in California.

This excellent collection explores Gary Usher’s tenure as co-architect of the happiest pop music ever written, a guileless celebration of sun, surf and cars that’s become an enduring symbol of the American dream. Barefoot Adventure does more than simply collect a bunch of songs that sound great on the car radio and mean exactly what they say. It’s also a remarkable glimpse of the process, of a struggling songwriter angling for a break, sometimes tapdancing in tangents, oblivious to the bullseye he was hitting on the way to forging an important new sound.

Featuring 36 terrific tracks, including exclusive Sundazed interviews with Usher himself, plus a gorgeous package with an illuminating essay and track commentary by author and Usher-biographer Stephen McParland. We’re not sure if this is history masquerading as fun or vice-versa, but we’re definitely sure that it is fun which, in the end, is all that matters.

“It was truly a magical period, in the sense that it was a different record business than we have today. It was a spark of rawness, innocence–what was in our hearts and minds would end up in a record the next day. Brian was 19, I was like 22, and Dennis, I know for a fact, was not old enough to drive! We were just young–young, very raw kids who found ourselves in a position to be able to make music. None of us had any training–and it was just simply learn-as-we-go-along. And it was only made for the kids–it was never made for the professionals. I mean, when the Beach Boys hit, we were all kinda, like, shocked.” — Gary Usher

Gary Usher Barefoot Adventure: The 4 Star Sessions 1962-1966 Track Listing

1. R.P.M.
2. My Little Surfin’ Woodie*
3. Barefoot Adventure*
4. Four on the Floor
5. Cheater Slicks
6. Gary Usher Interview Part 1*
7. C.C. Cinder
8. The Chug-A-Lug
9. Playmate of the Year
10. My Little Beach Bunny
11. Lonely Surfer Boy
12. Coney Island Wild Child*
13. Soul Stompin’*
14. Power Shift
15. Mag Wheels
16. Gary Usher Interview Part 2*
17. My Sting Ray
18. 426 Super Stock
19. Wax, Board, and Woodie*
20. Draggin’ Deuce*
21. My Little Surfin’ Woodie
22. Gary Usher Interview Part 3*
23. Sugar & Spice*
24. Twins*
25. Milky Way
26. Quicksand*
27. Barefoot Adventure
28. Gary Usher Interview Part 4*
29. You Made a Believer Out of Me (with The Honeys)*
30. Waiting for the Day (with The Honeys)*
31. Tied Down*
32, Harder & Harder*
33. Cactus Juice*
34. R.P.M.*
35. Nifty ’50*
36. ’54 Corvette*

* previously unissued

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