The Rebel Kind is the third in our occasional series of guitar-centric 1960s girl pop compilations. In case they passed you by, the first two volumes, Girls With Guitars and Destroy That Boy, are still available.Half the tracks here are by genuine guitar-wielding all-girl bands, including the Debutantes from Detroit, Los Angeles quartet the Girls, Goldie & the Gingerbreads from New York, Pinky Chicks from Japan, the Honeybeats from Italy and San Francisco's Ace Of Cups. It might seem somewhat unlikely, but the Chantels are the featured musicians on the instrumental Peruvian Wedding Song. Thanks to acknowledged classics such as He's Gone and Maybe, it's beyond all doubt that the girls could really sing. Who knew they could also play?
It's rather ironic that some of the most striking records to emerge from mid-60s Britain were the work of an American producer. Beat combo Colette & the Bandits' riff-driven A Ladies Man is up there with the 45s Shel Talmy produced at the time of the Kinks and the Who. Talmy also produced Goldie & the Gingerbreads' Please, Please, another prime example of British beat, but one recorded by an American group. Brenda Lee's wild update of What'd I Say and Jackie DeShannon's folk rock nugget Dream Boy were also recorded in the UK, in each case with the young Jimmy Page on guitar. He also plays on Dana Gillespie's cult favourite You Just Gotta Know My Mind.
Some other noteworthy guys help out elsewhere: Kiwi duo the Chicks' great version of Lee Hazlewood's The Rebel Kind features the Mike Perjanik Group with Doug Jerebine on guitar; the Turtles back-up teenage trio the Chymes on their jangly He's Not There Anymore; chart band the Mob play on Mousie & the Traps' How About You; Gail Harris' live recording of I Idolize You features the Wailers; and the Milkshakes provide the instrumentation on the Delmonas' Peter Gunn Locomotion (the only non-60s track here, not that you'd notice).
Other highlights include Jean & the Statesides' Putty In Your Hands, which knocks spots off the Shirelles' original and the Yardbirds' cover, Lydia Marcelle's new-to-CD rocker The Girl He Needs, and International Girl by the Beas, who sound like the Bangles 20 years ahead of their time.
