Gather ’round the fire, kids–at least if you’re in upstate New York, which got slammed with 20 inches of snow in places, even though the calendar alleges it’s still October–and let’s take a deep dive into the garage vault. By “deep,” we mean “Ain’t It Hard” by the Gypsy Trips, a California White Stripes-y duo that favored a dose of rockin’ blues with their guitars. This track comes from 1965, when Roger Tillison, who recently stepped out of obscurity to record new music, wrote a blueprint for good old Jack and Meg White to discover decades later. Down to the two musicians–galpal “Terrye Tillison” Newkirk took the same last name on the stage.
How obscure is this cut? It’s the B-side of the group’s only single, which was later covered by the Electric Prunes, who released it as their equally obscure first single. Still, you hear the sound, heavily influenced by the Stones–at the time still a British blues-pop outfit just learning how to show us what bad is.
Enjoy. From Pebbles, Vol. 9, for those of you keeping score.
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