Flush from the success of "Smokin' in the Boys Room," which climbed all the way to number three on the pop charts, Brownsville Station was eager to keep the party going, deciding the best way to do so was to capitalize on the juvenile delinquent image they captured so perfectly on their big breakthrough. Hence, the title of their quickly released follow-up is School Punks; the illustrated cover pictures the trio all decked out in leather in front of a graffiti-ridden school wall; the opening cut, "Kings of the Party," references the hit; "Meet Me on the Fourth Floor" rewrites it; and "Mama Don't Allow No Parkin'" and "Fast Phyllis" tell similar tales of high-school misadventures.
With ten great songs, Yeah! is an album that lives up to its name – quite possibly the only fully realized LP the band ever made. Eight covers, all given the treatment, and two originals – one of which sold two million copies. Yeah! is the quintessential "nice little record" – it won't take up a lot of your time, and it's got a very friendly vibe to it. The cover songs span a wide variety of musical styles, which isn't that surprising, considering that guitarist/vocalist Cub Koda has a deep knowledge of music history. From Hoyt Axton's "Lightning Bar Blues" to then-unknown Jimmy Cliff's "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah" to Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane," the band pumps out all of its songs in a chugging, lighthearted manner that ends up being nothing but fun.
I saw the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Doors (a lot), Country Joe and the Fish, Jefferson Airplane and many other groups too numerous to name in the '60's and '70's but when people ask me who put on the the most energetic, entertaining live show, it was Brownsville Station. Brownsville Station, led by Cubby Koda and Michael Lutz, with TJ Cronley and Tony Driggins played the grand venue of the Falls Church (Virginia) Community Center in the early 70's. What a show! They were Led Zeppelin playing loud "electric" high energy versions of fifties boogie rock! And they knew how to rock and roll.
Chester Arthur Burnett, known as Howlin' Wolf, was a Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, originally from Mississippi. With a booming voice and looming physical presence, he is one of the best-known Chicago blues artists. Musician and critic Cub Koda noted, "no one could match Howlin' Wolf for the singular ability to rock the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its patrons out of its wits." Producer Sam Phillips recalled, "When I heard Howlin' Wolf, I said, 'This is for me. This is where the soul of man never dies'". Several of his songs, including "Smokestack Lightnin'", "Back Door Man", "Killing Floor" and "Spoonful", have become blues and blues rock standards. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 51 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time."
Known in her heyday as "the blues sensation of the West," the big-voiced Sara Martin was one of the best of the classic female blues singers of the '20s. Martin began her career as a vaudeville performer, switching to blues singing in the early '20s. In 1922, she began recording for OKeh Records, cutting a number of bawdy blues like "Mean Tight Mama." She continued recording until 1928. During this time, Martin became a popular performer on the southern Theater Owners' Booking Association circuits, eventually playing theaters and clubs on the east coast as well. In the early '30s, Sara Martin retired from blues singing and settled in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. While she was in Louisville, she ran a nursing home and occasionally sang gospel in church. Sara Martin died after suffering a stroke in 1955.