So this here gem is a recent discovery of mine and wowsers….it was like getting teabagged by Sasquatch! I’m a HUGE fan of all things proto-punk and how this band managed to elude me thus far is a mystery….but I’m glad we found each other ‘cause this sounds like the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.

The Edgar Broughton Band were part of the London “underground” in the late sixties. They palled around with the likes of Hawkwind, The Pretty Things, The Pink Fairies et al. How TEBB didn’t achieve the mythical status of their contemporaries is downright astounding. I’m guessing they were just a bit too “punk” a bit too early.

This track sees the boys channeling Captain Beefheart and the Shadows creating a fusion-cover of “Dropout Boogie” by Beefheart and “Apache” originally written by Jerry Lorden and made famous by The Shadows in 1960. The original track was released as a single by EMI subsidiary Harvest in 1971.

“Dropout Apache” starts out innocently enough with a standard cowbell count in then proceeds to barrage you with this face-meltingly heavy yet punk riff with Rob Broughton doing his best (and to these ears bestING) Beefheart…commanding us to turn on, tune in and…you got it…dropout. This slaying riffage is then followed by the familiar “Apache” guitar line….just GENIUS!

Our hero ladies and gents…..

I could do without Peter Jenner explaining the reasons why they created this aural assault at the end of the track….but I’ll look past it because the song is so fucking AWESOME….this is the only version I’ve gotten my grubby lil’ mitts on so far. I ripped this from the re-issue of TEBB’s second album “Sing Brother Sing”….which is solid as a rock in it’s own right. “Dropout Apache” appears as a bonus track and is not included on the original album.

ARTIST: Edgar Broughton Band
TRACK: “Apache Dropout (Peter Jenner Version)” *
ALBUM: “Sing Brother Sing” - EMI/Harvest re-issue w/ bonus tracks
YEAR: 1970/2004

*Originally released as a 7” single in 1971 on Harvest (sans Peter Jenner) b/w “Freedom” (HAR 5032)