Sid Griffin: 'The Imperial Dogs Were Ahead Of Your Time!'

"Don Waller should have a mike and not a pen in his hand!" writes singer/songwriter/author Sid Griffin -- whose musical pedigree stretches from garage-rockers the Unclaimed to roots-rockers the Long Ryders, Western Electric, Danny & Dusty, and currently the Coal Porters -- after viewing the Imperial Dogs' Live! At Long Beach (October 30, 1974) DVD.

"This is aggressive stuff," Griffin continues. "I'm really impressed. The band is good and the drummer [Bill Willett] missed his calling. 'Midnite Dog' is a flat-out good song and while it does sound like the Stooges, Don Waller is less Iggy onstage than a menacing David Johansen. By good song I mean you can remember it after it's over. It doesn't fade into the ether like 99.9% of the tunes you have heard in your all too short time on God's green Earth.

"'We fuck just like we play ... loud, hard, and fast!' Not too sure about that last adverb, but they would've unplugged you for that back in 1974 Kentucky. Reminds me of the 13th Floor Elevators' Easter Everywhere. And the leather trousers? They would've stopped the show in Louisville once the singer's pubic hair and ass started showing.

"But your stage performance is good. Nice raps -- goading the audience between songs is a good thing to do, especially when they're like the one you guys are playing to -- and there is some serious David Lee Roth jumpin' at about 57:05. I rolled that back a few times to see it. Call the Lakers! Somewhere about then you also match each beat of the snare rim shots with your finger pointed like a gun. Looks really good on the screen.

"You've got the mike in your trousers in 'I'm Waiting For The Man.' I saw Howlin' Wolf do this when he played Louisville in 1974. Four years later, I saw the Cramps and Lux Interior did the same thing. In fact, a lot of what I saw Lux do that first time was a direct lift of Wolf's stage act.

"'Sweet Little Strychnine' is another good song. I love the dancers. Look closely and they (particularly she) do a prototype of every future and some past rock dance save the Pogo and the Swim, the Pony and the Duck. The crowd is probably inhibited by the lights being on. A bunch of sober, non-stoned folks filmed at the time when they are self-conscious about being self-conscious is not gonna bop and boogie, which makes the viewing of this kinda funny ... Normally, someone besides those two would be dancing about a bit, but no, not here. Weird.

"Had Clive Davis seen this, you might have gotten a label contract. I kid you not. It was both there at the time (the look, the overall band sound) and ahead of its time (the punk attitude, the short riffs and/or chord progressions underpinning the tunes) and that is saying something. Which most bands never do. Mostly you were ahead of your time."