Monday, January 14, 2008

White Lightning - Of Paupers And Poets



I hope everyone had a great weekend? The East Coast here was supposed to be hit with a big snow storm last night but all we got was some rain, so on this wet Monday afternoon I give you some guitar driven garage rock to help you get through the wet...

"White Lightning", later to be just "Lightning" was formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1968 by ex-"Litter" guitarist "Zippy" Caplan and bassist Woody Woodrich. The two musicians had been jamming together for close to a year before they decided to become a group.

The song Of Paupers and Poets was written by Warren Kendrick. Originally a Pop-Bubble Gum style song, it was reworked into a heavier version and recorded before the band had stepped one foot on stage.

William, the flip side to Of Paupers and Poets was the first original song written by "White Lightning". The song was named after the group's equipment manager, Bill "William J. Animal" Pluta. Originally a wild scream by Pluta was planned and recorded just in front of the guitar solo, but Kendrick stormed into the studio room insisting it be deleted.

Although the song Of Paupers and Poets made the Top 40 charts in the Twin Cities and was the A Side of the nationally released Atco 45rpm , it is the flip side William that "White Lightning" is best known for.

Originally released on Warren Kendrick's Hexagon label, Of Paupers and Poets was later picked up by Atco (an Atlantic subsidiary) for national release but failed due to lack of promotion. Both Hexagon and Atco 45rpm records are hard to get and command decent money on the collector's market.

So if you can't find an original here are both sides for your minds eye...

White Lightning - Of Paupers And Poets

White Lightning - William

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just a note to mention Mick Stanhope sang lead vocals and played drums on both "Paupers and Poets" and "William" , the b - side.Without him these tracks would not have ever been. He is often forgotten.

Anonymous said...

The Forgotten. Mick Stanhope