DISTORTIONS
Birmingham, Alabama
From the Ensley Highlands section of Birmingham, Robert Alexander (bass), Ned Bibb (vocals and guitar), and Bobby Marlin (drums) started playing in high school in 1962, rehearsing in Robert Alexander's basement.
In 1965-66 they backed Travis Wammack, then took the name The Distortions from his record Distortion pt. 1. They added Zack Zackery on keyboards, and recorded their first three 45s on Sea Records. These included an interesting Ned Bibb original, "Can You Tell", which was backed by a slow, loopy take on "Hound Dog"; and a raging version of Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning".
The Distortions - Can You Tell
The Distortions - Smokestack Lightning
The band added Eddie Rice on guitar in 1966 and switched to the Malcolm Z. Dirge label for their next release, "Thank You John", which reached the charts on WSGN in town. On the flip they recorded a fine version of the Rascals' oft-covered "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore".
The Distortions - Thank You John
The Distortions - I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore
When their next 45, "Behind My Wall" was picked up for national distribution by Smash, they had their biggest hit, selling 10-15,000 copies according to their producer Ed Boutwell. Their penultimate 45 was a good Bill Haney original, "I Found a Girl", with a version of "I Don't Really Like You", originally done by Baton-Rouge's Canebreak Singers on Montel and written by Mike Crespo. It was produced by Haney and Richie Becker and released on Casino, a subsidiary of the Dover Records company of New Orleans.
The Distortions - I Found a Girl
The Distortions - I Don't Really Like You
In '67 the Distortions added Roy Alexander on saxophone. Henry Lavoy took over on drums during the late 1960's. Their last release was a cleaned-up version of the Stone's "Let's Spend the Night Together", retitled "Let's Spend Some Time Together". This was picked up by Capitol but didn't sell particularly well.
