Preface


Let me start off by saying that this project is far from a complete history of The Wild Ones. I consider this project to be an abstract of the story of the Wild Ones, an introduction to a few of the band's notable experiences and accomplishments. An approach to a complete biography of the group would includes 50 times the amount of material here. The complete story of the production of the "Wild Thing" single or The Arthur Sound LP would contain 10 times the amount of material here. As I continued with the project, it seemed like the more I learned about the group, the less I realized I knew and the less I realized I would be able to mention in this project. Beyond this project, I plan to pursue a study of the group which will be far more in-depth than what can be viewed here.

 

To say a few words about my postmemory, I feel that my experiences in reacting to the postmemory of the Wild Ones are quite unique. Ever since I was very young, I knew that my father had played in a notable (if not very famous) rock 'n roll group in the 1960s. Now that I have conducted extensive research on the band, I feel much more in tune with my postmemory, I feel like I can relate better with ther experiences my father had.

 

I found a great deal of challenge in conducting research for my project. Instead of reviewing articles or edited books on my topic, I found myself digging through a box of poorly organized newspaper clippings, photographs, negatives, magazines, magazine clippings, letters, memos, and the like. Many letters lacked a clear author, adressee, or date, some photographs lacked a title or date, and there was much material (a large collection of clippings mentioning Sybil Burton and Jordan Christopher, for example) that was irrelevant to the band that had to be filtered through. I welcomed this challenge, mostly as a result of my excitement about having such a wealth of great resources at my disposal. I also have an interest in music history, and I am excited about the opportunity to try for myself what music historians do.

 

Of course, in addition to reviewing all of the materials I have presented here, I have taken the time to listen to all of the band's recordings. As I'm writing this I am listening to the b-side of the "Wild Thing" single, "I'm All Cried Out (Just Can't Cry Anymore)." I was very, very pleased to find the original demo recording of Chip Taylor singing "Wild Thing" in my father's personal collection of demos and 45s relating to the Wild Ones, a very valuable piece of rock 'n roll memorabilia (to collectors, not just myself). This allowed me to gain a unique perspective into the final arrangement the Wild Ones recorded of this song.

 

There is much material that I discovered during the course of my research that I did not deem "historically significant" but are still of interest in terms of my postmemory of the group. It is mostly stories from recollections on the part of my father and Chuck Alden about experiences the band had while touring and performing. Of course, there was also much historically significant data that was required to be cut due to time constraints in completing the project.

 

As I've mentioned, this project is a very brief history of The Wild Ones. If the reader would like for me to expand on anything I mention here, please feel free to leave a comment mentioning the material in question, and I will be more than happy to oblige. I have found that I can recall and speak about much material concerning The Wild Ones in detail that I haven't been able to include here.

 

I do sincerely hope you enjoy joining me on an exploration of my postmemory of The Wild Ones.

 

Justin Tricarico

 

Next Page: Formation of the Band