THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
633) The Basement Wall — “Never Existed”
The band’s lone A-side (‘67) was “a keyboard-driven regional smash similar in spirit to Texas punk” (Jason Ankeny, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-basement-wall-mn0000030994/biography). Gilesi enthuses:
“Never Existed” is a melodic garage psycher that contrasts a relatively understated verse with a full-on chorus, courtesy in no small part to some ripping fuzz guitar (it has been suggested that Ronnie Weiss from Mouse and the Traps provided this). There are great lead and harmony vocals throughout and a scintillating break. And you simply can’t ignore lyrics such as “I thought I would cry, girl, but to my surprise, no tear can form, girl, without any eyes”!
https://cosmicmindatplay.wordpress.com/2014/02/15/classic-singles-89-the-basement-wall-never-existed-taste-of-a-kiss-1967/
No way, you know he cried his eyes out!
As to the Wall, Ankeny tells us:
[The] Baton Rouge, LA-based garage band . . . were formed in 1963 . . . . Drawing inspiration from the British Invasion, the group started its career playing Beatles and Rolling Stones covers. With the subsequent addition of lead vocalist and guitarist George Ratzlaff, the Basement Wall graduated from local frat gigs to nightclub dates as far away as Los Angeles, along the way becoming the highest-paid cover band in the southern U.S., according to the Louisiana Entertainment Association. In due time, the Basement Wall also began writing original material[ and] signing to the Senate label to issue their lone official single, “Never Existed[.]”
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-basement-wall-mn0000030994/biography
Gilesi adds:
The band were regulars at venues across neighbouring Texas and even ventured as far afield as Los Angeles . . . . The single was a big regional hit and a number of other tracks were recorded for a possible album. This was rumoured to have been released at the time but it is now known to have “never existed”! The unreleased songs did finally see the light of day on a 1985 retrospective on the Cicadelic label called The Incredible Sound of the Basement Wall . . . . Keyboard player (and writer of both sides of the single) George Ratzlaff went on to Southern rockers Potliquor who recorded for the Janus label in the early 70s.
https://cosmicmindatplay.wordpress.com/2014/02/15/classic-singles-89-the-basement-wall-never-existed-taste-of-a-kiss-1967/
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