Jerry Cole: Surf guitarist
Thursday, 3 July 2008
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jerry-cole-surf-guitaris...
In the 1960s, Jerry Cole was one of America's most prolific
guitarists, turning his hand to surf music, rock, country,
jazz and blues and playing on sessions for Brian Wilson and
Phil Spector. He would replace less proficient group members
at recordings, making the acts sound better than they were.
He was born Jerald Kolbrack in 1939 in Wisconsin and was
raised in Chicago, which had a thriving blues scene. As
Jerry Cole he joined the Champs, who recorded the
million-selling instrumental "Tequila" (1958). A few years
later, he and another Champ, Glen Campbell, decided to try
their luck as session guitarists in Los Angeles.
Bobby Darin recommended Cole to Capitol Records and he made
a succession of instrumental albums as Jerry Cole and His
Spacemen, starting with Outer Limits (1963), a combination
of surf and space-age music. Capitol tried Cole as a
vocalist but it was decided his voice was not strong enough.
With such big names as Hal Blaine (drums) and Larry Knechtel
(keyboards), Cole was part of the Wrecking Crew, Phil
Spector's session band, and is featured on the Ronettes' "Be
My Baby". He is heard on the familiar records of the Byrds
("Mr Tambourine Man"), the Dixie Cups ("Chapel of Love"),
Them ("Here Comes The Night") and Paul Revere and the
Raiders ("Kicks"). The producer Lee Hazlewood also used him
for several Nancy Sinatra sessions, including "These Boots
are Made for Walkin'".
As a studio guitarist, Cole had residencies in numerous
television series including ****ndig!, Hullabaloo, The Sonny
and Cher Show and Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. He made a
score of low-budget, but still technically proficient,
instrumental LPs which were sold in supermarkets under a
variety of names. Cole worked on the road for Andy Williams
for three years and Roger Miller for five.
In 1966, Brian Wilson recorded the backing tracks for Pet
Sounds while the other Beach Boys were on tour, and Cole
played on "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "Sloop John B". He was
also used on the Beach Boys album 15 Big Ones (1976), which
was around the time he was working with Phil Spector on
Dion's mesmerising Born To Be With You.
When psychedelia was coming in, he recorded several albums
in this style including The Animated Egg (1966). He played
on the blues album Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and the
Aloha From Hawaii television special with Elvis Presley,
both in 1973, and worked as a studio musician with Dean
Martin and Frank Sinatra.
In 2006, Cole returned to surf music with the album Back to
the Boards. Last year, he was recording again with Brian
Wilson.
Jerald Edward Kolbrak (Jerry Cole), guitarist: born Green
Bay, Wisconsin 23 September 1939; married (one son, two
daughters, and one son deceased); died Corona, California 28
May 2008.
Ray Arthur
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