Jeremiah –Do It To Ya

Jeremiah –Do It To Ya/Starlight Stampede –Artesia ACA 6562 (1975 US)

Do It To Ya was the lone record from this Houston band who pressed up this self-released single to give out at their shows. The A side finds the band honing their bar room skills from Hard Boogie to near Proto Punk. It’s a hooky energetic performance .that doesn’t pretend to be what it’s not, although the no-nonsense straight ahead riffing and 42nd Street mentions makes you think that they might have had The New York Dolls in their sights. The B side owes more to obvious 1975 Southern Rock influences.


Hear a full version of Do It To Ya

Bassist Jack Beasley was kind enough to give some background on the band and recording the single

Jeremiah was formed in 1972. Jack Beasley was the original bass player with Mike Rayburn on drums. There were two other guys on guitars, but as it turned they weren’t that serious about playing rock music. As those guys moved on to do other things, they were replaced by Jimmy Deen in 1973 and Tommy Mansell was added to the line-up in 1974. The early gigs were high school dances and proms. But they eventually started playing night clubs and private parties.

“In 1975, the band paid for some time at ACA recording studios in Houston. We recorded six original songs. I don't know who mastered the two tracks on the 45 or where the 45 was manufactured. The label name, "Artesia", was just something we made up. I think we had 600 45s made, maybe less, but no more than that...”

Although the ambition was there to break beyond the local scene and go professional, it didn’t pan out for the boys

“Our goal was to become rock stars. In the fall of 1975 we quit our day jobs and went on the road. We played mostly in Texas. We became friends with members of the band Point Blank, who were managed by the same guy that managed ZZ Top. This was in 1976 and we thought we were close to a record deal, but it didn’t happen. We played at the bigger clubs in Houston , Dallas and Fort Worth , among others. We played four to five nights a week, every week, just about. We did all we knew to do to get a record label to sign us, except leave Texas. That might have been the problem…”

What was the difference the 60s Texas Garage/Psychedelic bands and what was happening in the mid 70s?

“I believe that 60s bands, even in Texas were heavily into the psychedelic experience. They were trying to find new sounds, and a lot of experimenting was going on then, with their instruments, and also their minds (drugs). 70s bands just wanted to rock. To heck with experimenting. Find that groove. Turn up the volume. And create a sound that compelled your audience to move with the beat and play their air guitars. Although the guys in Jeremiah were somewhat influenced by the 60s music, I believe the stronger influences came from what was going on around us at the time. We covered many of the most popular rock bands of the early and mid 70s. We liked the melodic stuff, but it still needed to have that hard edge. You can hear that fusion in the original Jeremiah songs. Often in those songs, you have some very soft, melodic vocals or guitar segments, slammed up against a dynamic, hard-driving mix of guitar, bass and drums. We just couldn’t stay quiet for very long...”


Both sides of the single and the 4 other tunes from the 1975 session are now available to download https://www.facebook.com/JeremiahKeepOnRockin