Friday, February 6, 2015

Texas Spotlight: Mouse and the Traps - Maid of Sugar, Maid of Spice/I'm The One


Day six of spinning old records from Texas for our regional Battle of the Garage Bands takes us back to Tyler, Texas. That's the same town that gave birth to Murphy and the Mob. 

Mouse and the Traps were Ronnie "Mouse" Weiss on vocals, Knox "Bugs" Henderson, David Stanley on bass, Jerry Howell on organ and Nardo Ken Murray on drums. Nardo? Okay. The band scored a regional hit right out of the gate with a bit of an original (okay, a Bob Dylan rip-off) called A Public Execution

We feature today their sophomore release, also released on Fraternity Records in May of 1966. It was at this moment that the band unleashed fury on the world with the Weiss-Henderson composed Maid Of Sugar, Maid Of Spice. I don't know what to say about this song that the song doesn't say for itself. It's a major league garage number in the first order. The musicianship is stellar as stellar gets. 

The flip-side, I'm The One, also composed by Weiss-Henderson, is not so strong. But in many ways it demonstrates the schizophrenia that was Mouse and the Traps. A garage band trying to smooth the rough edges to get a hit. 

Ultimately this fine single was a commercial flop. But that makes it even better to us collectors!
Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

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