''Fort Worth Teen Scene!'' is an extensive

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

series centering on the burgeoning teen

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

music scene of

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

between 1964 and 1967. The series, distributed through

Norton Records Norton Records is an American independent record label founded by musicians Miriam Linna and Billy Miller in 1986. The label concentrates on releasing rock, rockabilly, primitive music, punk, garage rock, and early rhythm and blues. Most of i ...

, helped reveal relatively unknown recordings by groups originating from Fort Worth that were previously made available to only a handful of collectors. In total, three

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

were released in relation to the series in 2004. The Fort Worth teen scene emerged from the wake of the British Invasion, with nearly all the bands from the region tended to take influence from the harder-edged R&B and

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

music of

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

and

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ...

. These two musical acts' styles were emulated throughout the series on "one-take" recordings, which also mixed in a sizable share of

cover versions In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released ...

such as two different interpretations of "

Mister, You're a Better Man Than I "You're a Better Man Than I", alternately listed as "Mr. You're a Better Man Than I" or "Better Man Than I", is a song first recorded by the English rock band the Yardbirds. It was written by brothers Mike and Brian Hugg, and became the opening tra ...

" and "

Train Kept A-Rollin' "Train Kept A-Rollin'" (or "The Train Kept A-Rollin'") is a song first recorded by American jazz and rhythm and blues musician Tiny Bradshaw in 1951. Originally performed in the style of a jump blues, Bradshaw borrowed lyrics from an earlier son ...

". Typical of most garage rock musical artists of the era, Fort Worth's scene was formed by developing teenage musicians, sharing the primitive and raw sound of groups featured on the ''Pebbles'' series. For the most part, the bands were extremely popular within Fort Worth, but hardly became noticed outside the region, granted the limited national exposure of "Night of the Sadist" by Larry and the Blue Notes. Along with the albums'

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

, a film called ''Teen A-Go-Go'' was created by music historians Mellissa Kirkendall and Mark A. Nobles, and released to correspond with the series. It goes into detail about the music scene through the use of rare

photos A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. The process and prac ...

, archival footage, and multiple interviews with surviving members of some of the Fort Worth-based bands. Series co-creator Larry Harrison characterized the scene as "a hotbed of garage band activity with its own infrastructure. There were teen clubs, like the Box, the Candy Stick, the legendary after-hours Cellar, the Jolly Time Teen Hop, and a multitude of converted skating rinks and rec centers with “A-Go-Go” appended to their names, where kids flocked by the hundreds every weekend to cheer on their local heroes in battles of the bands".

Discography

*''Fort Worth Teen Scene! Volume 1'' #CED 304,

(2004) *''Fort Worth Teen Scene! Volume 2'' #CED 305, Norton Records (2004) *''Fort Worth Teen Scene! Volume 3'' #CED 306, Norton Records (2004)

References

{{Reflist Compilation album series Garage rock compilation albums