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Gary Lee Usher (December 14, 1938 – May 25, 1990) was an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer, who worked with numerous California acts in the 1960s, including
the Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...
,
the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...
, and
Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American Rock music, rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting wit ...
. Usher also produced fictitious surf groups or hot rod groups, mixing studio
session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...
s with his own troops ( Chuck Girard, Dick Burns and others). These bands included the Super Stocks (with the hot-rod song "Midnight Run"); the Kickstands; the Hondells with their No. 9 US pop single " Little Honda"; and others.


The Ghouls and ''Dracula’s Deuce''

In 1964, Gary Usher, already known for his work in surf and hot rod music, ventured into the world of horror-themed novelty music with a studio project known as ''The Ghouls''. Rather than being a formal band, ''The Ghouls'' were a studio ensemble under Usher's direction, primarily recorded as a one-off for the album ''Dracula's Deuce''. The record blended surf rock with horror-comic themes and featured a mix of instrumental and vocal tracks. Each song leveraged macabre humor, with pun-filled titles like "The Little Old Lady from Transylvania" and "Be True to Your Ghoul," offering satirical nods to contemporaneous hits by Jan and Dean and the Beach Boys.


Death

Usher died of
lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
at his home in his hometown of
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, on May 25, 1990, at the age of 51. Survivors include his wife, Sue, three sons and a daughter.


Selected discography


Production

*''Shut Down'' (1963, Various Artists) *''Hits of the Street and Strip'' (1963, The Competitors) *''Hot Rod City'' (1963, The Quads, The Grand Prix, The Customs) *''The New Sounds of the Weird-Ohs'' (1964, The Weird-Ohs) *''Hot Rod Hootenanny'' (1964, Mr. Gasser & the Weirdos) *''Rods & Ratfinks'' (1964, Mr. Gasser & the Weirdos) *''Surfink'' (1964, Mr. Gasser & the Weirdos) *''Competition Coupe'' (1964, The Astronauts) *''Thunder Road'' (1964, The Super Stocks) *''Surf Route 101'' (1964, The Super Stocks) *''School Is A Drag'' (1964, The Super Stocks) *''Go Little Honda'' (1964, The Hondells) *''Hondells'' (1964, The Hondells) *''The New Mustang and Other Hot Rod Hits'' (1964, The Road Runners) *''The New Sounds of the Silly Surfers'' (1964, The Silly Surfers) *''The New Sounds of the Weird-Ohs'' (1964, The Weird-Ohs) *''Draculas' Deuce'' (1964, The Ghouls) *''Music to Make Models By'' (1964, The Silly Surfers/ The Weird-Ohs) *''The New Sounds of the Weird-Ohs'' (1964, The Weird-Ohs) *''Hit City '65'' (1965, The Surfaris) *''It Ain't Me, Babe'' (1965, The Surfaris) *''Go Sound of the Slots'' (1965, The Revells) *''In Action'' (1966, Keith Allison) *''An Esoteric Qabalistic Service'' (1966, Rev. Ann Davies with the Builders of the Adytum Choir) *'' Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers'' (1967, Gene Clark) *'' Younger Than Yesterday'' (1967,
The Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...
) *'' The Peanut Butter Conspiracy Is Spreading'' (1967, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy) *''Of Cabbages and Kings'' (1967, Chad & Jeremy) *'' The Great Conspiracy'' (1967, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy) *'' Present Tense'' (1968, Sagittarius) *''The Ark'' (1968, Chad & Jeremy) *'' The Notorious Byrd Brothers'' (1968, The Byrds) *'' Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him'' (1968, The Firesign Theatre) *'' Sweetheart of the Rodeo'' (1968, The Byrds) *''Wackering Heights'' (1972, The Wackers) *'' Going Public'' (1977,
Bruce Johnston Bruce Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who is a member of the Beach Boys. He also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bruce & Terry, the Rip Chords, and ...
) *"Sanctuary" (1984, Celestium)


Songwriting

*" 409" (1962, The Beach Boys) *"Lonely Sea" (1962, The Beach Boys) *" Ten Little Indians" (1962, The Beach Boys) *" In My Room" (1963, The Beach Boys) *"Beach Party" (1963,
Frankie Avalon Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American singer, actor and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including Record ...
) *"Mag Wheels" (1963, Dick Dale and the Del-Tones) *"We'll Run Away" (1964, The Beach Boys) *"Comin' On Too Strong" (1965, Wayne Newton) *"The Truth Is Not Real" (1968, Sagittarius) *"The Blue Marble" (1969, Sagittarius) *" Don't Give In to Him" (1969, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap) *"(Friend)Ships" (1971, Gary Usher) *"Sanctuary" (1983, Celestium and later Laura Branigan and the J-Pop artist Reimy) *"Let's Go To Heaven In My Car" (1986, Brian Wilson) (Note - Gary Usher's son, Gary Usher Jr., played the guitar solo) *"Christmas Time" (1986, Brian Wilson)


References


Further reading

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External links

* * 1938 births 1990 deaths People from Grafton, Massachusetts Surf music record producers Record producers from Los Angeles American rock musicians Songwriters from Massachusetts The Forte' Four members Deaths from lung cancer in California 20th-century American businesspeople California Sound 20th-century American songwriters California Music members {{US-musician-stub