The Kenetics

The Kenetics 45 is one of my very favorites in all garageland. The band may have been from Martin, Tennesee, three hours drive west of Nashville near the Kentucky and Missouri borders.

Buddy Deason wrote both the songs featured here, but I don’t know any other members’ names.

“Put Your Loving on Me” starts out with a simple riff then moves to barre chords over sustained organ notes and drum rolls, then launches into a catchy progression for the chorus where the band chants “Baby, baby put your loving on me.” When the verse starts the band lays off every other repetition while the lead singer hiccups his pleas to this chick. Otherwise the verse and chorus are identical. No bridge, just a simple solo break and it’s back to the chorus and verse pattern again. The instruments are finely balanced and there’s a nice echo applied to the vocals that blends with the organ.

“Jo Ann” is a throwback to an earlier era. The band tries hard to make the song work, but it falls flat compared to the top side.

Nashville was a custom label of Starday, based out of Madison, just outside Music City. The 45 was pressed at the nearby Columbia Records plant indicated by the dead wax “ZTSB-128084/5” in 1967.

2 thoughts on “The Kenetics”

  1. Somehow I remember having this record when I was about five or six years old, but like so many other records I had then, it got trashed and forgotten. I wonder how much it goes for now. It’s a great record.

  2. I dig your boss jive, Sir Chas (welcome (no sleep) to Brooklyn) Put Your Loving On Me – as some Frisco hippie chick said in ’67 but here it really applies IT’S A NICE SOUND AND IT MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD and yes IT’S GOT A GOOD BEAT AND YOU CAN SHAKE, SHIVER AND STOMP TO IT. Great lyrics, great minimalist production – very well done like you say. Jo Anne’s has some charm and it’s not awful at all but it shows that The Kenetics were better at other stuff. By the way, both tunes have great endings. Again, that’s good playing and good production.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.