PopArchives: The Blog: Karl Hammel Jr (1961): Summer Souvenirs and Bounty Hunter

This follows on from my previous post Bigger in Oz (24): Paul Evans - Show Folk (1960)

• Karl Hammel Jr - Summer Souvenirs (Paul Evans - Jimmy Krondes) 1961, #68 Bb, #60 CB, USA,

Karl was previously heard on:
• The Nomads - Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Krondes) 1961 B-side, #116 [Billboard Bubbling Under]

Bounty Hunter was covered by:
• Al Caiola - Bounty Hunter (Jimmy Krondes) 1961 (B-side of Bonaza #19 USA),

It is strongly reminiscent of:
• Duane Eddy - Rebel-'Rouser (Duane Eddy - Lee Hazlewood) 1958 #6 USA.

aka as ... Cash Box, 8 Jul 61

I never forgot Karl Hammel Jr's Summer Souvenirs from hearing it on the radio as an 11-year-old, but it wasn't a hit in Australia and it seemed to disappear without trace.

In the 70s and 80s I bought second-hand or reissued 45s by mail order, catching up with tracks I had missed out on buying as a kid or teenager. Summer Souvenirs was near the top of my wants list, and I scored it at a reasonable price through a mail-in record auction.

The Paul Evans in the writer credits was already known to me from his records (Seven Little Girls) Sitting In The Back Seat and Show Folk, but I still knew nothing about Karl Hammel Jr (See my post, Bigger in Oz: Paul Evans - Show Folk).

Along came the Internet, and people from the music industry started to launch their own websites, often with contact details. So it was that I could email Paul Evans to express my regard for Summer Souvenirs and to find out anything at all about Karl Hammel Jr. I had a prompt and friendly reply: Paul said he remembered Karl - nice guy - but they had lost touch and he couldn't give me much background..

I now find (via Discogs.com) that Paul Evans's co-writer on Summer Souvenirs, Jimmy Kronde, was the manager of a New Rochelle NY band called The Nomads, and Karl Hammel Jr was a member.

The Nomads released one single, with both sides written by Jimmy Kronde.

The B-side, Bounty Hunter (February 1961), was released as an A-side in Australia in June 1961. This is a guitar instrumental that prominently features Karl Hammel Jr. At the start of the track he whistles the main theme or melody once before he is joined by the guitar which then takes over the main theme, with Karl whistling in counterpoint. A cover version was released on a B-side by guitarist Al Caiola (March 1961) but without any whistling.

Whenever I came across Bounty Hunter over the years I absently thought, "Oh yeah, that's the one that sounds a lot like Duane Eddy."

In fact (I later realised) Bounty Hunter and Dwayne Eddy's 1958 hit Rebel-'Rouser are almost identical in their main melodies or themes. Rebel-'Rouser repeats the theme several times, without a bridge or chorus, but Bounty Hunter adds one after two runs of the main theme, and repeats it later. Both versions have varied instrumentation throughout.

Clips: main themes only

Duane Eddy - Rebel-'Rouser (1958)