Thankfully, they changed their name from the Chord U Roys ….
Credits
PERSONNEL/BRUCE WALKER: vocals * TERRY KENNY: lead guitar, vocals * GEORGE JOHNS: rhythm guitar * ROLAND “TERMITE” BLAQUIRE: bass * KEN HORDICHUCK: drums
Produced by DARRYL BURLINGHAM & CHUCK DANN
Recorded in Minneapolis, MN
Quality single #1828 (1966) [Canada]
The Jury
Winnipeg, Manitoba, had quite a fertile music scene in the mid-’60s with groups like The Guess Who and The Deverons (with Burton Cummings, before he joined the former outfit); but perhaps the strongest garage-punk track to come out of the city was by The Jury.
Mike Stax, Nuggets liner notes
Named for the worst pun in rock music, the Chord U Roys formed in Winnipeg in the late 1950s. The group featured lead guitarist Terry Kenny, vocalist Bruce Walker and drummer Ray Stockwell. The band morphed into The Jury, and they enjoyed several Mersey-style hits in the mid-1960s.
In 1966, the band signed with Quality Records. They travelled to Minnesota’s Kay Bank Studios, famous for its three-track recording and distinctive echo sound. The Trashmen’s ‘Surfin’ Bird’ and the Castaways’ ‘Liar, Liar’ were also recorded there.
Who Dat?
‘Who Dat?’ was the b-side of ‘Please Forget Her’, the group’s Quality Records single. But it’s the group’s most enduring number, turning up on various 1960s compilations.
It’s akin to many of the fuzzy proto-punk tracks on the first volume of Nuggets. It’s raw, but also pretty. There’s a chiming guitar break that could have come from a Byrds record, while the vocal is tuneful and angsty.
The Aftermath
The Jury split up after failing to break through on American radio. Rhythm guitarist George Johns enjoyed a long career as a radio programme director.
Johns recently passed away, but recorded an interesting interview with Billboard in 2023:
Consolidation killed radio, and the only shot it has is to go back to the ‘Mom and Pop era’ when the FCC and the CRTC had teeth. The radio companies today aren’t afraid of them, so they do what they want, and what they want is not better programming; it’s cheaper programming and, “Yes Sir,” Jocks. All the Mavericks are gone; where will the new Howard or Rush come from?
George Johns, Billboard
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Read about the discographies of musical acts from the 1960s to the present day. Browse this site's review archives or enjoy these random selections:
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Definitely feel the 60s Mersey vibe with this one.
Yup, and a bit of fuzzy proto-punk too.
It probably won’t surprise you “Who Dat” is totally up my alley. While it’s fair to say the song didn’t reinvent raw garage rock, “Who Dat” just sounds great! And that Byrdsy jangly guitar is a nice accent.
Cool, I enjoyed this one too. The Byrdsy guitar was unexpected. I guess sometimes the punky sound is a mix of inexperienced musicians and primitive studios.
I like this a lot…right up my alley. I agree with him on the radio front… I would love to hear varied stations again and not just playing out of one box.
Yeah, its like radio stations have data analyzed themselves into oblivion. Like they figure out which songs listeners are least likely to turn off, but the list gets so small that it burns people out. That approach might work for medicine efficacy but not for playlists.