Davie Allan & The Arrows

Emerging from Los Angeles, the four-piece lineup of Davie Allan on lead guitar, Paul Johnson on rhythm guitar, Steve Pugh on bass and Larry Brown on drums followed in the footsteps of instrumental pioneers Dick Dale and the Ventures. Allan’s signature heavy-fuzz tone already defined the regional hit “Apache ’65,” a quality that persisted even as the Arrows’ personnel shifted. The single’s success led directly to a rush-recorded album bearing the same title, overseen by Mike Curb, whose reputation rested on crafting soundtrack material for AIP studio productions. Allan later appeared on multiple Curb-assembled projects, most often credited within the anonymous studio ensembles Curb assembled from Hollywood session players, yet he alone was named on “Blue’s Theme,” drawn from the 1966 film The Wild Angels. That track became the group’s only U.S. Top 40 single upon its release. The Cycle-delic Sounds Of Davie Allan And The Arrows found the band at its inventive height, merging forceful riffs and concise melodies with an undercurrent of acid rock. Although Allan’s style fell out of favor by the close of the 1960s, he endures as one of the era’s premier practitioners of the guitar instrumental.