Biography
Hailing from Minnesota, the Scotsmen cut a lone obscure novelty single titled “Beer Bust Blues” in 1965. A standard frat-rock backing supported a gravel-voiced singer—more precisely, one whose delivery evoked a wrestler—while sound effects captured the pop and pour of an opened beer can. The reverse side presented an instrumental built around organ and what resembled electrically sped-up guitar lines. Both tracks, together with several outtakes, later appeared on the Warren Kendrick productions anthology The Scotty Story. Bassist Jim Kane, who performed with the Scotsmen—a studio-only ensemble—later joined the Litter, among the most prominent Minneapolis bands of the 1960s.
Although the single itself proved unremarkable, it gave Warren Kendrick his first foothold in the record industry. He wrote and produced both sides with Minnetonka High School acquaintances and released the disc on his newly formed Scotty label. For the balance of the decade he remained active as a regional producer and songwriter, most prominently overseeing garage outfits the Electras and the Litter and issuing those recordings on his own imprints.
Although the single itself proved unremarkable, it gave Warren Kendrick his first foothold in the record industry. He wrote and produced both sides with Minnetonka High School acquaintances and released the disc on his newly formed Scotty label. For the balance of the decade he remained active as a regional producer and songwriter, most prominently overseeing garage outfits the Electras and the Litter and issuing those recordings on his own imprints.