I Can Hear the Ants Dancin--a 19 song CD exclusively on Bona Fide!

Back around 1981 I finally got to meet George Brigman after enjoying his Jungle Rot LP for a couple years. He played me the tunes on I Can Hear the Ants Dancin and I was completley captivated by the wall of screaming molten fuzz coming from dueling guitars psychotically jamming and alternately soothing and flowing. The basement sound of his now classic debut was replaced by a sharp sonic barrage with pumpin fat bass and rock solid drumming. The choatic jams were offset with flat-out rockers like "Vacation" and "Blowin Smoke" as well as slower tunes with a strange psychedelic aura. At that time George wasn't doing anything musically, as the last lineup of Split came to an abrupt end with the death of his bassist, Mitchell Myers. I told George this music was way too good to keep to himself!

Together we released these tracks on a 9 song cassette release in 1982. We got great writeups in Musician, the Inner Mystique, and Hans Klitsch's great Gorilla Beat to name a few and George was on his way to cult stardom. Eventually, in 1995 Or Records in Indiana reissued the cassette on a small vinyl run due to the demand for the music. Now Bona Fide Records is really proud to release the entire Ants Dancin' sessions on one CD for the first time ever. You can hear in gloriously remastered sound how George can make his guitar sound like nothin you ever heard before in the title track, "I Can Hear the Ants Dancin" and the previously unreleased jam "And Then Came the Rains" shows what his band can do as well. Fans of George's growled vocals have the burning riff-laden "Blowin Smoke" and "Vacation" to sink their teeth into!

This expanded edition of Ants has 14 minutes of previously unavailable materials as well as a few strays from the Human Scrawl Vagabond LP from 86, including the haunting ballad "Lazy Eyes". Full color photos of Split are published for the first time ever and the clear tray has a swell pic of George's many stomp boxes. The LP's story is told in a bit more detail too, but what remains the main drawing card is the incredible music and playing of George Brigman who created his own down and dirty psychedelic blues reflecting his own personal odyssey stretching out into territory where few musicians have ever ventured. His musical heros, Captain Beefheart and the British band the Groundhogs, were certainly influences in creating Brigman's stew of voodoo blues, jazz, and psychedelia, but the end result is something that George can call his own.

I Can Hear the Ants Dancin' expands on the foundation laid by George with Jungle Rot in a way that demonstrates that his first LP was no fluke, but only the beginning. George's career has had quite a few bumps, mostly caused by the uncompromising nature of his music and unstable lineups; however, his two new CDs finally give the world a chance to hear what the collectors have been raving about for years! Check out more on these two great CDs by going to George Brigman's site!

Jungle Rot: Underground Garage's Finest Hour?

OK, That might be a little hyperbole, but what is for sure is George Brigman's 1st LP was self produced and released by an 18 year old who had only been playing guitar for a little over a year! Its primitive, yet complex, murky blend of psychedelia and the blues has acquired somewhat legendary stature in the 30 years since its initial release. Far from being your basic fuzz garage 3 chord stomper, it's filled with finely crafted gems of desperation, hallucination and determination. A lone voice crying out from the urban wasteland in songs that can be both harsh and beautiful, George Brigman drives his bleak imagery home with some mean guitar and a backwoods growl. Had George only ever recorded the screaming lust filled rocker "Jungle Rot", his reputation would be secure; however, he follows that rave-up with a distorted sea of swirling guitars in the hallucinatory "DMT" and then follows that up with the snarling proto-punk of "Dont Bother Me"!
Then just when you think you got him pegged, he follows with the slow burn of "Schoolgirl", a magical free-flowing ballad about an unattainable love. Clearly there is a reason why this LP has remained highly sought after and originals exhange hands for lofty prices. The low down psychedelic blues vibe is really like no other. The passage of time has only cemented the LPs reputation and its no wonder that LP but was the genesis of quite a talent who would continue on his own musical odyssey and lay down even more smokin tracks at the years went on. I'll fill you in on the incredible "I Can Hear the Ants Dancin'" CD in a future post.
For now, thats all. Thanks for the kind words and encouragement, and one BIG thanks to the fine folk at the Ebay Vero and the Amazon Alliance teams who booted 7 listings just this week of the Bootleg Brigman CDs on Radioactive Records and Synton. Again, no Brigman product from overseas is legal! Look for the quality trademarks of Bona Fide and Anopheles and you cant go wrong!

Welcome to the Bona Fide Records Blog

Hi Folks! Greetings from York County, PA, home to our humble little label with the big sound, Bona Fide Records--real rock n roll for real people and no more bullshit! I like that--no more bullshit! We are artist dedicated and music driven, no holds barred rock n roll for those who want to dig a little deeper into the primordial ooze. Loud, dirty, raunchy and just plain fun is what we are after. We are the only authorized outlet for George Brigman CDS. Both his classic Jungle Rot LP from 1975 and I Can Hear the Ants Dancin are now available in expanded editions on Bona Fide. So if you like loud heavy psychedelic guitar, pounding, screamin rock, soaring ballads, and jazzy jams, look no further. George's unique sound has won him fans worldwide! Too many apparently as unscrupulous Europeans at Radioactive Records in the UK and Synton in Austria bootlegged his classic Jungle Rot. Please avoid these inferior boots and support the artist--not those who rip him off! Both the boots have been "withdrawn", but they are still out there selling the bogus ones. Only the Bona Fide CDs and the Anopheles vinyl are the real thing. Accept no substitutes! Please feel free to check out our website for more info here

Spread the word...Bona Fide is back! This January we will be releasing one helluva punk rock CD the complete studio recordings of the Left--20 songs--both It's the World and the Last Train to Hagerstown EPs plus 4 unreleased cuts--55 minutes of pure high energy rock including a shredding version of the Stooges' TV Eye! Check back for more info and we will be posting some mp3's too. We are also working on an expanded CD reissue of our 80s psychedelic garage comp The Train to Disaster for early next year as well as George Brigman's first all new LP in 20 years, Rags in Skull! Stay tuned for more.


For those in the nearby area, come on down to murph's other bar in York on Friday night December 9th to hear our pals the great hillbilly punks Waitin on a Train play along with the hardrockin Horsecop. Fans of the Stanleys, Louvins and the Holy Modal Rounders be there or be square!