George W. Husak (MP3's)

 My story begins well over 25 years ago, back to the day when I heard Dr. Demento play an excerpt of a 45 called "I'm Surfing" by George W. Husak. This was during an segment on some of the worst records in his collection. I was intrigued, and was quite glad when, several years later, the good doctor played the record in its entirety, prefacing it with the following (edited) comments:

"If you asked me, 'what is the worst musical performance that was ever actually released on a 45…a record that somebody actually expected somebody to go out and buy‘, this might well be my choice. It’s from some time in the early to mid ‘60’s, and it came out on a label based in San Francisco. The perpetrator of this truly incredible performance is one George W. Husak."

Here is that record, from that episode of the show. It unfortunately contains a couple of turkey sound effects, which were being employed that week, in honor of "Musical Turkeys". I do have a clean version of it somewhere, but have been unable to track it down.

1.) George W. Husak - I’m Surfing - 45 version (MP3)

For the last two decades, I've been looking for a copy of this record, a search that was helped, in recent years, by correspondence with Dr. Demento, to whom I am eternally grateful (not just for his help, but for 35 years of radio entertainment). Earlier this year, my searching paid off, to a degree I never would have hoped for. I found an ALBUM by George Husak, in which he shares billing with his brother Anton (curiously, despite the shared credit and shared cover pictures, it's titled "George's Album", anyway).

The album contains twelve songs, three written by George, four by Anton, and five covers, including songs by Hank Williams and Bob Wills. There's even a version of "I'm Surfing", different than the one on the 45 I'd been tracking down all these years. It's not as completely unhinged and radically bad as the 45, but it does feature - like most of the tracks on the album - a barely competent guitarist who is way too overly fond of descending scale riffs, and basically uninspired vocal and instrumental performances all around. 

The notes on the back of the album are sort of vague about who is singing when, but I am sure that Anton is the performer on tracks seven and eight, based on the text on the front cover. I've identified George as the singer on the rest of the tracks, but could easily be wrong. I will say this: the most amazing moment - nothing short of astonishing, in my opinion, comes during a crucial spot in one of the two songs I've identified as featuring a vocal from Anton. I'll let you discover the song and the moment on your own - to describe it would be to ruin it.

But I also find this entire album amazing, and a very rewarding end to a search of more than 20 years.

Bob

2.) George Husak - Golden Gate Love (MP3)
3.) George Husak - Heartbreak and Teardrops (MP3)
4.) George Husak - Call Me On the Telephone (MP3)
5.) George Husak - The Last Letter (MP3)
6.) George Husak - San Antonio Rose (MP3)
7.) George Husak - Mother, The Queen of My Heart (MP3)
8.) Anton Husak - I Walk the Floor Each Night (MP3)
9.) Anton Husak - Let’s Have a Look at the Bottle (MP3)
10.) George Husak - I’m Surfing (MP3)
11.) George Husak - Cold, Cold Heart (MP3)
12.) George Husak - I’m Sorry If That’s the Way You Feel (MP3)
13.) George Husak - Indianola (MP3)
Front Cover (JPG)
Back Cover (JPG)

Comments

[illlich]

You should probably check out the LP made by famous Country&Western tailor/designer "Nudie" called "Nudie and His Mandolin", not as bad as this, but only because he convinced Nashville veterans to back him up.

[Pluto of Pluto]

Deliciously awful!

[We Willy]

It wasn't just Anton. The brothers Husak seemed to share a flair for the dramatic ending as evidenced by the sudden and gratuitous appearance of sharks at the end of "I'm Surfing". The denouement of Anton's "Indianola"(sung by George) also took us by surprise, for while we fully expected that our cowboy hero would return to Indianola to find his sweetie swept off her feet we were unprepared for the who and how. This of course may say as much about our deficiency of climatic lore as it does about our weakness for climactic gore. BTW, we think that the 45 version of "I'm Surfing" is wholly deserving of the honour bestowed upon it by Dr. Demento.

[Bruce]

Ole Anton should have done it before recorded that
bloody awful bit of #&@%

[Jeremy]

Well I did think that Hugh Volk's "Mass Medium" was the worst LP ever recorded...actually I still do but this comes a very close second. If I ever get round to ripping it and putting it online I'll pass it round like a joint of the worst shit you ever smoked

[Dale]

This is worse than the Shaggs how?

[Colin The Culture Hunter]

Cold Cold Heart ? Another sonic bat in the face

Stunning collection you have there Bob- I cant compete with this sort of quality as much as I'd like to.

[Richard]

This is really special. Thanks for posting!

[opiniona are like]

Shaggs bad? Not now, not ever.

[Ben Century]

Almost as bad as the band "The Thrown Ups"

[mrjyn]

shit man, that's what i was lookin' for. thought i'd found an mp3 of nudie and his mando. i've got the lp but no way to burn it.

[David]

Here a link to an excerpt from a Dr. Demonto show in 1985. Then it was featured in a World's Worst Records show. "I'm Surfing" from what he says is an "unreleased tape". I'm guessing this was the demo :)

It's REALLY bad!

http://dhpbear.com/mp3s/George%20W%20Husak%20-%20Im%20Surfing%20%28unreleased%20tape,%20part%29.mp3

[Reinier Post]

I think this is a great song, with a great singer and good guitar playing; the guitar is a little out of tune, but only the bass is completely off (playing the wrong chords).