Yes, on tuesday, June 13, 1978, voodoo rockabilly avatars The Cramps (in their greatest line-up, Lux Interior and Poison Ivy backed by Nick Knox and Byron Gregory) rolled into the recreation room of Californiaโs Napa State Mental Hospital, to play for the residents. Donโt ask how this was ever allowed. Just give thanks someone had a camera.
Captured in black and white on rudimentary home video equipment, the 20 minutes of footage here?for 25 years a bootleg (un)holy grail?ranks alongside musicโs most sacred artifacts, up there with Johnny Cashโs prison shows, James Brownโs Apollo stands, Dylanโs electric storms of โ66.
โSomebody told me you people are crazy,โ says Lux, setting the tone while โThe Way I Walkโ fires up. โBut Iโm not sure about that.โ As assembled patients, stirred by the sound, begin to shimmy, invade the stage, steal the mic, scream their souls out and try to escape, you might wonder how politically correct this is. But notice how the band treat this audience: exactly the same way they treat every other audience. The wildest night. The band may have sounded (fractionally) better on occasion, but theyโve never been so completelyโฆ cramped. The very stuff, people, of legend.