Songs the Lord Taught Us

Songs the Lord Taught Us
Studio album by
the Cramps
Released1980
Recorded1979–1980
StudioPhillips Recording, Memphis, Tennessee
Genre
Length37:53
Label
  • I.R.S. (original US release)
  • Illegal (original UK release)
  • Zonophone (1998 European CD reissue)
  • ViNiLiSSSiMO (2011 Spanish vinyl reissue)
ProducerAlex Chilton
The Cramps chronology
Gravest Hits
(1979) 		Songs the Lord Taught Us
(1980) 		Psychedelic Jungle
(1981)
Singles from Songs the Lord Taught Us
  1. "Garbageman"
    Released: 1980
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Christgau's Record GuideB−[4]
Pitchfork8.7/10[5]
Record Mirror[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[7]
Smash Hits7½/10[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[9]
Tom Hull – on the WebB+ ((1-star Honorable Mention))[10]

Songs the Lord Taught Us is the debut album by the American rock band the Cramps. It was released in 1980 on I.R.S. Records in America and Illegal Records in the UK. In 2020, Rolling Stone included Songs the Lord Taught Us in their "80 Greatest albums of 1980" list, praising the band for its "psychobilly sound that went way beyond the kitschiest moments of the Ramones or Blondie and into a whole new realm of garage-trash novelty".[11]

Music

Eric R. Danton of Paste Magazine called the album a "weird, funny and loud ... gleefully raw, thoroughly campy collection." He said the album contains "blaring guitars and Lux Interior's unhinged vocals on songs steeped in the twin influences of rockabilly and garish B-movie horror imagery."[12]

Track listing

Writing credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[13]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."TV Set"Poison Ivy Rorschach, Lux Interior3:12
2."Rock on the Moon" (originally performed by Jimmy Stewart)Jimmy Stewart1:53
3."Garbageman"Rorschach, Interior3:37
4."I Was a Teenage Werewolf"Rorschach, Interior3:03
5."Sunglasses After Dark" (originally performed by Dwight "Whitey" Pullen; contains an interpretation of "Ace of Spades", originally performed by Link Wray[14])Rorschach, Interior, Dwight Pullen, Link Wray3:47
6."The Mad Daddy"Rorschach, Interior3:48
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Mystery Plane"Rorschach, Interior2:43
8."Zombie Dance"Rorschach, Interior1:55
9."What's Behind the Mask"Rorschach, Interior2:05
10."Strychnine" (originally performed by the Sonics)Gerry Roslie2:24
11."I'm Cramped"Rorschach, Interior, Bryan Gregory, Nick Knox2:37
12."Tear It Up" (originally performed by Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio)Johnny Burnette, Dorsey Burnette, Paul Burlison2:32
13."Fever" (originally performed by Little Willie John)John Davenport (Otis Blackwell), Eddie Cooley4:17
Bonus tracks on 1989 compact disc reissue
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
14."I Was a Teenage Werewolf" (With False Start) (Original Mix)Rorschach, Interior4:48
15."Mystery Plane" (Original Mix)Rorschach, Interior2:39
16."Twist and Shout"Rorschach, Interior2:32
17."I'm Cramped" (Original Mix)Rorschach, Interior, Gregory, Knox2:37
18."The Mad Daddy" (Original Mix)Rorschach, Interior3:15

Personnel

The Cramps

Additional musicians

Technical

References

  1. ^ Heller, Jason (March 30, 2015). "Where to start with the primal sound of garage rock". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  2. ^ Hull, Tom (October 12, 2020). "Music Week". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Raggett, Ned. "Songs the Lord Taught Us – The Cramps". AllMusic. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  4. ^ Christgau, Robert (1990). "The Cramps: Songs the Lord Taught Us". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  5. ^ Gaca, Anna (October 25, 2020). "The Cramps: Songs the Lord Taught Us". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  6. ^ Westwood, Chris (March 8, 1980). "A Dose of the Cramps". Record Mirror. p. 12.
  7. ^ Considine, J. D. (2004). "The Cramps". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 197–98. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  8. ^ Hepworth, David (March 20 – April 2, 1980). "The Cramps: Songs the Lord Taught Us". Smash Hits. Vol. 2, no. 6. p. 31.
  9. ^ Berrett, Jesse (1995). "Cramps". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 95–96. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  10. ^ Hull, Tom (October 12, 2020). "Music Week". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  11. ^ "The 80 Greatest Albums of 1980". Rolling Stone. November 11, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  12. ^ "The 50 Best Garage Rock Albums of All Time". Paste Magazine. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
  13. ^ Songs the Lord Taught Us (CD liner notes). I.R.S. Records. 1989. CD 00007.
  14. ^ Savage, Jon (November 3, 2009). "Jon Savage on song: Link Wray plays his Ace". The Guardian. theguardian.com. Retrieved October 30, 2017. Link Wray liked the riff so much he recorded another faster version that didn't quite match the original. No matter. The Cramps were such big fans that they pinched it for their ludicrous yet scary 1978 remake of Dwight Pullen's 'Sunglasses After Dark' – helping to relaunch the Link for a new generation.


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