Peakaboo & His Boys formed in the early 1950's and performed a gritty and unhinged style of rock and roll .  Details about the inception of the band are scant at best, but it is well-documented that Peakaboo was the only member of the band to sing and play an instrument, a cheap Harmony guitar fed through a small Gibson GA-5 amplifier.  The rest of the band, known lovingly as his "Boys," performed child-like peakaboo gestures combined with loosely choreographed dance routines.  Peakaboo's cantankerous nature towards journalists and promoters undoubtedly hindered the group's progress, but they developed a small and loyal following, ultimately landing an opening slot for Buddy Holly & The Crickets on a 1957 tour of the United Kingdom.  Stanley Forsythe Codine, a writer for the British music publication, Record Mirror, conducted a telephone interview with Peakaboo following the band's arrival in the UK.  Peakaboo refused to meet with him in person despite the close proximity of his hotel to Record Mirror's London office.  Many details regarding the Boys were revealed, including their names and offstage roles as members of the band's touring unit:

    Rhubarb: Peakaboo's favorite boy.  At the time of the interview, Rhubarb's had recently suffered an allergic reaction to a snake bite.  His doctor wired his jaw shut to prevent him from biting off his tongue.
 
   Leroy: Hot-plate cook.  Virtually nothing more is known about Leroy aside from his affinity for bacon grease-based giblet gravy.

    Jenkins: Designated as the band's bus driver based solely on his experience as a young man operating a wheel-loader on his father's construction sites.

    Jefferson: Technically not a "Boy" according to Peakaboo due to his penchant for white wine.  Jefferson was an accomplished pianist and, more importantly, responsible for cleaning the band's bright blue and yellow uniforms on a bi-weekly basis. Unsurprisingly, Jefferson's piano skills were never utilized by Peakaboo during live performances or on recordings. 

The band's UK tour was put in jeopardy when Codine revealed that there was a warrant issued by the Kansas City police department for the arrest of Rhubarb, who was accused of murdering an audience member with a screwdriver following a performance at the Reno Club earlier that year.  Although four dates were completed without incident, Peakaboo & His Boys failed to appear for a show in Leeds and were subsequently replaced by Buck Clayton and His Harlem Gentlemen as the opening act for the remainder of the tour.

Rhubarb, Leroy, Jefferson & Jenkins (single Version)

Let's cut the bullshit and enjoy some music.

Biography
THE ORIGINAL SANFTSPRECHER

Under duress from the USM (Unified Society of Milkmen), Joseph Daley, Blair Douglass, Paul Foreman and Nicholas Rocchio shut down their independent milk delivery service in 1929. A smattering of unsuccessful endeavors followed, until they discovered an undeniable chemistry blending finger-picked guitars with lutes and clarinets. Although initially less lucrative than the milk business, the quartet, who settled on the name Sanftsprecher (trans. “Soft Speaker”), were championed by Austria’s Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in 1932 and subsequently enjoyed a period of massive popularity in their newly-adopted home country. The band split following Dollfuss’s assassination in 1934. Their only official recording, the 78rpm single,“I’ll Tend Your Garden,” is highly sought after by record collectors. In 2008, enthusiasts of the band purchased sheet music for a number of unrecorded Sanftsprecher songs that were discovered in Rocchio’s safe deposit box in UniCredit Bankengruppe. Austria’s Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich has been recording interpretations of these songs and releasing them for the public’s listening pleasure. Separately, a ramshackle group of Chicago-based musicians has taken it upon themselves to perform and record these songs in a strikingly rudimentary manner with crude electric instruments, much to the dismay of purist fans who prefer the orchestral versions.

DOLLFUSS WRITES VORTROBOS

Prior to accepting the office of Chancellor of Austria, Englebert Dollfuss was a soldier with the Austro-Hungarian army, fighting on the Alpine Front in WWI. Although he was highly decorated and well-regarded, his time in the battlefield had a significant effect on his psyche. It did not help that his diminutive stature was the source of great amusement for his peers, who referred to him as "The Jockey." He grew insular and took to writing lengthy works of fiction, featuring eerie parallel realities inhabited by characters who were obviously based on himself. Although his writing skills were limited, the stories were detailed and engaging. These pieces of fiction inspired a large batch of songs written by Sanftsprecher between 1932 and 1933. It is believed that the members of Sanftsprecher were among a very small audience with whom Dolfuss shared the stories. The present-day Soft Speaker (Chicago) recorded a selection of these songs and has released them as this album, Vortrobos, which borrows it's title from one of Dolfuss's works. The cover art was created by Chicago-based painter, Jason Brammer, and is the artist’s interpretation of one of Dollfuss’s parallel realities.

Description
"The group mines the rich vein uncovered by the melodic adventurousness of pre-Dark Side of the Moon Pink Floyd and Neil Young's mid-'70s crunch." - Chicagoist

Rhubarb, Leroy, Jefferson & Jenkins (single Version)

SOFT SPEAKER