NEVER-BEFORE-RELEASED ALEX CHILTON-PRODUCED 1977 ALBUM,
‘GRAVEST GRAVY’, OUT TODAY ON VENGEANCE RECORDS
AVAILABLE ON MULTIPLE COLORED VINYL & CD
THE CRAMPS INC., A NEW COMPANY RELEASING CRAMPS RARITIES
PLUS OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE
Photo: GODLIS
The Cramps Inc. is the artist formerly known as Poison Ivy Rorschach, Larry Hardy, owner and operator of In The Red Records, and Jimmy Maslon, a film producer responsible for some of the Cramps music videos, and owner of the Herschel Gordon Lewis and Doris Wishman film catalogs. Both have deep ties to Lux and Ivy, forged over decades. Ivy is the major beneficiary, Larry and Jimmy are handling all the logistics. The company has restarted The Cramps’ label Vengeance Records, created official merchandise, and ventured into the vaults to unleash unheard recordings of this amazing band. The first archival release, the never-before-heard 1977 album, Gravest Gravy, produced by Alex Chilton, is out today.
Ian MacKaye and Henry Rollins, operating as RAM Prod. (Rollins and MacKaye), are working on behalf of The Cramps Inc., coming up with releases pulled from the Cramps audio archive, and are aligned with Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, VA and Infrasonic Sound in Nashville, TN. The two are working steadily at developing future potential releases on the recently-revived Vengeance Records.
In October 1977, the Cramps, who were at that time, Lux Interior on vocals, Poison Ivy on guitar, Bryan Gregory on guitar, and Nick Knox on drums, ventured into Ardent Studios with the extraordinarily talented musician and producer, Alex Chilton. These sessions were responsible for the first two Vengeance Records releases, both permanently disfiguring the music world in 1978.
In 1979, young British degenerates were treated to a five track 12” EP by the Cramps called Gravest Hits, which featured all four tracks released in the USA, along with another from the October 1977 sessions, a great channeling of Ricky Nelson’s hit Lonesome Town. From there, the band released their first LP, Songs The Lord Taught Us, again working with Alex Chilton, and went onward, releasing records and touring all over the world, until the sad passing of Lux in 2009.
What Cramps fans might not know was, at Ardent, the band had planned to record their song TV Set to be their first A-side, along with another track or tracks. Alex Chilton told them that he liked to have a band play every song they knew and the best of the batch would be committed to vinyl. This was fantastic advice, and luckily for us, that’s what The Cramps did. This is how Lonesome Town found its way to Gravest Hits. But, there was much more to the story...
In the late 1980s, Lux and Ivy endeavored to release more recordings from the October 1977 sessions. It was to be titled Gravest Gravy. It was a record for the fans, a journey back to Memphis, back to the first Cramps records, that, try as it might, the world has been unable to heal from. Lux and Ivy mixed several tracks between June 14th and 30th, 1989, at Present Time Recorders in North Hollywood. Alex Chilton mixed a few tracks in Memphis. The album had a title and a cover photo, shot by the late great Stephanie Chernikowski, but for reasons lost to time, Gravest Gravy was shelved. In 2026, it was apparent that this record absolutely needed to be with the fans. A team began to form and got to work to make that happen.
Photo: Stephanie Chernikowski / Design: Jon Krop
The tracks on Gravest Gravy were contained on seven 1/4 inch reels. Six were generated by Lux and Ivy, one by Alex Chilton. The tapes were carefully transferred by Brian Kehew, who was happy to report that all seven reels had withstood the test of time, and the tracks were in pristine condition. Many of the songs had multiple mixes, and it had to be clarified which ones were the keepers. Over several nights of concentrated listening, and copious notetaking, Henry was able to get an understanding of the changes made from mix to mix. Within a few nights, he determined that the last mix of each song was the keeper. Not only did the tracks sound to be at their fullest potential, it made sense.
Henry then sent the mixes and his notes to Ian MacKaye,who, days later, reported back that he agreed on all of them. Ian then volunteered to do some EQ and level adjustment on two of the tracks with Don Zientara at Inner Ear Studios..
Days later, all the tracks were at Infrasonic Sound for mastering under the careful watch of engineer Pete Lyman. The results were two six-song sides of The Cramps, extracted from a 1977 amber block, de-fossilized, and ready to be inflicted upon the ears of those who would rather Stay Sick and Turn Blue.
The Cramps Inc. team were able to locate the exact photo of Stephanie’s that Lux and Ivy had envisioned for the cover. The back cover photo was taken by the legendary David Godlis at CBGB.
This new chapter for the band is a combined effort of people whose lives were changed by the music of the Cramps.The opportunity to bring this music to fellow Cramps fans is beyond a thrill. It is an absolute honor and we all feel so fortunate to be a part of it.
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“When I first saw the Cramps at CBGB, I was overjoyed — entertained and inspired! And there was a girl in the band! It all felt so real: a fresh take on a regional American sound, updated in a way that was fun, smart, and exciting. I was screaming!” - Debbie Harry
“The first time I saw the Cramps in 1977 at CBGB I was agog at the amazing characters and unearthly sound I was witnessing. The place was packed, although they had only one 45 out, and the crowd was going absolutely nuts. I was entranced. Funny, sexy, and dangerous, I was not sure if the concert would end in an orgy or a riot. Either would do. Imagine my surprise being invited into the band a few years later. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe it ever happened. But it did! And it was a real humdinger!” - Kid Congo Powers
“The Cramps created an occult sound world that you could escape into, full of rockabilly voodoo guitar damage from Poison Ivy Rorschach, with bug eyed psychotic wailings and swampsnake utterances from Lux Interior, driven into a backwoods frenzy by the pounding of Nick Knox’s zombie death drums and Bryan Gregory’s barbed wire feral guitar scrapings. It only took me one hit of witnessing them play live in Glasgow aged 17 in 1979 opening for The Police and I’ve been hooked ever since. Stay Sick / Turn Blue.” - Bobby Gillespie
