Davie Allan

by Richie UnterbergerProviding the soundtrack to numerous biker and teen exploitation movies in the mid- and late 60s, Davie Allan & the Arrows bridged the surf and psychedelic eras. Their driving, basic instrumentals featured loads and loads of fuzz guitar, as well as generous dollops of tremolo bar waggling and wah-wah. The guitarist and his band first made their mark with the minor hit Apache 65, a version of the Shadows/Jorgen Ingmanns instrumental classic Apache. Hooking up with notorious exploitation movie producer Mike Curb, the Arrows provided the soundtracks to numerous B-movies on the Tower and Sidewalk labels; their greatest success, Blues Theme (from The Wild Angels starring Peter Fonda), made the Top 40 in 1967. Curb abandoned racy movies for the Osmonds and purged MGM Records of their psychedelic acts, but the Arrows continued to play and record for various labels during the 80s and 90s. A slew of reissues during the new millennium broadened the groups appeal, and they returned in 2003 with Restless in L.A.