The track originally appeared on Freakout U.S.A., a compilation LP released in 1967 by Sidewalk Records (catalog number T-5901), a subsidiary of Capitol Records that specialized in youth-oriented, psychedelic, and B-movie soundtrack material. Sidewalk was founded by Mike Curb, a prolific producer and songwriter who would later become Lieutenant Governor of California. In the 1960s, Curb was known for assembling studio-only bands that performed under a variety of monikers. These acts—The Arrows, The American Revolution, The 13th Power, and Max Frost & The Troopers—often shared overlapping personnel and were created to populate the soundtracks of American International Pictures (AIP) films such as Riot on Sunset Strip and Wild in the Streets.
Mom’s Boys, by all surviving indications, appear to have been one such project. Their inclusion on Freakout U.S.A. is not the only instance of their name appearing in this milieu. On the Riot on Sunset Strip soundtrack, released earlier that same year by Tower Records (T-5065), Mom’s Boys are credited with the track “Children of the Night”. This reinforces the idea that they were not an autonomous performing group, but rather a studio invention engineered to fill out Sidewalk and Tower’s soundtrack rosters. The presence of their music in both Sidewalk and Tower releases—labels closely tied to Curb and AIP—strengthens the assumption that Mom’s Boys functioned as a pseudonym for a group of recurring session players.
Among the names frequently associated with these anonymous session acts is Paul Wibier, a vocalist and songwriter who fronted The 13th Power and contributed to a number of Sidewalk-affiliated releases. Wibier is best known for his work on the Wild in the Streets soundtrack, where he provided the vocals for Max Frost & The Troopers—a fictional band created for the 1968 AIP film of the same name. Tracks like “Shape of Things to Come” and “Fifty Two Percent” were credited to the Troopers, but scholars and collectors agree that Wibier’s voice is unmistakably present. While no definitive documentation links him to Mom’s Boys, the vocal tone and phrasing on Up and Down bear a striking resemblance to Wibier’s performances on Sidewalk material, leading many to speculate that he may have fronted the track under yet another alias.
The recording itself is quintessential garage-psych. The song opens with a moody Hammond organ line that lays a menacing foundation before the vocals enter. Lyrically, it is a narrative of emotional disorientation, captured in lines such as “I’m sittin’ here all alone… that I feel so good inside,” and “I said I’m up and I’m down and I can’t keep my feet on the ground.” Musically, the song builds in intensity, culminating in a searing fuzz guitar solo that cuts through the mix with a rawness typical of Los Angeles garage bands like The Music Machine or The Seeds. At just 2:04 in length, the track delivers a concise but potent burst of psychedelia.
No known physical single of Up and Down was ever released under the Mom’s Boys name. The track survives solely through its inclusion on Freakout U.S.A. and later compilation albums such as Pebbles Vol. 9: Southern California 2, part of the influential Pebbles series curated by Greg Shaw’s Bomp! Records in the late 1970s and 1980s. These compilations played a crucial role in reviving interest in obscure 1960s garage bands, many of whom had released only one or two 45s. However, Mom’s Boys stood out in their absence of any known standalone release or biographical information.
Sources:
- https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/tower-sidewalk-soundtrack-lps.44120/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidewalk_Records
- https://www.discogs.com/release/3836216-Various-Freakout-USA
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/446959-The-13th-Power
- https://vinylstories.ca/various-artists-wild-in-the-streets-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-1968/
- https://monocledalchemist.com/2024/05/17/obscure-1960s-garage-and-psych/
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/1345223-Moms-Boys
- https://www.discogs.com/master/569206-Various-Freakout-USA
- https://monocledalchemist.com/2024/05/19/exploring-1960s-garage-and-psychedelic-singles/
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