Arlie Neaville aka Dean Carter is responsible for some of the wildest sounds to come out of downstate Illinois (or anywhere else for that matter) in the mid-1960's.
Neaville, originally from Champaign, gravitated east to Danville, Illinois in the early 60's where he surrounded himself with a gang of talented, like-minded musicians. One of those people was drummer Richard "Kookie" Cook.
Cook, a member of Neaville's backing band - The Lucky Ones, was also part of the unofficial house band at Arlie Miller's Midnite Sound recording studio located on the outskirts of Danville.
It was there that Miller, Neaville and Cook, along with a handful of other area musicians, recorded dozens of late night sessions, experimenting and honing their unique sound.
Cook, however, was not strictly a session man. Kookie was also a bandleader and a singer that released at least two singles under his own name. In addition, Cook wrote and recorded several incredible songs that went unreleased at the time but eventually saw the light of day.
Other members of Kookie's band (according to the above promo photo) included Karl Reed, Mark James, Johnnie Dee and Dave Diamond.
Cook's first single, released as Kookie and Satalites, was a cover of the Duane Eddy instrumental "Rebel Walk" backed with "Boy Meets Girl," an original song penned by Neaville and Miller. The two Arlies also produced the record which was released on the Chicago label GMA in 1964.
In the spring of 1964, Kookie recorded two more instrumentals in Chicago, again under the name the Satalites. Both songs, "Space Race" and "Space Monster," were again credited to Neaville and Miller. Both would remain unreleased for 40 years.
The next year, Miller and Neaville started their own record label in Danville, Milky Way Records. While the label only released a handful of singles, one of them was by Cook.
Listed simply as Kookie on the record, the single included a cover of Roy Orbison's "Ooby Doody" with the original "You Took Her Love" on the flip side. The song was credited to Miller, Neaville and Cook.
The single was reviewed in the November 13, 1965 issue of Cash Box. Both songs received a grade of B, with "Ooby Dooby" labelled a "lite tuned reading of the Roy Orbison oldie," while "You Took Her Love" was described simply as "mournful lost love."
Nothing in Kookie's official releases however can adequately prepare the listener for the songs that Cook recorded but never released.
In 2004, Ace subsidiary Big Beat Records released The Midnite Sound of the Milky Way. Researched and compiled by Alec Palao, the collection gathered a number of unissued songs recorded at Arlie Miller's studio, including several tracks by Kookie.
The liner notes do not provide specific dates for Kookie's unissued songs, but it appear that many were recorded in 1966 or early 1967 - sometime after "Ooby Dooby" but before the Milky Way label folded.
Several songs clearly bare a sonic resemblance to the Dean Carter releases around that same time. Kookie's pounding drums and tortured screams even match Carter's intensity and wild abandon. Prime examples include Cook originals such as "Working Man," "Revenge," "Misery," and "Don't Lie."
Just like that it was over. Soon after, for a few reasons, the Milky Way label came to a sudden demise. There is no evidence that Cook recorded ever again.
If not for the Midnite Sound of the Milky Way compilation, the far out sounds of Kookie Cook would have been completely lost and forgotten.
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The last single released on the Milky Way label was Dean Carter's mind-blowing take on "Jailhouse Rock." For more about "one of the most otherworldly rockabilly singles ever made" see Plastic Crimewave's recent edition of The Secret History of Chicago Music.
In addition to Midnite Sound of the Milky Way, please be sure to check out Big Beat's other compilation, Dean Carter - Call of the Wild!