Terry Lee and the Poor Boys - Driftin' (single)

The Poor Boys were the band that backed little known Minnesota rockabilly singer Terry Lee, whose real name was Bob Becker. Their entire recorded output appears to be four tracks for the Minneapolis label Soma in 1959. Only two of the tracks were issued at the time, with the other two turning up on a Norton Records EP in 1994.

Driftin' was the group's lone instrumental, providing the "B" side of the vocal single My Little Sue. Driftin' was written by the group's lead guitarist Dave Pederson.

Driftin'



Driftin' has made half a dozen appearances on so-called "white label" (polite term for bootleg) CDs, including this collection, issued by Collector Records of The Netherlands in 1995.

Minnesota Rockers is also available as a download from iTunes and other sources. Driftin' also turns up on a massive 123-song download compilation called The Birth of Surf, Vol. 2, although the tune seems to me to be pretty far removed from the surf music that would emerge a couple of years down the road.

It's important to note that all the recordings of Driftin' are sourced from vinyl, as the master recordings likely disappeared long ago.