Wayne Barrie

History:

Wayne Barrie was a multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer from Pennsylvania (probably Philadelphia). Barrie is known mainly for two involvements. Firstly, he invented several instruments, including the electric harmonica and the electric accordion. The electric accordion was extremely popular in Pennsylvania and in polka music as a whole. Barrie played his own invented instruments as well as drums. Secondly, Barrie is credited with co-writing the rock and roll standard “Jukebox Cannonball '' with Rusty Keefer. The song became Bill Haley’s (another Pennsylvanian) first hit single. Barrie owned, operated, and was the chief engineer at PANaramic in North Wales, PA.

Barrie mainly performed as a solo act in the polka scene however he was known to experiment drastically with his style. His first recording, the album “Yes Virginia… There Is A Wayne Barrie”, was released in 1965. Backed by Howie Fischer on bass and his son Wayne Mark on drums, Barrie performed a wide variety of music. The accompanying single “The Sugar Blues / Froogie Woogie” features an insanely raw borderline hillbilly / rockabilly A-Side and a bluesy country flip. Both songs were lifted from the aforementioned album. 

Wayne Barrie didn’t release any other recordings after this period, however, an acetate was discovered in Telford, Pennsylvania that featured “Wayne Barrie And His Transistor Accordion And Harmonica” on one side and “Linda Kinsey And The Accordion Orchestra” on the flip. It’s unclear what the acetate’s purpose was but it was certainly in possession of Kinsey and not Barrie, as specific instructions for her are written on it. Barrie’s side features five jams totaling 15 minutes of him on electric accordion (which, by this period, sounded like an organ) and harmonica with a drum machine lurking in the background. This time, Barrie mainly plays jazzy / exotica lounge music instead of his normal polkas.

Review:

Yes Virginia... There Is A Wayne Barrie (1965, PANaramic)

Rating: 1/10

I have not listened to the full album but this is an assumed score. His single that I own is so peculiar and odd I don't even know how to describe it. Listen to the clips on YouTube it's truly out there.

Acetate (197?, AudioDisc)

Rating: 4/10

Much more tolerable. These jams Barrie put together aren’t too bad. Odd “real people” stuff.  Track 4 is really neat and would drive lounge / real people fans insane. Track 3 has some intriguing harmonica work.