Larry Tamblyn, original vocalist for the Standells, passes away at age 82
and Sally Triplett. His brother Russell “Russ” Tamblyn would follow in their father’s footsteps to even greater heights, earning an Oscar nomination for his role as Riff in West Side Story and appearing later on Twin Peaks.
Larry Tamblyn was also creative from the jump, but he veered into music, forming the proto-punk garage rock group the Standells with drummer Tony Valentino, bass guitarist Jody Rich, and drummer Benny King in 1962. Tamblyn claimed in an interview with Gary James that with their matching, floppy haircuts and rough-around-the-edges style, the band was billed early on as “America’s answer to the Beatles.”
Rich and King departed the band after only a couple of years, and in 1964 they added Dick Dodd, a drummer who sang lead vocals on the hit that would define the band in perpetuity, 1966’s “Dirty Water.” Though the snarling, blues-inflected track would seal the band’s place in rock n’ roll history (“Dirty Water” is still played to this day whenever the Boston Red Sox win a home game, thanks to the lyric, “Boston you’re my home”), the band was already a huge success by the time of its release.
Tamblyn and his bandmates provided music for and appeared in several B movies and exploitation films of the era, including Get Yourself a College Girl and the notorious Riot on Sunset Strip, which features the band playing the title song in a raucous underground club.
Several members of the Standells reformed in the 1980s as the Fleshtones, and Tamblyn, Dodd, and Valentino would get the band back together every now and then for a mini tour or benefit concert in the years that followed. Dodd died of cancer in 2013, three months after the band released its last album, Bump, its first since 1967’s Try It. Tamblyn released the memoir From Squeaky Clean to Dirty Water: My Life with the Sixties Garage Rock Trailblazers the Standells in 2023, and was inducted that same year into the California Music Hall of Fame by his brother Russ.
Larry Tamblyn’s niece, the actress Amber Tamblyn, shared her reaction to her uncle’s passing in a story posted to her Instagram account on Sunday. “Thank you everyone for their condolences to our family during this difficult time,” she wrote. “I’m hoping to write a tribute to my uncle very soon. He was a brilliant songwriter and I loved him very much.”
In 2011, gearing up for their comeback album and accompanying tour, Larry Tamblyn reflected on the enduring popularity of the music he made nearly five decades previously: “It goes to show you that music is timeless, it appeals to all ages, all genders, nationalities, political parties…. I am absolutely thrilled with the interest we’re receiving from new generations of garage/punk aficionados. Back in the ’60s I never would have dreamed that our sound would live on like it has.”