When I found out that Bryan Gregory, the one-time guitar of the Cramps, was buried just 20 minutes away, I hoped in my car a headed over to Rose Hills in Whitter, Ca. Also, the final resting place of Eric “Eazy-E” Wright, more on that later.

For those not in the know, Mr. Gregory could coax wild noise from his polka-dot flying-v. Said Flying-V was always festooned with several cigarettes in the strings. He was like some kind of ultra-distorted Kieth Richards from a seedy corner of outer space.

While I did manage to see The Cramps play several times before Lux’s death, I never got the chance to see them with Bryan on guitar and his sister Pam Balam on drums. Super RAW! I’m sure Google can tell you more than I can.

Bryan Gregory's grave in California

The illustration between the dates is from a tattoo that he shared with his sister. They referred to each other as “little wing”.

Dig the crazy feedback fuzz backing this guy throws down for Ivy. It is good enough to make you SICK!

And… while I was at Rose Hills I figured I better go pay my respects to eazy- E, too. Growing up in Long Beach I certainly spent a lot of time listening to him and NWA.