The Electric Eels (stylized in lowercase in honor of E. E. Cummings) were an American rock band active between 1972 and 1975, formed by John D Morton in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Electric Eels played only five public shows, but during their brief existence they earned a reputation locally for being angry, confrontational and violent. They were notorious for starting fights with audiences which drew police attention; members were also abusive to each other off-stage. Their style was a discordant, noisy amalgam of hard garage rock and free jazz. Stiv Bators, the singer of The Dead Boys, was particularly influenced by the vocal styling and stage presence of Dave "E" McManus. While the Eels didn't play many shows, they rehearsed often, eventually making many recordings which were released many years after their demise.
Background
Along with Morton (guitar), other original members were Dave "E" McManus (vocals, clarinet) and Brian McMahon (guitar; not to be confused with Slint member), all ex-pupils of Lakewood High School, Lakewood, Ohio. The three had been to see a Captain Beefheart gig and been unimpressed enough by the support band (Youngstown's Left End) to decide that they could do better themselves. Unlike other rock groups of the era, Morton had also been influenced by free jazz: "I remember listening to free jazz, Ornette Coleman... we listened to John Cage, and Sun Ra and Ayler. That's what [the Eels] was supposed to be [but] we didn't really understand it."