Virgil

Deuces Wild

deuces_wildDeuces Wild – Brutal Purity

Vampirette VAMPCD106 [1989]
Just Alright ~ Diamonds At Her Feet ~ What Colour Is The Sky ~ Make That Date ~ Never Came Back ~ Decisions On Love ~ Am I Wrong ~ Look That Looks Good ~ Sweet Love From You ~ Deuces Wild ~ Blues So Bad ~ Brutal Purity ~ Radiation Ranch ~ Deuces Wild ~ City Bound
This album was first issued on Fury in 1989 and until now was only available on vinyl, so that’s a good idea from Vampirette to reissue it, especially with 3 bonus tracks. The Deuces Wild were a british neo rockabilly trio. The majority of the songs are rockers influenced by Cochran, Restless (Deuces Wilds #2) and of course Brian Setzer, the excellent and frantic “Brutal Purity” sounds like a mix of Stray Cats “Wicked Whiskey” and Restless’ “Crack Up And Fall To Pieces” (you could find worst references for a neo band) and included in the bonus tracks is a good rendition of “Radiation Ranch” from Setzer’s solo album The Knife Feels Like Justice. Pete Hague’s voice is not that far from Paul Roman (The Quakes) at places and talking about The Quakes if you dig their “Voice Of America” album, you sure wont be disappointed with the stuff contained herein. But their originality comes from the blues elements you can find on some songs (It’s Alright, Am I Wrong), close to the recordings made by The Nervous Fellas around the same period. They try to escape the clichés (and succeed) with some tunes you’re not used to find on “80’s neo rockabilly-slap bass led” albums like the jazzy blues “Blues So Bad” or the acoustic skifflebilly “Diamonds At Her Feet”. Sure this album won’t change your life, but this is a more than pleasant reissue if you dig “Gonna Ball” by The Stray Cats and that typical 80’s rockabilly sound like I do.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Deuces Wild - Johnny Rider
Deuces Wild – Johnny Rider

Deuces Wild – Johnny Rider

Raucous Records RAUC004
Completely Sweet – Cadillac Rust – Shook Shake – Out On My Own – Tear It Up – No Time For That – Johnny Rider – I’ll Be Right Here – Bitter Tears – Sugar In My Coffee – Lodi

 

 

 

 

Deuces Wild - Cadillac Rust
Deuces Wild – Cadillac Rust

Deuces Wild – Cadillac Rust

Raucous Records RAUC15
Completely Sweet – Cadillac Rust – Johnny Rider – I’ll Be Right Here

Buck Stevens

Buck Stevens - Dance Floor Favorites
Buck Stevens – Dance Floor Favorites

Buck Stevens – Dance Floor Favorites

Wild Hare Records
Baby Makin Baby – Bop and Shake – I Wont Be Your Fool – Be Bop Gal – I Tried – You Better Leave – Hot Rod Ford – Mama Said – What Do I Gotta Do – My Heart Holds a Picture of You – Read Between The Lines Laurie Loo – The Hawaian Song – Rock With My Baby – Fancy Pants – Thats Right Baby
Some records are harder to review than others. Take Buck Stevens’ latest output on Wild Hare. What can I say about it but “Excellent, go buy it NOW !”. Man, what a drag, I believe I’ll have to check my dictionnary of synonims… Seriously this record is… excellent (I told ya!). It gathers sides from his previous recordings (cd’s and ep) as well as some unissued stuff. I could tell you that you can hear the influence of Johnny Burnette and the rock’n’roll trio (Bop and Shake), Hank Williams (I Won’t Be Your Fool) and Elvis (I Tried), but it wouldn’t give you an accurate portrait of this talented guy. And most of all it would leave apart a whole side of his music: his personality. Combined with first class songwriting and the great sound we’re now used to expect from Wild Hare, it just gives you a rare and precious album.
If you like your rockabilly raw, exciting with a dash of hillbilly bop, Buck Stevens is your man.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Deke Dickerson

DekeDickerson6
Deke Dickerson

Another interview I did for my old website probably 10 years ago. It focuses mainly on the Deke’s collector side.

Do you remember the first record you bought ?
Deke Dickerson –The first records I OWNED were “hand-me-downs” from cousins.  luckily for me they were 45’s of good stuff–50’s rock & roll and country.Stuff like Bill Haley, Johnny Cash, etc.–the good stuff!What if they had been Led Zeppelin records???  Anyway, the first record I BOUGHT was “Elvis’ Greatest Hits Vol. 1” which I bought the day after Elvis died.  Some readers may think “Wow, he’s really young to have started his collecting in 1977” but some readers may think “Holy cow Deke is OLD!!!”

And the first one that really impressed you…
Deke Dickerson –Oh, Elvis impressed me…..I played that record over and over again until the grooves turned white.

Were you in a musical family?
Deke Dickerson –My grandmother was musical.  She played autoharp, guitar & harmonica and did “shape note” singing.  I have a picture of her on my website, along with my Grandpa who played guitar and my great-uncles who had anold-timey string band in the 1920’s called “the Webb Brothers.”  So yes, I guess you could say I had a musical family.

Do you remember the first time you thought “Oh man,I’m becoming mad about records, I’m a COLLECTOR!!!” (you see like Robert Crumb)
Deke Dickerson –Well….by that point it was already too late.  My dad was a collector, he was into antique cars and antique planes from the 1930’s and 1940’s.   So by the time I was 13 I was already collecting comic books and records.  I didn’t know I was a freak until too late!

Do you know the size of your collection?
Deke Dickerson –Roughly 50,000 LP’s, 20,000 45’s, 5,000 78’s and a thousand CD’s….give or take a few!?

Are you a vinyl “freak”, or the format isn’t important, it’s just the music?
IDeke Dickerson –t’s all about the music.  Unfortunately like a lot of people I bought records to get the music and now kids can get the stuff on their ipod for free by trading files over the internet!  I do love playing records, but I like playing CD’s and my ipod in the van set on “shuffle.”  I find myself playing 78’s less and less…..maybe in 10 years I won’t even like my vinyl anymore!?

Did you ever buy records just for the cover or the name of the band?
Deke Dickerson –I go to garage sales all the time over here, and I have to admit that I constantly buy weird records just because the cover brings me joy.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a monkey on the cover, or a pinup girl, or even a midget singing gospel music, I must have a thousand “weird covers” albums that I would never actually play!

Do you have a record that you are ashamed of, but you won’t sell for nothing?
Deke Dickerson –YES So ashamed of, you can’t tell what it is?Yes, that’s right, please don’t make me say it!  ha ha!!!!

What is the weirdest one you have?
Deke Dickerson –That’s a hard question…..maybe the gospel midget!?

Is there a recording you are particularly looking for? Your “Holy Grail”…
Deke Dickerson –I have a few holy grail records left.  Unfortunately about 15 years ago I traded off my copy of “Mr. Ducktail” by Uncle Buck Lipe… And the last one I saw on ebay sold for $866!!!  So that one will probably have to STAY the holy grail for a while….that being said I hope to find a record that’s rumored to exist of “eefing” by Jimmie Riddle….a full LP…..I have the single of “Yaketty Eef” b/w “Wildwood Eef”…..I’m a sick man! Is there a record that was particularly hard to getIt took me forever to get a copy of the Fendermen “mule skinner blues” album, I had to go to Minneapolis to find one!  And then in Green Bay this year I got to play with the Fendermen on “Mule Skinner Blues” and have them sign the album, so it all came full circle!

What is the one you are very proud to have, and / or the rarest one of your collection?
Deke Dickerson –I’m probably proudest of my collection of rockabilly records from Missouri (my home state).  I have almost all of them, and several are really insanely rare, like “Hep cat” by Larry Terry and “Be My Baby” by F.D. Johnson…..obscure names unless you’re a hardcore rockabilly collector!

Your last great discovery?
Deke Dickerson –The last really amazing score I had was finding the Revels “On A Rampage” album at a record store in Fresno, CA.  The Revels were from Fresno, it’s probably the only place this record ever turns up!  I had to pay some good money for it, but I could turn around and double or triple my money if I had to.

Where do you find them? Flea markets, ebay, special stores?
Deke Dickerson –Yes to all of the above!   Mostly I buy cheap records at garage sales and flea markets.  most of my collection are “listening” records as opposed to ‘collectable” records.  Many of them are in beat up condition, but I like them to listen to!

Do you find things when you’re on tour,especially in foreign countries?
Deke Dickerson –When i’m on tour in europe I always buy a big stack of records to take home.I just can’t seem to stop myself!

It’s a classic question, but what is your “desert island record”?
Deke Dickerson –Probably the one record I could listen to until the end of time would be “Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps” his second album for Capitol.

A last one, for all those who bought “Deke’s show-o-rama” and were frustrated : what is The Thing?
Deke Dickerson – I can’t tell you!You have to go there and see it yourself!!!!! That is the rule!

Miss Lauren Marie

Miss Lauren Marie

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Here’s an interview I conducted a while ago (2006 or 2007) for my previous website (jumpingfrom6to6.com) after miss lauren Marie released her debut album. Since it took place she released two more albums and moved to Europe, but I thought there was plenty of infos that shouldn’t be lost, so here it is again.
by Fred “Virgil” Turgis

 You now live in Austin, but I think you come from Cape Cod ? Is this where you grew up?
Lauren Marie I was born on Cape Cod and lived there untill I went to college. My family still lives on the Cape. I went to Art School in Beverly MA (thirty minutes north of Boston) for two years then I transfered to UMASS Boston and lived in Cambridge and Somerville for three years. Then I moved here.

Was this a good place to see live bands and find good music?
Lauren Marie The Cape doesn’t have too much in the way of Rockabilly and Rock & Roll the way we know it. Certainly no Western Swing or any sort of Roots music. It’s a weird isolated place.

What kind of stuff were you listening to in your childhood?
Lauren Marie Growing up I listened to what my Dad listened to. He’s kind of like me in the way he’ll like anything as long as it’s good. But all sorts of stuff from Blues to
Rock & Roll and later some Country. Then I got into the Punk Rock music when I got a little older. About the same time, I started listening to Elvis and Johnny Burnette when I was in middle school and all through high school. But I still listened to punk music.
Boston had a whole lot more for Rockabilly music. When I was younger, I’d go to the punk rock shows in Boston and when I went to college it seemed as if a lot of the punk crowd had turned toward rockabilly and psychobilly.

What are your earlier memories concerning music?
Lauren Marie Well my first concert at Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod was the Beach Boys. It was a really good show.

I can read in your bio that you listen to Johnny Burnette “since you’re 14”. As this is not the kind of music you can easily hear on the radio, how did you find about him?
Lauren Marie A lot of punk rock music I bought was on vinyl. I accidentally came across the Elvis Presley record first and I really liked it. So the next week I went back to that section in the record store and found a Johnny Burnette Trio record. Accidental destiny I guess. ha ha

Having experienced that situation, I suppose your schoolmates didn’t listen to that music…
Lauren Marie Not really but I hung out with the punk rock kids. A few of which liked Elvis and and bands like the Cramps and the Stray Cats.

Does any of your relatives had any influence on you to sing rockabilly and country?
Lauren Marie Nope. That was an accident too. But since I’ve started singing, my Grandma has told me she wishes she could have been a singer. And my Dad always sings the way that I used to, around the house, to himself, whatever. My older brother sang in school growing up. I never did but I sang while I did the dishes and laundry, and to myself around the house. I believe you started singing with The Two Timin’ Three, how did you meet them?
When I met Eric Laufer of the Two Timin’ Three a little over two years ago. I was at a bar and I knew who he was because I had seen him play. I started dating a friend of his. Later that summer I was at a party and he heard me sing. I was kidding around because I had had too much to drink. A week or so later he came over for dinner with Shane Kiel. Long story short, once they got me liquored up enough to sing… They said I should come sing with thier band sometime. They called me to practice and I started sitting in on thier gigs more and more. I stopped being nervous after a while. Then I got the bug and came to love singing.

Why did you move to Austin?
Lauren Marie I moved with the Two Timin’ Three. I needed a change and I wanted to be with them.

Let’s talk about your debut album. It has that late 50’s sound that gives a very distinctive sound from most of the current rockabilly albums. Is this something you worked with Billy Horton?
Lauren Marie Billy is awesome. But don’t tell him I said that! Kidding! That guy really knows what he’s doing. I gave him my input and just kinda let him do what he does. I knew I was in good hands.

How was it to work at Fort Horton, with all those talented musicians : Dave Biller, Buck Johnson, T Bonta…?
Lauren Marie Friggin Amazing! I still get a smile on my face thinking about how great they all are. I feel very lucky to work with such incredible musicians.

How did you choose the covers you play?
Lauren Marie Some times people give me suggestions, and make my cds of stuff to listen to. I come across a lot of them just listening to different things. I always have an ear out. If I find myself singing a song, I’ll usually bring it to Bobby Horton or Eric to help me work it up.

Bobby Horton and Eric Laufer (Two Timin’ Three) wrote some originals. What about you? Do you plan on writing your own songs? Did you make some attemps?
Lauren Marie I try but I’m not very good at it yet. I realize it takes practice so I’m not discouraged. I’m learning to play guitar so that helps a whole lot. Hopefully on my next album, I’ll be able to do more than sing. ha ha

As a fan of Janis Martin, have you ever met her or played with her?
Lauren Marie I met her in Green Bay last year but I was so star struck I could hardly breath or talk. I cried I was so happy. Eric dragged me by the arm and said, “Janis Martin! This girl loves you!” It was really funny. I have my picture with her.

Do you want to add something?
Lauren Marie I’m happy that people have really seemed to like what I’m trying to do and and I’m so thankful for it.
Did I say thanks? Well, THANKS 😉

Thanks to you…

‘That Someone Just Ain’t You’

written by Brian Setzer

This song dates from the 90’s. It was planned to be recorded for “Let’s Go Faster” and went as far as the demo version (one can hear it on the bootleg album featuring those demos) but didn’t make it on the album.
It was only performed once by the Stray Cats in Sao-Paulo in 1990.
Years later, it resurfaced on Brian Setzer’s solo album “Nitro Burnin’ Funny Daddy”.

V/A Rock With It – Rockin’ With The Rhythm & Blues

Rock with itVol. 2
El Toro R&B 108 [2009]
Rock And Roll – Manhattan Paul / Rock ‘Em And Roll ‘Em – Jessie Mae Roberson / Rock Little Daddy – Eunice Davis / Rock! Rock! Rock! – Willis “Gatortail” Jackson / I Want To Rock – Little Miss Sharecropper / We’re Gonna Roll – Shorty Muggins / Roll, Roll, Roll – Jimmy Preston / Gonna Rock This Mornin’ – Doles Dickens Quintet / I’m Gonna Rock ‘Til My Rocker Breaks Down – Connie Jordan / Rock Savoy Rock – Andrew Tibbs / Rock Me Baby – Johnny Otis / Rock The Bottle – Earl Forest / Rollin’ The Blues – Joe Thomas / Rockin’ The Blues Away – Tiny Grimes / Rock This House – Lowell Fulson / Rock With It – Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers / I’m Your Rockin’ Man – Herman Manzy / Rockin’ Rhythm – Pee Wee Barnum / Baby Rock Me – Pat Valdelar / Let’s Rock! – Goree Carter / Rock With Me Mamma – Buddy Tate / My Kind Of Rockin’ – Rene Hall / Rockin’ Boogie – Joe Lutcher / Rock That Voot – Nelson Alexander / Rock Bertha Rock – Big Bertha Henderson / How About Rockin’ With Me? – Piney Brown / We’re Gonna Rock This Joint – Jackson Brothers / Rockin’ With Fes’ – Roy “Baldhead” Byrd
Fantastic compilation that gathers 28 tracks, all about rockin’ and rollin by small jump combos. What you’ll find here are the seeds of the rock’n’roll revolution. As you can expect it’s full of blues shouter, juicy saxes, boogie woogie pianos and hot guitar riffs. From the mysterious Manhattan Paul to the internationnally renowned Sammy Davis they all played rock’n’roll before someone had the idea to put a name on this music. It comes with a very instructive booklet.

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