Virgil

The Swinging Hayriders – the Walls Keep Talkin’

swinginghayridersVintjarn records – VIN027 – 2014
Heart Attacks / Eatin’ Right Out Of Your Hand / You Better Wake Up Babe! / Great Big Needle / Skylark / (Don’t Roll Those) Bloodshot Eyes / Fan It / Cowboy Stomp / Cow Cow Boogie / Bring It On Down To My House Honey / Welcome Mat / Blue Skies / Sick, Sober And Sorry / I’ve Taken All I’m Gonna Take From You / The Walls Keep Talkin’

The Swinging Hayriders are a six-piece band from Sweden. The line up consists of Maria Stille on vocals, Peter Anderson on steel, Mats Bengtsson on piano and accordion, Johan Ek on guitar, Ulrik Jannson on double bass and Patrick Malmros on drums.
As Dave “Pappy” Stuckey puts it in his laudatory liner notes, Maria’s voice brings to mind other belles of the West like Carolina Cotton or laura Lee McBride. The bad is equally good providing solid and inventive musicianship with tight arrangements with twin guitars (Anderson shows he assimilated the styles of the great masters of the instruments, old or new like Jeremy Wakefield) and, last but not least, swing (don’t laugh, too many so called western swing band are just rockabilly band with steel and fiddle). Recorded by the magic fingers and ears of Axel Praefcke and Ike Stoye at Lightning Recorders in Berlin, the sound is top notch.
If, old grumpy that I am, would really try to find a flaw to this album, it would be the lack of original material. Their set consists of well-know classic from Hank Penny, Bob Wills, Spade Cooley, the Light Crust Doughboys as well as a couple of jazz standarts thrown in like in the good old days (Blue Sky, Skylark). But it remains a minor flaw compared to the excitment this record gives.
Last thing: it comes in a superb digipack designed by Chris Wilkinson of the Zazou Cowboys.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Nikki Hill – Here’s Nikki Hill

heresnikkihillDeep Fryed Records – 2013
Ask Yourself  – Her Destination  – I’ve Got A  – Right On The Brink  – Gotta Find My Baby  – I Know  – Don’t Cry Anymore  – Strapped To The Beat  – Who Were You Thinking Of  – Hymn For Hard Luck

When you listen to Nikki Hill’s debut album, there are a whole lot of references that literally jump to your face and ears. The names of Ike & Tina  Turner, Barbara Lynn, Dinah Washington, Barbara George, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Carl Perkins come to mind. But Nikki Hill (I mean the band Nikki Hill) is more than the sum of their influences. In fact one can describe them with just one little single word. A word too often used to describe any kind of musician with a guitar that it had almost lost its meaning. This word is Rock’n’roll. Nikki Hill is one hell of a rock’n’roll singer and like Little Richard one of her most obvious influence (as proved by the cover and the title) she takes no prisoners. When she rocks, she’s like a storm and when she croons she puts all her soul and aims straight at your heart.
Matt Hill, Nikki’s husband plays sharp guitar breaks that come like a second voice but also deliver a solid groove helped by Ed Strohsahl on bass and John Meyer on drums.
Pure dynamite for your ears.

www.nikkihillmusic.com

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Howlin’ Hound Dogs (the)

Howlin' Hound DOgs - cat by the tail
Howlin’ Hound DOgs – cat by the tail

The Howlin’ Hound Dogs – Cat by the Tail

Self Released
Cat By The Tail – Behave Be Quiet Or Begone – Take & Give – Stranger Than Fiction – Thinking’s Man Woman – Bottle To The Baby – Broken Heart – Gonna Be Better Times – Hungry For Your Lovin – My Baby Walks All Over Me – Gonna Love My Baby – Servant Of Love – Give My Love To Rose – Slip Slip Slippin In
“Cat by the tail” was the second album from this Montreal based band. The first one is now out of print, hope it’ll be re-released some day. What you’ll find here is classic rockabilly, or authentic if you prefer, that wouldn’t be out of place in the Sun catalog (despite the cover art and its Elvis / RCA graphism). One original (the excellent Cat By The Tail) and 13 covers, but played with so much personnality they make this songs their own. Even well known songs like “Slip Slip Slippin’ In” or “Give My Love To Rose” sound fresh.The reason is the musicianship of course, but mainly Noël Thibault’s voice. He has those kind of rockabilly voice I enjoy, where you can still hear the country roots in it (listen to “Behave Be Quiet Or Begone” with its falsetto). Slim Rhodes’ “Take & Give” is given a rockin’ treatment with the steel part being replaced by a Burlisonian guitar  à la “You’re Undecided”. “Broken Heart” is the occasion to salute the work of the rhythm section. The drums and the bass work perfectly together. Sometimes in rockabilly bands, especially when they have a drummer, the bassist tends to over-slap which is not necessary. This is not the case of The Howlin’ Hound Dogs. I could go on, telling you how “My Baby Walks All Over Me” is moving or how “Give My Love To Rose” almost makes you forget the Man In Black, but the best thing for you is to grab a copy now.

White Lightning

White Lightnin' promo photo - One of a batch of publicity photos taken by photographer and actor Martin Oldfield, somewhere in a warehouse in Ancoats sometime in 1981 - All rights reserved
White Lightnin’ promo photo – One of a batch of publicity photos taken by photographer and actor Martin Oldfield, somewhere in a warehouse in Ancoats sometime in 1981 – All rights reserved

A British rockabilly quartet formed by Stuart Warburton (vocals, rhythm guitar, tenor saxophone, harmonica), Paul Murphy (lead guitar/steel guitar), Phil Morris (double bass) aznd Gary Leach (drums) in the early 80’s. They had two tracks (House Of The Rising Sun and You’re Not Going Out Dressed Like That) scheduled for release by Hot Rock Records but were dropped at last minute though some test pressings exist.
They changed their name for the Rhythmaires when Big Dave Machin joined the band in late 1982 then split before reforming in late 1983/early 84 with a more jump/jive sound.
Paul Murphy later joined the Crawdads.
The album The Rhythmaires – Tenth Anniversary Album (Raucous RAUCD006) features 10 demo tracks by White Lightnin’.

Slingshots (the)

Slingshots - Feels so right
Slingshots – Feels so right

The Slingshots – Feels So Right!

Raucous Records RAUCD 040
Say When ~ Steamhammer Jones ~ Blue Eyed Country Gal ~ Ride That 95 ~ All The Time ~ The Pain Has Gone ~ Feels So Right ~ Slim’s Rag ~ Landlord Blues ~ Party On The Moon ~ Dole Cheque Thursday ~ You Can Do No Wrong ~ Drunken Blues ~ That Gal Of Mine ~ Jezebel

The Slingshots formed in the mid 80’s and were associated to the Northwood label home of Red Hot’n’Blue, Riverside Trio and the Blue Rhythm Boys and other great acts. They released two songs on Big Noise from Northwood then more or less vanished though a couple more songs later resurfaced on the Northwood Story (NV Records) in 1991. Finally, nearly twenty years later, in 1999, with a new bass player they found a new peak of creativity and they released their debut album for Raucous.
This drummerless trio plays rockabilly for the majority of songs including many originals with influences from Pat Cupp, Sun records, Carl Perkins whom they cover two songs and Meteor records.But they doesn’t limit themselves to Rockabilly and you’ll also find hillbilly bop and blues too (most notably the excellent The Pain Has Gone) with some songs featuring a fourth member on harmonica.
Though it’s not credited on the booklet I believe it’s been recorded on vintage equipment at Riverside studio by Chris Cummings of the Riverside Trio as they had songs from this album on the Riverside Rockabilly sampler.
Highly recommended!.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Frantix (the)

Antix with the Frantix
Antix with the Frantix

The Frantix – Antix With the Frantix

Rollin Records RRCD-008
Mama,Mama,Mama – Duck Run – Big Time Mama – Alligator Meat – No Lovin’ No River Blues – Mean Evil Woman – Rock Around The Town – Rock And Roll Fever – What’s Inside A Girl – Filth – She’s My Baby – Rocket Ride Bop – Stone Killer – Hep Cat – Toe Rag Stomp – Trouble With A Capital T – Never Been So Lonely

Believe it or not, the Frantix exist since 1981 but this is their first long player (though they appeared on compilation albums). The band has gone under a few line-up changes. The first two third of “Antix with…” has been recorded in 2008 and 2009 with Jerry Brill (vocals), Graham Murphy (lead guitar), Boz Boorer (rhythm guitar and sax) Roger Van Niekirk (drums) and Neil Scott (doublebass), the remaining titles were recorded in 1994 and feature Malcom Chapman (lead guitar) and Craig Shaw (rhythm guitar). You can say you’re in good company with members of the Bobshack Stompers, Carlos and the Bandidos, The Excellos, The Polecats etc.
The opening number, “Mama, Mama, Mama”, is a classic rockabilly that reminds a lot of “That’s Allright“. Then everything goes wild with “Duck Run” a Batman like instrumental written by Boorer with a dirty sound and wild screams added for good measure. And from that moment you’re on for 45 minutes of some of the finest rock’n’roll recently recorded featuring Diddley beat (“She’s My Baby” with maracas and sax), strip clubs instrumental (“Filth” with sax) and of course a majority of wild and raucous rockabilly, including a cover of the Cramps’ What’s Inside A Girl“. Talking about The Cramps, “Rocket Ride Bop” is not that far from their sound and reminds me a bit of “Rock On The Moon“. Hey, what did you expect? This band is called the Frantix not the Sweetiz or something like that. Even on mellower tunes like Jimmy Sysum’s Big Time Mama you feel the urgency in Brillo’s voice. Just plain great!
Recorded live, for some parts at Toe Rag, this is what rock’n’roll should be: raw, wild, nervous and most of all thrilling.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

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