Virgil

Shaggs (the)

The Shaggs – Philosophy Of The World

Third Word Records (Third World 3001) [1969]
Philosophy Of The World – That Little Sports Car – Who Are Parents? – My Pal Foot Foot – My Companion – I’m So Happy When You’re Near – Things I Wonder – Sweet Thing – It’s Halloween – Why Do I Feel? – What Should I Do? – We Have A Savior

the Shaggs

I sort my records into three main categories. The good ones, the bad ones and… The Shaggs. After all those years, I still don’t know what to think about it. I even came to doubt the story that goes along with this album and sometimes believe it’s a hoax. It was supposedly recorded in 1969 by three sisters (Dorothy, Betty, and Helen Wiggins) and produced by their father. The first surprise comes with the cover. What is this? Excuse me, but are they men with wigs? But wait until the needle hits the groove or whatever you call it in those digital times.
The Wiggins sisters can’t play to save their lives! They don’t even know how to tune their instruments, and the drummer can’t keep a steady beat for more than two bars. The Shaggs play by their own rules, which makes this album hard to judge. They seem to play three different songs simultaneously in a parody of the worst free jazz you could ever hear. The lyrics are simply dumb but convey a rare sort of sadness. But you don’t even care about them because their voices are simply unbearable! Somehow, despite being painful to listen to, this record is fascinating. Maybe it’s their will to play despite all these handicaps, the testimony of a father’s love, or something you can’t put into words. It’s so naïve that you come to think it’s calculated. Finally, more than music, you feel like owning a piece of conceptual art coming straight from Fremont, NH, or something like that. Later, Frank Zappa admitted that “Philosophy Of The World” was one of his favorite records, which is, after all, logical. It’s the kind of platter you hardly play but want to own.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Petunia and the Vipers

Petunia and the Vipers – Petunia and the Vipers

Trapline Productions – TRP-00103[2012]
The Cricket Song – Mercy – Maybe Baby Amy – Bright Light – Yes Baby Yes – Gitterbug – Stardust – The Ballad Of Handsome Ned – Broken Down Love – Che – Forbidden Lovers – It AIn’t

Petunia

Petunia and the Vipers come from Canada. The Vipers consist of Jimmy Roy, Stephen Nikleva, Sam Shoichet, and Marc L’Esperance, who were all associated with the late Ray Condo at one time or another. They offer an album full of diversity, sometimes sweet, sometimes spooky, but always centered around Petunia’s peculiar vocals.Most of the songs are Petunia’s own, but two: Stardust (that features a stunning lap steel chorus by Jimmy Roy) and Lefty Frizzell’s classic Honky Tonk Forbidden Lovers (that suits them very fine).
The opening song is a delicious country waltz with yodel. Though it remains quite classical, there are little hints of what will follow, like the unusual variations of the structure Next is “Mercy“, a taut number, in which Petunia seems inhabited, almost haunted. It sounds like an impromptu jam between Nick Cave and Tom Waits with a Western band. “The Ballad Of Handsome Ned” is in a similar vein. It begins with a theatrical intro, then slides into a Marty Robbins meets Nick Cave in a moonless night kind of western ballad. “Yes Baby Yes“(quite similar to Oscar Woods’s “Don’t Sell It“) and “It Ain’t” are in a hokum swing style with kazoo with a modern hint, and both are very good. I’m less convinced by “Maybe Baby Amy,” a wild rockabilly, and “Gitterbug,” which melts the frantic pace of Jerry Lee’s Great Balls Of Fire with Charlie Feather’s syncopation. I couldn’t help but compare them to Ray Condo. I think that those two songs and the two Latin/samba numbers (“Bright Light” and “Che”) are less interesting than the rest of the stuff, which is more original. Despite two or three songs I’d easily skip, it remains a good album, although it is more destined for more open-minded listeners.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Josie Kreuzer

Josie kreuzer - Beggin' Me Back

Josie Kreuzer

Josie kreuzer - Beggin' Me Back

Josie Kreuzer was precious in a rockin’ scene where girls are still pretty scarce (even more the talented ones). She had the songs, the voice, the look and good bands to back her. She even had her own label to keep complete control of her recordings. Too bad she decided to distance herself from performing and recording around 2003. Man, I can’t still believe it’s been
20 years.

Josie Kreuzer grew up in a house where music was vital, thanks to her mother “There seemed to be some kind of music playing most of the time. My mother’s record collection was huge–chock full of blues, jazz and rock n roll. It was hillbilly & rockabilly that struck the strongest chord with me, moved me the most.”
Very quickly, the young girl begins to compose her own songs, even if she does not, because of her shyness, have the attention to perform in front of an audience.
“I started writing songs when I was eleven, really with no intentional goals that I can think of.”
Around sixteen, Josie and her mother moved to New Orleans. The city’s musical diversity allows it to discover many vernacular styles and expand its musical culture.
“My ‘single’ mother was so preoccupied with working all the time that I was left to my own devices. Can you imagine that freedom given to a 16-year-old in a place where they let kids into bars? (…) I would spend a lot of time just hanging out listening to the R&B, Blues, Cajun, Jazz and Dixieland watching the street musicians and writing songs”.
Her love of music led her to apply for a job at Tower Records when she soon became the “Oldies” record buyer. There she deepened her musical knowledge.
“I had always loved Elvis, Gene Vincent and Bill Haley, but I discovered so much more amazing music. I just grabbed the Rounder, Caroline and City Hall Catalogues. I ordered all these cool-looking records –practically everything on Bear Family, discovering stuff like The Collins Kids, Wanda Jackson, Janis Martin and Charline Arthur. But also around the same time, I went to the store’s magazine section and discovered a rock n roll fanzine called Kicks, which also turned me on to many obscure rockabilly artists. I ended up spending entire paychecks on records. I got a bit obsessive about it.’. The singer adds, “It wasn’t until I started working at a record store as a teen that I discovered the more obscure rockabilly music, which made me even love it more, and that was when I decided to get a guitar and eventually start a band.“
That’s what she did, and at the age of 17, she started to learn the guitar from a Hank Williams’s songbook. But founding a band and finding the right musicians wasn’t that easy: “I wanted to form a band, and I just couldn’t find any musicians that were into rockabilly. I was really into the 1950’s lifestyle as far as the music and the clothes were concerned. I left New Orleans searching for a place where I thought I would belong. I felt very alone not being able to have a conversation with anyone about my largest passion: rockabilly and honky tonk music.” She then decided to leave New Orleans, roaming from San Francisco to Austin, before settling in Los Angeles in 1992.

Whistle Bait

A couple of months later,  she met guitar player Teri Tom through an ad in a local newspaper, and both of them then recruited double bassist Jennifer Quinn and their first drummer, a guy called Scott, soon replaced by Cleo Ramone. Within a year, she left, and Elaine Ferraro took her place behind the drums. It was their first band. Their lead singer remembers, “We were extremely raw sounding –as first bands usually are.”

Whistle Bait was my very first band. It was actually all of the members’ first band as well. It was an all-girl rockabilly band, and believe it or not I hadn’t had the intention
of starting an all-girl band…it just sort of happened
that way. We were extremely raw sounding –as first bands usually are.

Their first gig was an opening slot for High Noon, and they also opened for Glen Glenn and Lee Rocker.
Next to classic covers (Train Kept A Rollin, Trouble, Crazy Legs and of course the Collins Kids’ Whistle Bait), the band’s originals, penned by Kreuzer, consisted of songs that she later re-recorded for her first two albums (So-called Boyfriend, Wildman, Wildfire, Honey Pie, Big City Small Town, Long Dark Night, Hey Sheriff, I Waited Up, Dead Man Walking, Runaway Train). Jennifer Quinn contributed one song titled Ain’t No Girlie.

Whistle Bait
Whistle Bait, second line-up (Teri Tom, Jennifer Quinn, Josie Kreuzer & Elaine Ferraro)

The band never had any official release though they made two demos, one they weren’t satisfied with and a second one recorded by Wally Hersom (Big Sandy). Talking about this recording and the eventuality to release it, Kreuzer joked,” I really don’t know if those recordings will ever be released—I can’t foresee putting them out in the near future…. Maybe after I’m dead or something?!” Another song titled Elvis Don’t Come Back From The Grave produced and recorded by Tim Worman of the Polecats later appeared on the compilation album American Rumble. It’s a good song but not for the purists, sounding a bit like a Neo-Rockabilly version of the Cramps. On the album the song was credited to T.I.D.E, probably because the band had already split by then.
In 1996, just after a show at The House of Blues in LA on Elvis’ birthday for their annual benefit Whistlebait disbanded. “We wanted to go in different directions musically. I wanted to stay traditional rockabilly, I think the others were aiming more towards a harder edge/alternative sound,” explains Kreuzer.

It happened just before the band was scheduled to perform in England at the Hemsby weekender. “I told (the rest of the band) that we should at least do this last gig, but they wouldn’t budge (cause they were still angry with my decision to quit the band)… so I called the promoter of Hemsby and told him that the band broke up, but if he wanted, I would still come over and do the show alone. I’ve been a solo artist ever since.”

Josie Kreuzer, the solo artist

In the fall of 1996, Kreuzer recorded and produced her debut solo album at Golden Track Recording Studios in San Diego. She released it the following year on her debut album on her own She-Devil label “It’s entirely to have total control over my recordings. I have total accountability for everything. I know exactly how much and where every last cent is going from my CD sales earnings. Ask any artist who is with an Indie label, and they probably haven’t even seen $10,000 bucks so far…and if they have, they are probably wondering if they’ll ever get anything else. Ask any artist who is on a major label and they probably haven’t even seen one penny because they are still paying off their massive debt to the label. It’s sad but true.”

On this album, titled Hot Rod Girl, Kreuzer was backed by Buzz Campbell, Johnny d’Artenay and Ty Cox from Hot Rod Lincoln. Most songs are originals penned by Kreuzer, some having been played and tested on stage during the Whistle Bait days. It also contains two covers: Sonny Burgess’s Aint Got A Thing, and Donna Darlene’s You’re Not Doing Me Right.
It’s a very solid effort, especially for a debut album, considering the fact that Kreuzer sings and is also in charge of the production. Maybe an external ear could have helped her refine some vocal takes, the singer being off-key on You’re Not Doing Me Right, and some phrase ends are not always pleasant. But those are minor flaws, and Kreuzer’s high-pitch nasal vocals, close to Wanda Jackson, does wonder on most of the tracks, and Hot Rod Lincoln provides solid backing, sometimes aiming at a Neo-Rockabilly sound (So-Called Boyfriend).

Josie Kreuzer

In 1999 she released “As Is”, which was even better. The vocals were better, and the songs (all penned by the singer) were excellent and varied. It found Kreuzer going more into a hillbilly bop direction, with the presence of a steel guitar on some tracks. The backing band consisted of Mike Kraus on guitar, Jeff Kraus on double bass, Marc Clarke on drums and Dana Duplan on steel. Also, Teri Tom of Whistle Bait played the lead guitar on one tune. About that album, the blonde singer said, “Now that I look back, I realize “As is” was just myself coming full circle. In my earlier years, I was really more hillbilly sounding, but no one knows this because the first recording that everyone has heard is ‘Hot Rod Girl’… I never «consciously» plan the songs I write, they just come out. ‘As Is’ was just a product of the songs that came out of me at that period of my life. You see, for me, I can’t just sit down and say, ‘well, gee, I think. I’m gonna write a rockabilly song today’. My songwriting goes much deeper than that…. it’s influenced by what’s going on around me. The arrangements (e.g. steel guitar) just come to fruition as I get together with my band. I happened to have a steel player there at the time, and I just liked the way it sounded. I have a hard time with genres. Unfortunately they have to categorize us somehow. I really just play the music that is deep in my heart, and that just so happens to be categorized by people as rockabilly…so when I slightly stray from that it worries some people–I don’t know why–hillbilly rockabilly–honky–tonk–whatever you want to call it–it all has soul, and that’s what I like creating—music with soul.”

“I have a hard time with genres. Unfortunately they have to categorize us somehow. I really just play the music that is deep in my heart, and that just so happens to be categorized by people as rockabilly… so when I slightly stray from that it worries some people, I don’t know why. Hillbilly,Rockabilly, Honky-Tonk, whatever you want
to call it, it all has soul, and that’s what I like creating, music with soul.”

Her third (and last) album appeared in 2002, still on She-Devil Records. Kreuzer is supported by a new group consisting of Jeff Graves (aka Rip Carson) on double bass and Craig Packham on drums. But the main change, compared to the two previous albums, comes from the singer delegating the production to Mark Neill (who also plays the guitar). Owner of Soil of the South studios, Neill produced and recorded bands like Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Trio, the Lucky Stars, Deke Dickerson, the Smith’s Ranch Boys, and the Sprague Brothers, to name a few. He also played the guitar on this album. This is, by far, Kreuzer’s best effort.

The sound of the album is thus more compact and better balanced. As for the vocals, they have refined over time while remaining so recognizable. Having an external ear allows her to correct certain vocal flaws. The repertoire gains in variety and emotions (which the first album lacked a bit). Lucky and Wild opens the album and immediately grabs your legs, only to release you about thirty minutes later with the superb and Latin-tinged My Sin (Mi Pecado). In between, you find songs like After I Stop Lovin’ You à la Johnny Cash, Why, a traditional Rockabilly number, Reminder To Remember (to Forget Him), a nod to Elvis’ I Forgot to Remember to Forget Her and Read the Lipstick On The Wall where we hear all the know-how of Mark Neill (listen to the sound of the snare drum and the acoustic guitar to convince you of it) ).
Fans had high hopes for what could follow, but Kreuzer decided to take a break. Her last tour had left her exhausted. She got married and succumbed to the charms of maternity.
Now, 20 years after the release of Beggin’ Me Back, the fans are still begging for her return.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Crazy Tones (the)

crazy tones

The Crazy Tones – She’s Got What It Takes

Tombstone Records – Tomb-Disc 678[1989]
You Better Believe – She’s Got What It Takes – Mister Cop – Baby Blue – You – Lonely Street – I Never Let You Down – Rhythm – Whispering Love – Bye Bye Blues – Macho Man – Dream – Don’t Ever Say Goodbye – Broken Heart Blues – The Door To My Heart – Cause I Love You

crazy tones

The Crazy Tones were formed in 1985 when Remi Groot met Jacco Buchholz. They enlisted the services of a friend of Jacco named Beerke to play the drums. They recorded various demos and appeared on a compilation with two titles (“Rockabilly Party” and “Let’s make some love”) recorded under the supervision of Boz Boorer. In 1988, Beerke left the group and was replaced by Ritchie Adams. The following year, they recorded “She’s Got What It Takes,” their first (and only) album for Tombstone Records.
The album is very representative Neo-Rockabilly from the late 1980s. The guitar has a clear, sometimes synthetic sound, and we can hear jazzy influences in addition to the usual Cliff Gallup and Mark Harman style, which is a plus. The double bass is well highlighted, and fans of the instrument will particularly enjoy the track “Rhythm.” The drums, often played with brushes, are more subtle but they fulfill their role perfectly. The singing is quite good, although it sometimes lacks finesse in the slightly slower pieces, especially at the end of phrases.
The album mainly consists of mid-tempo tunes, creating a very danceable and lively result. “Macho Man” is a bit wilder, reminiscent of the early Ricochets. What sets the group apart is their willingness, like good artists of the 1950s, to include ballads (such as “Lonely Street,” “You,” “Dark Lonely Street,” and “The Door To My Heart”) that count among the album’s best tunes.
Ultimately, while not revolutionizing the genre, “She’s Got What It Takes” features enough good songs and original ideas to be considered a mini-classic.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Southern Culture On The Skids

Southern Culture On The Skids is rock’n’roll band mixing surf, rockabilly, garage, country music, swamp rock (and more). The band consists of Rick Miller (guitar), Mary Huff (bass) and Dave Hartman (drums).

Southern Culture On The Skids – Countrypolitan Favorites

YepRoc – Yep 2124
Oh Lonesome Me – Muswell Hillbilly – Funnel of Love – Wolverton Mountain – Rose Garden – Let’s Invite Them Over – Te Ni Nee Ni Nu – Tombstone Shadow – Have You Seen Her Face – No Longer a Sweetheart of Mine – Engine Engine #9 – Fight Fire – Tobacco Road – Happy Jack

Countrypolitan Favorites

In the mid-’90s, Web Wilder released a cover album called “Town and Country,” featuring songs made famous by country artists like Waylon Jennings and Buck Owens, as well as songs from the British invasion era, such as Small Faces’ “My Mind’s Eyes” and King Size Taylor’s “Short On Love.”

One year after the raw “Doublewide And Live,” SCOTS’s “Countrypolitan Favorites” followed a similar pattern. The band covered songs like The Who’s “Happy Jack” with a Celtic twist, The Kinks’ “Muswell Hillbilly,” Slim Harpo’s “Te Ni Nee Ni Nu,” and The Byrds’ “Have You Seen Her Face.” They transformed country songs into rock versions and turned British beats into bluegrass tunes, constantly surprising the listeners.

One of the band’s main inspirations is Creedence Clearwater Revival, which is well represented with “Fight Fire” from the Gollywogs days (available on the Nuggets compilation) and “Tombstone Shadow” (almost with bluegrass harmonies). You can also hear Fogerty’s guitar groove on the Nashville Teens’ “Tobacco Road.” Additionally, the band covers T-Rex’s “Life is a Gas” in an unexpected but well-executed blend of George Jones, Tammy Wynette, and Marc Bolan. They also do a faithful rendition of Roger Miller’s “Engine Engine Number 9,” adding a surf guitar solo in the middle, and put a rock spin on Don Gibson’s “Oh Lonesome Me.”

The standout performance on this album is Mary Huff’s vocal performance. While she demonstrated her singing abilities on previous albums, her singing is exceptional on tracks like “Funnel of Love” and her duet on “Let’s Invite Them Over.” Her rendition of Lynn Anderson’s “Rose Garden” is remarkable and steals the show. With “Countrypolitan Favorites,” SCOTS has proven that they can create a masterpiece with an all-cover album, making this one of their strongest and best efforts.

Southern Culture On The Skids

Southern Culture On The Skids – Girlfight

Sympathy For The Record Industry SFTRI 266CD
Girlfight – Whole Lotta Things – El Mysterioso – Twistin’ On A Red Hot Spike – Hey Chuck Berry – Wheels

Girlfight

Girlfight is a six-track mini CD/10” released in 1993. It consists of two instrumentals and four vocal numbers and is heavily influenced by the blues. The title track is a solid garage rocker with excellent guitar parts and vocals from Mary Huff. “Whole Lotta Things” has a Diddley beat with some added country twang. Bo Diddley’s influence is also present on “Hey Chuck Berry,” a revved-up version of the melody of “Hey Bo Diddley” that ventures into the Cramps’ territory with wild guitar and feedback. “El Mysterioso” is an instrumental with a screaming sax that would make the perfect soundtrack for a film noir or a spy movie set in a strip club. “Twistin’ (On a Red Hot Spike)” is a very dark number that almost sounds like an early Cure/post-Punk song in places (listen to the guitar). The EP ends with a loose cover of The String-A-Longs’ “Wheels” recorded “on a cassette deck in a garage somewhere in Orange.”

Southern Culture On The Skids – Southern Culture On The Skids

Lloyd Street Records [1985]
Bop Bop Bop/Primitive Guy/I Dig Tunnels/Psycho Surfing/Cocktail Song/Rockabilly Mud/Atom Age Trucker/Demon Death/Nothing Song

Southern Culture On The Skids

This is Southern Culture On The Skids’ debut album. The band started in 1983 when Rick Miller (guitar), whose father worked in a mobile-home factory, formed the band with original lead vocalist Stan Lewis, bassist Leslie Land, and drummer Chip Shelby. They released an EP, “Voodoo Beach Party”, which is now pretty rare (according to Miller, some copies sold for $100!!), soon followed in 1985 by their first full length simply called “Southern Culture On The Skids” and released on the Lloyd Street Records label.
This album is quite weird, and it’s hard to make the connection with the band that we now know as Southern Culture On The Skids. The main reasons are that Rick doesn’t sing, and the sound of the band and their inspirations come from just one source. Basically, you could resume this album as a cross between The Cramps, Tav Falco and a bit of Gun Club. It opens with a rockin’ instrumental (Bop Bop Bop) that is maybe the best track of the nine that compose this lp. The sound is more rockabilly (even if it’s a modern version of it) than the following albums. Lewis’s voice evokes Lux Interior but without the charisma and the power of the Cramps frontman. I can’t say this is a bad album. You find good ideas here and there, like the spooky “I Dig Tunnel”, in a vein similar to Eddie Noack’s Psycho, but to be honest, the main interest is the presence of Rick Miller and the fact that it is officially the first platter by Southern Culture On The Skids. Talking about a possible reissue on cd of this record, Miller answered to Butch Lazorchak, “If our popularity gets to the point where somebody can make some money off of them, I’m sure they’ll get reissued! At this point, I don’t have any reason to reissue them.”
This line-up lasted approximately until 1987 when Lewis left. The band continued, but soon after, Land also left the band. Mary Huff from The Phantoms, a Rockabilly band that opened for SCOTS, joined the combo. And the rest, as they say, is history…

Slapping Suspenders

Slapping Suspenders – Blood Sucking Freaks

Count Orlok Music – R.O.C.K. X [1990]
Bloodsucking Freaks – Swad Clodhopper – Highlander – End Of The Endless Sleep – Handsome Molly – Fat Slags – Terminator – Duke’s Gonna Be Alright – Chainsaw Peck – All You Need Is A Fist – Night In Whitechapel – Billy The Kid – Hillbilly Freak – Nude Girl – Shobido

slapping suspenders

Slapping Suspenders was a Swedish Psychobilly trio consisting of Thomas Schuldt (double bass and vocals), Johan Wallgren (guitar), and Michael Halonen (drums).
Their debut album, Blood Sucking Freaks, issued on Count Orlock records, is fast, annoying, and above all, very repetitive Psychobilly. The group has no fresh ideas, and their music has very little variation. The tempos and melodies are almost always the same, and the scratchy vocals are similar on all the tracks. They make a few attempts at a bawdy hillbilly style, but these are not very successful, and the same can be said about their cover of The Jungle Book (I Wanna Be Like You).
After listening to this record, it becomes quickly evident that it is not a masterpiece, and the fifteen tracks seem very long. The group also appears to lack musical cohesion. While the double bassist manages to do well, the drummer sometimes struggles to keep the rhythm, and the guitarist seems to have the skill level of an amateurish punk group.
The best thing you can do with this album is to store it next to Captain Coma and quickly forget about it.

Slapping Suspenders – The Good, The Bad And The Keeper Of The Seven Waffles

Count Orlok Music – C.O.C.K. XIV [1992]
1000 Ways To Suicide – Whos Dead? – Oh Darling – Ghostriders In The Sky – Sandy – Midnight Hour – Barfin All Night – Piece Of Dead Meat – Send The Hippo To The Gallows – Magnum 44 – Hedgehog – Rip It Up – Rubber Girls – Spanking – Love Is For Fools – Revenge Of The Mad Cow – Shobido

slapping suspenders

The Slapping Suspenders show no significant progress since their first album. Even if the group is more musically diverse, incorporating different tempos and styles into their songs, this album contains seventeen songs, which is way too long for a group of their level.
Additionally, the group’s bawdy side, as heard in their version of “Rip It Up,” may become tiresome rather quickly.

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