Virgil

The Salt Flat Trio

Salt Flat Trio - Flat Out West
Salt Flat Trio – Flat Out West

The Salt Flat Trio – Flat Out West

Press Tone PCD04 [2004]
Georgia On A Fast Train – Goodbye Farewell – All Night Long – You’ve Had Your Chance – Salt Flat Racers – Do It Everytime – Livin’ Out Of My Trunk – Two Left Feet – Get Along – Country Life – Moanin’ The Blues – Be Bop Baby – Willin’ And Ready – Bop Pills – Sugar-Coated Baby
The Salt Flat Trio were a taditionnal drummerless rockabilly trio from Perth, Australia. With great musicians and a singer who sounded a bit like a hillbilly Eddie Cochran. The future looked bright and promising for them, sadly the untimely death of Tyson Feifer their lead singer stopped them in full rise. This album features 16 solid rockin’ songs, half are from the pen of the band’s double bassist Jay MvIvor and the remaining tracks are covers of Billy Joe Shaver, Hank Williams, Rocky Burnette, Bob Luman, Johnny Horton and Macy Skipper.
Two songs feature a steel guitar for a more a more rural bop feel and a piano can be heard on the frantic Be Bop Baby. Recommended if you like High Noon and Wayne Hancock.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly - Hollybilly
Buddy Holly – Hollybilly

Buddy Holly – Hollybilly, 1956: The Complete Recordings

El Toro ETCD 1012
Disc One
Baby, Won’t You Come Out Tonight? – Love Me [With Studio Chat] – Don’t Come Back Knockin’ – Midnight Shift – Blue Days, Black Nights – Rock Around With Ollie Vee [Fragment] – Rock Around With Ollie Vee [July 1956 Version] – Because I Love You – Changing All Those Changes [Clovis Demo Version] – I Guess I Was Just A Fool – It’s Not My Fault – I’m Gonna Set My Foot Down – Rock-A-Bye Rock – Girl On My Mind – That’ll Be The Day – Ting-A-Ling – I’m Changin’ All Those Changes [Fragment] – I’m Changin’ All Those Changes [Nashville Version] – Modern Don Juan – You Are My One Desire [False Start] – You Are My One Desire – Rock Around With Ollie Vee [November 1956 Version]
Disc Two
Honky Tonk [Undubbed Lubbock Demo] – Good Rockin’ Tonight [Undubbed Lubbock Demo] – Brown-Eyed Handsome Man [Lubbock Demo] – Bo Diddley [Lubbock Demo] – Rip It Up [Undubbed Lubbock Demo] – Blue Monday [Undubbed Lubbock Demo] – Blue Suede Shoes [Undubbed Lubbock Demo] – Shake, Rattle & Roll [Undubbed Lubbock Demo] – Ain’t Got No Home [Undubbed Lubbock Demo] – Holly Hop [Undubbed Lubbock Demo] – Bo Diddley [Undubbed Clovis Demo] – Brown-Eyed Handsome Man [Undubbed Clovis Demo] – Have You Ever Been Lonely?#1 [Undubbed Lubbock Demo] – Have You Ever Been Lonely? [Fragment] – Have You Ever Been Lonely?#2 [Undubbed Lubbock Demo] – Gone [Fragment] – Gone #1 [Undubbed Lubbock Demo] – Gone #2 [Undubbed Lubbock Demo]

Someday, if all the legal issues are resolved or most likely when his recordings fall into the public domain, someone will release an ultimate and definitive Buddy Holly boxset. In the meantime we’ll enjoy this reissue of his early material recorded in 1956.A storming gig by a young boy from Memphis called Elvis convinced the young Buddy Holly that his future was in rockabilly, not in hillbilly and precipitated the end of his partnership with Bob Montgomery. CD 1 contains the full session recorded for the first time under Holly’s name in Nashville (later issued on album by Decca under the name “That’ll be the day”) completed with studio chats, fragment of unissued takes and false starts. Also presents on this first cd are the demos made with Norman Petty at Clovis and released here without those lame overdubs made by The Fireballs. The second cd is made of home-recordings when Buddy was back in his hometown of Lubbock. This raw sides of Buddy Holly playing covers of Elvis, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Big Joe Turner and Clarence Frogman Henry as well as “Have You Ever Been Lonely” (no less than four takes are included here) and the country hit “Gone” are a thrilling testimony. Two instrumentals (Holly Hop and Honky Tonk) were recorded on that informal sessions and they show a guitarist gaining in confidence. Later overdubbed, the takes present are the original masters. The booklet is interesting, well done with the singles reproduced inside. These are essential recordings and we can only hope El Toro will continue the job with the following years.

Buddy Holly - Not Fade Away
Buddy Holly – Not Fade Away

Buddy Holly – Not Fade Away, 1957: The Complete Recordings

El Toro ETCD 1016
DISC 1: 1.I’m Lookin’ For Someone To Love 2.That’ll Be the Day 3.Last Night – (Undubbed Original Version) 4.Maybe Baby – (First Version) 5.Last Night 6.Words Of Love – (Demo) 7.Words Of Love 8.Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues 9.Not Fade Away – (alternate take) 10.Not Fade Away 11.Everyday 12.Ready Teddy 13.Valley Of Tears 14.Tell Me How 15.Buddy’s Hone Call To Paul Cohen OF Decca Records 16.Go Boy Go – (KDAV Demo, with Gary Dale) 17.Gone – (KDAV Demo, with Gary Dale) 18.Go Boy Go – (Norman Petty Demo, with Gary Dale) 19.Golden Rocket, The – (Norman Petty Demo, with Gary Dale) 20.Gone – (Norman Petty Demo, with Gary Dale) 21.I Overlooked An Orchid – (Norman Petty Demo, with Gary Dale) 22.On My Mind Again – (with Billy Walker) 23.Viva La Matador – (with Billy Walker) 24.Whole Lot Of Lovin, A – (Take 1, with Jim Robinson) 25.Whole Lot Of Lovin, A – (Take 2, with Jim Robinson) 26.Whole Lot Of Lovin, A – (Take 3, with Jim Robinson) 27.Whole Lot Of Lovin’, A – (with Jim Robinson) 28.It’s a Wonderful Feeling – (with Jim Robinson) 29.Starlight – (Original With Echo, with Jack Huddle) 30.Believe Me – (Original Without Echo, with Jack Huddle) 31.Starlight – (with Jack Huddle) 32.Believe Me – (with Jack Huddle)
DISC 2: 1.Peggy Sue – (alternate take) 2.Peggy Sue 3.Listen To Me 4.That’ll Be the Day – (Promotional Recording) 5.That’ll Be the Day – (Promotional Recording) 6.Oh, Boy! – (Undubbed Original Version) 7.Oh, Boy! 8.That’ll Be the Day – (Promotional Recording) 9.I’m Gonna Love You Too 10.Send Me Some Lovin’ – (Original Undubbed Demo) 11.It’s Too Late – (Original Undubbed Demo) 12.Send Me Some Lovin’ 13.It’s Too Late 14.Man From Texas – (with Jim Robinson) 15.Honey, Honey – (with Gary Dale) 16.Look To the Future – (with Gary Dale) 17.By the Missio Wall – (with Fred Crawford) 18.Wreck Of the Old ’97 – (with Carolyn Hester) 19.Scarlet Ribbons – (with Carolyn Hester) 20.Sugartime – (Take 1, with Charlie Phillips) 21.One Faded Rose – (with Charlie Phillips) 22.One Faded Rose – (Take 1, with Charlie Phillips) 23.Sugartime – (with Charlie Phillips) 24.One Faded Rose – (with Charlie Phillips) 25.Humble Heart – (with Sherry Davis) 26.Borken Promises – (with Sherry Davis) 27.Moondreams – (with Norman Petty Trio/The Picks) 28.Moondreams – (instrumental, with Norman Petty Trio) 29.Moondreams – (roses, with Norman Petty Trio)
DISC 3: 1.You’ve Got Love 2.Maybe Baby 3.Empty Cup, An (And a Broken Date) 4.Rock Me, My Baby 5.That’ll Be the Day – (Unidentified Live Fragement) 6.That’ll Be the Day – (Live On Ed Sullivan) 7.Peggy Sue – (Live On Ed Sullivan) 8.Interview With Ed Sullivan 9.Little Baby 10.You’re So Square (Baby I Don’t Care) 11.Look At Me 12.Mona – (Rehearsal) 13.Mona – (Take 1) 14.Mona – (Take 2) 15.Mona – (Take 3) 16.Peggy Sue – (Live On Arthur Murray) 17.Don’t Do Me This Way! – (First Version, with Rick Tucker) 18.Patty Baby – (with Rick Tucker & the Picks) 19.Don’t Do Me This Way! – (with Rick Tucker & the Picks) 20.Promotional Spot For Bill Randle #1 – (with Bill Randle) 21.Promotional Spot For Bill Randle #2 – (with Bill Randle) 22.Promotional Spot For Don Passerby #1 – (with Don Passerby) 23.Promotional Spot For Don Passerby #2 – (with Don Passerby) 24.Promotional Spot For Don Passerby #3 – (with Don Passerby) 25.Promotional Spot For Don Passerby #4 – (with Don Passerby) 26.Interview With Red Robinson – (with Red Robinson) 27.Promotional Spot For Red Robinson 28.Interview With Freeman Hoover – (with Freeman Hoover) 29.Promotional Spot For Interview With Freeman Hoover – (with Freeman Hoover) 30.Interview With Dale Lowery – (with Dale Lowery)
El Toro pursues its superb work of reissue of Buddy Holly’s complete recordings. Three cd’s have been necessary to gather every sides Buddy Holly played on in 1957. The amount of work is impressive both from Holly and 50 years later from the label. 1957 was the year of “That’ll Be The Day”, “Words Of Love”, “Peggy Sue”, “Maybe Baby” and many more… In addition to those classics you’ll find demos (a rough one of “Words Of Love”), early versions (an interesting take of Maybe Baby in its early stage of conception), alternative takes (Peggy Sue, with 4 takes you can assist at the creation of Mona), every known live appearances (That’ll Be The Day and Peggy Sue on the Ed Sullivan Show). The undubbed versions are also present giving back those jewels their original splendour. Hardcore fans would be pleased to find a couple of interviews and promotional recordings for DJ’s with new lyrics adapted to the radio stations. A touching moment is to hear Buddy Holly’s phone call to Paul Cohen of Decca records about his contract. The rest of the sides are made of artists Buddy Holly and the Crickets backed, mainly hillbilly boppers but also pop and country tunes and even a Cha cha. As anecdotic as they could sound they are none the less essential to understand the evolution of the band and reveal a relatively unknown side of the boys. I’m waiting for the 1958 package eagerly.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Vinylux, Lance & Wendy LeBeau

Vinylux records, an interview with Wendy and Lance Lebeau

lebeau_480

Here’s an old interview conducted years ago with Lance and Wendy LeBeau, known for their work with Go Cat Go, Flea Bops, Wendy and Her Beaus and Vinylux, their excellent Rockabilly label.

At first, could you introduce yourselves, where do you come from etc.?
Lance: I’m a native of the Washington, DC area and reside in the state of Maryland.
Wendy: I’m originally from Texas, but after having traveled about the world with my military family, we finally settled in Maryland where I met Lance.

What is you musical background? How did you discover rockabilly?
Lance: Rockabilly came to my attention via a very convoluted path. My parents had a mixture of old records around the house, including the likes of Merle Travis, Chet Atkins, the Ventures, Elvis, and the Beatles. My father enjoyed the guitar records and this is probably what I was exposed to the most. So given this mix of music, as one can imagine, I was lured down several different paths when researching the history behind this music. Much to my surprise I found all paths ultimately leading back to the same places; early 50’s hillbilly and blues. From here I was scouring the record stores for anything that had the evidence of the background for this music, and rockabilly was one.
Wendy: I grew up listening to my parents’ Elvis records, so that sound has always been close to my heart. Lance introduced me to rockabilly, or gave a name to music I’d liked all along but didn’t know what to call it.
Lance’s interest in digging deeper into the musical history sparked my interest too, so I kind of went along for the ride and really liked what we found.

Wendy, there’s not so much girls in rockabilly, fewer who plays doublebass. How did you come playing it?
Wendy: I had never played an instrument before in my life, but the first time I saw a double bass played in person, I fell in love with the sound and the physicality of playing the instrument. I decided on the spot that I’d have to learn how to do that. Lance and my father bought my bass for my 21st birthday after I went through a six-month stint with an electric bass. The electric was a good learning tool, but not the direction I wanted to go. I was privileged to have many opportunities to watch Brian Freeman of Go Cat Go and Kevin Smith of High Noon in action. I think I learned quite a bit just from seeing them play – and asking them a lot of questions. On a visit to Memphis, Lance and I met Stan Kessler. I introduced myself to him as an aspiring upright bass player. He told me I was too small to play the bass, and that I ought to put it away for good and learn how to play electric. I think that encounter steeled my decision to try even harder. I guess reverse psychology works almost every time! Besides, I’m taller than he is.

Lance, did you play in other bands before Go Cat Go?
Lance: I had played a bit with friends who were into different types of music but nothing organized. I mostly spent time just banging around on the drums in my parents’ basement.

Go Cat Go (Darren Lee Spears, Bill Hull, Lance lebeau and Brian Freeman)
Go Cat Go (Darren Lee Spears, Bill Hull, Lance lebeau and Brian Freeman)

You’ve recorded some songs with Go Cat Go at the legendary Sun studio.
How was it?
Lance: Sun studio is an amazing place, the vibe in that room is chilling?; there’s a definite air to that place. To me the room felt alive of energy. From a recording studio standpoint it is of course not the studio it used to be. The room sounds great acoustically speaking and is very inviting but without Sam Phillips there to work his magic it’s just a decent room in which to record. During the heyday of Sun there was so much happenstance that went into the sound.
Let’s talk about Vinylux, when was it created?
Lance: Vinylux was born out of my desire to have a record label and studio in the fashion of Sun, King, Chess and Starday records; everything done in-house. A sound and a look with a distinct identity created with simplicity. Initially Darren and I were to partner on this venture but as the tide turned, the partnership became Wendy, Ronnie Joyner (Flea Bops singer) and me. This partnership is actually very efficient and logical because we cover all the bases of operation; Ronnie does the artwork, Wendy the legwork and I do the technical recording related work.

When you started Vinylux, was it to launch a label with new artists, or the main purpose was «Go Cat Go»?
Lance: I’m sure that Vinylux appears at first glance to be born a vanity label, but this was the logical way for us to begin. Go Cat Go had established somewhat of a following and needed an avenue to release music without all the hassles of negotiating terms, so why not do it ourselves?
From this small start our objective was to startup with an initial monetary offering from each partner and let the money snowball from that point forward. And fortunately we’ve been able to do just that and today find ourselves able to expand and open Vinylux up to other bands, which was a goal we were aiming for from the beginning.

Is there any unreleased stuff from «Go Cat Go»?
Lance: Yes, mostly live recorded material that would require very tedious selection and editing. We will actually be releasing some material I had recorded of Darren solo and with a trio setting, no drums.

What about the Flea Bops? It looks like a family affair.
Lance: Very much so. Wendy my lovely, multitalented wife on bass and my younger brother Preston on lead guitar, as well as a close friend we consider family, Ronnie Joyner, on lead vocals and acoustic guitar. Having such a close knit combo as we do affords a unique synergy so essential to creating music.

Vinylux artist, the Flea Bops
The Flea Bops

What about Wendy LeBeau and her Beaus? It shares a lot with the Flea Bops but the lead vocal is held by Wendy. Do you try to sound different?
Lance: We don’t make a conscientious effort to sound different. Having a female singer with a different song selection makes it different, but we still like to play straight-ahead rockabilly.

Who writes the material for Wendy LeBeau and her Beaus?
Lance: Wendy has written some songs. We have a song from Darren Spears that Go Cat Go was never had an opportunity to record. We also use material written by our acoustic guitar player, Dave Moore, who’s got some great original songs.

Do you do more songwriting Lance? Your song «Hey Little Honey» was very good!
Lance: Thank you for the compliment. There’s actually an interesting story behind this song. The song was originally written for a recording session we had planned with Arthur Lee May. Ronnie, who is a historical baseball enthusiast, had contact with Arthur for his baseball career and eventually talked music with Arthur as well. One thing led to another and we found ourselves entertaining the prospect of getting together for a session here at Vinylux studio with Arthur. Well the date didn’t work out and soon thereafter Arthur passed away. So Flea Bops then included it, along with a song Ronnie wrote for Arthur’s session, «Believe in Me» on the first CD.

On the liner notes of the Go cat Go CD, it says you had a band called The Twillite Ramblers. Did they release anything? Does this band still exist?
Lance: Twilite Ramblers became Wendy LeBeau and Her Beaus. We were doing a lot more hillbilly-influenced material in that band, which again were Lance, Preston and Wendy with various acoustic guitar players. We felt that the name restricted our song selection, so we dropped some of the slower tunes, added more rockabilly and became Wendy LeBeau and her Beaus. We never released anything as Twilite Ramblers except for one track («The Coffee Addict») on a Vinylux Sampler cassette that Wendy passed out to attendees at a Viva Las Vegas weekender a few years ago.

The Twillite Ramblers
The Twillite Ramblers

Lance, you made a session with «Roc» La Rue Can you tell us more about that?
Lance: This session was organized by our friend Dave Moore at his studio New Hope Recording in West Virginia. Dave is very good at contacting original artists from the 50’s; it’s quite the passion for him. He tracked down Roc somehow and arranged a recording session, which resulted in a four song EP on Dave’s label Wild Hare records. The session included Thommy Burns (of Atomics and Saddle Pals fame) on bass, Dave on lead guitar, Roc on acoustic guitar, me on drums, and a co-conspirator Chris Filbert (also of Atomics and Saddle Pals) at the recording controls. We had such a great time and wound up with some very good performances. Roc sounds great! And is a great person as well.

Do you work alot as a session drummer?
Lance: I occasionally do sit-in work for other bands in the studio and for live performance.

Can you describe your drumkit, your influences...
Lance: I play an old set of Ludwigs, nice open, woody sound. Pretty Spartan approach, I mostly only play with a bass drum, snare, rack tom, hi hat, 8» splash, and a 20» crash/ride cymbal. I prefer the old style thin, dark sounding cymbals without much crisp edge. To me the dark, swooshing sound really swings.Influences for me mostly are the old school be bop drummers like Kenny Clark, Sid Catlett, and Max Roach, Dave Tough and Gene Krupa are favorites as well. Small combo jazz is very appealing to me. With the right gathering of musicians this is the most exciting.
My personal approach to playing drums is to be supportive of the musical situation while adding color and texture without over-playing. So much can be done with just even a snare drum!

You also toured with Dave Stuckey…
Lance: Dave was organizing his first tour to support his new CD on Hightone, «Get a Load of This», and needed a drummer. His normal roundup was not available so he gave me a call and I was able to work my schedule to support him. We had such a great lineup that included Billy Horton on bass, Jeremy Wakefield on steel, and Dave Biller on lead guitar. We toured through the Midwest, Austin, Texas up through Chicago, Illinois. I actually recorded every night we performed. Who knows, maybe it’ll make a nice CD someday.

What are the plans for Vinylux?? I guess there’s a album with Dave Biller and Billy Horton in the near future (Of course it is now released and it’s great – Virgil)
Lance: Vinylux continues to grow and we have many plans in place for new CD releases, including a compilation. This comp will bring together various singers we work with as the Vinylux Variety Show. The Biller and Horton release is available now, entitled «Texotica.» This is a great instrumental CD with everything from the stylings of Jimmy Bryant/Speedy West to Les Paul and even a bit of Martin Denny.

To finish a word about this «Go Cat Go» reunion and Eddie Clendening?
Lance: For now Go Cat Go is only getting together to perform at two festivals. Eddie is a young, exciting new talent that I feel will help us, as Go Cat Go, capture the spirit of the music we made with Darren.

Vinylux on the web : http://www.vinylux.com/

Stargazers (the)

Stargazers - Carry On Jiving
Stargazers - Carry On Jiving
Stargazers – Carry On Jiving

The Stargazers
Carry On Jiving

Ruby Tone RTLP 1 [2017]
Let`s Go – The Wedding Band – Play My Game – Little Ol` House Of Rock – Free Tonight – Boo Hoo Hoo – Keep Cool And Carry On – U Bring Out The Poet In Me – Phantom`s Frolic – The Wonderful Thing About Rock`n`Roll – Haunted House – Louise – Love, Love, Love
The Stargazers are back! Twenty years after their latest LP (Froffee Coffee) and even more than that if you look for an album featuring guitar ace Peter Davenport. And the question is: do they still have it? You bet! Not only they still rock like teenagers but Carry On Jiving could possibly be the band’s best album to date. Nothing less.
Around the trio made of Brittain/Davenport/Purkess, the new line-up that consists of Jim Russell on drums, Jamie Rowan on piano, Matt Radford (Ronnie Dawson, Carl sonny Leyland, Little George, Big Joe Louis and many more) who shares the bass duties with Purkess and Aaron Liddard (Amy Winehouse) on sax brought a shot of fresh air to the band and gave it a second youth.
Too often one can read that the Stargazers are a good (or “excellent” depending on the review you read) Bill Haley type of band. Partly  true, you’ll find plenty of Haley influence here, especially in Davenport’ own that are instantly recognizable (Boo Hoo Hoo and Love, Love, Love follow a long tradition established by songs like Go Go Honey or Bop A Doo Bop), it’s too reductive. The Stargazers are first and foremost a great Rock’n’roll band, and it’s never been truer with that album.
With each member contributing to the songwriting of the 13 originals it’s a solid mix of influences full of variety, kicking off with the frantic  “Let’s Go” (that has written “rock’n’roll anthem” all over it) with Fats Domino influenced song (Free Tonight), tip of of the hat to Chuck Berry (The Wonderful Thing About Rock’n’roll) and wild instrumental with organ to name but four.
As usual the musicianship is top notch, from Liddard on sax who not only brillantly succeeds in following John Wallace’s footsteps but brings his own style to the tight rhythm section and of course Davenport who is one of the very few guitar player who understood that “less is more.”
Now the choice is yours, buy it or buy it!
stargazers-half a heart
The Stargazers – Half A Heart / Boo Hoo Hoo

The Stargazers
Half A Heart / Boo Hoo Hoo

Ruby Tone RT 45 001 [2014]

With this excellent double A-side, the masters of the Big Beat, the hidden sons of the Comets and the Jodimars return to what they do best, I mean R. O. C. K., ROCK!
Boo Hoo Hoo is a typical Davenport composition (think Bop a Doo, a Doo, Bop or Ooh Baby Ooh from his different solo releases) and Half a Heart penned by Danny is slightly mellower with doo wop backing vocals.
It’s a limited edition but try to grab it!

Stargazers - Epic Rock'n'Roll
Stargazers – Epic Rock’n’Roll

The Stargazers
Epic Rock’n’Roll

Rhythm Rock It [2012]
Groove Baby Groove – Jump Around – La Rock ‘n’ Roll – Red Light Green Light – Hey Marie – Scat The Riff – Go Go Honey – A Little Jump A Little Swing – Rocketship To The Moon – Tonight’s The Night – Pretty Senorita – Rockin’ Rollin’ Home – Walking The Chalk Line – Hey There You – Perdido – Caravan – True Love – Tossin’ and Turnin’ – Follow Your Heart – Spin That 45 – Swingin’ Aye – Marcelle Mania – Ain’t Nobody Here But us Chickens.
This album gathers the complete released recordings made by the Stargazers during the time they were under contract with CBS in the early 80’s, which for many is the golden age of the band. The line up was at that time Danny Brittain (lead vocals), John Wallace (saxophone), Anders Janes (double bass), Ricky Lee Brawn (drums), Peter Davenport and later Marc Breman (guitars)
The songs are listed chronologically. Thus you can see the evolution of the sound. The first twelve songs feature former member and lead guitarist Peter Davenport whose passion for Bill Haley was a main ingredient in the band’s sound at the time. Both “Groove Baby Groove” and “Go Go Honey” (listen to those steel guitar ricochets ala Bill Williamson!) could have easily been recorded by Haley on Decca. Likewise, “La Rock’n’Roll” with John Wallace playing accordion reminds strongly of the Comets’ “A Rockin’ Little Tune” Three unreleased songs also featuring Davenport and recorded for the debut album but rejected by the label are included here In August 1982, Davenport left the band and was replaced by Marc Breman a friend of Danny Brittain. With him on board the sound of the band changed and they started to experiment and play a more modern brand of Rock’n’roll. The production also changed to become less “authentic” and more radio friendly. Songs like Wallace’s “Marcelle mania” and Brittain’s “Follow Your Heart” which is not that far from what a neo-rockabilly band like Restless would later do are typical of that sound. But with the exception of Louis Jordan’s Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens which is wasted by the producer choosen by the label, this is top class Rock’n’roll.
In all you have 22 songs by one of the best and most influential rockin’ band of the early 80’s, packed in a superbly designed digipack (made by the same person who did their designs back in the days) with a poster and informative liner notes. If you don’t know this band, do yourself a favour and buy it right now, and if you only own the original singles and lp, buy this reissue cause the sound is just perfect. Let’s just hope that the label, owned by Anders the original bass player, wont stop here and will release live stuff, unreleased rehearsals or demos in the future. One can dream!
Buy it directly at www.rhythmrock-it.com (only £9!!!!)

The Stargazers - Go Go Honey - The Best Of
The Stargazers – Go Go Honey – The Best Of

The Stargazers
Go Go Honey – The Best Of

Vinyl Japan – Jappin’ & Rockin’ [19XX]
Go Go Honey – Hey Marie – Groove Baby Groove – Toosin’ And Turnin’ – Swingin’ Aye – La Rock ‘N’ Roll(Quelques Uns La Lune) – Rock That Boogie – Rock Lomond – Flying High – Just Go Wild Over Rock ‘N’ Roll – In A Little Spanish Town – Stop Beatin’ Around The Mulberry Bush – Lady Killer – Froffee Coffee – What’s The Matter With Music Now – A Song About A Train – L.O.V.E – Spitfire – Let’s Go Ockin’ ‘N’ Rollin’ – Give Me That Jive – Send Me A Letter Loretta – Ida(Sweet As Apple Cider) – My Blue Heaven – Go Go Honey (Ep Version)

The main interest of this compilation released by Vinyl Japan (which explains the absence of songs from Back In Orbit) is to feature the four songs of the Go Go Honey ep that were only available on vinyl.

The Stargazers - Groove, Baby Groove
The Stargazers – Groove, Baby Groove

The Stargazers
Groove, Baby Groove

BLUE LIGHT 3369 [2000]
Tossin’ And turnin’ / Hey Marie / Swingin’ Aye / Marcelle Mania / Walking That Chalk Line / Hey There You / Perdido – Caravan / Groove Baby Groove / Follow Your Heart / Pretty Senorita / Spin That 45 / True Love / Rocketship To The Moon / Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens / Junp Around / La Rock ‘n’ Roll (Quelques Uns La Lune) / Red Light Green Light / Scat The Riff / Go Go Honey

A best-of featuring all the issued sides made for Epic. Also contains an informative booklet written by Ricky Lee Brawn and Danny Brittain.

The Stargazers - Give Me That Jive
The Stargazers – Give Me That Jive

The Stargazers
Give Me That Jive

Vinyl Japan – Jappin’ & Rockin’ JRCD37 [1999]
L.O.V.E. / (Let Me Be) Your Dream Come True / Got To Tell You / Spitfire / Haunting Me / The Caress / Let’s Go Rockin’ ‘n’ Rollin’ / C.K. Rock / Love Alphabet / Wonderful You / Swingin’ On A Star / You Never Came To Call / Give Me That Jive

Actually recorded in 1994 this album was only issued in 1999. It was recorded after the band had fired former drummer Ricky Lee Brawn to go into a more jazz direction. So it’s not your typical Stargazers album yet it’s a good one. Saxman John Wallace wrote the 2/3 of it hence the strong jazz coloration, John always been a fan of Lester Young. It also leaves more room to Gardner’s piano and Davenport never sounded so close to Charlie Christian. More in their usual Rock’n’roll style Davenport penned a couple of Haley influenced tunes (L.O.V.E, Let’s Go Rockin’ n’ Rollin’) and Danny contributed Swingin’ On A Star a killer rockabilly number.

The Stargazers - Froffee Coffee
The Stargazers – Froffee Coffee

The Stargazers
Froffee Coffee

Vinyl Japan – Jappin’ & Rockin’ [1995]
Froffee Coffee – Fools Fall In Love – Swinging On A Star – Oh Baby Doll – County Line – Milkcrate Mania – What’s The Matter With Music Now – Just A Gigolo – Willow Weep – Where Would We Be Tonight – Mack The Knife – Song About A Train – Sugar And Spice

Produced by Ricky Lee Brawn, Froffee Coffee really differs from the band’s previous releases and even Watch This Space doesn’t show such a wide variety of style, featuring doo-wop, rock’n’roll, big beat, jazz, latin. With Jim Knowler of the Keytones replacing Peter on guitar it has a strong Keytones influence on songs like “Fools Fall In Love” or the doo wop cover of Chuck Berry’s Oh Baby Doll. Actually it almost sounds more like a Danny Brittain’s solo album than a typical Stargazers album.

stargazers-gogohoney2The Stargazers
Go Go Honey

Vinyl Japan – Jappin’ & Rockin’ [1994]
Go Go Honey – Send Me A Letter Loretta – Ida (Sweet As Apple Cider)- My Blue Heaven

Highly popular in Japan, the Stargazers recorded this 10″ ep mainly for the Japanese market. It features a new recording of Go Go Honey, a Danny’s original Send Me A letter Loretta and two covers that finds the band in full Haley mode. The line-up on this ep was Danny Brittain, Peter Davenport on guitar, Tim Purkess on doublebass, Chris Gardner on piano and Simon Gilby on sax and Shaun O’Keefe on drums.

The Stargazers - Rock That Boogie
The Stargazers – Rock That Boogie

The Stargazers
Rock That Boogie

Vinyl Japan – Jappin’ & Rockin’ JRCD7 [1993]
Rock That Boogie – Big Bad Wolf – Hi Ho Silver – Teenage Party – Better Believe It – I Got A Baby – Move Over Baby – Caravan – Rockin’ Rollin Home – Tonight’s The Night – A Little Jump, A Little Swing – Rock Lomond – Caldonia – Fat Man – The Gleam In Your Eyes – Time Goes By – Flying High – Swingin’ Aye – Rebound – Bounce Me Brother

Released to coincide with a tour of Japan, Rock That Boogie contains 21 unissued songs from the early years of the band (1980-1983). It features several originals that never made it on album and tracks from the rejected first album that was one of the reason Peter left the band.

The Stargazers - The Speaking Clock Says Rock
The Stargazers – The Speaking Clock Says Rock

The Stargazers
The Speaking Clock Says Rock

Vinyl Japan – Jappin’ & Rockin’ JRCD04 [1992]
Lights Out – Rockin’ Robin – In a Little Spanish Town – See You Later, Alligator – Pete’s Beat – Stop Beatin’ around the Mulberry Bush – The Cat – Just Go Wild over Rock ‘n’ Roll – Lady Killer – Florida Twist – Shake, Rattle and Roll – Eat Your Heart Out, Annie

From its title to the songs, this album is more Haley-esque than ever. Out of the ten covers, seven had been played by Bill Haley and one by the Jodimars. The only two originals are two jazzy instrumentals written by Peter and John.
Despite this lack of original material it’s a good and very enjoyable album. The musicianship is top notch, especially on the two instrumentals that announce the jazz direction that the band would take in the future. Their cover of Just Go Wild over Rock’nRoll is also a rare occasion to hear more of Chris Gardner’s playing.
Marshall Lytle, now a friend of the band, even makes a guest appearance and sings Eat Your Heart Out Annie, a song he recorded for the first time in 1956 with the Jodimars.

The Stargazers - Back In Orbit
The Stargazers – Back In Orbit

The Stargazers
Back In Orbit

Ace CDCH [1991]
Crazy But True / Loretta / It’s Only A Paper Moon / Baby, Baby, Baby / Got That Beat / The Walking Beat / Sweet Georgia Brown / Dig That Rock’n’roll / The Stargazers’ Blues / Crazy, Man, Crazy / (Every Cloud Has A) Silver Lining / Feeling Happy

Back In Orbit hit the shelves in 1991 to great acclaim. It proved that, nearly ten years after their first album, they hadn’t lost their energy. For this album he band decided to focus mostly on Rock’n’Roll/Jive stuff. And Back In Orbit is loaded with hotter than dynamite songs, some sounding like Haley’s unissued songs from the vault of Decca. It burst with Crazy But True that quotes Haley’s Dim Dim The Light (the mambo passage) and Birth Of The Boogie (the sax riff). It’s Only A Paper Moon is a good opportunity to hear the new rhythm section formed by veteran Ricky Lee Brawn and newcomers Chris Gardner and Tim Purkess in action and it confirms that Tim was the right choice to replace Anders. Clive Osborne also guests on steel guitar. The instrumental version of Sweet Georgia Brown shows their jazzy side and leaves plenty of room for Peter and John to express their skills. All in all, a killer album.

the Stargazers - Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens
the Stargazers – Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens

The Stargazers
Ain’t Nobody Here But us Chickens

Epic [1982]
Ain’t Nobody Here But us Chickens – Rocketship To The Moon

The fourth (and last) single recorded at 10cc’s Strawberry studios in Stockport. A side is a cover of Louis Jordan’s Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chicken. This time the label chose the song and the producer (Peter Collins who worked with Shakin’ Stevens and Matchbox). It’s clear that CBS wanted a modern production, which now sounds horribly dated, to get that hit that wouldn’t come. The result is as far as possible from the good old rock’n’roll (even with modern aspects) the band used to play, using electronic drums instead of Ricky’s distinctive groove. At least the buyers could find comfort with Rocketship to the Moon on the b-side, a gentle jazzy ballad penned by Janes and dating from the Davenport era of the band.

The Stargazers - Watch this space
The Stargazers – Watch this space

The Stargazers
Watch This Space

EPIC EPC 25053 [1982]
Tossin’ And Turnin’ / Hey Marie / Swingin’ Aye / Marcelle Mania / Walking The Chalk Line / Hey There You / Perfido – Caravan / Groove Baby Groove / Follow Your Heart / Pretty Senorita / Spin That 45 / True Love / Rocketship To The Moon

The legendary debut album. See “Epic Rock’n’roll” for a detailed review.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Read our complete story about the Stargazers here.

Dig Wayne

dig_wayneDig Wayne – ShackRouser

RBR 5658 Rhythm Bomb Records
Shack Rouser – Just A Flirt – The Hell You Say – Four Mill Hill Blues – Black Widow – Dont Mean No Never Mind – Lucky Number 13 – Devil Red – She Walked Away – I’ll Wind – Blue Is The Color Of Love – Wagon Wheel.
Dig Wayne is back…Who is that guy? Remember, you know him well. Dig was one of the first american rockabilly revivalist from the beginning of the eighties with his band Buzz and the Flyers before forming The JoBoxers, scoring international hits (Boxer Beat, Just Got Lucky, Johnny Friendly…) and becoming a successful actor with movies, TV and theatre.
In 2005, he appears at the second Greenbay Rockin’ Festival and one year later he was invited at the Rockabilly Rave in England. That cool guy was always different: a black guy in a white rockabilly world, a kinda pop and new-wave lover, one of the founder of the neo-rockabilly style against the fifties fundamentalists. He hasn’t really changed in spite of the more than 25 years past since his first and last rockabilly album. This “little” album (only 12 tracks) called “Shack Rouser” is recorded for the Rhythm Bomb Records with the help of the Chisellers, a band made of Jeffrey P.Ross, Russell Scott, Philippe Aubuchon, Carl Sonny Leyland with the engineering of Deke Dickerson, the master of the Ecco-Fonic Studios in L.A. Be prepared to hear some modern rockabilly, only self-penned songs, a mixture of smooth and cool mid-tempos songs with bongos, harmonica and piano that remind me of the eighties jazzy “Matt Bianco-Carmel-Mink DeVille” style (“Black Widow”, “She Walked Away”) with some drivin’modern rockabillies (“Shack Rouser”, “Don’t Mean No Never Mind”, “Devil Red”). Wayne ends his album with a gospel “Wagon Wheel”. I’ve particularly appreciated the “Lucky Number 13” song with his atmospheric guitar. But there is something missing in this album, nothing to do with the soul but rather with the flesh. Even if the band is made of first class musicians, the sound is a little too weak to make this album more than very pleasant to listen to. But Dig is a great live performer and I’m sure he can overcome this mildness on stage.
Long Tall David

Krewmen (the)

The Krewmen started as a rockabilly band, then played the best rockin’ blues you could find in England in the early 80’s and finally evolved, under the influence of leader Tony McMillan into one of the most influential psychobilly band of the mid 80’s. It was worth an article, don’t you think.

The rockabilly – rockin’ blues years

The Krewmen were formed in 1982 by Tony Mc Millan and, at that time, played rockabilly. (according to some sources the band went under the name of The Starlites until 1984). This early formation starts to build a name and a following and in 1985 they are hired to play Elvis’ band in “Elvis the musical” which brings them to the USA and Canada. Back to Europe, Lost Moment offers them a record deal but the other two decide to leave to pursue personal projects.

Mc Millan on double bass soon recruits Jimmy Fahy on drums and Carl “Sonny” Leyland on piano, guitar, harmonica and vocals to play more blues influenced material but still with a heavy rockabilly flavour in it. The band releases two singles on Lost Moment (both excellent) now very rare but available on the compact disc Klassic Tracks Fom 1985! (still on Lost Moment) and some other unissued recordings are available on Carl Sonny Leyland’s album “I Like Boogie Woogie” (On The Hill OTHRCD 001).

Early Krewmen with Carl Sonny Leyland
Early Krewmen with Carl Sonny Leyland

Among their best songs is “Ramblin’” a great “delta-blues meets Chicago blues” tune. The electricity is here but you still have a big country flavour. It also shows what a great slide guitarist is Carl Leyland, too bad he doesn’t play it anymore. The b-side, “I’m gonna get it” is a Jazz Gillum song. Listening to this version shows that the Krewmen were more than a “cover band”. They play this song and make it their own. The song, the voice and the harp are clearly bluesy, but the way McMillan slaps his bass and the scorchy guitar look toward rockabilly. Let’s call it rockabilly blues.

In late 1985, tired of playing covers and with the will to play a more modern music, Mc Millan thinks it’s time for a change of direction. This leads Leyland and Fahy to leave. Leyland joined various bands before moving to the USA where he built a solid reputation as a boogie-woogie, jazz and blues pianist, Fahy later teamed with Get Smart, a band which described itself as Jazzabilly.

Introducing Mark Cole – The Krewmen goes psychobilly

The brand new line-up consists of Mc Millan on guitar (his former instrument), Mark Cole on vocals (sometimes close to Guana Batz’s singer, Pip), Dominic Parr on drums and Jason Thornton back on double bass (he played with The Starlites). They play fast rockabilly / psychobilly and original material
Their first album, in 1986, “The Adventure Of…” entirely written by Cole and McMillan became highly influential on the psychobilly scene, for good reasons. The rhythm section is tight, Cole is one of the best vocalist of the era and the songs are really well crafted and original, still anchored in the rockabilly idiom. The band doesn’t try to put as many songs as possible and with 10 songs there’s no filler.

The Krewmen with Mark Cole
The Krewmen with Mark Cole

“Sweat Dreams” follows in 1987 and is based on the same recipe. It’s even better. The band is tighter, so are the songs, and McMillan adds a bit of metal to his guitar style. Once again the songs alternate fast and slow parts, with well played breaks. Another unusual thing, three songs out of ten are more then 6 minute long, including the fake live version of the Isley Brother’s Shout.

Next is “Into The Tomb” still in 1987. And it proves they manage to record three classics in a row. But this time, the sound hardens a bit and it features more covers : The Clash’s Should I Stay Or Should I Go (a song which proved to be very popular on the psychobilly scene), T-Rex’s Solid Gold Easy Action and the traditional Hava Nagila .

Exit Cole and a step toward metal…

But all good things comes to an end and Cole leaves the band in 1987.
McMillan takes over the vocal duties, but in 1988 Cole is followed by Parr and Thornton. It was time for a new line-up with Steve Piper on drums and various bass player Mark Burke then Graham Grant.

The sound changes with the line-up too, getting harder and harder with elements of metal, punk, glam rock. “Plague Of The Dead” in 1988 combines all those influences. The choice of the covers reveals this orientation and McMillan’s varied tastes. From Eddie Cochran’s Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie to Gary Glitter’s Do You Wanna Touch via The Who’s My Generation and Steppin’ Stone (Paul Revere, The Monkees but also covered by The Sex Pistols). In his influences, Tony cites Chuck Berry, Alice Cooper, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimmi Hendrix and Sex Pistols.
If not unforgettable, it suffers the comparison with the “Cole period”, “Plague Of The Dead” has some good moments like “Legend Of The Piper”, “Take A Little More” and the previously mentioned covers. Despite the credit, it seems that McMillan plays the bass parts on this album, not satisfied with their bassist. It was before he finds Paul Oxley.
After his stint with The Krewmen, Burke formed The Phantom Rockers in 1988.

1988 and 1989 are busy years for the band and they tour a lot in the USA. The band enters the 90’s with the release of “Power” (a perfectly suited title) which goes further in the direction announced by “Plague…”. “Knight Moves” is clearly metal, “Devil’s Lair” mixes hard-rock guitars with slap bass and a good part of the rest is hard-core influenced. What a long way since the rockin’ blues days. But all in all “Power” is better than the previous. More coherent, entirely self-written and very well produced. Cherry Red has issued a live DVD with the “Power” line-up (Mc Millan, Hoxley, Piper).

The final adventure? Maybe not…

The following year with “The Final Adventure…” The Krewmen return to a more “classical” sound. Something like the missing link between “Into The Tomb” and “Plague…”. The single issued from this album is good too. Forbidden Planet is one of the best song written by McMillan. The b-side features a country song (but with The Krewmen treatment) and a cover of the Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black with electronic drums (!). If you can’t find the original single, these songs are available on the cd “Single Out” that gathers the singles recording since McMillan took over the vocals.
In 1992, Steve Piper left the drums to play rhythm guitar and Tony Gallagher replaced him on the drummer’s seat. On the recording front everything has been very quiet since then, but Lost Moment reissued the classic trilogy on CD.

Discography
Albums

The Adventures Of- Lost Moment LM08
Sweet Dreams – Lost Moment LM10
Into The Tomb- Lost Moment LM14
Plague Of The Dead- Lost Moment LM20
Power – Lost Moment LM21
The Final Adventure Of- Lost Moment LM23

Singles

Ramblin’- Lost Moment LM024
What Are You Today- Lost Moment LM12034
My Generation- Lost Moment
Do You Wanna Touch- Lost Moment LM045
Forbidden Planet- Lost Moment LM050

Compilations

Klassic Tracks From 1985- Lost Moment LMCD054
Singled Out – Lost Moment LMCD024

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