Virgil, Auteur à the rockabilly chronicle

The Donettes

31 January 20169 September 2024

Reviews

The Donettes – Hello Baby

Boogie Woogie Country Girl – Mercy – The Walk of Shame – Going Steady – The Right String but the Wrong Yo-Yo – Got My Mojo Working – Rocket Sixty-Nine – Sweet Boy – Whipper Snapper – Hello Baby – Baby, Baby (Don’t Be Mean)
The sound of the Donettes has changed a little bit on this album (their third). You can hear the influence of the Black Crabs (the other band Kirsten, Tom and Jonathan play with) to bring their traditional rockabilly into more “modern” fields as shown on the opening tracks : two wild pieces of rockabilly with mean guitar. Then, it’s time for a break in the pace with the fine “Walk Of Shame” with nice backing vocals provided by The Horton Brothers. “Going Steady”, is a honky tonk from the Faron Young’s catalog with guest player Jeff Bottomley on pedal steel guitar. “Right String (but the wrong Yo-Yo)” is another rockin’ tune with Kirsten, Johnny and Tom taking a chorus each and Rebecca proves, once again, she can yodel with ease. The next song is the occasion to change the mood once again, giving a superb rendition of Muddy Waters’ Got My Mojo Working with Hammond organ by Ian Mc Lagan (is he the same from The Small Faces? I think so.). Another link to The Small Faces is the Todd Rhodes-Connie Allen’s risqué blues “Rocket 69”, also covered by Ronnie Lane,.but their version while staying true to the original brings some nice jazz chords into the mix. Back to rockabilly with “Sweet Boy” penned by lead singer Rebecca Kemberling. “Whipper Snapper” and “Hello Baby” are two slow/mid tempoes where the skills of guitar player Jonathan shines throughout. The album ends like it starts with the rocking “Baby Baby (Don’t be mean)”. It’s available at www.thedonettes.com and while you’re there, buy the other two : they’re both great.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Kim Lenz / Kim Lenz and the Jaguars

31 January 20169 September 2024

Reviews

Kim Lenz – Percolate

Sleazy Records ‎– SR137 [2018]
Percolate / I’ll Find You

Brand new single by Kim Lenz, release to annouce the release of her forthcoming album due out in Fall 2018.
Both sides are penned by the singer. A-side is a Rock’n’roll/Rockabilly tune with a latin beat and features a nice baritone guitar part and hot sighs to boot. More surprising and unusual is I’ll Find You. This one sounds like a cross between Funnel Of Love and Shakin’ all Over.
As usual with Sleazy this is a limited edition (500.)

Kim Lenz and the Jaguars – Follow Me

Riley Records RRCD-4007
Pay Dearly – Follow Me – Deejay – Tumble and Fall – Whiplash – Ghost Of You – Cry Wolf – Number One Reason – Three-Cornered Heart – Shadows On The Old Bayou – Right Here With Me – Trust No One

For her fourth album, our favorite rockabilly redhead has once again gathered a fine array of musicians whose names should speak to every Rockabilly fans: Carl Sonny Leyland on piano (who also produces), Ramon, Espinoza and Ashley Kingman on guitars, Kevin Stewart on double bass and Kevin O’Connor on drums. A couple of guests joined the fun too: Dawn Shipley sings harmony vocals on one tracks, Shorty Poole plays steel, Ron Dziubla blows his sax and James Stevens plays guitar.
All songs but two – Rikki & the Rikatones’ Whiplash and Johnny Horton’s Shadows on the Old Bayou – are originals with eight penned by Lenz and one by Espinoza.

Follow Me is more eclectic than her previous efforts ranging from Honky-tonk (Right Here With Me) to straight Rock’n’Roll with some jump-blues, jazzy stuff (the New Orleans tinged Ghost Of You that only needs a horn section to be complete) and of course plenty of Rockabilly.

One can only regret that the overall quality is marred by average and unoriginal material, like the opener, for example, though, even on these two or three songs, one can find top musicianship. Leyland, to name but one never fails to deliver the goods on piano. Her songwriting is far better on more adventurous stuff like Follow Me, Deejay, Three Cornered Heart, or the aforementioned Ghost of You. Also, on the more traditional numbers, Lenz tends to overuse of Rockabilly mannerisms like growls and falsettos that sometimes sound contrived and clichés. That flaw was already present on her previous albums, but here, it’s a bit too much. I firmly believe it would be to her advantage if she sang more simply, her voice being good enough for that.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Kim Lenz - It' All True — Kim Lenz – It’ All True

Kim Lenz and the Jaguars – It’s all true

Riley Records RR3008 [2009]
Touch Me – That’s The Breaks – Zombie For Your Love – Ramblin’ Feeling – Chocolate Eyes – I’ll Tell You When – He’s All Mine – Speed Limit – Know-It-All – I Break A Heart Every Night -Burning Rubber – Shined Up And Ready To Shout

At last! Ten years after her last studio album (a time she employed to have and grow up a baby) Kim Lenz is back with former Jaguars Nick Curran (guitar), Scotty Tecce (drums) and Jake Erwin (double bass). Did the maternity tame her? Well, not at all. On the contrary she comes back with an album almost too hot to handle on which she penned seven songs.

Fill with high octane rockabilly (Lenz vocals and Curran’s guitar blend particularly well), it also features hillbilly harmonies (Zombie For Your Love), a bit of jazz with I’ll Tell You When written for Kim by Sage Guyton of The Lucky Stars and even a waltz, I Break A Heart Every Night, that benefits of superb harmonies from Scotty Tecce’s side band The Fabulous Harmonaires. Icing on the cake, Big Sandy contributes one superb rockabilly on which he duets with the fiery redhead and co-wrote another.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Kim Lenz - the One and Only — Kim Lenz – the One and Only

Kim Lenz and the Jaguars – The One And Only

Hightone Records – HCD8108 [1999]
Howl At The Moon – One And Only – Somebody Lied – If You Don’t Like My Peaches (Don’t Shake My Tree) – Rock And Roll Guitar – Choctaw Boogie – Comin’ Back Strong – Dancing Me To Death – Crawlin’ Back – Truest Love – Fit To Be Tied – Stick ‘Em Up Honey – Flame Of Love – You’ve Met Your Match

Kim Lenz and her Jaguars – Kim Lenz And Her Jaguars

Hightone Records – HMG 3003 [1998]
Saturday Jump – Kiss And Tell Baby – I Swear I Was Lying – You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ – Thinkin’ About You – The Swing – Havin’ A Ball – Shake A Leg – Ten Cats Down – Dang Good Stuff – You Made A Hit – Twinkle, Twinkle – Up To My Old Tricks Again – Devil On My Shoulder

Kim Lenz - Shake A Leg — Kim Lenz – Shake A Leg

Kim Lenz and her Jaguars – Shake a leg!

Wormtome (1000 WT 706)
Shake a leg, – Up to my old tricks again – Bop City – Minus One-Blastoff.
Awesome debut ep by one of today’s finest Rockabilly singers. Miss Lenz knows how to capture the spirit of Rockabilly, she growls, she hiccups and most of all she makes you want to bop. In that she’s perfectly helped by the Jaguars (Mike Lester on guitar, Chet Johnson on drums and Deke Dickerson on double bass and also behind the console).
Side A features two songs penned by the singer while B side is made of two rather obscure covers: Sherry Davis’ Bop City and The Sonics (not the well known garage band) Minus One Blast Off.
Ten minutes of pure Rockabilly bliss but rather hard to find today (it was limited to 1000).

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Website: http://kimlenz.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialKimLenz/

Interview : http://www.the-rockabilly-chronicle.com/kim-lenz/

Hank Edwards

11 January 20169 September 2024

Reviews

Hank Ewards - In the silence of the Night

Hank Edwards With Hal Peters And His Trio – In the Silence of the Night

Goofin Records GOOFY 533 {1992}
In the Silence of the Night – I Wish I Has a Nickel
Another case of « wrong time, wrong place ». Had Hank Edward come from the USA and been active in the late 40’s/early 50’s, he would have shared the stage of the Opry or the Hayride with Hank Williams or some other great names of the time. Instead he comes from Sweden and began releasing records in the 80’s for an audience of fine connoisseurs.
This honky tonk single released for Goofin seems to come straight from the 50’s. Everything here is close to perfection the songs (one original on side A and a cover of Hank Williams that certain discovered under the name of Tell Me Little Darlin on the Riverside Trio debut album – on the side B), the voice and the backing provided by the always excellent Hal Peters and his trio.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Las Pistolas – Deadly Combination

4 January 20169 September 2024

Reviews

Western Star WSCR048 [2011]
Pistol Packin’ Peggy Sue – Rhythm In My Soul – The Cinnamon Kid – She’ll Rock Your World – Jump Start – Rock Around With Ollie Vee – Jessica Rabbit – Liquor and Las Pistolas – Don’t Shut Me Out – The Return of Eddie Sin – Lost It All – Sunday Lover – Black Widow – Lady Luck – Sad But True

Las Pistolas are a modern rockabilly trio (guitar, slap bass, drums), and though they already had a cd ep out (on Raucous I guess) Deadly Combination is their first full length featuring 13 originals and only two covers. The opening track, a My Baby Left Me/That’s Allright type of rockabilly, didn’t impress me that much: good but not very original. Things went drastically better with “I’ve Got Rhythm In My Soul”, a hot boppin’ neo-rockabilly number. The rest of the records confirmed that the first song was just an exception. The main core of their music is rockabilly with a modern twist and melodies. But one will also find a western tinged ballad (Cinnamon Kid) and some wild numbers with saxophones (She’ll Rock Your World and the excellent Jessica Rabbit that features a honkin’ Las vegas solo at the end). Liquor and Las Pistolas is a Diddley beat blues with harmonica, tambourine, maracas, distortion on the voice and slide guitar. If you like Wild Billy Childish this one is for you (I only regret they don’t do more in that style). Like any decent rock’n’roll record, Deadly Combination features a nice ballad. This one is called “Lost It All” and even features Alan Wilson on piano. The playing is great, the solos are inventive and the recording as usual with Western Star is top notch. Strongly recommended.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

The Foggy Mountain Rockers

4 January 20169 September 2024

Reviews

The Foggy Mountain Rockers – Hang Him High

PART CD 627.001 [1998]
The Way Of Rock’n’Roll ~ I’m On The Run ~ Rheinland Rock’n’Roll ~ Long Blonde Hair ~ Blues Train To Hell ~ Country Roads ~ You Gonna Rock ~ Lonesome Teddyboy ~ Rock’n’Roll Will Never Die ~ Der Alptraum ~ Unchained Melody ~ Hang Him High ~ Noch’n Bier ~ Ghostriders In The Sky

Hang Him High was supposed to be the band’s first release but Pin-up, the original label, decided to cease releasing records once the recording finished. It’s only years later that Part got the rights and finally issued it, hence the subtitle “early recordings”. But “early” doesn’t mean “amateurish”. By the time of this recordings they’re already accomplished musicians (listen the guitar solos). They deliver a set of mostly original songs (including two in German) completed with four covers with the solid musical cocktail made of 2 parts teddy boy rock’n’roll, one part country and a dash of skiffle played with a no-nonsense approach. Sure it sounds a bit young compared to later albums where the band was more experienced and also benefited of a real studio and they sometimes try to catch a fish too big for them (Unchained Melody) but Hang Him High is nonetheless very pleasant. You can also hear that they worked hard on the vocal arrangements (Country Roads). Good debut.

The Foggy Mountain Rockers – Angel Heart

PART CD 627.009 [original release 1999 – reissue 2010]
Trouble ~ Hold Me Tight ~ All I Can Do Is Cry ~ Cats´ Rhythm ~ Teenage Paradise ~ Castin´ My Spell ~ Pioneers ~ El Diablo ~ Bopcat ~ Together Forever ~ Angel Heart ~ Dancing Shoes ~ Revenge Of The Innocent ~ Over The Rainbow ~ Wild Nights ~ Party By The Riverside ~ Drinkin´ Beer

First issued in 1999, “Angel Heart” the band’s second album appears here in a brand new mastered version and it’s a winner. This now well established German sextet plays Teddy Boy / British revival inspired rockabilly (think Shotgun, Riot Rockers, Crazy Cavan, Flying Saucers, Matchbox) with a solid dose of country music and even a bit of skiffle provided by the presence of a washboard player. Most of the songs are self penned with the accent put on the melodies. There’s also a few selected covers: Wayne Walker’s All I Can Do Is Cry, Johnny Kidd’s version of Casting My Spell, Cliff Richard’s Dancing Shoes and Gene Vincent Over The Rainbow (yes this Teddyboys have a heart beating under their leather jackets). Musically, the rhythm section is solid and provides the perfect ground for the two guitar players. Their solos are sharp and most of all originals. Those of you who are not stuck in a 50’s conception of the rockabilly thing will sure find a lot to enjoy on this great reissue.

The Foggy Mountain Rockers – Rock’n’Roll Philosophy

PART CD 627.008 [2011]
It`s Not Too Late To Be Wild – Pain Hurts – Be Apart – Teddy Boy Anthem – What You Waitin’ For, The Fog – Alone, Man`s Ruin – The Wanted Man In Black – Tender Days – Something Wrong With You – Teddy Boy Movement – Wanderin‘ Star – The Beat, Illuminati (instr.) – Rock’n’Roll Religion – She Brings Back The Wolf In Me – Don’t Break My Heart Again

With the exception of Crazy Cavan who is above all (and to quote the Foggy Mountain Rockers “It’s wild, it’s weird it’s crazy Cavan and he’s the pope”) the Foggy Mountain Rockers are of one today’s best Teddy Boy gang. They write solid originals played by first rate players with original ideas.
“Rock’n’Roll Philosophy” counts among their very best album. Just listen to the way the guitars interplay on “It’s Not to Late To Rock’n’Roll”, the harmonies on “Pain Hurts” or the melody of “Be Apart” (and strictly between us how many Teddy Boy group can you call “melodic”?). They alternate Rock’n’roll anthems built for the stage with mid tempos with equal pleasure. There’s also a lot of country stuff added to their music (“the Fog”), the western tinged “Illuminati” and a nicely done tribute to Johnny Cash.
Handle at your own risk, this is rock’n’roll music!

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Boom Boom Cats

3 January 201610 October 2019

Reviews

Boom Boom Cats – Tell Me Who… Told You ‘Bout Lovin’

Vinylux V0006 [2005]
Tell Me Who – The Opening Act – Crazy Crazy Lovin’ – Rooster in a Henhouse – Everytime That Record Plays – Right String Baby But The Wrong Yoyo – Two Bop – Long Time – Go Go Go – It’s Raining Tonight – Diamonds

The Boom Boom Cats were from Baltimore, Maryland and consisted of Eddie MacIntosh on vocals, Mark Pettijohn on drums, Lee Verzosa on double Bass and Joe (last name unknown) on guitar. Their album was issued on Vinylux Lance and Wendy LeBeau’s label. Lance also recorded it, and I guess it’s one of the reason why you can hear similarities with the sound of the Flea Bops. And I suppose that these guys share the same influences (Perkins, Burnette, Joe Clay…). They do great justice to Johnny Carroll’s Crazy Crazy Lovin’, Carl Perkins’ Right String Baby But The Wrong Yoyo and Roy Orbison’s Go Go Go, but they really shine on their own material written by MacIntosh, whose voice is another thing that makes the difference with many other rockabilly acts.
After the band folded, MacIntosh and Pettijohn stayed together and formed the Garnet Hearts.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis