Virgil

Rockin’ Bonnie & the Rot Gut Shots

Rockin' Bonnie - Cocktail Jubilee
Rockin’ Bonnie – Cocktail Jubilee

Rockin’ Bonnie & the Rot Gut Shots – Cocktail Jubilee

El Toro ETCD3024 {2009}
Bell Bottom Boogie – Gotta Honky Tonk – What Am I Worth – Kitty Kat Corner – All Of This – Burnin’ – I’m Hurtin’ Again – I Love Booze – I Wanna Make Love – I Heard About You – I Start Messin’ Around- Juke Box Blues – Papa Boogie – Bring Along Your Lovin’ – Time’s A Waistin’
The debut album of this young Italian lady was one of the good surprise of 2009.
 Backed by a bunch of well know faces who happen to be brilliant musicians too (including Nuno from the Boppin’ Boozers on slap bass, Max from the Starlighters who wrote six originals- on guitar and steel guitar, Manuel from Hot Tubes on drums and Jerry on piano from too many bands to mention here).
The band takes great advantage of Jerry’s pounding piano and opens the set with the fantastic Bell Bottom Boogie. The core of the set is made of hillbilly and hillbilly boogie, some very rural (I Heard About You), others with fine bluesy licks (I Wanna Make Love), but you also find country waltz with harmonies (All Of This close to the early Ranch Girls stuff), wild rock’n’roll with Jerry in full Jerry Lee mode (Burnin’), rockabilly (I’m Hurtin’ Again, Kitty Kat Corner), jazz (I Love Booze) a bit of western swing (Papa Boogie).
As said before the musicianship is top notch, but that’s Sabrina (Rockin’ Bonnie)’s voice that steals the show. She rocks like Lorrie Collins, has the country flair of Patsy Cline and shares with June Carter the same fun and abandon.
Highly recommended.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Al Holden

al-holden

Al Holden – C’mon Over

MCG1020082
Golden rocket – My baby left me – Sweet love – My happiness – C’mon over – Little darlin – Tomorrow night – Don’t come knockin’ – Leavin’ it all up to you – Just walking in the rain – Little cabin on the hill – Train train – Fool fool fool – I’m beginning to forget you – My heart will be true
An excellent album of Sun inspired Rockabilly (mostly Elvis but also Carl Perkins) featuring members of the Crawdads and Chris Cumings (Riverside Trio) on bass, steel and guitar. Half of the songs are Holden originals, the other half are covers of Arthur Crudup, Elvis, the Prisonnaires, Bill Monroe and Jim Reeves.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Blind Rage & Violence – the End Of Rock’n’Roll

blindrageandviolenceSwitchblade Records SW-001  [2012]
The Strutter – UFO On Farm Road – Blind’s Big Bonanza – Treat Her Wrong – Headless Chicken – Cat-O-Nine Crawl – We Got A Band Reputation – That Thing Hoodoo – Blind Fought The Po-lice – Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby Blue – Bacon Lube – Who Loves You Three Ways, Baby – The Shiv – Broke-Ass Blues – She’s So Fine, I Wish She Was Mine – Your Last Date
Blind Rage and Violence is a brand new band inspired by Link Wray. The members use aliases but I strongly suspect Deke Dickerson to be Blind Rage like he was the Donut Prince in the Go Nuts and Jethro “the double-neck Daddy-o” Presley in the Keystone Boys. Like wise Chain Link on bass and Hot Link on drums could probably be Pete Curry (the album being recorded at his studio) and Deke’s partner in crime Chris Sugarballs Sprague.
With such a band name, it’s not a surprise to find them play powerful Rock’n’roll mixed with garagey Punk and, as said before, Link Wray inspired stuff (Headless Chicken, for example, being an obvious reference to Run Chicken Run). It’s mostly instrumental with occasional vocal numbers. There’s no song credits but some tunes are easily recognizable though appearing under a different name or with adapted lyrics to match the concept of the end of Rock’n’roll. Thus, Blind Fought the Police, That Thing Hoodoo and Who Loves You Three Ways are respectively instrumental versions of I Fought The Law, That Thing You Do and Love Me Two Times. The same treatment applies for the vocal numbers, Roy Head’s Treat Her Right becoming Treat Her Wrong. You get the idea? One will also find covers of Gene Vincent’s Baby Blue and the Easybeats’ She’s So Fine (an earlier version of this song appeared on Deke’s rarities album, Mr Entertainment).

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

The Jekills

The Jekills - The Jekills
The Jekills – The Jekills

The Jekills – s/t

Tombstone [1989]
Aston – Nobody In The Street – Marilyn Monroe – Gladiators – The Girl Is Mine – You’ll Be A Priest – Psycho Beat – Dr Jekills – Ballade Du Chomeur
A short lp that is the only testament of the short career of this Belgian psychobilly band that had a bright future in front of them. They started in the mid 80’s under the name of Riot Guns and evolved into The Jekills. They never ceased to progress until the death of Sergio their bass player that marked the end of the band. Released in the late 1989, this self titled album quickly sold out its initial pressing of 1000 copies and was re-released by Tombstone. The band is clearly influenced by Batmobile both for the music and the voice but with enough personnality. The album is not flawless far from it. The sound is a bit thin at places, it’s not always in tune and there’s a couple of filler, for example “Marilyn Monroe” x-rated tribute to the famous actress (“I’d like to f*** her” doesn’t represent what I consider to be great lyrics). But at least half of the songs are very goog uptempo psychobilly numbers with good slap-bass including Nobody’s in the street, Girl is Mine and la Ballade du Chomeur that reminds of Los Carayos.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

The Hillbilly Huxters – The Hillbilly Rock’n’roll show

hillbillyhuxters1Wild Hare Records – WH 11001
Let’s Go Boppin’ Tonight – Big Fairlane – My Buckets Got A Hole in It – Can’t See My Baby Tonight – Hillbilly Blues – Hoochicoo – Kiss Me – Rock Pretty Mama – I’m Coming Home – Huxtercize – Twistin’n Turnin’ – Tear It Up – I Do What I Want When I Want
Still under the shock of The Hillbilly Stroll (Wild Hare WH 9002) his previous effort, I’ve received Dave Moore’s latest album with his new combo the Hillbilly Huxters with Matt Todd on double-bass and Strawback Slim on drums.
I probably said that before, but I’ll repeat it again and again if needed: Dave Moore and Wild Hare are the finest and best purveyors of real rockabilly music since Willie Lewis’ Rock-A-Billy Record. Like the late Colorado genius, it is obvious that this guy does not only play rockabilly: he lives and breathes it. And most of all, he understands it (how many can say that?). The Hillbilly Huxters are no exceptions to the rules. The name says it all, it rocks but the rural roots are never far. It’s wild, it’s raw but never in detriment to the songs (a bunch of originals like the frantic I Do What I Want When I Want coupled with covers from Al Ferrier, Johnny Burnette, Hank Williams, Johnny Horton, Eddy Clearwater). Recorded live it contains some minor flaws but I wouldn’t trade a flawless performance for all the feeling included in this album. Never. You’ll never recreate the excitement of the first time you listened to a Meteor or a Goldband record, but this is as close as you can get.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Killer Brew – s/t

killer-brewVampirella MCG1020028 [1998]
Do Me Like You Do Me – All Night Rock – Shattered Dreams – Victory Roll – Trouble Bound – Wore Me To A Frazzle – That’s The Way – Special Brew – Who’s Been Sitting In My Chair – I Fell In Love – My Little Baby – One Track Mind – The Other Side – Shooting Star

All star rockabilly band featuring Darrel Higham, Ricky Lee Brawn (Stargazers, Big Six, Space Cadets) Helen Shadow (Queen B’s, Johnson Family), Anders Janes (Stargazers, Ray Gelato, Big Six, Space Cadets) and Pat Reyford (Sugar Ray Ford). If we are used to hear Higham and Shadow sing, it’s more surprising to hear Brawn but he does a great job too. Recorded at Ricky’s Valvemobile studio it has a raw sound and shows a strong Sun records influence with a couple of hillbilly bopper too, featuring Pat Reyford on steel.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

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