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Blue lake Records

Jerry and the Rockets

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Jerry and the Rockets – Takin’ Off!

jerry and the rockets

BLRCD 09 – Blue Lake Records [2006]
She’s Gone – Ballroom Baby – Cadillac Blues – Boogie Woogie Fever – Shadow My Baby – Girl Trouble – I’m On Fire – Ice Water – I Just Wanna Boogie – Four Alarm Boogie – Hot Rod Baby – Strollin’ Throught The Night – Wild Side Of Life – Bad Girl – Twilight

This band offers here a very eclectic album covering a broad musical spectrum that goes from the ’40s to the ’60s. You’ll find rockabilly (She’s Gone), Western Swing (Ballroom Baby), hard electric rockin’ blues (Cadillac Blues), Hillbilly Boogie (Gene O’Quinn’s Boogie Woogie Fever, Four Alarm Boogie), Rock’n’roll (I’m On Fire, Hot Rod Baby – a little bit wasted by the sax) a country ballad ala Jerry Lee Lewis and “twilight” a frantic instrumental to close the set. As you can see, it’s almost one song/one style, and in the end, it works against the band. Though the musicianship is solid and the listening is pleasant, there are maybe too many styles to hear the real personality of the group.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Hot Rhythm and Booze

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Hot Rhythm and Booze – We Gotta Get With It !

Hot rhythm and booze

Blue lake Records BLR-CD 08
She’s A Bad Motorcycle – Thinkin’ Bout You – Suzanne – Phantom Of Bengale – If I Had Me A Woman – Bull Moose – Johnny Be Goode In Hollywood – Ready Steady Go – Sweet Honey – We Got To Go With It – Ready At 8 – Lemon Lime – Fancy Annie – I Hear Thunder – Heartbreak Hotel – Baby Be Good

One night, one of the wildest rock’n’roll party took place in a small flat. The Mad Daddy came and started to play his favorite records. Bottles of booze were brought. Somewhere in a dark corner, near the kitchen, you could see Link Wray showing Chuck Berry guitar chords he didn’t know and both were having more fun they ever had before. It was time to order more bottles. Eddie Cochran came, just before catching a plane that would fly him to England. He loved what he heard, plugged his guitar and, with a little distortion, started to play a wild and frantic instrumental. More bottles were opened and emptied the following minutes. Hey, who’s that knocking? It’s Nat County and Buddy Love (and some booze too). The next instant a mad cover of Elvis’ Heartbreak Hotel was played. Ten more bottles took their journey to the bottle’s heaven. RIP. From the window, you could see a young Lux Interior peeping the party. He probably learned a thing or two that night. John Lee Hooker shouted for more alcohol; Jimmy nLloys gave him one drink, but in exchange asked him how to play that Boom Boom riff. When the dawn came, everyone went back home to cure his hangover. Sadly, it was long after the wild party was over that someone realized no one recorded it (probably too much booze involved.)
But don’t despair! Nearly five decades later, four guys from Paris, France managed to capture the essence of that specific night on a platter that is hotter than lava. And now, you dear reader, for a ridiculous amount of money ( booze not included) you can recreate it over and over again.



Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Mars Attacks – Follow Me

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Blue Lake Records  [2008]
Mars Attacks returns with a brand new album featuring 14 tracks to celebrate their 10th anniversary. It comes in a nicely designed digipack (as usual with Blue Lake Records) with a booklet containing the lyrics and a poster.
As you can guess it’s full of very good rockabilly. The set opens with two hot numbers, reminding the style of Rip Carson on My Simple Life. After another good rockabilly with a title reminding the late Ronnie Dawson (Awful Bad At Being Good) the band switches to Sonny Burgess mode with trumpet. They should do more like that. «Next Time» is a country bopper with fine finger pickin’ and brushed snare. They do justice to Billy Lee Riley’s Got the Water Boiling (wild vocal here!) and mellow with «Not Only In Dreams» under the double influence of Roy Orbison / Elvis Presley. It wouldn’t be out of place on a Paul Ansell’s Number Nine album. It’s time to get wild again with the Johnny Burnette influenced (think Train kept A Rollin) «You Only Like The Fast Songs» that features great lyrics like «Speed It Up, don’t Get Too Slow / We don’t wanna sound like Mr Mannilow». «Full Moon Rock» adds a touch of blues to the set followed by a ballad with a country edge and a heavy rocker with loud guitar and drums. Nice! The instrumental «Jazz Attacks» (with quotes from Chinatown My Chinatown / Take 5 / Big Noise From Winnetka) closes the set. Though it’s not bad, I don’t find it essential and ending the album with «Nice Mr Heavyweight» would have been more efficient.
Warmly recommended!

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Mars Attacks – Circle of Love

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marsattacks Blue Lake Records BLR-CD 07
I’m Gonna Get Ya – Rome Wasn’t Build In A Day – In My Dreams – I Care – Lush – Leavin’ It All Behind – If I Could Be True – Misunderstood – Nothing To Write Home About – Rebound – She’s Gone – King Of Fools – I Just Feel So Sad. Circle Of Love – I’m Gonna Get Ya – Rome Wasn’t Build In A Day – In My Dreams – I Care – Lush – Leavin’ It All Behind – If I Could Be True – Misunderstood – Nothing To Write Home About – Rebound – She’s Gone – King Of Fools – I Just Feel So Sad.
Circle of Love is a kind of thematic-concept album made of love (as the title suggests) songs (10 originals and 4 covers). The lyrics are exploring every steps of a relationship from the desire (I’m Gonna Get Ya) to the rupture (I Just Feel So Sad) via the happiness (In My Dreams) and every feelings in between. In term of authentic recording JCR recording service is one of the 2 best place in Europe (with Berlin Lightning Recording Service). Combine a good studio, the knowledge to use it and most of all a killer band with good songs of their own and the result is explosive. Mostly a pure rockabilly album (“She’s Gone” one of the best here had a hell of rhythm section on it) you find some “traditional” rock’n’roll too like “Rome Wasn’t Build In A Day”, “Misunderstood” in a very Presley-esque style, a bit of country ala Johnny Cash (the cover of “King Of Fool”) and “Leavin’ It All Behind” shows the influence of Sonny Burgess with its trumpet part played by singer Roland Riedberger. Charlie Rich’s “Rebound” is just perfect. As an extra bonus you have a short movie of Mars Attacks in the studio or to be honest a movie of the band drinkin’ in the studio .
Fred “Virgil” Turgis