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Rip Carson

Hexxers (the)

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Hexxers (the) – Freaks With The Savage Beat

Hexxers

Golly Gee Records GGR 1039
Straight Home – I Can Beat Your Drum – Strangled – Bones By My Bedside – No One Knows Where My Wild Seeds Are Sown -Tell Me Pretty Baby – You Put Me On – Sidewinder Crawl – I Take What I Want – Like What, Me Worry? – Let’s Dance – Knockin’ On Gravestones – Bones By My Bedside (Mad Maraca Mix)

Caution! Wild stuff here! If you think the baritone guitar on Johnny Horton records is your limit in terms of modernity, this record is not for you. But if you’re looking for a good sixties garage punk with a healthy dose of Bo Diddley and rockabilly music, don’t go any further, you found what you need! Who are The Hexxers? No less than (Rockin’) Ryan Sagat on vocals and his partner in crime the multi-talented Rip Carson (guitar, bass, drums). The opening song, Beau Dentures’s “Straight Home” with its powerful riffs is the kind of song Wild Billy Childish could have played. “I Can Beat Your Drums” seems directly taken from a “Songs The Cramps Taught Us” compilation, imagine something reminiscent of The Sparkles. “Strangled” proves they’re not only good at playing this music, but they can write it too. Ryan’s vocal sounds like a possessed Screamin’ Lord Sutch on this one. “No One Knows…” is probably one of my best-loved ones with tons of fuzz (I love fuzz). In the middle of the album, there are two more rockabilly influenced songs, then back to wildness with «Sidewinder Crawl» “I Take What I Want” is another favorite of mine, featuring label owner Mel on percussions and both Ryan and Rip on vocals. Throughout this album, Ryan proves his vocal has nothing to envy of Gerry Roslie.
In 2019, Trash Wax records reissued it on vinyl (100 copies on red and 400 on black) with a different and wilder mix and extra tracks.

http:// https://www.trashwax.com/product/out-now-lp-hexxers-freaks-with-the-savage-beat-ltd-edition

Hexxers (the) – Buried Alive

Hexxers

Golly Gee Records – GGR 1047
Magnify (Marlin Bar) – I Need Help (Marlin Bar) – Bones By My Bedside (Marlin Bar) – Superstuff (Marlin Bar) – Castin’ My Spell (Marlin Bar) – Sidewinder Crawl (Marlin Bar) – Like What, Me Worry? (Marlin Bar) – Buried Alive (Marlin Bar) – I’m Your Evil Witchman (Fright Night) – I Need Help (Fright Night) – Bones By My Bedside (Fright Night) – Let’s Dance (Fright Night) – Like What, Me Worry? (Fright Night) – Go Go Gorilla (Fright Night) – Sidewinder Crawl (Fright Night) – Buried Alive (Fright Night) – Strangled (Fright Night) – Knockin’ On Gravestones (Fright Night) – Castin’ My Spell (Fright Night)
You all know The Hexxers, if not read the previous review. If you do, I have good news for you: The Hexxers are back with their brand of garage and trash stuff mix with a rockabilly attitude and a bit of surf. And this time it’s the perfect support to judge of their wilderness: a live album. This record comes from two different shows (19 songs) recorded in April and June 2005. But don’t worry, except for their soon-to-be-if-not-already classics (“Like What, Me Worry ?” “Sidewinder Crawl”) and some covers you don’t have many songs played twice. The first eight songs, recorded at The Marlin Bar, feature a fifth member with the presence of Don Sagat on Farfisa. He adds subtle effects, and one could only hope he’ll be on their next studio album. The sound is rather good on the whole album but not too clean (this is a real live), and you can hear the audience (and the interference between Ryan and the audience). The remaining 11 were recorded one month later. I do prefer this show because Ryan Sagat – or should I say Dambala – seems crazier than ever. Even if they don’t play the same music, you can compare them to The Cramps by their roots, the abandon in the vocal and their primitive (and pure) approach of Rock’n’roll. And like Lux and Ivy’s band, they also cover The Sparkles’ “Hipsville 29BC” (renamed here “I need Help”). Good live albums are hard to find, so grab yourself a copy and don’t forget: if it’s too loud, you’re too old!
This cd comes with a beautiful comic book, drawn in a Hunt Emerson style by the team at Haunted Highway, telling us the REAL story of the Hexxers.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Rockin’ Ryan And The Real Goners

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Rockin’ Ryan And The Real Goners – Cry Of Midnight

Rockin' Ryan

Golly Gee Records GGR1040
Cry of Midnight – Rainin’ In My Heart – I’m The Wolfman – Why Did You Leave Me? – Double Crossin’ Daddy – Open Up The Casket -Headstone Rock – Snake In The Grass – Animal Tamer – Cottontail – Rattle Shakin’ Mama – Woman Cry – Cry of Midnight (Alt. Country Mix) – Castin’ My Pearls Before Swine

Don’t expect Rockin’ Ryan to play traditional rockabilly with clean guitar and love songs. This guy is wild and so is his newest record. Helped by his partner in crime Rip Carson – who co-wrote half of the songs, produced, engineneered, played guitar and bass – he offers to the listener an album rich in sounds and moods. From dark country tunes to straight ahead rockabilly, from rock’n’roll to garage.

The melodies are not the ones you’re used to and the lyrics are clearly not about kissin’ a blonde babe in the back of a pink cadillac. A song like “Rainin’ In My Heart” is not that far from The Gun Club and “Cry Of Midnight” wouldn’t be out of place on a Nick Cave album with its story of murder and obsession, but always in a rockin’ mood. Some are more traditional, like “Double Crossin’ Daddy” (kind of Johnny Burnette meets Hasil Adkins) or “Snake In The Grass” and “I’m The Wolfman” reflects the influence of Sagat-Carson’s other band The Hexxers.
Sagat’s voice fits all this styles with ease being warm and dark one moment and aggressive the next. My favourites songs are the album title “Cry Of Midnight” (both versions), The Crew’s “Why Did You Leave me Baby” and it’s haunted steel guitar and the wild “Animal Tamer”
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Rip Carson

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Rip Carson - Stand Back
Rip Carson – Stand Back

Rip Carson - Savage American Rock
Rip Carson – Savage American Rock

Rip Carson – Savage American Rock/Stand Back

Savage American Rock
PART-CD 682.001 – Part Records [2009]
Don’t Hold My Baby – Full Of Sin – So Long – Come On Back – Green In My Pocket – All Alone & Blue – 2 Timin’ Woman – You Can Find Another Man – Gamble My Life Away – Keep Your Pain – I Gotta Rock – Down That Line – Get It Through To You – I’m Gonna Drink – Tornado Love – Whiskey ‘n Water
Stand Back
PART-CD 682.002 – Part Records [2009]
Little Red Hen – Heart Attack – Can’t Comfort Her – After School Rock – Saw Ya Walkin’ – La La Love Me – Another Bridge To Burn – Stand Back – Rock Me Right – End Of The Tracks – Stay For Me – Holler Little Baby – Don’t Leave Me – Voodoo Woman

Part Records reissue Rip’s first two albums previously released on Rockin’ Ronnie Weiser’s Rollin’ Rock and now long out of print.
Savage American Rock is Rip debut album. One can hear the influence of rockabilly masters like Johnny Burnette or Gene Vincent wildest sides. The band is excellent especially Danny Angulo’s lead guitar. Of course you’ll find some minor flaws inherent to many debut album. Rip’s voice lacks of confidence (even though he’s never clearly out of tune) and the songwriting is not totally original. Though every songs are credited to Carson or Carson/Angulo the careful listener will find resemblances between Full Of Sin and Carl Perkins’ Matchbox, All Alone & Blue and Tex Rubinowitz’s No Club Lone Wolf and You Can Find Another Man and Bob Dylan’s Dont Think Twice.
Those little reserve apart, it’s a good album.

Stand Back goes further on the wild side as prove the first two tracks, all in savage guitars, screams and hoarse voice. But it also shows a more melodic side of the man with tunes like Can’t Comfort Her, Saw Ya Walkin’, Another Bridge To Burn, Stay For Me. A style he’ll explore more thoroughly with his album “My Simple Life”.
A good album, more consistent than Savage American Rock that gives you the best of both world.

Rip Carson - My Simple Life
Rip Carson – My Simple Life

Rip Carson – My Simple Life

Golly Gee Records GGR
The Hate Inside Of Me – All I Ask – Sinking Down – Miss Heartbreak – My Simple Life – Let Me Be -The One I Want – I’ll Tell You – That Aint Enough – Stuttering Cindy – Poor Me- Keep Moving -Happy Heart – I’m Not Free
“My Simple Life”, is Rip best (and last) album to date and probably one of the best rockabilly records this genre has given us in recent years. The musicians are no strangers to rockabilly fans:veteran Paul Diffin (The Blue Cats, Sugar Ray Ford, Big Six, Marshall & The Shooting Stars) on bass and recording, Joel Morin (Dawn Shipley, Pep Torres) on guitar and Michael Faughnan (Lustre Kings) on drums. The mid tempo The Hate Inside Of Me starts the album and you know you’re not just listening to “another good record”.
I won’t go into a song by song review but you’ll find here great rockabilly tunes like Sinkin’ Down, That Ain’t Enough (two collaborations with Rip’s partner in crime: Ryan Sagat), Poor Me and I’m Not Free (with handclaps), a beautiful ballad that sounds like Sam Cooke meets Don Gibson (All I Ask) and two well chosen covers that suit perfectly Rip’s voice : Jackie Lee Cochran’ Miss Heartbreak and Charlie Feathers’ Stutterin’ Cindy. So, the result is quite simple: great musicians with great songwriting and great production work. Take a listen just to hear the instruments separately and you’ll see what I mean. What you have here is a piece of classic rockabilly. An album as important as Big Sandy’s On The Go, High Noon’s Show & Dance and maybe even Gene Vincent’s second album. You couldn’t say I didn’t warn you.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis