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Rockabilly - Page 15

Leroy and the Rockets

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Leroy and the Rockets
Leroy and the Rockets

Leroy and the Rockets
Rockabilly Rollercoaster

Prestige Elite Records CDSGP 1313 [2012]
Challenge – Dianne And The Gypsy Queen – The Old Man Is Down The Road – Swordfish – Memphis, Tennessee – Goin’ To Chicago – Remember Me – Summertime Blues – It’s All About Me – That’s Life – Livin’ This Way – Dangerous Man – Shaking All Over – Witchcraft – Love Roulette – Strange Business – When You Were Mine – Zippin’ Pippin – Bad Moon Rising – Mars Attacks (Venus)

Rockin’ Rocket 88 has lived, here comes Leroy & the Rockets. But if the name changed, the line-up and the quality remain the same. There’s just a slight evolution in the sound, something like a more modern approach. Of course this is still roots oriented music, mostly rockabilly but with elements of blues (Goin’ To Chicago), hillbilly (Memphis Tennessee and Summertime Blues with a fiddle) and obvious references to the pioneers like Elvis (Dianne and the Gypsy Queen) or Johnny Cash (Remember Me). But they really aim to create a brand of music for the 21st century. To achieve their vision they asked Stevie Paul to produce the album. Paul is as far as you can imagine from the Rockabilly world having worked with Rod Stewart, Mary J Blige, Toni Braxton, Edwin Starr, Mike & the Mechanics to name but a few. His fresh approach mixed with the band’s background results in a brand new sound: something like a mix between the Blue Cats from the Tunnel era and Chris Isaak’s rockingest material.
With artists as Kitty Daisy and Lewis or Imelda May touching a large audience, it would be justice that a band which plays this music for more than 25 years, even if it was under another name, obtains a little recognition.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Enregistrer

The Juke Joint Cruisers

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The Juke Joint Cruisers - s/t
The Juke Joint Cruisers - s/t
The Juke Joint Cruisers – s/t

The Juke Joint Cruisers – s/t

Juke Joint Records
Hot Rod Guy – Juke Joint Jumpin’ – Nagging, Nagging – Road King – Tore Up – Diamond Ring – Your Love – Rhythm Rustler – The Last Petal – Latina Tina

The Juke Joint Cruisers come from Colorado and they are Randy Watson (guitar and lead vocals), Mike Boyce (double bass and lead vocals) and Lee Lippstrew (drums). This is their debut album and it’s been entirely recorded live which is the best way in my opinion to record this music. Produced and recorded by the band It’s a very solid album, featuring all original material. They have the good idea to keep it short (10 songs and 30 minutes), which avoids the temptation to include second choice material. All the songs here are first rate and varied. It also takes you back to the good old vinyl days a feeling reinforced by the Side A and Side B on the back cover. Their sound mixes rockabilly with rockin’ blues and the result is sure to appeal to fans of Lee Rocker, the Nervous Fellas and most of all the early Paladins. In addition you’ll also find more country oriented stuff like “Nagging, Nagging ”, latin beat (Latina Tina) and a Chuck Berry meets Link Wray and Duane Eddy instrumental (Rhythm Rustlers). No rockin’ album would be complete without a rockaballad and Boyce’s The Last Petal perfectly fills this void.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Sue Moreno

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sue moreno
Sue Moreno - One Track Mind
Sue Moreno – One Track Mind

Sue Moreno – One Track Mind

Western Star Records – WSRC 037
One Track Mind / The Fire Is Burnin’ / Too Late / Time is Wastin’ / Gone Gone Gone / Don’t Hurt Me Baby / Gonna Get Back Home Some How / What About Tomorrow? / Record Hop / Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad / Cinderella Story / Walkin’ With Angels / Time is A-Wastin.

When rockabilly girl Sue Moreno meets the boys of Jack Rabbit Slim, the result is sure to be hot. Contrary to many of her counterparts, Sue doesn’t try to sound mean and plays more on the seductive side of things which is a good and refreshing thing (when you can afford to do it, and she can). She never screams or else, but instead use her warm voice to whisper in your ears.
She penned the Fire is Burnin’ a fine rockaballad with a slight country tinge. Still on the country side are “What About Twomorrow” with a melody that reminds a bit of Buck Owens’ Street Of Backersfield. She also gives a great rendition of Tammy Wynette’s Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad.
Jack Rabbit Slim’s frontman Bob Butfoy provided eight songs tailor made for the singer, going from rockabilly to latin-with-a-Johnny-Burnette-feeling (Don’t Hurt Me) and even a country gospel (Walkin’ With Angels). In addition to Jack Rabbit Slim, you’ll find the talent of Jim Knowler (Keytones) on backing vocals as well as producer Alan Wilson playing guitar on Elvis‘Gonna Get Back Home Somehow.
In my opinion the sole low point is their cover of Gone Gone Gone that borrows more to Robert Plant/Allison Kraus version than the Everly Brothers original. But it’s not enough to waste the overall feeling of this excellent album.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

sue moreno

The Hi-Q’s

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The Hi-Q’s - Hop and Bop
The Hi-Q’s - Hop and Bop
The Hi-Q’s – Hop and Bop

The Hi-Q’s – Hop and Bop

El Toro Records. ETCD-3090
Dirty White Bucks – Hi-Q Boogie – Bop Crazy Bop – Worn Out – Rock ‘n’ Roll Guitar – I Wanna Live – Twenty-One Days – Jungle Boy Jack – Speed Limit – Wiggle Walkin’ Baby – Hop ‘n’ Bop – All The Time
The United States undoubtedly are reconcilied with the rockabilly and to be convinced is only to see multiplicity of high-quality bands which have emerged on the tracks of headlights bands of the US revival of the beginning of the Nineties like Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Boys, High Noon and the Dave & Deke Combo. It is necessary to add now this Detroit trio make up of Matt Strickland singer (and creator of the site www.planetrockabilly.com/ devoted to… rockabilly) and composer of 9 of the 12 titles of this first album published on the Spanish label El Toro. Around him there are not unknown ones but musicians of talent who work already in many prestigious combos: Rudy Varner the double bass player (Starlight Drifters, Jack Scott and the Signal Ranks, Earls Jack & The Jimbos) Paul ‘ Smokey Links’ Cook with the guitar (Missing Links, the Big Barn Combo, Rumble, Tilt-a-whirl and Jack Earls & the Jimbos) and Loney Charles the drummer (Big Barn Combo, Jack Scott & the Top Ranks and Jack Earls & the Jimbos) which are all irreproachable, combining smoothness of the play and constant and fascinating rhythm. This «Hop and Bop» is remarkable from the beginning to the end: of «Dirty White Bucks» which open the disc with the Sleepy LaBeef «All The Time» resumption of while passing by the boppin «à la Burlison» eponymous title and the purple passages like «Bop Crazy Bop», «I Wanna Live»( which makes me think of Ramblin’ James) , «Jungle boy Jack» and the strolling «Wiggle Walkin’ baby». I guess you have already understood it by yourself right now: a VERY highly recommended album
David Phisel

Stumbleweeds (the)

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The Stumbleweeds - Evil On Your Mind
The Stumbleweeds - Evil On Your Mind
The Stumbleweeds – Evil On Your Mind

The Stumbleweeds – Evil On Your Mind

Spinout Records
Evil On Your Mind – Baby I Still Love You – A Girl Dont Have To Drink – Had Enough – Saving My Love – Only Mama – Hard Times Ahead – Running Out Of Money – Look Out Heart Doggone Thing – My Baby Just Walked Right Out On Me – The Trouble With Girls – I Love You Because – Pennsyltucky – Tearin’ Up The Town

The Stumbleweeds are back with their second release! Good news isn’t it? You bet. I really enjoyed “Pickin’ and Sinnin'” their first album. It was everything one could expect from a band that plays 50’s rockabilly mixed with a good dose of Honky Tonk (or vice versa). And Lynnette’s voice was probably one of the biggest surprise. A real country female singer, influenced by her predecessors (Patsy, Charlene and Wanda) but in no way an imitation. A few years later and after some line up changes (Lynnette is the only member remaining) they issue this 15 songs record on Spinout Records. The sound changed with the line-up and they now tends to play a more 60’s influenced country style of music.

The album opens with a great rendition (man, that slap bass sound !) of “Evil On Your Mind” (Harlan Howard via Jean Shepard). Six songs you’ll find here has been sung one day or another by Wanda Jackson or Jean Shepard. But even the mood of the day is 60’s honky tonk with twangy telecaster, you can’t take the rockabilly out of that girl and their version of Janis Martin’s “Hard Time Ahead” is here to proove it. Guitar player Denis Kelly is probably one of the best kept secret in the country guitar world. He can play straight Honky Tonk riffs, Bakersfield and is not afraid to add a little bit of rock from time to time (“Pennsyltucky”) and some blues for good measure. Lenker’s own “Baby I Still Love You” and “Doggone Thing” could have been written in the 60’s. They both have great music (uptempo beat for “Baby” and classic Honky Tonk for “Doggone…”) and fine lyrics and they stand proudly among their elder. John Fuller (remember “Nashville To Nashua” on their previous effort) contributes 2 songs : the unusual (but great) “Running Out Of Money” and “Tearin’ Up The Town”. Ex-Stumbleweeds Mike Feudale returns to write “Had Enough”. This could be “one-more-country-song” but Lenker’s voice and Kelly’s guitar make all the difference. Another contributor to “Pickin’ and Sinnin'”, Chris De Barge, returns with “Pennsyltucky” another good one with change of pace for the refrain.What you have here is a great modern country album that didn’t sell his soul. Even the covert art is perfect and matchs totally with the music.

The Helldivers

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The Helldivers - Starlight Rock’n’Bop
The Helldivers - Starlight Rock’n’Bop
The Helldivers – Starlight Rock’n’Bop

The Helldivers – Starlight Rock’n’Bop

Wild Hare Records.RB05001
Starlight Rock ‘n’ Bop – Real Live Doll Lucky Penny – True Blue Lover Lonesome Wind – Feel So Bad – Hot Rod Boogie – Tough Tops Gone – Yeah She’s Mine – Rhythm Gonna Rock You Street Angel House Devil – Jet Plane Jump – Up A Pole – Water Boilin’
Second album of another promising young american band. When punks decide to play rockabilly, the result is a band with a name of a second world war bomber and a very «angry» first album in 2004 «Down To Nickles and Dimes». This second one titled «Starlight Rock’ Bop» is much more authentic. It is funny to hear these young people who started with saturated guitars now backing to the past and sounding just like in «54-55». Because it is all about that; the fourteen pieces (with only one cover, the Joe Penny’s «Real Live Doll», another horse of the Wild Hare Records stable which was a formed part of Hank Williams «Driftin’ Cowboys») are recorded by the guitarist Dave Moore (in its studio New Hope of Berkeley Springs) on vintage material and sound fiendishly» fifties just like these guys have sold their souls to the devil ! Listen to the first eponymous piece and you will understand what I’m talking about; there is some Pat Cupp in it and it is not by accident if he signed the liner notes! Moreover it is Ace Brown (singer and guitarist) and Johnny Bones (double bass player) assisted by the young Eddie Clendening which has accompanied the «old cat» in Green Bay and will «set the table again» at the Hemsby weekender in October 2005.I recommend you the entire album and pieces like «True Blue Lover», «Hot Rod Boogie», «Yeah, She’ s Mine», «Up has Poole» «Water Boilin’» and especially «Rhythm Gonna Rock You» (What a good one!) will undoubtedly blow your top. If you do agree, I’ll offer you a beer on our next meeting !
David Phisel

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