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Rockabilly - Page 21

Hot Rod Trio

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Hot Rod Trio - Live!
Hot Rod Trio – Live!

Hot Rod Trio- Live !

Golly Gee Records GGR 1045
Hot Rod Model A – Long Blonde Hair – Here Comes That Train – Hop, Skip, Jump – Cat On The Loose – 32 – Hot Rod Heaven -Baby Don’t Rock – One Gone Cat – What If – Demon’s Got A Motorcycle – Hot Dog – Let’s Bop – Don’t Boss Me Baby – Tear It Up – Folsom Prison Blues – Boppin The Blues – Crazy Baby
The Hot Rod Trio is a Californian modern rockabilly band consisting of Buddy Dughi on guitar, Suzy Dughi on slap bass and Pete Bonny on drums. Both Suzy and Buddy sing. They have released 2 studio albums to date and have been playing their brand of high octane rockabilly since 1991. This live album of 18 tracks is a good way to hear how they sound on stage. You can definitely find a Setzer/Stray Cats influence in their music, not exactly the sound, Buddy’s voice is more rockabilly with hiccups and tremoloes, but in the general feel and the way to approach the genre. The set is a mix of classic covers (Johnny Cash, Johnny Powers, Collins Kid, Carl Perkins…), played with enough personality to be more than reproduction. Buddy plays great solos and make ‘em his own.The band’s self-penned songs stand well among the classics. I really loved “32” and “Demon’s Got A Motorcycle” on which Buddy’s guitar roars like an engine. If you like Brian Setzer’s 68 Comeback Special or The Reverend Horton Heat, you won’t be disappointed with this one.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Dig Wayne

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dig_wayneDig Wayne – ShackRouser

RBR 5658 Rhythm Bomb Records
Shack Rouser – Just A Flirt – The Hell You Say – Four Mill Hill Blues – Black Widow – Dont Mean No Never Mind – Lucky Number 13 – Devil Red – She Walked Away – I’ll Wind – Blue Is The Color Of Love – Wagon Wheel.
Dig Wayne is back…Who is that guy? Remember, you know him well. Dig was one of the first american rockabilly revivalist from the beginning of the eighties with his band Buzz and the Flyers before forming The JoBoxers, scoring international hits (Boxer Beat, Just Got Lucky, Johnny Friendly…) and becoming a successful actor with movies, TV and theatre.
In 2005, he appears at the second Greenbay Rockin’ Festival and one year later he was invited at the Rockabilly Rave in England. That cool guy was always different: a black guy in a white rockabilly world, a kinda pop and new-wave lover, one of the founder of the neo-rockabilly style against the fifties fundamentalists. He hasn’t really changed in spite of the more than 25 years past since his first and last rockabilly album. This “little” album (only 12 tracks) called “Shack Rouser” is recorded for the Rhythm Bomb Records with the help of the Chisellers, a band made of Jeffrey P.Ross, Russell Scott, Philippe Aubuchon, Carl Sonny Leyland with the engineering of Deke Dickerson, the master of the Ecco-Fonic Studios in L.A. Be prepared to hear some modern rockabilly, only self-penned songs, a mixture of smooth and cool mid-tempos songs with bongos, harmonica and piano that remind me of the eighties jazzy “Matt Bianco-Carmel-Mink DeVille” style (“Black Widow”, “She Walked Away”) with some drivin’modern rockabillies (“Shack Rouser”, “Don’t Mean No Never Mind”, “Devil Red”). Wayne ends his album with a gospel “Wagon Wheel”. I’ve particularly appreciated the “Lucky Number 13” song with his atmospheric guitar. But there is something missing in this album, nothing to do with the soul but rather with the flesh. Even if the band is made of first class musicians, the sound is a little too weak to make this album more than very pleasant to listen to. But Dig is a great live performer and I’m sure he can overcome this mildness on stage.
Long Tall David

The Donettes

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Donettes - Hello Baby
Donettes – Hello Baby

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

Published on

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.)

300Kim 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 - s/t
Kim Lenz – s/t

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/

Kim Lenz

Hank Edwards

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Hank Ewards - In the silence of the Night

Hank Ewards - In the silence of the NightHank 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

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laspistolasWestern 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

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