Mellows (the) – Play… Need You
Sleazy Records – SRLP046 [2020]
How Was I To Know – Dawn – That’s How The Story Goes – Yes I Do – Need Lovin’ Baby – Phantom Parade Of Love – I’m In Love With You – Kiss And Make Up – I Know I Don’t Know – Need You – The Cure – Cold Nights
Back in the late fifties and in the early sixties, artists released albums at a frantic pace. Ricky Nelson released five albums between 1957 and 1960, and between 1960 and 1966, Bobby Vee released an average of two albums per year.
It seems that Colton Turner is following this path. The ink of my previous review is not dry yet, and the Mellows just released a brand new record.
Well, what can I say that I haven’t said before? The Mellows are one of my today’s favourite bands. Turner’s songwriting skills never cease to amaze me (all songs are from his pen), and the band’s arrangements are beautiful, subtle and above all, timeless. They keep their two feet firmly in soft and melodic Rock’n’roll in the vein of Ricky Nelson though tunes like Need Lovin’ Baby or The Cure add a slight early 60’s pop music edge. Let’s say the word that will make Rockabilly fans irk, but the Cure wouldn’t be out of place on any of the early Beatles albums. Other songs sound like Sam Cooke sung by Buddy Holly. The set is completed by a superb instrumental.
Superb from start to finish. I’m already waiting for the next one.
Mellows (the) – In L. A.
Sleazy Records – SR – 199 [2020]
In L.A. – You & Me – Who’s Blue – The Drifter
The Mellows return with an ep featuring four original, and needless to say excellent, tracks.
In L.A., recorded by the band, is a superb Ricky Nelson type of song with a twangy vibe.
Thomas Yearsley of the Paladins recorded You & Me. It probably comes from the sessions done a couple of years ago before the band relocated to Austin. It’s a pure ’50s ballad with doo-wop backing vocals.
Side-B features two songs recorded by Billy Horton at Fort Horton. Who’s Blue has an undeniable Buddy Holly feel that suits them very well while the Drifter has an early ’60s country twang with a change of pace.
Mellows (the) – s/t
Self released [2019]
City Lights – A Thousand Kisses – Goodnight Sweetheart See You Tomorrow – Molly Babe -Always – Walkin’ Zombie – Here And Now – It’s Over Now – I Want To Be The One – Shooting Star – B-A-B-Y – All Life’s Mysteries
After two albums under the name of Colton Turner, and with the return of Jack Christy, their former drummer, the band (Colton, his brother Zane on guitar and Yari Bolanos on bass), decided to return to a band name. The future will tell if it’s a smart move commercially speaking. But what matters is the music, and in that aspect, you won’t be disappointed.
Still recorded by the expert hands and ears of Billy Horton it features 12 original songs that have a strong late fifties/early sixties feel, reinforced by Bolanos switching to electric bass.
City Light opens the album in a Buddy Holly mood. Next is A Thousand kisses, a frantic rocker that leans more toward the early 60s and the first recordings of Bobby Fuller. Goodnight Sweetheart See You Tomorrow keeps the Buddy Holly connection, evoking, with its harmonies, the Crickets’ Love You More Than I Can Say. Molly Babe is another ballad that you thought the recipe got lost somewhere between the fifties and now. Always is another superb tune. Very few artists today can deliver such a love song in such a simple and evident manner.
Walkin’ Zombie is a Rockabilly number, which sounds like a Roy Orbison song that would have remained in the vault of Sun Records all these years. Here and Now is a flat out rocker. This one and the next two tunes feature Alberto Telo on drums instead of Christy. With It’s Over Now, Colton Turner demonstrates once again what a subtle singer he is, with a falsetto that would make Tony Williams proud.
Bobby Horton joins the band on vibraphone for I Want to be the One, a pop song (fifties pop, that is!)
Shooting Star is a soft Rockabilly in the style of Ricky Nelson and bears some resemblance to Fats Domino’s I’m Walking. The last two tracks are maybe the best. B-A-B-Y is a beautiful tune that sees the instruments coming into the song one after another. Magic! And the Diddley/Not fade Away beat of All Life’s Mysteries concludes the album in beauty.
Despite their very young age, these guys really know how to craft beautiful songs and the arrangements to enlighten them. The musicianship is top-notch and a special mention to Zane Turner whose guitar solos are always subtle.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis