UNCLE CHARLIE COMBO - 45'S & MORE

Puedes leer la versión en español de este blog en

elrockandrollyyo.blogspot.com

1. Pretendin' To Be Cool   2. Sugar Hill   3. Don't Tell Me Your Trubles   4. Mambo Cut Boogie   5. Fireball   6. Broken Hearted   7. Blues & Truble Everywhere   8. Goodbye Trouble, Welcome Loneliness   9. Lonesome Feelin' Blues   10. (I Know) You Don't Love Me   11. Dire Need   12. Twin Guitar Boogie   13 Drive Me Home   14. It's My Life   15. Pretendin' To Be Cool (single version)

CAB Records / Cab 56011

Uncle Charlie Combo, or Mr. Carlos A. del Bosque with different supporting musicians, presents a CD which is just what its title says: songs previously released in 7" vinyl format plus some others to fulfill a little bit more of 35 minutes of Rockabilly and some Rock'n'Roll. And when I write "Rockabilly" I mean true Rockabilly.

Fifteen songs (or fourteen, because "Pretendin' To Be Cool" has been included twice, though in two different takes), eight of them composed by Carlos A. del Bosque himself, plus two by Carlos and someone else (one with Sonny West and one with Phil Riza) and four songs from different sources (two from Sonny West, one from Ike Turner and one from Vern Pullen).

As said before, it is a record made up of songs from previous singles, etc. As a matter of fact, we can read at the sleeve notes that there have been included recordings from 2010 to 2015. But even with that gap of time between recordings the CD has a quite homogeneous sound and feeling, probably thanks to the fact that all but one the recording sessions had the same persong mastering and mixing (Ely Agramunt) and also to Uncle Charlie's own Rockin' style, a style that comes right from the 50's Rockabilly pioneers and that I have to admit that I love.

To choose a single song of the CD is just impossible, but I would like to highlight "Pretendin' To Be Cool", the instro "Mambo Cut Boogie", "Goodbye Trouble, Welcome Loneliness", the Hillbilly feeling of "Drive Me Home" and "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles" (with the slapbass work of Adolfo Ruiz shinning by its own). Well, I've mentioned almost all the songs composed by Carlos A. del Bosque... and probably all the songs deserve to be highlighted.

Regarding other's compositions or collaborations, my favourites ones are "Twin Guitar Boogie", with great interplay between two guitar aces such as Carlos and Phil Riza, "Broken Hearted" and "Sugar Hill", reminiscing Buddy Holly from the very first note, no doubt because it comes from the songbook of Sonny West (who wrote for instance the great "Rave On" that was a hit for Buddy Holly).

A wonderfull record, to make it short, that I just have to highly recommend. Good, old, true Rockabilly. By the way, you can get this CD through the artist's own website (www.carlosadelbosque.com).

Uncle Charlie Combo at a 2013 show in Pamplona (Spain),

with Uncle Charlie / Carlos A. del Bosque (guitar and singing),

Adolfo Ruiz (slapbass) and Juan Fresneda (drums).