MIS AMIGOS THE SHADOWS - EDUARDO BARTRINA

Puedes leer la versión en español de este blog en

elrockandrollyyo.blogspot.com

Huerga y Fierro Editores

A bio of (probably) the most important instro Rock'n'Roll band in Europe is always welcomed... But please note that this one has been written in Spanish, so this is going to be a short review.

It makes a good, interesting reading, with around half of the book telling the history of The Shadows as Eduardo Bartrina learn it from Shadows' members Bruce Welch and Brian Locking. And along with the bio of The Shadows, we get a glance into the bio of Cliff Richard.

In the second half of the book, as an appendix, we get individualized short bios of band members, origins, instruments and equipment used, discography, pictures... So it makes a quite complete book.

On the negative side, there is an unusual amount of typos that may bother some readers at some points.

In all, an interesting bookn (in Spanish) about The Shadows, the most important instro Rock'n'Roll band in Europe.

TIHUYA CATS - I DIDN'T ALWAYS SEE THINGS THIS WAY (ep)

Puedes leer la versión en español de este blog en

elrockandrollyyo.blogspot.com

Cara A = 1. Big Boy   2. I'm Mad At You

Cara B = 3. I Didn't Always (See Things This Way)   4. Falsa pasión

CAB Records / CAB7005

From La Palma (Canary Islands), via Valladolid comes this EP by Tihuya Cats, released by CAB Records. A tiny label, yes indeed, but that shows great taste in the selection of the records they issue and that always offers great product quality, both in the music field (we'll see that in a little while) as in the design one (please pay attention to the beautiful sleeve design by artist Nano Barbero).

Tihuya Cats are Raquel "Kelly Cat" (lead vocal) and "Lee" Villalba (upright bass), plus Pablo Villalba (drums) and "Johnny" Acosta (acoustic guitar)... with the addition for this record of the great "Uncle Charlie" (electric guitar) as special guest.

But let's go with the songs included in this EP, because that's what really matters here. Side A, with "Big Boy" and "I'm Mad At You" (covers of Ki Ki Page and Wynona Carr songs respectively), is kind of Rhythm'n'Blues friendly, which has come as a surprise to me as I thought Tihuya Cats were a strictly Rockabilly band. It sounds good, really good, even though at some points I feel the band is not really confortable with the Rhythm'n'Blues style.

Side B, on the other hand, brings two good Rockabilly cuts, being the first one, "I Didn't Always (See Things This Way)", penned by great Texas Rocker Huelyn Duvall; and the second one, "Falsa pasión", signed by Carlos A. del Bosque (AKA "Uncle Charlie") and the only one sung in Spanish in this record. Here I feel the Tihuya Cats are absolutely in their territory and it is an evidence in the final result. For me, side B is the strong one in this record, with "I Didn't Always" being probably the best song, with "Falsa pasión" close behind.

According to the info on the sleeve, all four songs were recorded live, but it has to be highlighted that sound quality is more than good enough to enjoy the record.

Brief, a good EP by Tihuya Cats in which side B outpaces side A. Recommended? Sure yes!