LOS REBELDES - A FLOR DE PIEL

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1. En cuerpo y alma   2. Chuck Berry   3. De presión   4. María querida   5. El loco de la autopista   6. La gloria del hombre   7. Corazón de Rock & Roll   8. Siete lunas de miel   9. Dos horas más   10. Marie, Marie   11. Con su blanca palidez   12. Marihuna Boogie   13. Quiero ser una estrella   14. Un hombre puede llorar

Martin Music / MM0013

Brand new record from Los Rebeldes. Maybe they are not a well known band worldwide, but they were pioneers in the Spanish Rockabilly Revival and the band has been Rockin' and Rollin' since the late 1970's, with around 20 records released... More than that, they still are a top Rock'n'Roll act in Spain, Mexico and so on. Well, when I say Los Rebeldes, I mean Carlos Segarra: their charismatic singer, guitar ace and the only original member remaining.

Anyway, lets go for this record. At first sight I had a kind of scary feeling when I learnt it was all acoustic and there were even an accordion and one of those percussion boxes instead of a drum kit... But as soon as I began listening to the CD I felt reassured. No problem: Rock'n'Roll and Rockabilly are there from the beginning to the end and it is a very good record. A great record, as a matter of fact, in my own opinion. Absolutely.

What we get is a good mixture of rockers (8) and and slow songs (6), alternating new songs, re-recordings of old hits from the band and some covers.

On the uptempo ones, we have "En cuerpo y alma"; "Chuck Berry", a tribute to one of Carlos Segarra's heros; "De presión", a wonderful mix of Doo Wop and Rockabilly; "El loco de la autopista", one of the band's most classic songs; "Corazón de Rock&Roll", another top quality classic of Los Rebeldes; "Marie, Marie", a cover of the The Blasters' hit and the only one not sung in Spanish in this CD; "Marihuna" Boogie"; and "Quiero ser una estrella", again an auto-cover of one of their early hits.

Regarding the slows (well, more or less slow) there is "María querida"; "La gloria del hombre", amazing song with beautiful lyrics; "Siete lunas de miel"; "Dos horas más", another of their most known songs that they have re-recorded, giving to it a kind of a Country feel for this CD, and, I have to say it, one of my favourite songs from Los Rebeldes; "Con su blanca palidez", a marvelous, stunning, cover of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" (believe it or not); and "Un hombre puede llorar".

Ladies and gentlemen: a great disc with Mr. Carlos Segarra sounding really good. I love this CD, yes indeed, and I'm playing it once and again.

Los Rebeldes are still Rockin' and well. Good news.

JOHNNY BURNETTE - TEAR IT UP

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Disc 1 = SIDE A = 1. Tear It Up   2. Sweet Love On My Mind   SIDE B = 3. Your Baby Blue Eyes   4. Honey Hush   

Disc 2 = SIDE A = 1.Blues Stay Away From Me   2. Lonesome Tears In My Eyes   SIDE B = 3. If You Want It Enough   4. Touch Me

Disc 3 = SIDE A = 1. Warm Love   2. Boppin' Rosalie   SIDE B = 3. Do Baby Do   4. My Honey

Disc 4 = SIDE A = 1. Just Keep On Goin'   2. Mule Boy   SIDE B = 3. Crazy Legs   4. Wampus Cat

Disc 5 = SIDE A = 1. Settin' The Woods On Fire   2. Ballad Of The One-Eyed Jacks   SIDE B = 3. Little Boy Sad   4. Bigger Man

Disc 6 = SIDE A = 1. Me And The Bear   2. Sweet Baby Doll   SIDE B = 3. Sweet Suzie   4. What A Summer Day

Sleazy Records / SR-115

After the two wonderful boxed-sets of Gene Vincent's EPs and the one of Eddie Cochran's, Sleazy Records offers us a new marvelous box-set with 6 EPs, this time compiling, in some way, the work of Johnny Burnette, with and without the Rock'n'Roll Trio.

Regarding its contents, I believe that all songs included are great, so the selection is pretty good, no doubt about that. Among the 24 cuts included we have a little bit of almost everything: some cornerstones in Rockabilly history, such as "Tear It Up"; some Country, like in "Settin' the Woods On Fire"; demos, such as the one of "Just Keep On Goin'" (in which lead guitar is provided by Eddie Cochran himself); and so on. Note that, as you'll see in the track list above, not many of the most well known songs from Johnny Burnette have been included  and I see that as a wise choice.

The team leading this project is the very same than the one in charge of the box-sets dedicated to Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran and, as a matter of fact, the very same compliments I wrote when reviewing those other box-sets can be repeated regarding production (with Guillermo Jiménez in charge), artwork (from Francho Angás) and sleeve notes (written by Francho Angás and Rocío Cañas). Well, about sleeve notes I have to say that everything seems great until you arrive to the last paragraph on the sleeve of disc #5, where it's said that Johnny Burnette died in a car accident in Clear Lake (California) in August 1964... It's just then when your alarm buzzes as the cause of his tragic death was drowning in a boating accident. An obvious mistake but, anyway, I think it has to be considered just an anecdote when appreciating the quality of the whole work.

Brief, a new limited edition "delicatessen" from Sleazy Records and, of course, more than highly recommended, almost a must have.

The box-set contents...

HUELYN DUVALL - HUELYN DUVALL (ep)

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Side A = 1. Got A Little Girl   2. Let's Make A Block

Side B = 1. Without You

CAB / CAB7004

Close to the 60th anniversary of the release of Huelyn Duvall's first recordings, here we have a brand new release from this Texas born Rocker.

It is true that regarding his voice, he isn't in his heyday, as already said back in December 2014, when reviewing his previous EP (released by Sleazy Records)in this very same blog, but he is still rocking and that's the main point. Anyway, for sure the man and his band sound well enough in this CAB release... Because Mr. Duvall is backed by great musicians, as he uses to do, with Carlos A. del Bosque on lead guitar (probably my favourite guitar player in current Rocabilly scene), Manuel "Lee" Villalba on slapbass and "Lucky" Lobillo on drums.

Side A is for "Got A Little Girl" and " "Let's Make A Block", a couple of fine Rockabillies made to dance and with Carlos' guitar shining all along. Both songs, by the way, are penned by Huelyn Duvall himself.

"Without You" is alone on side B, a much calm song reminiscing that blend of Country and Rock'n'Roll that Johnny Cash made famous and, then, with a lot of "boom-chicka-boom" in the rhythm. Good song, for sure.

Superb sleeve design, with portraits drawn by Nano Barbero.

CAB label does not releases many records... but all of them are worth the money and this EP is no exception. You can get this good record right from CAB (info and orders = cab@hotrock.es) or at the finest record stores.

LOS TWANGS - PLAYING FAVS

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Side A = 1. Come On, Come On   2. Beat Girl

Side B = 3. Skinny Minnie   4. Love Made A Fool Of You

Sleazy Records / SR-112

Los Twangs, not happy enough just releasing a single backing Esther (reviewed in this blog in the previous post), also release an EP by themselves.

The clue for what we will find in this EP is right in the title: "Playing Favs". So four covers of songs that are among the favourites of band members. Four covers, yes, but they have done it in the right way, from my point of view, as they play them in their very own style. Well done!

For sure that's the best this band has: their style, their very own way of playing Rock'n'Roll. Ukelele Frank's voice is far of being one of the best in Rock'n'Roll, but it fits nicely in Los Twangs style. A style based in an open-minded vision of Rock'n'Roll and supported above all by two great guitar players such as Ukelele Frank and Sir Xavier White, plus a clear and precise rhythm by the bass of Skinny Jess and the drums of Sam Tejuelas.

Maybe for all that I come to write, my favourite song in this record is the instro "Beat Girl", a cover of the song recorded by John Barry Orchestra. The other 3 cuts, as said before, are pure Los Twangs. I believe that the best example is on side B, with probably the two better known songs of the record in their original versions: "Skinny Minnie" is not a copy of the one released by Bill Haley & His Comets, nor "Love Made A Fool Of You" is a copy of the great song recorded by Buddy Holly.

If you already know Los Twangs from their (very good) previous records and you liked their work, this brand new EP will please you for sure. Pure Los Twangs.

Once again: well done!

ESTHER & LOS TWANGS - BREBAJE DE AMOR / MY PRAYER (single)

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SIDE A = Brebaje de amor   SIDE B = My Prayer

Sleazy Records / SR-111

Take some good Rock'n'Roll musicians such as Los Twangs, add to them a beautiful voice such as that of Esther and make all them record together a couple of songs: you have all the chances to get at the end a very good disc. And that's what we have here in 7" format: a terrific single.

Side A is for "Brebaje de amor", great cover in Spanish of "Love Potion #9", a song that penned by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (perhaps the most famous team of composers in Rhythm'n'Blues and Rock'n'Roll history?) probably we all know in the voices of The Coasters. Let me say that, in this case, I prefer this brand new cover by Esther & Los Twangs to the original one by The Coasters. Yes, I know it may sound kind of crazy, but it's the truth. Why? Well, maybe for the 60's rhythm they give to the song, or for Esther's voice, or for the great job done by the guitars... Or maybe a little bit of all that and something else. A record that should spin in a lot of Rockin' parties.

On the flip side the rhythm is absolutely different as we get a cover, this time sung in English, of the slow "My Prayer" of The Platters fame. It is not easy to do a version of a so famous song, but Esther & Los Twangs have achived it doing their very own version of the song and not just a "copy & paste" of the original. Good voice, firm and steady bass (great) and drums rhythm and the guitars shinning all along the song. It's a very good cover indeed.

Great record and warmly recommended. I hope there will be more records in the near future from Esther & Los Twangs.

FERLIN HUSKY - GONNA SHAKE THIS SHACK TONIGHT

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1. Black Sheep   2. Prize Possession   3. Detour   4. Tennessee Central #9   5. Cross Eyed Gal From The Ozarks   6. This Moment Of Love   7. Watch The Company You Keep   8. Sioux City Sue   9. I Wouldn't Treat A Dog Like You're Treatin' Me   10. Alabama Jubilee   11. Draggin' The River   12. I Can't Go On This Way   13. Aladdin's Lamp   14. Bebe Beautiful Baby   15. Slow Down Brother   16. I Feel Better All Over   17. I'll Baby Sit With You   18. I'll Be Here For A Lifetime   19. Minni-Ha-Cha   20. You Make Me Feel Funny Honey   21. Pick-A-Nickin'   22. Eli, The Camel   23. Excuse Me Stranger   24. Stand Up, Sit Down, Close Your Mouth   25. What'cha Doin' After School   26. Don't Be Mad   27. Muki-Ruki   28. Bop Cat Bop   29. Missing Persons   30. Wang Dang Doo   31. I Will   32. Little Red Web

Bear Family Productions / BCD17415

In their excellent "Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight" series, Bear Family has just released this CD with 32 uptempo songs by Ferlin Husky. For those of you not knowing about this kind of a collection, just note that each CD is dedicated to a Hillbilly singer from the 1950's (and around), including the most danceables and uptempo songs. As said at the beginning, this collection is excellent. Marvelous.

And just that has to be said about this CD compiling songs from Ferlin Husky: marvelous. In it, have been included the songs that ought to be, in my very own oppinion, and to highlight any of them is pointless, as all of them are great and perfect to be played once and again, with rhythms going from plain Hillbilly to almost Rockabilly and everything in between. Each one of you will find your very own favourites. By the way, there have been included some cuts Ferlin Husky recorded under the name of his alter-egos Simon Crum and Terry Preston.

I can go on praising the quality of the music included and also the stunning, almost pristine, sound quality, but the treatment Bear Family gives to their releases has to be always duly highlighted as well: this time we have the digipack type case for the CD including an over 70 pages booklet, complete with bio (written by Scott B. Bomar), comments, recording sessions data, plenty of pictures and so on. Luxurious is the adjective that better fits.

No need, I think, to add much more: if you like old-school, uptempo, Hillbilly music this record compiling songs from Ferlin Husky (any of the ones from this "Shake This Shak Tonight" series, as a matter of fact) will please you a lot.

A STRAY CAT STRUTS. MY LIFE AS A ROCKABILLY REBEL - SLIM JIM PHANTOM

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Thomas Dunne Books - St. Martin's Press

Those of us who discovered Rockabilly and Rock'n'Roll in the 1980's and beginning of the 1990's had in the Stray Cats one of our favourite bands. In my case, the first Rockabilly related non-singer names I learnt were those of Scotty Moore and Bill Black, the couple behind Elvis in his first glorious recordings, plus those of Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom, who along with Brian Setzer were the Stray Cats, the coolest band around.

In this book, Slim Jim Phantom, of real name James McDonnell, tells us in its 277 pages his life in the world of Rockabilly and Rock'n'Roll (and plain Rock too).

He goes quite fast through his origins, how he started playing drums, how he met Lee Rocker and Brian Setzer... and soon we have the three cats boarding a plane with one-way tickets to London. From then on we get a vivid and entertaining account of memories and anecdotes, without too much of a chronological order and not giving too much importance to dates. I mean that reading this autobiography I've learned quite a lot and have had a lot of fun, but I've missed a little of accuracy and also some more "in depth" when reading about certain facts, such as Stray Cats recording sessions, tours, splits, reunions... It seems to me that Slim Jim has given much more importance to anecdotes and to the funny side of his life in Rock'n'Roll, with and without the Stray Cats, than to be precise giving dates and facts.

Not a problem for me as a matter of fact, eventhough I would have liked a little bit more of accuracy, because what Slim Jim Phantom has achieved is to give a good dynamic to the book, which makes it an easy reading one.

Brief, if you grew up listening to Stray Cats and you keep believing they are one of the best bands in "modern" Rockabilly, probably you will find that "A Stray Cat Struts" is an interesting reading and you will have good fun reading it.