WILLIE NELSON & MERLE HAGGARD - DJANGO AND JIMMIE

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1. Django And Jimmie   2. It's All Going To Pot   3. Unfair Weather Friend   4. Missin' Ol' Johnny Cash   5. Live This Long   6. Alice In Hulaland   7. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right   8. Family Bible   9. It's Only Money   10. Swinging Doors   11. Where Dreams Come To Die   12. Somewhere Between   13. Driving The Herd   14. The Only Man Wilder Than Me

Legacy (Sony Music) / 88875093782

Two true Country & Western veterans such as Willie Nelson (born in 1933, so 82 years old) and Merle Haggard (born four years later, in 1937, and then 78 years old) have released in 2015 this record working together, showing that their age is not a problem at all for doing a good job. Because this record is a very good job, yes indeed.

Good old Country music. The real deal, not that sweetened Pop music that some people want to sell as Country music just because the singer sports a Stetson hat. No way. this CD is not that at all. Of course, with the background of the couple it is impossible to get that and it has to be real Country & Western. And more than that, despite being around 80 years old both of them, their voices sound powerful.

It is, I insist, a classic Country & Western record, with some songs made to dance, such as "It's All Going To Pot" or "It's Only Money"; some others of those called "tear in the beer songs", with "Live This Long", "Unfair Weather Friend" and "Where Dreams Come To Die" outstanding among them; and a third group of songs that remain in the middle of the road, being "Missing Ol' Johnny Cash" the best of them, a beautiful tribute to the Man in Black. A song that I believe is the best one of the whole CD and in which they have received the help of another Country star: Bobby Bare.

Fourteen songs, including some composed by Willie Nelson and/or Merle Haggard and some from different sources, both brand new for this record and old ones receiving a new chance.

The record, in its style, is a good one and I have to admit that I like it a lot. The only "negative" thing of the CD (and it's not that negative!) is to have included another cover of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right". Even with the good version recorded by Mr. Nelson and Mr. Haggard, I wonder if the world was really needing the zillionth cover of that song...

Just a few more lines to highlight the good artwork for the sleave and for the booklet, with wonderful pictures of the two stars.

If you like Country & Wester music, you're going to enjoy this record for good.

UNCLE CHARLIE COMBO - 45'S & MORE

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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).

DANI NEL·LO - SAX-O-RAMA

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1. 4 saxos 4   2. Zarpazo   3. Twist City   4. Chili negro   5. Ciao King   6. Lluvia sobre el cuero   7. El lobo de la ciénaga   8. Pantano Walk   9. Demasiado lejos   10. 60 monos   11. La Cobra vs. McCann   12. Sax Attack   13. Strollin' With The King   14. Las luces del Fillmore

Buenritmo / BR021CD

If there is a sax-player in Spain whose name is immediately related to Rock'n'Roll, that's Dani Nel·lo. He has been the sax-player for such bands as Los Rebeldes, Nel·lo y La Banda del Zoco or Mambo Jambo, to name the most known three, and he has also appeared on stage backing international stars such as Nick Curran.

With that curriculum and in a moment in which Mambo Jambo seems to be having a break, Dani Nel·lo has given himself the pleasure of recording 14 instro songs and to release them in this "Surf-O-Rama", where his tenor sax is almost all the time in the spotlight.

Fourteen instro songs, as with his band Mambo Jambo but, it is important to highlight it, with a quite different style because, as said before, here the sax is always leading the songs.

By the way, the rest of musicians working in this record are top ones, two Mambo Jambo included: Mario Cobo (guitar) and Anton Jarl (drums), plus Dani Baraldés (guitar) and Santi Úrsul (bass).

Along the around 47 minutes of this CD we get from Rock'n'Roll to plain Blues and, above all, Rhythm'n'Blues. Lots of good old Rhythm'n'Blues. It has to be said that this record is in some way a tribute to those saxophonists from the 40's and 50's who played Rhythm'n'Blues and who stepped forward to be Rock'n'Roll pioneers: artists such as King Curtis, Big Jay McNeely or Sam Butera, to name just three.

It is a record that I've enjoyed a lot, maybe thanks to the different rhythms and moods we have along its songs: great slow Blues songs such as "Lluvia sobre el cuero", "Demasiado lejos" or "Strollin' With The King" that are a real pleasure to listen to; mixed with songs with a speeded up rhythm somewhere between Rhythm'n'Blues and Rock'n'Roll such as "Ciao King", "Sax Attack" (my favourite two of the record) or "60 monos", for example. Fourteen songs that are a musical trip from the 40's to the 60's of the 20th Century.

If you like instro Rhythm'n'Blues and the sound of the tenor sax, I think you have to give a chance to this Dani Nel·lo's "Sax-O-Rama".

MARCEL RIESCO - A RECORD DATE WITH

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SIDE A = 1. Long Time No Love   2. Because He Broke Your Heart   3. Dumbstruck   4. Fickle Heart   5. They Say   6. I've Been Draggin' Since You've Gone   7. I Wonder

SIDE B = 1. Little Angel   2. Shook Up   3. Can't Forget Your Love   4. Gypsy Man   5. I Was A Fool   6. Oh Yeah   7. Under The Light Of The Blue Moon

Sleazy Records / SRLP-13

Let's go first for the obvious: when you listen to Marcel Riesco's voice, Roy Orbison comes to your mind. But he is not a copycat. Not at all. Marcel Riesco has his own style, his own way of Rockin' and a lot of years on the stage (and recording). Anyway, he is not trying to hide that his voice is really similar to the voice of "the Big O". It is his voice, so it would be hard to hide it.

As said before, Marcel Riesco has been rocking and rolling for quite a long time, leading for instance the Truly Lover Trio, but this is the first record released using his own name if my memory serves me well.

Time to go for the important part of any record review: the songs. In this LP released by Sleazy Records we get fourteen songs, being ten of them composed by Marcel Riesco himself. The other four are covers: two coming from the team Roy Orbison plus Joe Melson ("Long Time No Love" and "Shook Up"), one from the couple Roy Orbison and Norman Petty ("I Was A Fool") and another one from Joe Melson ("Oh Yeah"). Well chosen covers, I have to say, and making good use of that Marcel Riesco's voice, reminiscing Roy Orbison.

The ten songs composed by Marcel Riesco are also well selected and among them we found a blend of Rock'n'Roll and Rockabilly with signs and traces not only from Roy Orbison, but also from Buddy Holly in a certain way. Songs such as "Because He Broke Your Heart", "Dumbstruck" or "Gipsy Man" are good examples of that Rocking part. There are some good ballads included as well, such as "Fickle Heart" or "Under The Light Of The Blue Moon". Good songs all along the record, so to highlight any of them will depend on each one's preferences.

Anyway, the third song of the B side, "Can't Forget Your Love", has become a personal favourite that has me almost hypnotized, listening to it again and again: a wonderful simple song, almost pure acoustic, with drums played with brushes and in which the electric guitar just comes in for the break and to finish the song. Just wonderful, believe me. Pure gold.

Note that the recording was done in Germany, at Lightning Recorders in Berlin, with Ike Stoye and Axel Praefcke as recording engineers... Not bad at all.

A very good record this "A Record Date With Marcel Riesco" that deserves to be included in any decent Rock'n'Roll record collection.

LOS VOLIDOS - THE NEW FAVOURITES OF

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SIDE A = 1. Hot Rods Nite   2. Go Back You Fool   3. Ride On Me, Babe!

SIDE B = 4. Johnny Law   5. I'll Leave My Home   6. Show Me The Light.

Sleazy Records / SR10-09

First of all, I have to confess that Los Volidos is one of my favourite bands among the ones that we can enjoy nowadays in action. And this brand new 10" shows for sure the good quality and high level of the work of these guys from Asturias, Spain, with a style true to the good old Hillbilly mixed up with a good deal of almost as old Rockabilly that makes you dance from the very first notes. No way to remain stand still. Believe me.

A "mini-LP" in 10" format, released by Sleazy Records, in which we get 3 songs per side, four of them being composed by the band: "Hot Rods Nite", Ride On Me, Babe!", "I'll Leave My Home" and "Show Me the Light". All of them really good in that above-mentioned "Rockabilly meets Hillbilly" style where the presence of the steel guitar helps quite a lot in that blend. Or Rockabilly, giving more strength to the "billy" half of the word.

The other two songs are a couple of very well chosen covers, fitting perfectly with the rest of the album: "Go Back You Fool" is a cover of a song recorded by Faron Young as long way back as in 1955 for Capitol, while "Johnny Law" is a cover of a much more recent song, coming from the songbook of Wayne Hancock and having been recorded by Hancock himself in 1997.

Six very good indeed songs, recorded in December 2014 and released in 2015 but that could have been recorded in the 50's of the 20th Century for the Starday label. Now you can say I'm mad for writing that, but go and listen to the record first, please.

It has to be also highlighted the artwork for the sleeve: a beautiful picture in sepia colour for the cover and black and white pictures used for the back, helping a lot in that time-travelling back to the 50's...

Outstanding work of all four Los Volidos' members: Mauro Regueiro playing guitar and singing the songs composed by the band; Mark Polza playing steel guitar and rhythm guitar as well as giving voice to the covers; Marcos Alonso keeping the beat at the drums; and Pikos Kid doing the same but with the double-bass. All of them have to be given their share of applause. So good!

Brief: great 50's style Rockabilly and Hillbilly... made in the 21st Century! Highly recommended.

ROCKABILLY - MANUEL LOPEZ POY (GUIDE)

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Redbook Ediciones

Why do they call it "Rockabilly" when they mean "Rock'n'Roll"? It is true that an explanation about the differences between both of them is given in the introduction, but why not using "Rock'n'Roll" when you are going to write, precisely, about Rock'n'Roll? The only explanation I found is that the collection to which this book belongs is called "Guías del Rock & Roll" ("Rock & Roll Guides" in English) and maybe they are trying to avoid any confusion. Anyway...

This is going to be a short review, as this book is written in Spanish and there are lots of good books written in English about the same matter.

I do believe that this book, written by Manuel López Poy, is a good idea as it is probably the first one to be written in Spanish trying to explain the whole history of Rock'n'Roll through short reviews (very short, sometimes) on singers, groups, labels, etc. from its origins to nowadays. Of course, the selection of the names included is very subjective and any of us will take out some of them to add some others. For instance, I found that Charlie Feathers, Sid King, The Fireballs, Ray Sharpe or Jackie Wilson among the singers and groups and Starday, Meteor, or The Norman Petty Recording Studios among the labels, etc. have more than enough value and importance to have been included... But it is the writer who has the right to choose, so I guess it is fair enough.

What I really dislike about this book is that there are so many typos spread along the text that, sometimes, its reading is just annoying. Maybe a little bit more of attention from the editor's side (or whoever's job was to check those kind of things) was needed.

Brief, a quite good idea with a big problem with typos.

TENNESSEE - LUZ DE GAS

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1. Pretty Woman   2. Tu mal humor   3. Llueve en mi corazón   4. Suena Ding Dong   5. A Marilyn   6. Black Or White   7. Labios de la suerte   8. Guitar Blues   9. Cotton Fields   10. Una noche en Malibú   11. Dame tu amistad   12. Rama Lama Ding Dong   13. Baila conmigo un Twist   14. Siempre lucharé por tu amor   15. Choo Choo Booguie   16. Dame más amor   17. Silhouettes   18. Mil palabras de amor   19. Suspicious Minds   20. Tonto por ti   21. Let's Rock And Roll   22. Te vi correr

Self-released / No ref. #

Tennessee is the pioneer band for Doo-Wop (or Du-Dua, as they call it) in Spain and in my very own opinion they have never received all the respect they deserve for their work... and this CD + DVD, recorded live, is a new proof of their quality.

What we get along the 22 songs included in the CD (25 in the DVD) is a trip through the most well known songs of the band, both own compositions and covers, most of them in Spanish. I would like to highlight "Tu mal humor", "A Marilyn", "Labios de la suerte" (a cover of Ruth Brown's "Lucky Lips" and probably my favourite in this record) or "Guitar Blues", to name just a few. On the other side we have "Pretty Woman" and "Suspicious Minds" being the weakest selections as I believe they do not fit quite OK with the band's style.

It has to be also highlighted the great sound quality of the recording, bearing in mind that it is a self-edited live recording, as both the CD and the DVD have a powerful, clear sound.

By the way, the show was recorded on June 27, 2014 in Barcelona, being a show held to raise funds and give support to an association that helps kids affected by the Sanfilippo disease. The CD + DVD have been released with the same target in mind.

Good record for a good cause!