Thursday 28 March 2013

Young & Authentic Sound!

Unfortunately I did not get to see Glenn Doran in time to purchase the third CD E.P in this series, when I did catch up with him they were all gone! But Glenn kindly sent me the MP3 files of the four songs on the CD, so I made up some covers and a label and hey presto I/we have...The Montgomery Music Makers E.P No 3.  Glenn is still only 23 years old, and he has got to be one of the most authentic sounding singers on the scene today and add to that his excellent guitar playing and you get the all round package. He even let his dad Garry sing a number on the CD, have a listen to 'Rock 'n' Roll Ruby' it ain't bad at all. Catch Glenn at the 17th Rockabilly Rave in June 2013.


All tracks recorded in 2010

Monday 18 March 2013

HANKS FOR THE MUSIC


THE HANK WILLIAMS TRACKS WERE RIPPED FROM MY UK MGM 566 78 RECORD, SO EXPECT SOME COOL SOUNDING CRACKLES ON THESE MP3's. 
THE TWO HANK JNR TRACKS WERE RIPPED FROM YOUTUBE. 
THE HANK III TRACKS ARE FROM THE CD's 'COOL COUNTRY VOL 3' (various artists) AND 'LONESOME, BROKE AND DRIFTIN' RESPECTIVELY.  
'GOOFIN' AROUND' IS ANOTHER YOUTUBE RIP. 
'I KNEW' AND 'SHAME' IS A VINYL RIP FROM AN OLYMPIC 45 RELEASED ON 1st DECEMEMBER 1978. 
THE REMAINING 6 TRACKS ARE ALL YOUTUBE RIPS.


SETTING THE WOODS ON FIRE
JAMBALAYA
YOU BROKE YOUR OWN HEART
THAT'S HOW THEY DO IT IN DIXIE
YOU'RE THE REASON
MISSISSIPPI MUD
GOOFIN' AROUND
I KNEW
SHAME
I'M READY
ROCKIN' IN THE CONGO
A SIX PACK TO GO
THE LAST RIDE 
RHUMBA BOOGIE
WE'RE GONNA GO FISHING
YOU'RE THE REASON





Sunday 10 March 2013

Rock & Roll Postcards

I picked up these great postcards by 'Ger Rijff' back in the early 1980's. I'm not too sure how many were in the set (6 I believe but I may be wrong) I had at one time a card with 3 musicians at a garage, their car had a double bass on its roof, I believe Elvis, Scotty and Bill were the subject matter. If anyone has the card and could scan it for me you would make me a very happy chappy indeed!
The guy on the left is a bit over dressed for the beach, but I have always loved the cut of his suit.

Elvis, Scotty and an amp on a chair.
Guitar, bass and a snare...Rockabilly Heaven!

There was a time when I had a quiff to match the one above.

Cheers and Beers to Honest Hal for the scan below.

I've recently become friends with Ger Rijff on Facebook. Below is more of his excellent artwork.





Saturday 9 March 2013

JIMMY STARR - Oooh Crazy


'Oooh Crazy' is a nice little pop-a-billy tune recorded in 1958. The B-side is an almost note to note copy of Conway Twitty's classic 'It's Only Make Believe' but Jimmy still lost the race into the charts with this version.
Jimmy's follow up single 'It's Me' is very similar in pace to 'Oooh Crazy' and is my preferred choice of the two songs'Gonna Take An Express Train' is a nice piano lead pop rock 'n' roll song.  The kind of music I was into when I first started on my road to rockin' music appreciation.
'Blind Date' was Jimmy's last attempt in the music business before 'The Beatles' took over America and the rest of the world. 'Adele' and 'Blue Broken Heart' I have not heard. Jimmy seemed to have a thing for the song 'All I Ever Do'. It was released on five different labels during 1961. Puzzling to me because I just don't dig it all!

September 1958    
Debbie  DB 45-101      Oooh Crazy - It's Only Make Believe


May 1959
Debbie  DB-1408         It's Me - All I Ever Do (Is Dream Of You)

September 1960     
Laurel   1015                Adele - Blue Broken Heart
 

April-June 1961       
Laurel 1018                 All I Ever Do - Choo-Choo To Heaven
?                                   All I Ever Do - Gonna Take An Express Train - with The Starlings  
Estate E-1001             All I Ever Do - Till The Cows Come Home - with Palais Royals
Rider R-106               All I Ever Do - Till The Cows Come Home - As above  
Domain 1017               All I Ever Do - Gonna Take An Express Train - with The Starlings

1963                  
?  NV-5118                 Blind Date - Mister Misery 



Oooh Crazy
It's Only Make Believe
It's Me
Gonna Take An Express Train
Blind Date
All I Ever Do

Monday 4 March 2013

Julea and the Dear Johns - HONKY TONK




SOUTH OF LONESOME
UNDERSTAND YOUR MAN
GET BEHIND ME SATAN AND PUSH
I LET A STRANGER BUY THE WINE
KILL IT, TILL IT DIES

AS SOON AS I SAW GATORROCK'S YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF 'JULEA AND THE DEAR JOHNS' I WAS MENTALLY TRANSPORTED TO A HONKY TONK BAR SOMEWHERE IN THE DEEP SOUTH OF THE GOOD OL' USA. THIS BAND BLENDS TRADITIONAL COUNTRY AND A COOL TOUCH OF ROCKABILLY SO THEIR SOUND WILL APPEAL TO A WIDE AND VARIED AUDIENCE. JULEA THOMERSON IS A CLASSICALLY (I READ THAT SOMEWHERE ONLINE) TRAINED OPERA SINGER! WHO HAS A FEEL FOR TRADITIONAL AMERICANA AND COUNTRY. 'THE DEAR JOHNS' CONSIST OF SPIKE FULLERTON AN EX PUNK AND JAZZ GUITARIST WITH AN ABILITY TO PICK OUT NOTES ON HIS * GUITAR THAT MAKES THE LISTENER BELIEVE THEY ARE HEARING A TUNE FROM ANOTHER DECADE (50's-70'S).  CHAD (DOUBLE BASS) IS A SELF TAUGHT MUSICIAN. BANDS HE PLAYS IN INCLUDE 'HOT ROD HELLCATS', 'ATOMIC BOOGIE',  'WILLIE HEATH NEAL' AND 'THE PSYCHO DEVILLES'. HE HAS ALSO BACKED SONNY BURGUESS AND SLEEPY LABEEF AND WAS ON AN AS YET UNRELEASED ANDY STARR RECORDING SESSION.  MARIO (DRUMS) I DON'T KNOW TOO MUCH ABOUT BUT THEIR INPUT INTO THE OVERALL SOUND OF 'THE DEAR JOHNS' CANNOT BE OVERLOOKED.
I HAVE NOT SEEN THIS BAND LIVE (AN OCEAN STANDS IN THE WAY) BUT IF I WERE A NATIVE OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA I WOULD BE A REGULAR AT THEIR SHOWS. I AM KEEPING MY FINGERS CROSSED THAT SOMEONE OUT THERE IN HONKY-TONK-LAND PULLS 'JULEA AND THE DEAR JOHNS' INTO A STUDIO REALLY SOON SO WE CAN GET SOME WAX RELEASED BY THIS BAND. OOPS! I AM GETTING CARRIED AWAY I MEANT A CD...I AM TRADITIONAL AS WELL IT SEEMS.

A LITTLE BIT OF INFORMATION ON THE SONGS ON THIS E.P
'SOUTH OF LONESOME' WAS FIRST RELEASED IN IN 1967 BY MELBA MONTGOMERY AND WAS WRITTEN BY HER BROTHER CARL MONTGOMERY.
'UNDERSTAND YOUR MAN' WAS FIRST RELEASED BY JOHNNY CASH IN 1964. IT BECAME A COUNTRY NUMBER ONE THE SAME YEAR ALSO CROSSING OVER TO THE POP CHARTS TO REACH THE GIDDY HEIGHTS OF NUMBER 35. I LOVE THE WAY JULEA SINGS ON THIS ONE AND THE BAND COMPLIMENTS HER TOO, SO IT ALL DOVETAILS.
'GET BEHIND ME SATAN AND PUSH' WAS RELEASED BY BILLIE JO SPEARS IN 1968 ON THE ALBUM 'THE VOICE OF BILLIE JO SPEARS'.
'I LET A STRANGER BUY THE WINE' IS A GREAT BAR-ROOM WEEPER WRITTEN BY KAY ADAMS AND RELEASED IN 1967 ON THE ALBUM 'ALCOHOL AND TEARS' AND ON A TOWER 45 RPM VINYL AS A SINGLE.
'KILL IT, TILL IT DIES' IS AN ORIGINAL TUNE WRITTEN BY JULEA AND SHOWS THAT HER LOVE OF TRADITIONAL HONKY TONK MUSIC IS REALLY DEEP. I CAN NOT PRAISE THE SOUND THAT FLOWS FROM THIS BAND HIGHLY ENOUGH.
Download link below.
LIVE AT THE STAR BAR E.P

SIX MORE LIVE SONGS FROM THE STAR BAR





LIVE AT THE STAR BAR VOLUME TWO
(link updated 3rd Sept 14)




Sunday 3 March 2013

Holiday For Love


While sorting out my man cave I came across a CD I was sent by a friend of mine on MySpace (remember that) in 2005. It's a fine collection put together by a fellow blogger Westex.  
All the songs are ripped from the original US vinyl 45's



When Nashville met Rock 'n' Roll consists of mainstream country artists of the time giving the big beat their full attention (in most cases they make it). The standout track on this collection (for me anyway) is 'Go Ahead On'. I always thought that Jimmy Heap was the singer on this! Apparently it's a cat called Perk Williams doing the vocal delivery, well I never knew that, you learn new stuff everyday. 

Perk Williams