Monthly archive

February 2014

The Blue Rhythm Boys

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Blue Rhythm Boys - At Last (wild records)
Blue Rhythm Boys – At Last (wild records)
Blue Rhythm Boys - At Last (Big Beat)
Blue Rhythm Boys – At Last (Big Beat)

The Blue Rhythm Boys – At Last

Big Beat CD WIK 105 {1992}
Wild Records {2010}
That’s The Stuff You Gotta Watch – I’ll Go Crazy – Person To Person – I’m Walkin’ – It Isn’t Right – Cajun Love Affair – Trace Of You – Crazy Mixed Up World – Ride ‘N’ Roll – Babe’s Comin’ Home – Mother Earth – I’ll Try – Hoochie Coochie Man – Come On Back – Wang Dang Doodle – Breathless – Blue Rhythm Boogie – Go Ahead On – Catfish

Wild records has the good idea to reissue this now hard to find jewel, first released in 1992 on Ace / Big Beat.

“At Last“, seldom an album had a so perfectly suited title. This 19 songs album (15 on the 10” vinyl) fulfilled a wait of almost 10 years. Recorded live in one hectic 10 hour session it finally shows the Rhythms’ on a long distance and it was worth the wait.
The line-up has changed a bit since the EP. Ashley Kingman (Red Hot’n’Blue, Rockin’ Rocket 88 and now Big Sandy And His Fly Rite Boys) joined Ansell and Carlisle on second guitar while Matt Jackson (a gifted guitarist too) was on drums and Nick Gillroy on bass. They took advantage of this fuller line-up to delve into a more rhythm and blues/Chicago blues repertoire with songs by Willie Dixon, Fats Domino, Howlin Wolf, James Brown, Memphis Slim and Little Walter. They are often close to the originals (Hoochie Coochie Man, Wand Dang Doodle) while sometimes playing them in a rockin’ blues way (“The Stuff You Gotta Watch”). Conway Twitty’s I’ll Try is turned into a blues with pumping piano and soulful vocal from Ansell and a scorching guitar solo that make this song one of my favorite (if you’re interested). The frantic covers of Tommy Cassell’s Go Ahead On and Jerry Lee’s Breathless are here to remember us they started as a rockabilly band as do Ansell’s own “Come On Back” with another wild solo from Jim Carlisle (what a guitarist!). Another fave of mine is Cajun Love Affair with harp and some French lyrics to add the Louisiana flavor.If you like good rockin’ blues with a touch of rockabilly and soul here and there, put your hand on this one. All killer, no filler !

Available at Wild Records.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Blue Rhythm Boys - Northwood
Blue Rhythm Boys – Northwood

The Blue Rhythm Boys – Northwood ep

Northwood Records.-NWEP 101
Rollin & Tumblin/My Happiness/That don’t move me /Nobody but you

In the world, there are some enigmas which remain unexplained and others which find sometimes their resolution. But while waiting for this moment of “light”, the men think hard fantasise and seek placebos. For a long time the Elvis “My Happiness” version, the first recording of the future King for the Sun label remained a mystery, an “all the dreams” object for wild imagination of the whole wide world rockers. Was it possible to sense an already germinated hillbilly cat magic in this title? Even some suspicious people wondering whether this legendary Graal really existed until it was finally discovered and published for the first time ever.
But before this magic moment, a blue EP enabled us to have an idea of what this song was supposed to sound by a young Elvis. This mono recording Ep released back in the early eighties by the no longer alive british label Northwood had on his cover written in some large black capital letters framed by musical ranges what seems to be the name of the band : “The Blue Rhythm Boys”. But inside of that modest blue cover there was four tracks of pure rockabilly blues dynamite which included a presleyan “My Happiness” cover
Paul Ansell, the singer, for whom it was the first band, gives us an idea with his inhabited voice of what one dreamed being Elvis interpretation of that Betty Peterson and Borney Bergantine song. It was like holding in your hands the real one copy Sun single and being Indiana Jones listening to that relic of the past!!! It was for my part the first time that I heard a “so much fifties sounding” combo. The other tracks were “Rollin & Tumblin” (Muddy Waters), That don’t move me (Carl Perkins) and Nobody But You (Little Walter) and are real killers played by some of the finest british musicians of that era (Jim Carlisle – slide guitar, Allen Thow – bass and Jeff Tuck – drums). If you haven’t already lived that experiment and even if we all know today the Elvis “My Happiness” cover, it’s never too late to listen to what has become a rockabilly milestone for many rockers around the world.

David “Long Tall” Phisel

The Piccadilly Bullfrogs

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piccadilly bullfrogs

The Piccadilly Bullfrogs

The Piccadilly Bullfrogs are Danny Brittain on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Pete Davenport on lead guitar and backing vocals and Tim ‘Trundle’ Purkess on string bass and backing vocals.
Recently, Shaun O’Keeffe (Red Hot, Keytones, Stargazers) joined them as their permanent fourth member on drums. Tim told us a little bit more about that project.

piccadilly bullfrogs
Danny Brittain, Tim Purkess and Peter Davenport

“I’ve spent a large part of the last thirty years playing Big Beat Rock’n’Roll, Swing-Jive, etc, in five and six piece bands and although I still love that kind of thing, I had a real urge to re-visit the material which first switched me onto the whole scene. I had a bunch of Essex recordings from Bill Haley and The Saddlemen/Comets, plus some of those wonderful SUN 45s all of which happened to be tucked away inside a big valve radiogram given to me by my uncle Mick, when I was only just in my teens. This mixture of primitive Rockabilly and very early R’n’R made a huge impression on me and changed my life forever, although I rarely got the chance to play it on stage. So, as we were having a much needed break from The Stargazers, I finally decided it was time to put things right and I’m very glad that I did. The trio format is really much more flexible than people imagine and because of its size, the process of writing and arranging new material is totally streamlined.
Especially when you’re lucky enough to be teamed up with major talents like Danny and Pete!
Once, I casually mentioned my desire to form an old-school trio to Dan and to my delight he was ready to sign up for it straight away! Peter was the obvious choice for guitarist and I seem to recall calling him that same day. Happily, his reaction was the same as Danny’s.
In terms of style and ethos, The Piccadilly Bullfrogs is quite closely related to the “spit and sawdust” pub bands we played in before things really started taking off in the early/mid eighties.
As Peter so rightly pointed out the other day, folks now have a tendency to over-intellectualise. Then in dissecting the songs to find out how they work, they miss the point entirely! As I see it, this isn’t the type of music that demands any in depth analysis. If it doesn’t speak directly to the soul – either the band aren’t up to the job, or the audience haven’t let the music into their heart. In short, the beauty of these old tunes is that they work on such a fundamental level. They don’t need the fussy, complicated treatments that the larger R’n’R dance bands are obliged to use.
We have been influenced by a great variety of old Rockabilly, R’n’R, Bluegrass, Hillbilly, Skiffle, R’n’B, and Country artists (with perhaps just the very very lightest hint of Gypsy Jazz in there somewhere).
I think we should leave it to others to define our sound. Hopefully (if we’re doing things right) it will be reminiscent of all the genres mentioned earlier – but at the same time different. If we haven’t brought anything new to the equation, we may as well give up now!”

The Piccadilly Bullfrogs - Hoppers, Boppers & Rockers
The Piccadilly Bullfrogs – Hoppers, Boppers & Rockers

The Piccadilly Bullfrogs – Hoppers, Boppers, & Rockers

Rhythm Bomb CD RBR 5722 {2011}
Move Around – Cutthroat Joe – Boppin` The Blues – Banksy – Wildcat Tamer – No Time To Lose – Sunshine Hop – I Could Have Been Somebody – The Ace Boogie – Right String Baby – Don`t Hold Back – Ride Ride Ride

Two guitars, one double bass, and tons of talent. The debut album of the Piccadilly Bullfrogs features 12 tracks, eight originals, and four covers entirely recorded in single takes with no overdub, in glorious mono on an old tape machine with a “ridiculously cheap and nasty microphone.” So you’ve been warned if you expect slick production that comes from a multi-track studio and lots of overdubs, this album is not for you. But if you dig music that breathes life, with raw edges that takes you back to the glorious days of Sun or Meteor, jump on this one. The instrumentation is almost entirely acoustic with just what I suppose to be a small amp for the electric guitar. The Piccadilly Bullfrogs are pure and unadulterated rockabilly. The songs are varied and very well crafted too, from Cutthroat Joe (that sounds like Carl Perkins, Tommy Steele and the Three Penny Opera all rolled into one) to the skiffle tinged sound of Ride, Ride, Ride and lots of boppin’ in between, including a tribute to the famous Ace Café in the form of a boogie (The Ace Boogie). No need to say that with their combined experience, the musicianship is top-notch too. Davenport plays inventive solos one after another and also delivers an excellent instrumental titled Sunshine Hop, while Brittain and Purkess provide the beat.

The Piccadilly Bullfrogs - Rockabilly Gentlemen
The Piccadilly Bullfrogs – Rockabilly Gentlemen

The Piccadilly Bullfrogs – Rockabilly Gentlemen

On The Hill Records ‎– OTHRCD-18 [2014]
Get With It!- Baby Don’t Care About Me – Rock The Joint – Domino – Rockin’ Chair On The Moon – Summertime

This limited six-track ep was released to coincide with a Japanese tour the band did in 2014. There’s no significant departure in terms of sound from the band’s debut album: it’s the same mix of raw rockabilly mixed with skiffle and early Rock’n’roll (think Bill Haley’s Saddlemen). It’s full of energy and very lively, two things that too often lack when you listen to modern bands. It contains two originals, one by Tim Purkess and another by Danny Britain. The four covers being two of Haley’s classics (Rock The Joint and Rockin’ Chair to the Moon), Roy Orbison’s Domino, and Gershwin’s Summertime.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Haystack Hi-Tones (the)

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Haystack Hi-Tones - Rockin' Hall
Haystack Hi-Tones – Rockin’ Hall

The Haystack Hi-Tones – Rockin’ Hall

{2013}
Evil Train – Good & Lonesome – It’s Driving Me Crazy – One Sweet Letter From You – Rain Rain – Bo-Bo Ska Diddle Daddle – What A Lonesome Life It’s Been – The Joke’s On You – Leave My Baby Alone – Someday I Know He Will – I’m In A Whirl – Can I? – Hou Je Echt Nog Van Mij Rocking Billy – Rockin’ hall

When one thinks about the Netherland he often reduces this beautiful country to a serie of cliches like tulips, Amsterdam, canals, windmills and narrow boats which is partly true, but rock’n’roll fans are cleverer than that and know what the real treasure of this country is: hillbilly and rockabilly female singers. And they have good reasons to be proud with Miss Marie Ann (with or without the Ranch Girls), the Bugaloos, Lil Esther, Sue Moreno and… the Haystack Hi-Tones who return after an 11 year hiatus. It doesn’t mean they remained inactive, while Marjos kept on playing with the Hi Tones, Annita released two highly recommandable solo albums. But when you listen to this brand new album you can’t help but think that it would have been criminal not to reunite because oh boy, their voices blend so perfectly. This is top hillbilly harmonies with a hint of rockabilly played by a band that has nothing in mind but the pleasure to play. There’s a joie de vivre that sweats from every grooves (okay it’s a cd) of this album. Do you remember the old Esso ad that said “put a tiger in your tank”, with the Haystack Hi Tones you can put a smile (actually two) in you player. So, check the list: good singers, beautiful harmonies, great band, good choice of songs and icing on the cake superb package designed by Oh My Lucky Star. The only question is “What are you waiting for?”.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Bellfuries (the)

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The Bellfuries - Just Plain Lonesome
The Bellfuries – Just Plain Lonesome

The Bellfuries – Just Plain Lonesome

Moe & Sal Records – MS002 {2011}
Sad and Lonely ~ Wasted On Him ~ Teenage Boogie ~ Take It To The Chapel ~ Just Plain Lonesome ~ Gonna Make It Alone ~ Your Love (All That I’m Missin’) ~ I Don’t Wanna Wake Up Tomorrow ~ Up To Your Old Tricks Again ~ Hey Mr Locomotive ~ You Must Be A Loser ~ Stealing Kisses ~ Love Found Me ~ Baltimore ~ Take It To The Chapel ~ Letter To My Maybe Baby ~ Wasted On Him ~ Mr Moonlight ~ Ain’t A Bump In The Road ~ Death Of An Idol ~ This Love Ain’t So Bad ~ The Only Ghost There Is Me.

Since its first release in 2001 (ten years ago, how time flies!), Just Plain Lonesome has achieved a deserved cult status. In case you don’t know the Bellfuries (it’s a possibility but it’s hard to believe), they were on this platter Joey Simeone on guitar and vocals, Josh Williams on double bass and Bobby Horton on guitar and steel, without forgetting the unofficial fourth member: Billy Horton’s perfect production.
Their music is a highly melodic brand of hillbilly bop, as if Gene O’Quinn had collaborated with Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, Hank Williams and Morrissey. This long awaited reissue contains the original album plus nine bonus tracks (alternate takes, demos, live recordings). It comes in a superb gatefold digipack and contains the lyrics (a good thing when you know that Joey Simeone is one of today’s best lyricists) and song by song comments about the bonus tracks written by Simeone.
I guess that “must have” and “classic” are the appropriate words to describe this release.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Rhythm River Trio (the)

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the Rhythm River Trio - Honky Tonkin Around
the Rhythm River Trio – Honky Tonkin Around

The Rhythm River Trio – Just Honky Tonkin’ Around

Rhythm Bomb Records RBR 5774 {2014}
Honky Tonkin’ Around – Teardrops From Your Eyes – Honky Tonk Blues – Monday Mornin’ – Wild Side Of Life – Love Come Back To Me – Bear Cat – Rhythm On The River – Rockin’ and Flyin’ – So Did I – Gone and Left Me Blues – I’ll Go My Way.

The other good surprise to come from Great-Britain in the recent months are the Rhythm River Trio. Actually, this drummerless trio formed by David Short (vocals, rhtythm guitar), Morgan Willis (lead guitar) and Bruno Pannone (double bass) is not that recent, they got together in 2009, but I just discovered them with this album called Just Honky Tonkin’ Around, their second lp.
It was recorded at Sugar Rays, a brand new recording studio that seems to come straight from the fifties and ran, among others, by Pat Rayford. The result is an album with a superb warm and mono sound.
But a vintage studio wont turn lead into gold! For that it is better to have great musicians… and the Rhthm River Trio certainly are. They are a tight little ensemble with a superb singer who sings with heart and class. And both he and Willis can write solid originals that stand well next to Hank Williams and Eddie & Hank Cochran. Nothing less.
So what about the music they play? It’s a highly enjoyable mix between the honky tonk of Hank Williams and the early rockabilly sides of Charlie Feathers with some Sun influences and a bit of blues (they cover Ruth Brown’s Teardrop From My Eyes and Rufus Thomas’ Bear Cat). They have a guest steel guitar (Jeff Mead who played with Sonny George) on a couple of tracks, Pedro Duarte plays harp on Bear Cat and Pat Rayford sang backing vocals on Jimmy patton’s Love Come Back to Me.
Available here.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Bonneville Barons (the)

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the Bonneville Barons - Cure What Ails You
the Bonneville Barons – Cure What Ails You

Bonneville Barons (the) – Cure What Ails You

Western Star Records – WSRC036
Pretty Penny – Long Distance Baby – Heart O Mine – Family Tree Rag – Forget Me – Broken Man – Wait For Me – Fool For You – Whale Tail – Beautiful Memory Of Mine – Unlucky Blues – Mexican Wildfire – Birmingham Jail

One of today’s best and most original band returns with a 13 track killer album. It kicks off with “Pretty Penny”, written like the other 12 songs by Chris Wilkinson; a great jazzabilly number with clever lyrics that could come from the pen of Sage Guyton. “Unlucky Blues” comes in a similar vein. “Long Distance Baby” sees the dynamic duo with a fiddle for a full western flavour and features nice yodel too. “Heart Of Mine” can be described as Buddy Holly meets the Hot Club Of Cowtown. Yann’s powerful slap bass has nothing to envy to Jake Erwin or Kevin Smith. “Family Tree Rag” is a bith smoother and features a nice Merle Travis guitar part. Mark Kemlo of Rimshots and Bill Fadden fame guests on drums on “Forget Me” a wild rockabilly number with pounding drums, heavy guitar and distorted voice. Woa ! Kemlo is also present on the powerful rockin’ Mariachi instrumental “Mexican Wildfire” with trumpet. “Broken Man” is another occasion to hear the way their voices and instruments perfectly blend together. “Wait For Me”, a slow and mellow number with sparse backing is another side of Wilkinson’s talent as a songwriter and a singer. “Birmingham Jail” is in the same style, but the song sounds like a XVIIIth century traditionnal tune. “Fool For You” is pure Boneville Barons style : solid slap bass, catchy melody, good guitar riff and fine vocals.
The production work is fantastic : clean but not sterile, and the booklet, that includes the lyrics, is very well designed. The result is a must have record in a beautiful object.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

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