July 2016 - Page 2 of 2 - the rockabilly chronicle

Hamburger James – Watch That Cadillac Burn

(2011)
Watch That Cadillac Burn – Town I Can’t Call Home – Reaching For The Ring – Berryville – best Thing I’ve Ever Had – Hillbilly Angel – I Don’t Need To Have A Reason – Queen Of Broken Hearts – The Devils Bad In Bed – Scar Tissue and Surgical Steel – Cheatin’ Side Of Town – Heartache Waiting To Happen – Bad Bad Man – Boom Chicka Boom – Rock And Bowl – Woody On The Beach

Hot! Hot! Hot! I can’t believe it. I just received the latest Hamburger James and it’s one of the rocking-est piece of shiny silver I’ve heard in ages. I can’t believe these guys dont top the bill of European festivals. Recorded at Sun studios (where else?) it contains 16 originals tracks written by the different members of the band.
It opens with the title track, inspired by Elvis’Cadillac. And right from the start they grab you. It starts with a doo-wop arrangement then explodes into a hot rocker that would make Brian Setzer red with envy before returning to a more melodic/doo-wop style on the bridge. Superb arrangement and even better guitar solo. “Town I Can’t Call Home” is a solid country rock with steel guitar and harmony vocals, sounding as if “Six Days On the Road” had merged with Brian Setzer’s (again!) “Drive Like Lightnin’,Crash Like Thunder”. The tradition of talkin’ blues is now rich and it seems difficult to bring something new after songs like Smoke, Smoke, Smoke, A Boy Named Sue and Hot Rod Lincoln, but with “Reaching For the Ring” and its Jordanaires-like backing vocals, Hamburger Jame can add its name to the list. Next is “Berryville”. Need I say more? Well imagine Chuck Berry meets the Fabulous Thunderbirds. “Best Thing I Ever Had” is a stripped down rockabilly, mostly acoustic with just a light electric guitar. “Hillbilly Angel” shows influences of the Bakersfield sound with a bit of rock’n’roll and a superb solo that sounds like a mix between Dave Edmunds and Pete Anderson. The ballad “I Don’t Need To Have A Reason” also shows some Bakersfield/Yoakam influence. Still on the slow pace, the instrumental “Queen Of the Broken Heart” develops a melancholic mood with a slight Santo and Johnny feel in the sound. Threatening i the word that comes to mind for “The Devil’s bad in Bed”, a superb medium rockabilly number. The following number, “Scar Tissue & Surgical Steel”, is a hot rockin’ number played at a demonic pace, quite similar is “Heartache Waiting To Happen”. “Cheatin’ Side Of Town” is a pure Honky Tonk while “Bad Bad Man” is a Soul number featuring a complete horn section and sounds more like Stax than Sun. “Boom Chicka Boom” is not a tribute to the Man in Black as the title could indicate, but a mean number halway between rockabilly and Howlin’ Wolf (and a bit of Dale Hawkins too). “Rock And Bowl” is a classic Rock’n’roll with a tip of the hat to Danny Cedrone on the solo and the surf instrumental “Woody On The Beach” full of twangy guitar closes the set with class. An album that is brilliant from start to finish on which it’s almost impossible to find a weak track.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Hamburger James – Last Plane To Memphis

This quator from Richmond, Virginia takes his name from one member of the Memphis Mafia, whose job was to bring burgers to Elvis whenever he needed it. With such a name it’s no surprise to hear the influence of the King all along this album (that comes in a well designed digipack by the way). But influence doesn’t mean copy. They just take some elements, from the Sun days (That’s Allright) to the 60’s (Little Sister) via the classic RCA 50’s sound (Red Dress features some fine Scotty Moore licks), assimilate them and turn them their own to give their brand of rockabilly/rock’n’roll, a music with roots but not dated, with a majority of self penned songs.
Andy Vaughan, the lead singer, has a great voice that finds him equally at ease with straight rockabilly, wild rock àla Little Richard (“Rumble Tonight”) or the soulfull “Are You One?” that features an Hammond B3, I bet those who like The Paladins’ “You & I” will love this one too.
Country music is well represented too with notably “Ounces At A Time”, a solid honky tonk with piano and the Cash-esque “The Story Of Hamburger James”. “Wait For The Morning” is one of my very fave, a beautiful ballad with Roy Orbison’s accents that wouldn’t be out of plave in Chris Isaak’s set. A female guest singer, Jennifer Vaughan, is present on Janis Martin’s Bang Bang, a way to pay hommage to the rockabilly queen the band backed as one of their first gig.
Plenty of styles for a solid and original debut album.
Available at cdbaby.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Crazy Joe / Crazy Joe and the Mad River Outlaws

Published on 1 July 20165 April 2017

Albums/CD/Contemporary artists/Reviews

Crazy Joe – The Doctor Is In

TPE1304 {2013}

Life is short, that’s a fact. So I won’t waste your time. Crazy Joe’s latest album (the first one in five years) is an absolute must. And he deserves all the credit for this success. He wrote it, played all the instruments (but piano and organ), sang lead and background vocals, produced it and engineered the whole thing.
Show Me Around is a superb opener with sharp guitar and warm bass (electric that is!). The slower tempos like the Greatest Scam and I Don’t Believe evoke a mix of the early 60’s recordings of Gene Vincent with Sam Cooke. Wasted remains in the 60’s territory too but adds a good dose of rhythm’n’blues and funk that suit Joe very well. Next is Right There In My Lap, an electric blues that features a superb solo by Ricky Nye on Hammond organ. After the doo wop “Please Don’t Call me” which makes you think, in case you hadn’t already, that he’s a terrific singer too, comes H-Bomb a garage/ Kinks type of rocker. She’s My Baby also shows some British influences but on this one, they’re to be found near the River Mersey. Snakebite is an instrumental tour de force that could be best described by “Les Paul took too much acids”. The poison of the snake gave him too much hallucinations or is it the beverage of the same name? The album ends on a high note like it begun with a great rocker backed by a Johnny Johnson piano.
Did I tell you that this album was perfect?
Also available on vinyl.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Crazy Joe and the Mad River Outlaws – The King Of Nerd-a-billy

ATOM Records – ATOM1407
Wise To The Ways Of A Woman – Smack Dab In The Middle – Cryin’ My Eyes Out Over You – Remington Rock – I Knew You’d Be The One – Nothing Can Change This Love – I Like My Chicken Fryin’ Size – Pants On Fire 2007 – You Never Cared For Me – Flight Of The Beverly Bumblebillies – My Guitar – Kansas City Baby
The most amazing thing with Crazy Joe’s latest release (still on Atom Records), besides his talent, is his maturity. This is only is third release (2 full length and one mini album) and you’d swear to listen to a guy who has 10 albums under his belt. An accomplished singer, he’s able to confront himself with Sam Cooke (Nothing Can Change This Love) with ease, and add to this talent his capacity to write his own song and the result is “You Never Cared For Me”, an amazing-astounding-beautiful (and more) ballad with a strong sixties flavour. Rich in style this album goes through a rollicking rendition of Johnny Horton’s “Wise To The Way Of A Woman” to a wild Surf tune (with theremin) via a rock’n’roll version of a jump blues classic (Smack Dab In The Middle) and a weeping Honky Tonk, Joe’s own “Cryin’ My Eyes Out Over You” with guest pedal steel player Dave Biller. “Kansas City Baby” rocks harder, this time with Deke Dickerson on guitar.
And although he’s probably one of the best guitar player on the current rockin’ scene, he has this rare intelligence (the maturity I was talking about before) not to “overplay”. He always focuses on the song and the melody and never tries to show his talent when there’s no use (how many should learn this lesson). Every song is concise and goes straight to the point (they’re almost all under the 3 minutes mark). His guitar skill can plainly express itself with the instrumentals. Remington Ride is given the same treatment “Steel Guitar Rag” received on the previous ep. “Flight Of The Beverly Bumblebillies” is a clever mix of Rimsky-Korsakov “Flight Of The Bumble Bee” and the theme from the “Beverly Hillbillies”. Told like this it could sound weird, but it works ! And even if he’s greatly talented (I hope you understood now that I love this guy) I shouldn’t forget to mention the Mad River Outlaws who never fail to deliver the right rhythm section for all of those tunes. This fine platter comes served in a beautifully designed digipack. By far the best album I’ve heard this year.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Crazy Joe and the Mad River Outlaws – Sweatin’ Bullets Over You

Atom Records –Atom1006
Mary Ann – Yak Yak Yak – Electric Ukulele Rag – Baby’s Behind – Sweatin’ Bullets Over You
Behind this look of Nasa engineer escaped from “The Right Stuff” hides one of the best new talent I’ve heard for years. “No prisonner!» seems to be Crazy Joe’s anthem on this EP as they open with two wild rockers that knock your socks off.with brilliant guitar work and screamin’ sax on “Yak Yak Yak” (Larry Williams and Little Richard are not too far). “Electric Ukulele” Rag is actually the classic “Steel Guitar Rag” but think about it played by Joe Maphis with the help of Les Paul and a bit of Tiny Moore and you’ll have an idea of the talent of this young (but crazy) guy. It’s time to solw down a bit and the Bakersfield styled “Baby’s behind” is perfect for that. Once again great musical skill and funny lyrics. This fine but short EP ends with “Sweatin’ Bullets Over You” a nice slow song reminiscent of “Trying To Get To You”. Now think about it : guitar wizard, eclectism, funny lyrics… Didn’t you use those words for someone else before? Yes, Crazy Joe is made of the same stuff Deke Dickerson is : the right stuff of course !
Fred “Virgil” Turgis