The Boptails – Ballroom Baby
Tombstone Records – TOMB-DISC 673 [1989]
Ballroom Baby – Long Blonde Hair – Tennessean Hobo – Mystery Train – Wild Cats – Diggin’ The Boogie – 16 Chicks – Crazy Rock’n’Roll – Ubangi Stomp – Boptails Bop – Pink’n’Black – Lost You
The Bobtails are one of the many bands that attest to the thriving German Neo-Rockabilly scene in the second half of the 1980s, when these bands sprang up like mushrooms after the rain (Quiff Cuts, Catfish Trio, Crazy Legs, Ringlets Trio, Hot Rod Gang, Ten Strike, and many more).
The band consists of Ole Schubert (lead vocals and guitar), Volker Westbrock (lead guitar), Dirk Weber (double bass), and Steffen Ebbers (drums). Their first album was released in 1989 on Tombstone Records. The Bobtails play a fresh and lively brand of Neo-Rockabilly. The album is very well recorded and benefits from excellent production that highlights the band’s strengths, such as the double bass (whose sound is perfectly captured) and the interplay between the two guitars. On the other hand, the vocals sometimes lack a little confidence, but this is a minor detail that doesn’t detract from the overall quality.
The album is evenly split between original compositions by the band and covers. The latter come from the repertoires of Johnny Powers, Elvis, Roy Hall, Warren Smith (although their version of “Ubangi Stomp” seems more influenced by the Stray Cats), Joe Clay, and Sonny Fisher.
While not the most original, these covers are very well executed and played with enough personality to fit in with the rest of the record. Because, of course, the original compositions are much more interesting, the band having a real knack for writing catchy and personal songs. The result is an album that, while not revolutionary, is very effective. All these qualities would be confirmed two years later with the release of the band’s second album.
The Boptails are on Facebook.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis
