Deuces Wild Archives - the rockabilly chronicle

Riverside Rockabillies

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V/A – Riverside Rockabillies

Raucous Records RAUCLP 014 [1995]
The Crawdads – Girl Is Late / Al Holden – Tomorrow Night / The Ricardos – Whiplash / Deuces Wild – Teresa / The Riverside Trio – Love Me, Hold Me, Squeeze Me / Billy Adams – You’re The Girl / Mean Cat Daddies – Sign Of The Times / The Crawdads – Evil Thinkin’ Woman / Al Holden – Red Hot / The Roadrunners – Jailhouse Bound

This excellent compilation, recorded and produced by Chris Cummings of the Riverside Trio, features some of the very best British bands of the mid-80s/ early 90s.
Formed in the eighties, The Crawdads gained a new life at the turn of the 90s with a brand new album on Raucous. Their songs on this 10″ compilation are two superb Rockabilly. This excellent band deserved to be rediscovered.
Al Holden proposes one cover and one self-penned song. His version of Tomorrow Night is more inspired by Elvis than Lonnie Johnson. Red Hot is an excellent Carl Perkins inspired Rockabilly with Cummings on double-bass.
Whiplash is a stripped-down Rockabilly interpreted by the Ricardos with a Sun feel. The Deuces Wild gives a faithful rendition of Cochran‘s Teresa, helped by Lorraine and Shirley, on backing vocals.
Side A closes with the ever-excellent Riverside Trio and their brand of hillbilly bop.
Billy Adams’ You’re the Girl leans more toward Rock’n’roll while the Mean Cat Daddies, with a slight neo feel, are the more modern band on the platter. This version of Sign of the Times is different than the one that you can find on their Nervous album.
The Roadrunners depart from their usual rocking’ blues style to record an uptempo hillbilly.

V/A – More Riverside Rockabillies

Raucous Records RAUCLP 022 [1996]
The Crawdads – Whiskey And Gin / Jesse James & The Outlaws – Raging Sea / The Slingshots – The Pain Has Gone / Al Holden – Baby Let’s Play House / The Riverside Trio – Peach Pickin’Time In Georgia / The Slingshots – Blue Eyed Country Girl / The Rhythmaires – Wildcat Tamer / The Ricardos – Don’t Bug Me No More / Walt Mitchinson – Sugar In My Coffee / Jesse James & The Outlaws – Who Do You Love

The second volume of this series is as good as the first.
The slap-bass propelled Rockabilly of the Crawdads, similar to Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee opens the ball. Next is the cover of Gene Maltais’s Raging Sea by Jesse James and the Outlaws (a very appropriate name for a wild band.) They also deliver a wild cover of Who Do You Love on side B.
The excellent Slingshots play a superb bluesy ballad (the Pain has Gone) and a Carl Perkins-tinged number (Blue Eyed Country Girl.)
Al Holden, whose version of Tomorrow Night was terrific on the first volume, returns with a hillbilly bop version of Baby Let’s Play House. This guy also released one album on Vampirette that I warmly recommend.
You can expect the best in terms of Hillbilly with The Riverside Trio, and Jimmie Rodgers’ Peach Pickin’ Time in Georgia makes no exception.
The Rhythmaires are on the blues side with Tarheel Slim’s Wildcat Tamer while the Ricardos deliver a desperate Rockabilly with Don’t Bug Me No More.
The last artist to be featured on this compilation is Walt Mitchinson, whom I don’t know much about. Sugar In My Coffee shows a strong Mystery Train influence and is just plain great.

V/A Riverside Rockabillies

Raucous Records ‎– RAUCD054
The Crawdads – Girl Is Late / Al Holden – Tommorow Night / The Ricardos – Whiplash / Deuces Wild – Teresa / The Riverside Trio – Love Me, Hold Me, Squeeze Me / Billy Adams – Sugar In My Coffee / The Ricardos – Eight Wheel Driver / Lorraine & Shirley – Baby / Riverside Trio – Freeborn Man (Alt. Take) / Russ Be-Bop’s Roadrunners – Bottle Up & Go / Billy Adams – You’re The Girl / Mean Cat Daddies – Sign Of The Times / The Crawdads – Evil Thinkin’ Woman / Al Holden – Red Hot / The Roadrunners – Jailhouse Bound / Deuces Wild – Pretty Girl / Lorraine & Shirley – It’s Too Late / The Crawdads – Lover’s Rock / Mean Cat Daddies – Ghost Of Your Love / Riverside Trio – San Francisco Bay Blues

This compilation is more than just the cd version of the two 10″ records (Riverside Rockabillies and More Riverside Rockabillies.) Though you find some songs that appeared on both albums, there’s plenty of unissued stuff from the same artists (including a different version of the Mean Cat Daddies’ Ghost Of Your Love than the one featured on their album.)
Icing on the cake, there are two songs by Lorraine and Shirley. These two sisters, who previously sang backing vocals on the Deuces Wild’ Teresa, finally have their own release. Both songs are great, in the purest hillbilly sibling tradition with superb harmonies. Baby is a fast tempo while It’s Too Late is a slow version of the Riverside Trio song.
These two songs are worth the price of this compilation alone. But the rest is fantastic too, you’d be warned.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Various artists – Black Lagoon

in Reviews

Black Lagoon No. 3 – Eddie’s Return

Rumble Records ‎– BL003
Deuces Wild: Completely Sweet – Klingonz: Something Else – Resless: 20 Flight Rock – The Sharks: Tired’n’Sleepy
Rare four-track single released as a bonus with the German Psychobilly Fanzine “Demon Love No. 4.” It gathers four Eddie Cochran covers played by four well-known names on the psychobilly-rockabilly scene.
The Deuces Wild song comes from their second album and is a solid piece of neo-rockabilly with an excellent guitar solo. Cochran’s catalog is vast, and it’s good to find a band that goes beyond the ultra classic numbers. This is not the case with the Klingonz and their version of one of Cochran’s most well-known songs: Something Else. Well, I’ve never been a fan of the punkish brand of Psychobilly played by the Klingonz, and this cover did nothing to change my mind.
Taken from the lp “the early years,” Restless’ Twenty Flight Rock is raw, exciting and everything you come to expect by this legendary trio.
The Sharks close the program with an early live track taken from “First and Last live” that shows the Rockabilly roots of the band.

The Radioactive Kid

Deuces Wild

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Deuces Wild – Brutal Purity

Vampirette VAMPCD106 [1989]
Just Alright ~ Diamonds At Her Feet ~ What Colour Is The Sky ~ Make That Date ~ Never Came Back ~ Decisions On Love ~ Am I Wrong ~ Look That Looks Good ~ Sweet Love From You ~ Deuces Wild ~ Blues So Bad ~ Brutal Purity ~ Radiation Ranch ~ Deuces Wild ~ City Bound
This album was first issued on Fury in 1989 and until now was only available on vinyl, so that’s a good idea from Vampirette to reissue it, especially with 3 bonus tracks. The Deuces Wild were a british neo rockabilly trio. The majority of the songs are rockers influenced by Cochran, Restless (Deuces Wilds #2) and of course Brian Setzer, the excellent and frantic “Brutal Purity” sounds like a mix of Stray Cats “Wicked Whiskey” and Restless’ “Crack Up And Fall To Pieces” (you could find worst references for a neo band) and included in the bonus tracks is a good rendition of “Radiation Ranch” from Setzer’s solo album The Knife Feels Like Justice. Pete Hague’s voice is not that far from Paul Roman (The Quakes) at places and talking about The Quakes if you dig their “Voice Of America” album, you sure wont be disappointed with the stuff contained herein. But their originality comes from the blues elements you can find on some songs (It’s Alright, Am I Wrong), close to the recordings made by The Nervous Fellas around the same period. They try to escape the clichés (and succeed) with some tunes you’re not used to find on “80’s neo rockabilly-slap bass led” albums like the jazzy blues “Blues So Bad” or the acoustic skifflebilly “Diamonds At Her Feet”. Sure this album won’t change your life, but this is a more than pleasant reissue if you dig “Gonna Ball” by The Stray Cats and that typical 80’s rockabilly sound like I do.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Deuces Wild – Johnny Rider

Raucous Records RAUC004
Completely Sweet – Cadillac Rust – Shook Shake – Out On My Own – Tear It Up – No Time For That – Johnny Rider – I’ll Be Right Here – Bitter Tears – Sugar In My Coffee – Lodi