A bumper lot here featuring a couple of Rockabilly gods with a totally unknown track, but we cover a lot of bases from stomping Blues, popcorn, Rhythm and Blues, lonesome Country, straight-ahead Rock ‘n’ Roll and rockin Soul. A heck of a lot to cover over just four 45s and two 10-inch LPs, but we can do it…
Burnette Bros – Hip Shakin’ Baby / Bring Along Love – Acetate Repro
Let’s start with a bang. How about two previously unknown recordings from a couple of Rockabilly Gods? Yep, Johnny and Dorsey’s demo recordings of these two tracks. You know the tune Hip Shakin Baby by Roy Brown is a classic although Jodimars recorded the first, unissued, version. Bring Along Love was recorded by The Jodimars and Bob Luman but neither was released at the time. But what about these cuts? you ask. Well, they are demos so just acoustic guitar and vocal, but it is Johnny and Dorsey so in our completely biased opinion, they are great. On Bring Along Love the brothers sing together whilst thrashing their guitars to create a great percussive sound. The flip is the killer though. Just one brother this time, just an acoustic guitar but that and a fantastic voice is enough. Seems like no one knows for sure, but we think Hip Shakin, Baby is by Johnny. The only copy of the 78 acetate these tracks were taken from turned up on eBay at the end of last year. Whoever bought them has been good enough to press up a few hundred copies so we can all have one but this is selling so fast and rightly so. It is not going to be a dance floor hit but if you want to hear the raw Burnette Brothers this is your chance.
Hip Shakin’ Baby
Bring Along Love
Jackson Tombs / Lightnin’ Slim – Kiss-A-Me-Quick / Mean Ole Lonesome Train – Excello
This 45 pairs two very different recordings from the ever fabulous Excello Records of Nashville. The Lightnin’ Slim is a tough pounding guitar and harmonica blues. Slim does not use the fast train over the tracks beat that many train songs do, instead opting for a blues stomp pace to tell his tale of that Mean Ole Lonesome Train taking his baby away. (We have theorised that maybe there was a special discount ticket if you could show you were a baby leaving your no-good man). The flip, in total contrast, is a crazy Rockabilly raver with bass, drums and killer guitar work all powering along behind Jackson’s urgent vocal. Sometimes putting together different genres can be a risk as some people may only like one side but with two top-notch examples of each genre, we cannot imagine there will be anyone who is not blown away by both sides.
Jackson Tombs – Kiss-a Me Quick
Lightnin’ Slim – Mean Ole Lonesome Train
Rod Morris – Alabama Jail House / Ghost Of Casey Jones – Lugwig
Rod was a hard-working Country artist with a career beginning in the 30s and lasting into the 70s. He never made the big time but he did write many hits for other people including the Jim Reeves breakout record Bimbo. This 45 is made up of Rod’s two best sides from 1957 and 1958, put back to back. Alabama Jail House is his most Rockabilly record but he is not trying out some new style, it has a timeless style and Rod just accentuates the beat to make it a fantastic Country bopper. Oooh, maybe Ghost Of Casey Jones is Rod’s most Rockabilly track. This railway song does use the train-on-the-tracks rhythm with guitar being used for the beat, steel bringing in the spooky atmosphere and electric guitar jumping in for a couple of vicious breaks.
Alabama Jail House
Ghost Of Casey Jones
Various – Gunsmoke Volume 8 – Stag-O-Lee
Ghost of Casey Jones is just the sort of track that could be on this fine series. Tales of broken lives, lost chances and ghost stories have always been a part of Country music and this series explores that rich vein to find the gold. This volume features big names (in our world) like Link Wray, Duane Eddy and Sanford Clark. The Duane Eddy track Girl On Death Row is one that many people have been crying out for. It is a doom-laden tale featuring the amazing Lee Hazelwood on vocals, the fact that it does not simply make everything else on the album sound irrelevant is a testament to the quality of this compilation. If you are not familiar with this series do yourself a favour and follow the link to hear a couple of representative tracks from this volume on the website and check out the rest of the series.
Bob Hood & The Rhythmaires – The Alamo
Jericho Brown – Lonesome Drifter
Oop Boomp – Blues And Rhythm Etc Vol 13 – Stag-O-Lee
Another fine series from Stag-O-Lee at Volume 13 and honestly still going strong. This series concentrates on the sort of music that fills dance floors in the wee small hours in basement clubs with no names. Rhythm and Blues, Vocal Harmony, British and American instrumentals and more are represented here. The music selected from these genres is mainly downbeat and often eerie. They are blended together here to create a solid style that is difficult to explain but easy to recognise and is sometimes called popcorn. This is another series that is really worth exploring if you do not already know it.
The Rhythm Addicts – Oop Boomp
Art Neville – Arabian Love Call
Dance Floor Honkers – Johnny Marlo / Two Ton Annie – Little Mae / Baby Workout – TM
Johnny Marlo? Never heard of him. But you know Johnny Knight of Rock n Roll Guitar fame and The Gamma Goochie of Gamma Goochie renown. Yes, all one and the same. Leaning more to Gamma Goochie style this super sax and vocal number lends credence to Johnny’s tale of being booked for an all-black artist review but being able to perform after winning over the bookers with his Little Richard style rock n roll. The flip is a 1965 rarity from the Michigan Wildwood label. It is a really simple take on the Jackie Wilson classic with booming bass, an absolutely lovely soulful vocal carried along by a low moaning sax that jumps up to grab the spotlight with a great break.
Johnny Marlo – Two Ton Annie
Little Mae – Baby Workout
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