A healthy 32 track collection of recordings by this hot
Northwest band featuring two complete albums "At The Castle" (Etiquette
ETALB1 - 1961) and "The Wailers & Co." (Etquette LP 022 - 1964) plus six
bonus tracks from singles. About two thirds of the tracks are instrumentals
- the rest features vocals by Kent Morrill, Rockin' Robin Roberts, Gail
Harris and The Marshans. Includes 16 page illustrated booklet with extensive
notes by Alec Palao. THE WAILERS: All I Could Do Was Cry/ Be My Baby/ Dirty Robber/ Doin' The
Seaside/ Frenzy/ Hokey/ I Idolize You/ I Remember/ Isabella/ Limbo Twist/
Louie Louie/ Mary Ann/ Mashi/ Partytime USA/ Rosalie/ Sack O' Woe/ San-Ho-Zay/
Seattle/ Shakedown/ Shivers/ Shoo Fly Pie/ Since You've Been Gone/
Soul-Long/ Stompin' Willie (aka Willie And The Hand Jive)/ Tall Cool One/
Tall Cool One/ Tough Walk/ Velva/ Wailer's House Party/ We're Goin' Surfin'/
You've Had Your Chance
12 tracks, 26 min., recommended Not, as I had hoped, the
digital reissue of this Seattle-based group's rare Gold Crest label lp
from 1959, but instead a later mix of prototype garage band instrumentals
and vocals recorded in the early to mid-60's for the Etiquette label,
including a version of their one bona fide hit, the title tune here. Other
numbers include Frenzy/ Party Time U.S.A./ Tough Walk/ Doin' the
Seaside/ We're Going Surfin' and the ubiquitous Louie Louie.
Sadly, Collectables does not offer a photo of the group this time out, but
some apparently original liner notes by Seattle disc jockey Pat O'Day are
here, and the sound quality is just fine. (DH)
18 tracks, 46 min, essential
Reissue of Golden Crest 3075
from 1959. Before there was Bob Marley, before there was real Garage Rock,
there were The Wailers, a group from Takoma WA that spearheaded the great
Northwest Sound & were the first to take Louie Louie from a
calypso/R&B tune into the garage (The Kingsmen learned their version off The
Wailers' single, which is why they didn't get the words right!) Louie
isn't here, but their classic single Tall Cool One is along with a
host of other great guitar-sax-keyboard instrumental (interestingly
two
guitars, no bass!) with one of their rare vocals being the original version
of Dirty Robber, later covered by The Sonics. Also includes a slew of
non-LP cuts and unissued tracks including a different version of Dirty
Robber 12 page booklet with rare pics (including a great shot of their
then-promo man, the legendary Kim Fowley) plus ads and great Billy Miller
liner notes with numerous current quotes from band members. (GM)
CD-only release of essential Wammack instrumentals recorded
between 1961 and 1967, plus some not-so-special vocal numbers. If you like
wacked-out whammy-bar garage grunge you have no choice but to pick this
one up, even if you have to sell a few Link Wray records to do it. You
won't miss 'em.
17 tracks, 44 min., good. Well, the cover photo here of a
young man with his Guild guitar coupled with the album title suggest 50's
rockabilly, but my reading of the very brief liner notes coupled with the
back cover photo suggests that what we really have here is a set off
upbeat country tunes recorded in 1989. The artist, we are told, did in
fact record at least one song in 1957, but that song is not included here.
The music that is here isn't bad, but it's pretty tame stuff. The mostly
self-penned numbers include Red Cadillac, All About the Fifties,
Memphis Number One, Rock and Roll Blues, God Is Love
Sweet Love, Cowboy, and Daddy of Them All. Nostalgic
numbers, by and large, for those who look back to their youth with a
yearning country heart. (DH)
14 tracks, 40 mins, recommended
Teenage singing sensation
Mary Weiss of the Shangri-las has come back some 40 years later to prove
that she is not going to go gently into that good night and that she still
has a lot of Rock `n Roll burning deep inside. She's backed by current
garage rock greats, the Reigning Sound--in particular, Greg Cartwright,
who wrote 9 of the tracks and co-produced the album with Billy Miller from
Norton. This record is chock full of good songs, with Weiss fronting a
Rock band for the most part, not lavish productions that try and sound
like her past. Sure there is a bit of Cello here and experimentation, but
this a straight forward Rock `n Roll record. Not a nostalgia trip either,
there's one re-do of a Shangri-la's track, but it's of the pretty obscure
number Heaven Only Knows, which sounds great here. This album did
take a little time to grow on me, but after a few spins, I am digging it
more and more. (JM)
29 tracks, recommended
Former member of The Charioteers
formed The Billy Williams Quartet in the early 50s & became regulars
on the famed Sid Caesar TV series "Your Show Of Shows". Williams
had a long run on Coral throughout the 50s, both solo & with the
quartet, with the title tune going to #3 in '57. This set has a cross
section of Coral sides including solo & quartet sides in a style
somewhere between R&B & pop. One of my faves is his version of Begin
The Beguine, which starts out like The Raven's Old Man River,
& a fine rockin version of Roy Hamilton's Don't Let Go. 6 of
the tunes are here in stereo, including his hits Nola & Goodnight
Irene. (GM)
12 tracks, 39 min., recommended
The digital reissue of
Aphrodisiac 6001 from 1969 with the addition of two bonus tracks - Gettin'
Over You and But It's Alright - solid danceable late 60's rock
'n'soul music. The group was composed of singer Wilmer Alexander, who is
black, and his white, four-member back up band. They played the college
and frat party circuit in the Northeast and specialized in gritty cover
versions of songs originally done by white rock and rollers. Highlights
here include the group's one hit Give Me One More Chance, plus Living
in the U.S.A., Get Out of My Life Woman, I Do Love You, Heavy
Time, and I'm Free. Solid sound quality, appreciative notes by
Tom Kohn, and several vintage photos of the group. (DH)
28 track collection drawn from Wray's recordings for Swan in
the mid 60s includes classic 45s, rare LP and not originally issued tracks
and seven previously unreleased stereo mixe from the original Swan label
multi-tracks. Includes Good Rockin' Tonight/ Hidden Charms/ Heartbreak
Hotel/ Week End/ Dinosaur/ Ace Of Spades/ Stop And Listen To Me/ Mr.
Guitar/ Rumble, etc.
25 tracks, 72 mins, highly recommended
The late, great
Link Wray presented at his finest with a collection of nothing but raw,
primal instrumental killers. Rumble/ Fat Back/ Black Widow/ Jack The
Ripper/ Ace Of Spades/ Apache/ Viva Zapata etc, etc, the toughest of
the tough from recordings spanning 1958 - 2000. Link didn't slow down or
soften up with age, the tracks from the late 90's into 2000 are just about
as wild as any he committed to wax in the heady early days of rock `n
roll. "Pathway" sessions used on this have been re-mixed to deliver more
punch and you also get a previously un-issued edit of Rumble On The
Docks. Long time fans won't find much here that they probably don't
have except for the superior mixes; it's a great overview for the new fan
or casual collector. (JM)
Two Ace LPs on one CD. Live In '85 is a collection of
raw live recordings, featuring Link's power trio. The fare is sort of a
tribute to Elvis set, with a few Wray standards thrown in. Growling
Guitar is more to our liking, comprised of mid to late 60's sides that
are some of the man's finest. In keeping with the times, there is some
delightfully over-the-top psychedelia, done as only the Linkster could.
(MB)
20 tracks, 45 min., recommended This digital reissue of Swan
LP 510, plus eight original 45 rpm sides from the same label, traces the
musical career of the ominous and evocative Link Wray and his guitar
between 1963 and 1966. The program includes the original take of Jack
the Ripper, and a slowed down and very effective version of his first
hit, Rumble. Other selections include solid instrumentals like Deacon
Jones, Fat Back, and Turnpike U.S.A.; plus formulaic numbers like Mashed
Potato Party and the Batman Theme, and even a few vocals towards the end.
All in all, a fine single disc review of the work of this important and
influential instrumentalist. (DH)
21 tracks, 46 mins, highly recommended Reissue of 1990 LP
with 5 additional cuts. Incredibly cool collection of guitar king Link
Wray's early recordings including 5 previously unissued! Link's brother
Lucky kicks things off with the great Teenage Cutie (Starday 608)
with Link on growlin' guitar. Link does the rockin' I Sez Baby and
the silly Johnny Bom Bonny, plus the unissued Flirty Baby #1.
Lucky's Cameo release, Danger One Way Love Ahead, done as Ray
Vernon, is up next and man is it hot. Link shifts into overdrive on this
one with the third brother Doug hammering mightily on drums. Link's Hillbilly
Wolf and Lucky's Got Another Baby and Countin' On You
close out the side. The rest is just as great with Link's unissued homage
to Elvis, I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry Over You/ Lawdy Miss Clawdy
incredibly raunchy Vendetta some of the highlights. Link also lends
some distinctive guitar links to Marvin Rainwater's bizarre Boo Hoo
(AE/FS)
LINK WRAY: Baby I'm Countin' On You/ Boo Hoo/ Danger One Way Love Ahead/
Flirty Baby/ Got Another/ Gotta Go Get My Baby/ Hillbilly Wolf/ I Sez
Baby/ I'm Gonna Sit Right And Cry Over You/ It's Music She Says/ Johnny
Bom Bonnie/ Lawdy Miss Clawdy/ Pancho Villa/ Roughshod/ Sleep Tight/
Teenage Cutie/ The Stranger/ Turn Me Loose/ Tv Baby/ Vendetta
22 tracks, 56 mins, highly recommended. Volume two moves
past the rockabilly roots into a sonic pressure cooker, with Link
exploring the outermost reaches of electric guitar blasting. The Wraymen
must have been impossible to ignore in even the rowdiest DC clubs of the
early 60's! 12 tracks were never originally issued and six tracks are on
the CD that were not featured on the LP version. A number of cuts are from
live gigs from various locations in the early 60s. Tracks include the
incredibly raunchy title tune plus some Elvis covers (I Want You I Need
You I Love You/ The Thrill Of Your Love), Jimmy Reeds' Baby What
You Want Me To Do plus The Bad And The Good/ Rawhide '63/ Rumble
Rock/ Link's Boogie/ Lucille/ Slow Drag, etc.
LINK WRAY: Baby What You Want Me To Do/ Big City After Dark/ Big City
Stomp/ Dance Contest/ Hard Headed Woman/ Hold It/ I Want You I Need You I
Love You/ I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry/ Link's Boogie/ Lucille/ Night Life/
Raw-hide '63/ Roughshod/ Rumble Rock/ Slow Drag/ Street Fighter/ The Bad
& The Good/ The Outlaw/ The Stranger (live)/ The Thrill Of Your Love/
Walkin' Down The Street Called Love/ Walkin' Down The Street Called Love
#2
21 tracks, 54 mins, recommended Volume 3 collects the
mid-60's monsters that Link and the bros were churning out to deaf ears
during the Brit invasion. Both sides of the 1964 Vermillion 45rpm are
included here, done as The Fender Benders - Drag Strip/ XKE. Baby
Doll, Please Please Me and the never before isued And I Love
Her)
(the latter two tough instrumental versions) are ripping Beatle rip
offs. A couple of Bunker Hill tunes are included because Link & The
Wraymen were his backing band. Prime raunch like Genocide, Growling
Guts,
The Earth Is Crying and the previously unissued, and appropriately titled
Mindblower round out a killer of a disc. (AE/FS)
LINK WRAY: And I Love Her/ Baby Doll/ Blue Eyes (don't Run Away)/ Drag
Strip/ Four Gray Walls/ Genocide/ Giovana/ Growling Guts/ Hungry Child/
Mindblower/ Other Side Of The Moon/ Please Please Me/ Red Riding Hood
& The Wolf/ Remember The Twist/ Rumble '69/ Run Boy Run/ Some Kinda
Nut/ The Earth Is Crying/ The Girl Can't Dance/ Xke/ You're My Baby
2 CD's, 63 tracks, 144 min, essential It's no secret that
the majority of Link's post-Rumble rumblin' was done for Swan. It
was here that Link found a happy home where his crunching sound could
continue unabated, and the results were adventurous and often devastating,
as anyone who's ever spun Ace Of Spades/ Jack The Ripper/ Run Chicken
Run/ Deuces Wild/ The Shadow Knows/ Branded/ Fat Back/ Hidden Charms
back-to-back can attest. Besides these milestones, this set includes a
mountain of lesser-known Link, including a whopping 25 tracks making their
US debut! Thrill to Link bashing through the standards Bo Diddley/
Heartbreak Hotel/ That'll Be The Day, while Zip Code/ The
Fuzz/Mustang should rank with his best, and Steel Trap/ Return Of
The Birdland/ The Sweeper ain't far behind. There's also a handful of
alternate takes/versions, like the hot rave-up version of Ace Of Spades,
complete with tremelo mouth-harp, and two later versions of Rumble.
Comes with a 27-page book detailing Link's 7-year stint on Swan, with some
choice pics and notes by Billy Miller, and a Link Wray/Norton Records
guitar pick so you can play along. You can hardly afford to miss this one.
(GDR)
LINK WRAY: Ace Of Spades/ Ace Of Spades/ Ace Of Spades/ Alone/ Autumn
Leaves/ Batman Theme/ Begin The Beguine/ Big Ben/ Blue Eyes (don't Run
Away)/ Blueberry Hill/ Bo Diddley/ Branded/ Chicago Bird/ Cross Ties/
Deacon Jones/ Deuces Wild/ Dinosaur/ Fat Back/ Five And Ten/ Frenchy/ Girl
From The North Country/ Good Rockin' Tonight/ Hang On/ Heartbreak Hotel/
Hidden Charms/ Honky Tonk/ Hound Dog/ I Still Love You/ I'll Do Anything
For You/ Jack The Ripper/ Law Of The Jungle/ Let The Good Times Roll/
Mashed Potato Party/ Mr. Guitar/ Mustang/ My Alberta/ My Beth/ Peggy Sue/
Return Of Birdland/ Ruby Baby/ Rumble/ Rumble/ Run Boy Run/ Run Chicken
Run/ Run Chicken Run/ Scatter/ So Young/ Sorrento/ Soul Train/ Steel Trap/
Stop And Listen To Me/ Summer Dream/ Tammy/ That'll Be The Day/ The Black
Widow/ The Fuzz/ The Shadow Knows/ The Sweeper/ Turnpike Usa/ Week End/
What A Price/ You Hurt Me So/ Zip Code
17 tracks, 44 mins, recommended An all new compilation of 17
cuts - only one that has ever been issued before in any form. Link rumbles
along on the previously only rumored Streets Of Chicago, covers Be-Bop-A-Lula
from 1964 Spiders session with a so-so vocals from Link & Chuck Bennet
but a fret melting guitar solo, shows a gentle side on the instrumental
ballad Lillian dedicated to his mom, does a nice vocal on the Chuck
Wilis blues ballad It's Too Late and storms through 5 poorly
recorded live cuts from a 1964 gig at the 1023 club. All 4 volumes have
snazzy full color photos on front and back, informative booklets from
Norton head honcho Billy Miller with more great vintage photos, even
pictures on the labels. A class production all the way. And I don't have
to tell ya' - you NEED these babies. (FS/AE)
LINK WRAY: Ace Of Spades/ Be-bop-a-lula/ Bluebeard/ Drown In My Own Tears/
Friday Night Dance/ Friday Night Dance Party/ I'm Counting On You/ It's
Too Late/ Lawdy Miss Clawdy/ Lillian/ Lowdown/ Party Part Two/ Rumble/
Soul Train/ Street Fighter/ Streets Of Chicago/ Stuck On You/ Tattoo
20 tracks, 52 minutes, essential. Great collection of
vintage Link Wray guitar strangling. What else would you open a Link
collection with but his 1958 signature tune, Rumble . And why not
throw in the flip, The Swag , as well. His follow-up, Raw-Hide
, is next and from then on it's off to the races, with one stringbuster
after another including such earthshakin' tunes as Jack The Ripper/ Ace
Of Spades/ The Black Widow/ Run Chicken Run and Batman Theme .
A couple of 70's tunes prove that Link was still rumbling - Switchblade
from his solo LP and Jack The Ripper from a '76 live LP. Comes with
a nifty booklet too, making this the best introduction to one of
rock'n'roll's founding fathers....
AE
LINK WRAY: Ace of spades/ Ace of spades/ Alone/ Batman theme/ Branded/
Deuces wild/ Girl from the north country/ Good rockin' tonight/ Hang on/
Hidden charms/ I'll do anything for you/ Jack the Ripper/ Let the good
times roll/ My Alberta/ Please, please me/ Rumble '65/ Run, chicken, run/
Soul train/ Summer dream/ The black widow/ The fuzz/ The shadow knows/
Turnpike USA~ The sweeper/ Week-end/ You hurt me so
25 tracks, 62 mins, essential
A bonanza for rock & roll
instrumental fans and Link Wray fans in particular featuring mostly
previously unissued material recorded for Cadence around the same time as
they recorded their classic hit Rumble in 1958. Apparently Link and
the Ray Men's music and appearance were a little too "far out" for
conservative Cadence owner Archie Bleyer who felt they were a bad
influence on youth. So rather than issue the follow up single and LP they
had recorded he sold their contract to Epic where they immediately had a
hit with Rawhide the tune Link planned to issue as the follow up to
Rumble which is featured here in two versions - the one he hoped to
have released as a single and a very different alternate. The planned flip
to Rawhide Pancho Villa
which is also here in two versions. There are other great Link originals
here like the wild Dance Contest, the over the top Drag Race,
the weird and wonderful Missing Link and others. There are also a
few covers including a pounding cover of Duane Eddy's Rebel Rouser,
an instrumental version of Heartbreak Hotel and more including a
few tracks with vocals by Link or brother Vernon which are the least
interesting tracks here. Included in the handsome digipack is a 20 page
booklet with very interesting notes by Rob Finnis. When I first bought
Rumble when it came out on the London label in 1958 it was a sound I
had never heard before and I tried to imagine what the person was like who
was playing the guitar. Well that mystery was solved a long time ago but
that tune never fails to move me and to have more from the same time is
like manna from heaven! (FS)
15 tracks, 35 mins, highly recommended
Previously available
on a long out of print LP on the Hangman label. These are the demo's that
Link Wray did for Swan in his brother Vernon's studio. Apparently they were
impressed because he had a nice little stint with them during the mid-60's,
that saw a lucky 13 45's blasted at the record buying public. Not only are
these tunes raw, unreleased demos, there are many here that he didn't even
re-record! It's hard to believe but Link didn't even recycle Rumble
during his whole time with Swan (a tune he's done countless times over the
decades) so it's great hearing the '64 version. Essential oily rockin'
grunge! Bo Diddly/ Ace Of Spades/ Mustang/ Deuces Wild/ Frenchy/ Law Of
The Jungle, etc. Newly remastered and with informative notes by Bill
Dahl. (AE)
The ultimate collection of this guitar masher's recordings
for Epic. Two CDs featuring 46 sides of vintage twang including unissued
tunes, alternate takes, demos and accompaniments on sides by The Ponies,
Doug Wray and Bert & Ray. Includes 12 page illustrated booklet with
rare photos and notes from contemporary guitar wiz Teisco Del Rey.
Dale Wright was a pop rocker from Ohio, who found a bit of
chart action in the late 50's with his Fraternity Records waxings She's
Neat and Please Don't Do It . His tune That's Show Biz
is a nice novelty item with a funny lead-in where innocent Dale is shown
the door by a hard-nosed record exec. Two of the best tunes on this 20
tracker were never originally released. I Hate To Go To School and She's
A Killer probably were felt to be bad for Dale's clean teen image but
they are decent rockers. Dance With Me/ You're The Answer/ I'm The
Lovin' Type/ Walk With Me , etc. (AE)
Malcolm Yelvington, one of the original Sun label rockabilly
artists, is heard doing a fine live set in Holland from 1988. He's backed
by a topnotch English band led by ace guitarist Dave Travis, and given an
appropriate country flavor by the addition of Terry Keating on steel
guitar. Malcolm croaks his way through a mixture of his old rockabilly
favorites like Drinkin' Wine Spo Dee O Dee , Gonna Have Myself A
Ball and Yakety Yak and country crowd pleasers like Hey Good
Lookin' and Mr. Blue (AE)
MALCOLM YELVINGTON: A Gal Named Joe/ Disappointed/ Drinkin' Wine Spo Dee O
Dee/ Gonna Have Myself A Ball/ Goodbye Marie/ Hey Good Lookin'/ I'll Fly
Away (with Teddy Reddell)/ It's Me Baby/ Move It On Over/ Mr Blues/
Tennessee Saturday Night/ Trumpet/ Yakety Yak
25 tracks, 57 min., good Rusty York scored one miner success
in 1959 with the song Sugaree, which reached number 77 on the national
charts. This disc includes that number, plus the rest of York's
country-flavored output recorded between the years 1959 and 1964. His
covers include versions of Peggy Sue, Bring It On Home to Me,
Love Me, Great Balls of Fire, Summertime Blues, Slippin'
and Slidin', Baby What You Want Me to Do, and This Should Go
on Forever. York's versions are credible, nonetheless it's certainly
fair to say that against competition like Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke, Elvis
Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis, he doesn't come out on top. On the other
hand, in his more original material here - Goodnight Cincinnati, Good
Morning Tennessee; Margaret Ann;
and Sadie Mae - he sounds pretty darn
good. Unfortunately there are a lot more covers on the program than there
are originals. (DH)
Features all 14 singles issued under the Zombies name from
1964-69. All tracks appear in mono as they were originally released and
for many tracks this is the first time they have appeared in mono on CD
and in addition there is a hidden bonus track. Booklet includes rare
photos and other memorabilia.
