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Ambition has always been a major ingredient in the success of Brian
Setzer. And Brian Setzer, as everyone knows, is a rockabilly guitar-slinging
maverick. We knew it when he suddenly popped up in the very early
80's with The Stray Cats, playing the kind of pure rock music
that had gone by the wayside for nigh on three decades. One might
say Setzer began the rockabilly revival, which paved the way for other
cool music movements like the swing revival, and even could possibly
be to blame for a bit of the alt-country movement. The man is a master
of the wailing Gretsch 6120, even having a signature model of the
venerable axe named for him. The legend of Brian Setzer went from
rockabilly punk rocker to big band leader and many points in between…
but the circle has come full back, and on his latest release, Rockabilly
Riot!, Setzer returns to playing the music that obviously played
such an intense influence on him in his early years.
Rockabilly Roit! is a collection of 23 classic rockabilly
tracks that were originally recorded for the Sun Records label in
the mid 50's. Setzer and his band - Bernie Dresel on drums,
Mark Winchester on upright bass, and Kevin McKendree
on piano - pay homage to a time when American music was on the move,
with a fresh and exciting taste. Setzer picked some of the best of
the Sun tracks - not only the most popular - but some real closet
gems as well, and did faithful recreations of the songs, much as they
were played way back when. The result is a collection of ageless songs
with a clean brilliance that would be hard to attain from old master
tapes. The songs run the gamut from the ever-popular "Blue Suede
Shoes"and "Put Your Cat Clothes On", to rockabilly
scorchers like "Red Hot", chicken pickin' classics such
as "Just Because", and even down-tempo tracks like "Sweet
Woman" and the surf-guitar sounds of "Red Cadillac &
A Black Moustache". In other words, all the bases are covered…
thick… with plenty of echo and guitar tone to spare.
These songs are so true to the originals that they have an inherent
sense of nostalgic beauty. The tracks will leave you glad to be alive,
and wondering why you have neglected the rockabilly classics for so
long in your own life… and hopefully send you on a quest to find
more of this prime American music. But the best thing about Rockabilly
Riot! is that it's volume 1. Which means hopefully in the near
future, we'll get even more of these great tracks played by this fantastic
band.
-Embo Blake
Track Listing:
1. Red Hot
2. Slow Down
3. Real Wild Child
4. Rockhouse
5. Put Your Cat Clothes On
6. Lonely Weekends
7. Get It Off Your Mind
8. Just Because
9. Glad All Over
10. Flatfoot Sam
11. Rock N Roll Ruby
12. Blue Suede Shoes
13. Tennessee Zip
14. Mona Lisa
15. Peroxide Blonde (In A Hopped Up Model Ford)
16. Get Rhythm
17. Stairway To Nowhere
18. Boppin' The Blues
19. Rakin' & Scrapin'
20. Sweet Woman
21. Flyin' Saucers Rock N Roll
22. Lonely Wolf
23. Red Cadillac & A Black Moustache
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