Innholdsfortegnelse for October/November 2023 i Vintage Rock

It’s with no little irony that we’re having to take it upon ourselves to bang the drum for the pioneering brilliance of Bo Diddley here at Vintage Rock. This was, after all, the man who helped to write the rulebook on self-mythologising in 50s and 60s rock’n’roll. However, all these decades on it has to be said there is a discernible sense that the importance of Diddley as a rockin’ trailblazer has gone somewhat unnoticed. As ‘The Originator’ pointedly told The New York Times in an interview back in 2003: “I opened the door for a lot of people and they just ran through and left me holding the knob.” It may be true that the average person in the street can conjure up the titles of the biggest hits…

Manfred Mann are turning the clock back to their pomp years with a 20-track compilation – and Vintage Rock has a special reader competition to celebrate the release. Hits From The Sixties is out via Umbrella Music on 29 September and will appear on CD and high-quality double vinyl. The new LP’s artwork is by former member Klaus Voormann, who also provided the iconic cover for The Beatles’ Revolver. Depicting the keyboard player who gives the Manfreds their name, Voormann created the portrait in 1966. Also included in the set are sleevenotes by Mann himself plus bandmates Tom McGuinness and Mike Hugg. Served up chronologically, the compilation charts the band’s trajectory from a sparky R&B and jazz-influenced combo into a fully-fledged chart act and beyond. Boasting the hit singles Do…

For Matchbox, Christmas 1979 really was something else and there were so many new things on the horizon for us career-wise, a festive record in the charts and lots of interest in the band as our first album on the Magnet label was about to be released. Radio stations all over the UK were playing Rockabilly Rebel. All that exposure was a real buzz for us as well as our friends and families. It was fabulous hearing the single played on the airwaves countless times. Magnet were putting major efforts into preparing our future as a band. Countless new venues were starting to book us for gigs and there was a huge wave of interest in mainland Europe and Scandinavia. We started to get some big records take off in…

Bo Diddley’s band leader, bassist and collaborator, Debby Hastings, played with him longer than the likes of Lady Bo and The Duchess, and also appeared on his 1996 swansong A Man Amongst Men. Debby started her career in Wisconsin and moved to Memphis before settling in New York where she joined the Diddley group. “Going to shows, I would always crush out on the bass player,” she tells Vintage Rock. “Then I thought, ‘Wait a minute, maybe I want to be the bass player!’ My sort of boyfriend, Mark Healey, who is now the bassist for Badfinger, taught me a blues progression and I was hooked. I borrowed money from my brother and bought an Echo bass, which looked like a Höfner but is much cheaper. “I practised…

01 (1) BAD TO ME BILLY J KRAMER AND THE DAKOTAS (PARLOPHONE) 6 WEEKS ON CHART 02 (2) I’M TELLING YOU NOW FREDDIE AND THE DREAMERS (COLUMBIA) 5 WEEKS ON CHART ▲ 03 (12)SHE LOVES YOU THE BEATLES (PARLOPHONE) 2 WEEKS ON CHART ▲ 04 (10)IT’S ALL IN THE GAME CLIFF RICHARD (COLUMBIA) 3 WEEKS ON CHART ▲ 05 (6)I’LL NEVER GET OVER YOU JOHNNY KIDD AND THE PIRATES (HMV) 7 WEEKS ON CHART ▼ 06 (3)SWEETS FOR MY SWEET SEARCHERS (PYE) 11 WEEKS ON CHART 07 (7)YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A BABY TO CRY – THE CARAVELLES (DECCA) 5 WEEKS ON CHART ▼ 08 (5)WIPE OUT THE SAFARIS (LONDON) 7 WEEKS ON CHART ▲ 09 (11)JUST LIKE EDDIE HEINZ (DECCA) 5 WEEKS ON CHART ▲ 10 (19) I…

"I thought, this is ridiculous,” recalls Aisha Khan. “You’re single, you’re jobless, you’ve got two children, you’re on the cusp of 50, what on earth are you thinking?” These were the thoughts tumbling through the mind of the rhythm and blues powerhouse when she decided to return to performing after a break of 15 years. Now she’s poised to release two brand new albums, plus she’s a promoter, and a flagbearer for women in roots music. Sometimes taking the plunge pays off… Growing up in a Pakistani family in Essex, Khan always felt like an outsider until she found the roots scene. “I grew up in a country that was quite racist in the 70s and 80s, where there was a massive emergence of the National Front and skinheads,” she…

★★★★★ EXCELLENT ★★★★ VERY GOOD ★★★ GOOD ★★ PATCHY ★ POOR HITS FROM THE SIXTIES UMBRELLA MUSIC ★★★★ Manfred Mann Charting the first phase of the Manfreds before their gradual evolution into Chapter Three and ultimately the Earth Band, Hits From The Sixties concentrates on their initial incarnation with Paul Jones and Mike d’Abo on vocal duties. Named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, the Swinging Sixties favourites matured far beyond their initial perky pop successes of Do Wah Diddy Diddy and 5-4-3-2-1 – the latter, of course, buoyed by its continued exposure as the theme tune to Ready Steady Go! This 20-track compilation is a solid collection with a storming cover of The Shirelles’ R&B gem Sha-La-La an early highlight. And they returned to The Shirelles for further inspiration with…

HALLOWSCREAM! 3 ATOMICAT ★★★★ Moving away from the ghosts and ghoulies flavour of the first two CDs in this series, Atomicat turn their focus to outer space and provide a selection of interplanetary rockers from 1952-1963. Blasting off from hillbilly airspace with Eddie Cletro and His Round Up Boys’ Flyin’ Saucer Boogie, this collection soars through intergalactic instrumentals, doo-wop from beyond and space monster stompers before returning to Earth on Jeff Hughes’ rockabilly belter Our Spaceman Did Come Back. While tracks such as Helen Warren’s Rocket And Roll (Space Boy) and Bill Carlisle’s Tiny Space Man are fairly unhinged, there’s also stacks of galactic-themed rock’n’roll songs that successfully avoid the novelty record tag. As an added bonus, Bill Riley’s Rockin’ On The Moon is out of this world and the…

Classic doo-wop single Stay by Maurice Williams And The Zodiacs enters the US Billboard chart and begins its ascent to the No.1 spot. At just one minute and 34 seconds long, it would be the shortest chart-topping song in US history. Penned by Williams when he was just 15 years old, the song was inspired by his attempts to convince his date to stay a little longer one night rather than head home and abide by her parents’ 10pm curfew. A lyrical tweak dropped the line – “Let’s have another smoke” – to ensure that it would be deemed appropriate to be played on commercial radio. The track would later be covered by artists including The Hollies, The Four Seasons and Jackson Brown, living on further when it was included…

One of Elvis Presley’s closest friends and confidants has been unveiled as the special guest for an upcoming run of ‘on-screen’ arena shows featuring The King backed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Jerry Schilling will host shows in Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and London n as well as sharing personal stories and memories behind the historic moments in Presley’s life. Schilling said: “It is truly an honour for me to be returning to the UK hosting Elvis in Concert with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. When I did it three years ago I felt as though I was back on tour with Elvis, especially from the enthusiastic response from all the fans.” Schilling, who was friends with Presley since he was 12 years old, became a business associate and member…

From the striking plaid jackets and pompadours of the 1950s, through to the ubiquitous Stetson hat – complete with authentic law enforcement badge he wore after serving as a Deputy Sheriff in Valencia in New Mexico during the 1970s – Bo Diddley’s sartorial style made him one of the most instantly recognisable figures in rock’n’roll. From that dramatic red suit jacket he dons on the cover of 1960’s Have Guitar, Will Travel, to the outlandish cowboy costume on the Bo Diddley Is A Gunslinger sleeve, there was no outfit that was too outrageous for the self-mythologising star. However, when he returned in 1970 with his first album of new material since 1965’s 500% More Man, nothing could have prepared fans for the image of the shirtless He-Man depicted screaming on…

Link Wray’s Rumble was deemed such a risk to the public by Middle America that it received a nationwide radio ban on its 1958 release. An impressive feat considering it contained not a single lyric. Indeed, still the only instrumental ever subjected to such censorship, the rock’n’roll classic managed to get everyone in a tizz with nothing more than an incendiary title and three distorted power chords. Surprisingly, clean-cut harmoniser Phil Everly was partly responsible for the outrage. On hearing its game-changing two minutes and 25 seconds, he suggested altering original moniker Oddball to something that reflected its street fight vibes. The sound of Rumble, however, was all Wray’s. And like so many moments of musical genius, it came about entirely by accident. The guitarist and His Ray Men were…

Lyricist Jerry Leiber and composer Mike Stoller were behind some of the biggest-selling singles of the 1950s and early 1960s, playing a major part in shaping Elvis, The Coasters, The Drifters and many others into some of the most successful acts of the time. The duo’s ability to conjure up deceptively straightforward, yet remarkably enduring numbers with both nuance and depth places them near the top of any greatest songwriters list. However, not every record can be a hit and in the following pages you’ll find some wonderful Leiber and Stoller songs that didn’t enjoy the commercial success they warranted. 20 RUTH BROWN I Want To Do More 1956 (London) With her gritty voice and charismatic delivery, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ruth Brown can certainly be…

★★★★★ EXCELLENT ★★★★ VERY GOOD ★★★ GOOD ★★ PATCHY ★ POOR X Ray Cat Trio LIVE AT HOHM PROPERTY OF THE LOST ★★★★ Recorded one afternoon in Bradford, this ‘live’ recording may have no screaming crowd in the background but it remains raw and visceral. Across the six tracks, old favourites such as I Lied and Getalong Gang get a workout and their fairly recent Sir Gawain & The Green Knight is a modern surf masterpiece. This type of one -take/no overdubs offering may seem an odd concept to some but it works well here especially for a band as individual as this. You don’t always know what to expect from this eclectic Leeds three -piece, but the end result is usually thrilling. LP And His Dirty White Bucks BLACK…

And The Sensations LET ME IN AGAIN! 1955-1962 JASMINE ★★★ Formerly known as The Cavaliers, The Sensations were a Philadelphia R&B/doo-wop group who recorded for Atlantic subsidiary Atco then split after three years before later reforming to sign with Chess Records. The group’s complete recordings on the Atco and Argo labels are now here on CD for the first time in their entirety. The perky Let Me In, buoyed by Yvonne Baker’s delicate vocals, are among the highlights on this good-natured set alongside a delicate reading of the evergreen Ain’t He Sweet. SH…

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Sixty years ago, in the autumn of 1963, promoter Don Arden compiled a dream rock’n’roll package tour for UK fans when he teamed up headliners The Everly Brothers and Little Richard with a fledgling Rolling Stones and the pioneering powerhouse Bo Diddley. Performing for audiences on British soil for the first time, the larger-than-life character famed for his splendid self-referential songs and radical rectangular guitars, had already gifted the world a legendary hambone beat that changed music forever. ‘The Originator’ would go on to be a regular visitor throughout the 80s, 90s and into the 2000s alongside his sidekick bassist and band leader Debby Hastings. His last trip here was two shows at Camden’s Jazz Café in July 2006, just two years before he passed away on 2 June 2008.…

On the face of it, you’d think that the combination of Elvis and the crack team at Stax Studios would be a match made in musical heaven. But Presley’s 1973 recordings in Memphis have long divided fans. Was this a missed opportunity to mine the studio’s soulful excellence or have the sessions being unfairly overlooked? On 29 June 1973, RCA label rep George Parkhill wrote to Elvis: “In order to have the merchandise available for our summer release, we are planning a recording session in the middle of July. We need the following products to enable our sales department to plan these merchandising campaigns: 1 – Anew RCA album (10 songs) 2 – Two new single records (4 sides) 3 – Anew religious RCA album (10 songs) “I will appreciate…

Marvin Rainwater had a face like carved rock and a strange adenoidal timbre, which sometimes sounded like he was singing with a bad cold. He was one-quarter Cherokee, but had learnt to play classical piano in his native Wichita, Kansas. His one big pop hit in America was a beautiful, self-penned country number Gonna Find Me A Bluebird. Yet in Britain he was known as a rock’n’roller, scoring with the chart-topping Whole Lotta Woman in 1958 and also making the Top 20 shortly after with I Dig You Baby. In truth, he was a purveyor of a highly individualistic and quirky form of early Americana, but in Europe he was eventually welcomed as a genuine rockabilly star. While Rainwater, born in 1925, played Rachmaninov at school, an accident sustained in…

★★★★★ EXCELLENT ★★★★ VERY GOOD ★★★ GOOD ★★ PATCHY ★ POOR Elvis Presley WOODEN HEART CULTURE FACTORY ★★★ Here’s another batch of non-essential but highly desirable Elvis reissues that are designed to keep hardcore collectors of the King dipping into their wallets. Once again, Culture Factory takes a European version of an Elvis 7" release and breathes life into it in five different colours of vinyl limited to only 200 copies of each variant. This time around they focus on the 1961 Spanish release on RCA Victor, which includes the title track backed up with What’s She Really Like. While there’s not much new sound-wise, the reproduction detail is top quality and this is still a tempting proposition. Pike Cavalero BOTH SIDES OF SLEAZY ★★★ Spanish rocker Pike Cavalero has…

HORROR SHOW KOKO MOJO ★★★★★ There’s always been a long line of rock’n’roll and R&B artists ready and willing to drop their principles when the opportunity to have a Halloween hit came around, but at least this lengthy compilation digs deep and often goes beyond tracks with just creepy sound effects and macabre lyrical content. Louis Armstrong is one of the first major stars to appear in this varied line-up with his 1954 song Spooks and well-known names including Bettye LaVette and John Lee Hooker are also lurking within on this varied compilation. Some of the excellent instrumentals, such as The Ernie Freeman Combo’s Theme From Igor and The Bees’ Terror, carry no more than an exploitative title but there are still season-specific novelties a-plenty to enjoy. Horror Show from…