Friday, September 30, 1977 The Daily Tar Heel 3
October, 1977
Ampersand
times invented, and always faithfully
realized. Like the other musicians who found
their way into the piece, Edmunds lives a
certain part of his life in the past he, like
the others here, isn't doing some grotesque
Sha Na Na parody; rather, they share a belief
that there was a lot of good music made back
then, in a tradition that deserves continuing
as well as preserving.
Edmunds plays all of the instruments on
some selections. On others, he's joined by
bassist Nick Lowe, pianist Bob Andrews, and
any of a number of percussionists. But Ed
munds' playing is so good that you'll be
hard-pressed to tell which are band numbers
and which are solos (a hint: "Git It," perhaps
the most complex piece of music on the al
bum, is Edmunds solo).
There are a number of vintage rockers on
the album, mostly far from routine bar-band
numbers and all worth hearing again. But
one of the chief delights is hearing how Ed
munds and Lowe have captured that particu
lar Fifties combination of naivete and raunch
evident on such titles as "I Knew the Bride
(When She Used to Rock and Roll.") And'
Lowe's energetic "What Did I Do Last
Night?" is a hell-bent-for-a-hangover
number to end them all, forever. This album
comes about as close to indispensible as an
album can; as an extra bonus, it includes
fourteen titles in an exhibit of generosity
atypical of any record company in the last
several years.
Among the early British blues-rock bands,
the most important were the Rolling Stones
and the Animals, if only because their music
became the best-selling example of the genre.
Stone Brian Jones once said that Animals
lead singer Eric Burdon was the best lead
singer of any band, a sentiment with which
Burdon was always ready to concur.
Following their break-up, largely through
attrition as each original member left to pur
sue his own projects, the Animals crept into
oblivion. Today, they aren't given their due
as important figures, if only because every
body's simply forgotten them. Nevertheless,
the Animals did get "House of the Rising
Sun" on the charts, and they enjoyed a
number of other hits during their somewhat
limited time together.
Burdon went on to drop too much acid,
form and name War, and record songs like
"Monterey," "Sky Pilot," and "They Can't
Take Away Our Music" ( which, in Burdon's
case, "they" eventually did). Guitarist Hil
ton Valentine embarked on a solo career and
disappeared. Pianist Alan Price began his
solo career singing Randy Newman songs,
did some film scores, and became a beloved
figure in British pop music. Bassist Chas
Chandler discovered Jimi Hendrix and pro
duced many of his better albums. Drummer
John Steel disappeared even more quickly
than Valentine, and was for a while working
as Chandler's assistant.
Well, here it is 1977, and the Animals have
re-formed, none of them having anything
better to do. The album is titled Before We
H ere So Rudely Interrupted.
The tunes are for the most part blues or
blues-based songs from the Fifties and Sixties
Percy Mayfield's "Please Send Me Some
one to Love" and Bob Dylan's "It's All Over
Now, Baby Blue" being typical examples. In
addition, there is a version of Jerry Lieber
and Mike Stoller's "Brother Bill (the Last
Clean Shirt)" that sounds like something by
the Coasters that didn't make it, Jimmy
Cliffs overdone "Many Rivers to Cross,"
and a slowed-down version of Sanford
Clark's 1959 "The Fool" with a loping guitar
rifF taken from that record which in turn was
lifted from "Smokestack Lightning."
"But is the album any good?" you ask.
Well, to be truthful, there's probably more to
be said for the band's good intentions than
the realization. They play well, but seem to
lack inspiration and the kind of spirit that
imbued their earlier records. On the other
hand, the album is far from bad, and where
else arc you going to find this kind of music
these days?
Across the Atlantic and back home, we
find solid Fifties rockers on the East and West
coasts.
Robert Gordon is from Washington, D.C.
Don't know how old he is, but he sounds as
though he was paying attention when the
Sun label out of Memphis was releasing sing
les by Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Billy Lee
Riley, and Jerry Lee Lewis every couple of
weeks. Line Wray is an original rocker, his
"Rumble" being one of the great instrumen
tals of the era. Much of his talent is shrouded
in legend; simply put, his subsequent records
weren't all that impressive, though lie main
tained a kind of fame for his live playing.
Wray's recent albums have been of, shall we
say, varying quality; the only one to be an
absolute rocking blockbuster, Line Wray's
Rumble, did no better than any of the others,
on which he affected a kind of folky, down
home style that was a real lore to anybody
expecting kicking rock and roll.
Gordon and Wray are gxd for cat h other.
Gordon likes to sing the oldies, Wray loves to
play them, and lxth do so with complete
authority. There are two Billy Lee Riley
tunes included, "Red Hot" and "Flying
Saucers Rock and Roll," lliat have most of
the virtues of the originals intact. "Summer
time Blues" and (again) "The Fool" don't
fare so well, simply because they're compara
tively well known in their original recordiigs,
and nothing much is gained here. A Gene
Vincent ballad, "I Sure Miss You," is sweet
as all-get-out, and there are a number of
idiomatically correct originals. Good stulf
here; a worthy companion piece to the Dave
Edmunds album.
Out in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley,
Ray Campi teaches an English class by day,
and rocks and rolls at night, on weekends,
and on vacations. He and his Rockabilly Re
bels are semi-regulars at the Palomino in
North Hollywood, have headlined the Ar
madillo World Headquarters in Austin, and
even occasionally play on the bill with punk
bands. If nothing else, they've plenty of
nerve!
They've got plenty else, and most of it
centers around their intent to bring old time
rockabilly to the masses, and to perform it as
straight as possible. Since true rockabilly is
performed with a kind of hellfire spirit, w hen
properly done the entertaining takes care of
itself Campi jumping astride his bass
fiddle, guitarist Rollin' Colin Winski outline
( Continued on page 1 4)
dm
tiAREEAflTH
The original
Rare Earth is back together again.
Rock with a definite flavor of R&B!
Mil 1 1 'J ill
The Masked
Marauder is among you!
PHILLIP JARRELL
I Sing My Songs For You
1 I
g j" ;
The debut album,
written, produced and performed by the
co-writer of "Torn Between Two Lovers.'
1977 Motown Record Corporation
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