Jerry Lee Lewis “Rare Tracks”

sfilzen — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 16:47:45 +0000

Jerry Lee Lewis “Rare Tracks” 1989. Sun Records. Nick Tosches “Hellfire: The Jerry Lee Lewis Story” 1982. Author/music journalist Nick Tosches died yesterday, October 20th, just shy of his 70th birthday (b. October 23rd, 1949). I’ve been a Tosches fan for quite awhile – we have a few of his books including this bio of Jerry Lee Lewis, his 1977 underground country music book Country: The Biggest Music in America and his 1984 Unsung Heroes of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Tosches style was dramatic and riveting – an example from the second paragraph of Hellfire: “’Hell,’ Jerry Lee Lewis would tell you in the middle of the night, which he seemed to have the power to evoke, to drape about himself, at any hour; ‘Hell,’ he would tell you, looking squint at the veins in his wrists, receding into the memory of his father’s tales and the tales of his father’s brothers; ‘Hell,’ he would tell you, ‘they got a big history, the Lewises. Wild drinkers. Wild gamblers.’”

Jerry Lee Lewis’ Rare Tracks is wild, as well. It’s a collection of – as the title suggest – rare tracks (for ‘89 anyway) from Lewis’ Sun Records years (1956-1963) cut by Lewis as either demos, B-sides, or album tracks that didn’t make it or ended up as filler. There’s a lot of covers, like his rendition of the 1930′s Shelton Brothers “Deep Elem Blues,” Billy Mize’s “It All Depends,” The Glenn Miller Orchestra’s “In the Mood,” the 1958 hit “Wild One (Real Wild Child)” and Billy Ward & the Dominoes’ “Sixty Minute Man.” He even covers himself (sort of) with a very literal remake of “Whole Lotta Shakin’” which is barely tweaked to “Whole Lot of Twistin’ Going On” (it’s still a great song). And his original composition “Pumpin’ Piano Rock” which the liner notes describe as having the promise of “the perfect theme song for him” is great but when it first came out, finally, in the 70′s he’d already had enough theme songs that it was “anticlimactic” and thus overlooked.

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Bo Diddley “Bo Diddley”

sfilzen — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 23:35:42 +0000

Bo Diddley “Bo Diddley” 1958. Chess Records. Today, December 30th, would have been Bo Diddley’s 90th birthday (b. Ellas Otha Bates, but went by Ellas McDaniel after being adopted at a young age, as well as his stage name, Bo Diddley, 1928, d. 2008. Interestingly, the bio on the back of this LP lists his birth year as 1932). Bo Diddley was his first full-length record, a collection of singles he recorded between 1955 and 1958, and it popularized the massively influential Bo Diddley beat which “is essentially the clave rhythm, one of the most common bell patterns found in sub-Saharan African music traditions,” though he certainly wasn’t the first to use it on American recordings; “Diddley came across it while trying to play Gene Autry’s “(I’ve Got Spurs That) Jingle, Jangle, Jingle.” Three years before his “Bo Diddley,” a song with similar syncopation, “Hambone,” was cut by the Red Saunders Orchestra with the Hambone Kids. In 1944, “Rum and Coca Cola,” containing the Bo Diddley beat, was recorded by the Andrews Sisters.” (Wiki)

Allmusic says about Bo Diddley “For anyone who wants to play rock & roll, real rock & roll, this is one of the few records that you really need. Along with Chuck Berry, Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and a few select others, Bo Diddley was one of the founders of the form – and he did it like no other. Diddley had only one real style, that being the Bo Diddley beat: a syncopated, rhythmic drive, loaded with tremolo. There are 12 examples of it on this record, and that is about all you need. It’s one of those records that, after listening to just a few cuts, will find you tapping the beats on every available surface. Diddley’s guitar and vocals have a gruff feeling that recalls bluesmen such as Waters, yet he has his own style. Buttressed by drums, funky piano, and usually maracas, it’s absolutely infectious. This is one of the greatest rock sounds that you’re likely to hear, and it’s all on this one record, too.” It’s true! My favorites are “Bo Diddley,” “I’m A Man,” “Hey’ Bo Diddley,” “Hush Your Mouth,” “Diddey Wah Diddey,” “Who Do You Love” and “Pretty Thing`,” many of which have been covered by lots of other great groups over the years (ie Buddy Holly, The Who, Grateful Dead, Captain Beefheart, Ty Segall, The Jesus and Mary Chain and JD McPherson.

We got a chance to see Bo Diddley back in 2003 at Summerfest in Milwaukee. He performed at one of the smaller side stages to maybe a hundred people in the middle the afternoon. Since it’s been awhile, I don’t remember too much about the set but I do remember him doing some kind of rapping about convincing kids not to do drugs. That was weird, but I’m grateful I got a chance to see this legend play live.

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Jerry Lee Lewis “Rare Tracks”

Bo Diddley “Bo Diddley”