rockabilly Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Wanda Jackson “Wanda Live! at Third Man Records”

sfilzen — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 20:49:09 +0000

Wanda Jackson “Wanda Live! at Third Man Records” 2011. Third Man Records, limited edition Black/Transparent Blue Split vinyl with DVD of the performance included. Recorded at Third Man in Nashville January 18th 2011, the “The Queen of Rockabilly” is backed by Jack White on lead guitar and Olivia Jean on rhythm guitar. It sounds like the impetus of this performance and record was his producing work on Jackson’s 2011 The Party Ain’t Over I adore Wanda (and Jack White/Third Man) so super excited to spin this collection of Jackson originals and covers filtered through her funky rockabilly lens and absolutely unique voice. Covers include Amy Whinehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good” (which features a N’Orleans-style horn section and way more pep than the original), Jesse Stone’s “Like a Baby” (both are also on The Party Ain’t Over), “Riot in Cell Block #9” which was first recorded by The Robins in 1954, “Shakin’ All Over” by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates (1960) and the all-out rollicking “Let’s Have a Party” recorded by Elvis in ’57. I always thought “Fujiyama Mama” was a Jackson original but apparently she made it popular in 1957; it was written in by Earl Burrows and first recorded by Annisteen Allen in 1955 and, cover or not, absolutely slays. Another top pick from this live LP is actually one of her originals: “Right or Wrong” (which she says she wrote for Brenda Lee but decided to keep and record herself) and its excellent b-side “Funnel of Love” which she released in 1961.

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JD McPherson “The Warm Covers LP”

sfilzen — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 19:49:39 +0000

JD McPherson “The Warm Covers LP” 2023. New West Records, limited edition Record Store Day release on red, white and blue splatter clear vinyl. As the title more than suggests, the record is all covers reimagined in McPherson’s rockabilly style, from songs spanning the protopunk to rockin’ rhythm and blues to southern fried rock genres. A lot of the covers, like the blues/rhythm and blues ones, lend themselves very well to a rockabilly interpretation: the cover of the mid-50’s single “Let’s Rock” by Art Neville for instance, or the soulful renditions of Irma Thomas’ “It’s Raining” (1961) and “Steal Away” by Jimmy Hughes (1964) are all pretty great. Some others, not so much. McPherson’s cover of The Pixies’ “Manta Ray” (1989) is confusing, like he didn’t really know what to do with the track and just threw everything against the wall hoping it would stick. (It all stuck.) I wasn’t expecting to like his cover of Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life” (1977) as much as I did: who knew that song would lend itself so well to brush drums? Also unexpected is “Dream Baby Dream” originally by Suicide; McPherson’s cover adds a sultry bendy guitar accent to the hypnotic electro punk song from ’79 (no link available). Most hilarious by far is his rendition of Velvet Underground’s “White Light/White Heat” (1968) which plops the art rock single into a 50’s pop song similar to “Jailhouse Rock” or really any Chuck Berry classic.

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The Reverend Horton Heat “Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em”

sfilzen — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 17:55:08 +0000

The Reverend Horton Heat “Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em” 1990. Sub Pop Records, 10″ LP on blue-gray marbled vinyl. We caught the Rev this past Friday in Madison at High Noon Saloon – sold out, wild show! Jim Heath and Jimbo are still rocking strong 35+ years on. They clearly still love playing live and seem to still adore each other.

Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em is hands-down my favorite release from the Texas psychobillies. Their debut, it was the only record I had heard the first time I saw them in ’93 (Madison, at the late great Club de Wash, Taz was still on drums); I listened the bejeezus out of it. I’m fairly certain Friday’s show led with the instrumental, “Bullet,” the LP’s first track.

Other tops from the record are “I’m Mad” and “Baby, You Know Who,” both wild psychobilly rompers, plus the spaghetti-western tinged almost-instrumental “Marijuana” on which Heath shows his finger-picking and shredding prowess, Jimbo relentlessly bass-slaps, and Taz keeps time with a crazed jungle beat. The album closer “Love Whip” is a sultry rockabilly song tinged with a bit of danger, harmonica and horns. And while “Eat Steak” is absolutely ridiculous, kitschy as hell, it still makes me laugh.

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Duane Eddy “Have ‘Twangy’ Guitar Will Travel”

sfilzen — Thu, 02 May 2024 20:33:27 +0000

Duane Eddy “Have ‘Twangy’ Guitar Will Travel” 1958. Jamie Records. Yesterday Duane Eddy’s death was announced (b. 1938, d. April 30th, 2024) so taking his debut LP out for a spin in commemoration. The hit record (#5 US, #6 UK) is a collection of great guitar instrumentals that are a mix of rockabilly, country and blues plus a bit of surf thrown in for that full-bodied classic 50’s sound. My dad is a huge fan of Duane Eddy so although this record is waaaayyy before my time, I grew up listening to his twangy talent. Probably the most famous track on Have Twangy Guitar is “Rebel-‘Rouser” which he released as a single in ’58 when it went to #6. Another great is the Bo-Diddly-esque “Cannon Ball” (#15 US, #2 UK). I’m not as crazy about the “yakety sax” vibe on “Detour,” a cover from 1945 written by Paul Westmoreland in 1945 and originally recorded by Jimmy Walker with Paul Westmoreland and His Pecos River Boys. A cover (of sorts in that Eddy didn’t write it) that is a good ol’ whoopin’ and hollerin’ rocker, with an interesting story, is “Ramrod.” Written by Al Casey, it was first released as a single in ’57 with Al Casey playing lead guitar, but the record was credited to “Duane Eddy and the Rock-A-Billies.” “The Beatles, then called The Silver Beetles recorded a cover of ‘Ramrod’ from Paul McCartney’s bathroom in July 1960. The version was never officially released and it circulated on bootlegs.” (Wiki)

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Flat Duo Jets “Red Tango”

sfilzen — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 19:41:53 +0000

Flat Duo Jets “Red Tango” 1996. Norton Records. Super-bummed to hear about the passing of Flat Duo Jets’ Dex Romweber this past weekend at age 57 (b. 1966, d. February 16, 2024). He’s considered the “godfather of the power duo” garage rock revival of the 90’s/early 2000’s and was a major influence on musicians like Jack White (the White Stripes performed the Jets’ “You Belong to Me” or “Apple Blossom Time” in their live shows and more recently-ish White’s Third Man Records released Dex Romweber Duo Live at Third Man, 2010) and The Black Keys. We saw the Flat Duo Jets perform – Dex on guitar/vocals and Chris “Crow” Smith on drums – at least twice in the 90’s, one was particular memorable: around ‘95 at an in-store at the original, smaller RushMor Records location in our Milwaukee neighborhood of Bay View. Dex and Crow wedged themselves in between record aisles, plugged into a lone amp, closed the cymbal case to use as a bass drum and let loose their version of rockabilly garage blues crazy. We were standing so close to Dex that it was really uncomfortable – I could have picked Dex’s nose without unbending my elbow. The other time was at The Rave (Milwaukee), I think December ’98 when they opened for Reverend Horton Heat and Royal Crown Revue (now called Amazing Crowns due to legal issues with RC Cola). My memory is super-murky from this show but fortunately Joe’s mind is a steel-trap so I’m quoting his recollection here: “These were comp tickets from WMSE because the Shellac show we originally won tickets to was a benefit show for animal rights or something and they wouldn’t let us in. Flat Duo Jets were not listed on the bill and we weren’t crazy about the Royal Crown Revue so we decided to take our time. Well, either we got the time wrong or the Rave was running late because as we were walking in I recognized Dex’s singing and I said ‘I think the Flat Duo Jets are playing.’ They were and luckily we caught most of their set. We talked to Crow after because I had recently found a second copy of their first album and I remembered he didn’t have one from last time I talked to him at the Rush Mor in store at the old location. He gave me his address, somewhere in Florida I think, and I sent him the record but I never got a reply.”

Red Tango was Flat Duo Jet’s 7th studio release. It’s garagey rockabilly overall, with some stomping instrumentals (opener “Tell Django“), crooning, tear-in-my-beer ballads (“Don’t Ask Me Why“), roof-ripping psychobilly tracks (“Lonely Wolf“) and Latin-flavored numbers (the title track “Red Tango“). My top pick is “Baby Are You Hiding From Me” which has a killer beat and hook and leans slightly more to the garage end of rockabilly-garage.

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“Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper”

sfilzen — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 17:59:31 +0000

“Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper” 1985. Enigma Records. The debut record from psychobilly duo Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper, spinning today in commemoration of Mojo Nixon who died yesterday at age 66 (b. 1957, d. February 7th 2024) from what sounds like a heart attack while on a cruise ship for the Outlaw Country Cruise tour. Irreverent and hilarious with an eye to sticking it to pop culture, southern culture and religion, Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper is lo-fi punk’d up rockabilly; the album was the duo’s demo tape. The lead track “Jesus at McDonalds” serves as great overview of the Mojo Nixon worldview on American culture and religion, the second track “Mushroom Maniac” kind of does the same for southern (and possibly hippie) culture and “Rockin Religion” needles at it all. Large sticks poking those nests to a rockabilly beat. “Moanin’ with Your Mama” is straight-up classic Delta blues and “Promised Land Tonight,” with prominent harmonica, is classic sad-eyed hill country Americana – it could have appeared on a Bruce Springsteen record — whom they cover with Springsteen‘s 50’s styled song “Big Payback” on Side B. My top track is “Guns to My Head” which features the upright washboard (Roper) prominently and has a wicked great beat and killer guitar hook (Nixon) and the slide guitar on the stomping instrumental “Mama Possums” is also great.

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Jerry Lee Lewis “Jerry Lee Lewis”

sfilzen — Sun, 30 Oct 2022 21:30:05 +0000

Jerry Lee Lewis “Jerry Lee Lewis” 1958. Sun Records. A spin of his debut record in honor of Lewis’ death this past Friday, October 28th. Lewis already had a couple of giant hits prior to his first full-length, including “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” neither of which appear on the LP. But the record is packed with Lewis’ signature rockabilly meets boogie-woogie piano, mostly covers of songs by other artists. Those include “Don’t Be Cruel” written by Otis Blackwell and famously recorded by Elvis, “Crazy Arms” written by Ralph Mooney and popularized by Ray Price, “Ubangi Stomp” written by Charles Underwood and first recorded by Warren Smith, “Jambalaya” by Hank Williams, and “Matchbox” by Carl Perkins. Jerry Lee has one original: “High School Confidential” which he released as a single in May of ’58; it was also the title song the 1958 film High School Confidential. It went to #21 on the Hot 100 chart, to #9 on the Country chart and #5 on the R&B chart, all in the US, and to #12 in the UK.

We saw Jerry Lee perform just once, a free concert back in September ’95 at Maritime Days in Veterans Park, Milwaukee. I have no idea what songs he played but I’m sure he played a bunch of his classic hits and we were thrilled to see “the Killer” play live. At the end of his set, he had left a can of Pepsi on his piano. Joe asked the stagehand who was tearing down and prepping for the next performing if we could have Jerry Lee’s Pepsi. We totally got it and proceeded to sip and share it with our friends. We hung onto that Pepsi can for a few years but finally got rid of it when we moved in ’99. (Lewis had not actually opened or drank the Pepsi.)

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Joey Miserable and the Worms S/T

sfilzen — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 19:58:42 +0000

Joey Miserable and the Worms S/T, 1985. Nightcrawler Productions (aka self-released and I’m pretty sure the inner sleeve is signed by all of the band members).

Though the photo on the cover and member listing (lots of them, a horn section) suggests a ska band, Joey Miserable and the Worms are a sort-of rock-n-roll throwback band, with a lot of 50’s doo-woppy and rockabilly styling (the best on the LP is “Rockin’ is Our Bizness,” a cover from 1951 written by Claude and Cliff Trenier) mixed with 80’s-modern rock. They tag themselves as “rock and soul.” The most soul/doo wop track on the LP is another cover, “I Was Wrong” from 1954 written by Harvey Fuqua and Allen Freed. Not really my jam. The kitschy “Worm Symphony #1369 in the Key of X” is kind of funny – it’s the kid song that goes “Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, I think I’ll eat some worms.” Thankfully it’s a really really short track. Also fun is the excellently and grossly named “Pooper-Scooper.”

There isn’t much info available about the group: they’re from New York City’s East Village, formed in 1980 and have two releases: this LP and an EP from ’86, Hanging Out for Your Love. They were supposedly really fun live and someone put up a bunch of their live tracks from ’85 on YouTube, like “Out of Control” from Joey Miserable and the Worms. They have what looks to be a semi-active Facebook page (with just 112 followers) and had a Go Fund Me fundraiser in 2020 called Digging Up Worms! which at least one Worm was involved in (Simon Chardiet aka Joey Miserable, lead vocals and guitar), possibly two (I think Jono Manson, the other organizer, is guitarist Frankie Sominex). I have no idea what, exactly, Digging Up Worms! was supposed to do as the fundraiser is now closed.

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Wanda Jackson “Wanda Jackson”

sfilzen — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:21:48 +0000

Wanda Jackson “Wanda Jackson” 1958. Today, October 20th, is Wanda Jackson’s 85th birthday (b. 1937). Wanda Jackson is her debut record and it mixes country music, 50’s style pop and rockabilly while prominently featuring her distinctive clear soaring voice that frequently gives way to an exuberant growl. I adore Wanda Jackson, the Queen of Rockabilly, ever since I got hooked on her 1960 release Rockin’ With Wanda in the early 90’s when Joe gave me the tape. My favorite songs from her s/t release are the rockin’ ones: “Long Tall Sally” originally recorded and co-written by Little Richard in 1956, the rollicking piano-forward “Money, Honey” (written by Jesse Stone who is best known for “Shake, Rattle and Roll”) and “Let’s Have a Party,” first recorded by Elvis Presley for the movie Loving You in 1957. Jackson’s version was released as a single in 1960, hitting #37 in the US and #32 in the UK (Elvis’ initially went to #2 in the UK in ’57). We saw Jackson play at Cactus Club a few years ago – anywhere from 10-20 years, it’s super fuzzy – and it was incredible. She told stories about dating Elvis briefly in the 50’s, her experience as a woman breaking barriers in the music business and, of course, sang some of her most beloved songs from the early days of rock.

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The Reverend Horton Heat “The Full Custom Gospel Sounds of The Reverend Horton Heat”

sfilzen — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 22:08:25 +0000

The Reverend Horton Heat “The Full Custom Gospel Sounds of The Reverend Horton Heat” 1993. Sub Pop Records. Signed by the Rev (Jim Heath) and Jimbo Wallace; “Coke bottle clear” reissue, 2022. We picked up the Reverend’s second LP — and Joe got it signed — this past weekend at the Rave when they played with the Toadies.

Joe and the Rev

Reverend Horton Heat at the Rave

We saw Reverend Horton Heat back in ’93 in Madison at Club de Wash when they toured for this LP. I don’t remember that much about the show, but I do remember Jimbo hanging out at the bar by us either before or after the show — I think he was being very funny and very crass. We’ve seen the Rev several times since, including in ’96 when they also played with the Toadies; both bands opened for Butthole Surfers. (Gibby Haynes of the Buttholes produced Full Custom Gospel Sounds.)

They played a great set at the Rave: while the main focus of their show was their performance of the entirety of Liquor in the Front (1994), they did play songs from some of their other albums, including Full Custom Gospel Sounds.

Full Custom is, of course, rockabilly and psychobilly. The sort-of more mellow, rockabilly-leaning songs like “Beer:30” and “Bails of Cocaine” are great, witty and irreverent. But the wilder psychobilly songs are the best: “Big Little Baby” is a rollicking great time; that track was first released in ’88 as a 7″ on Four Dots Records (pre-Jimbo: “Swingin'” Jack Barton is on upright bass and Bobby Baranowski is on drums). The album opener “Wiggle Stick” is hilarious and, fittingly, was showcased on Beavis and Butthead (season 4 episode 3 “Trouble Urinating”). But my favorite is “400 Bucks” which I was able to catch on video Saturday night:

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