SUE MORENO and JACK RABBIT SLIM - One Track Mind

SUE MORENO and JACK RABBIT SLIM
ONE TRACK MIND
Western Star WSRC037
Track listing: One Track Mind / The Fire Is Burnin' / Too Late / Time is Wastin' / Gone Gone Gone / Don't Hurt Me Baby / Gonna Get Back Home Some How / What About Tomorrow? / Record Hop / Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad / Cinderella Story / Walkin' With Angels / Time is A-Wastin.

This is an inspired pairing from Western Star, with Sue Moreno and Jack Rabbit Slim being a couple of the finest acts on the circuit. I’ve only got one of the Dutch Wanda Jackson’s previous albums but it’s not as good as this. The tracks are mostly originals from either the pen of JRB’s Bob Butfoy or Moreno herself.

The album kicks of with the melodic title track with backing vocals giving a nice rounded sound. This is pretty much the style for the album with JRB replacing their usual sleazeabilly sound for a purer rockin’ sound that suits Moreno clean vocals.

There’s no duffers here, but plenty of highlights. Record Hop is probably the hardest rockin’ track complete with Darren Lince taking two hot solos. The countryish What About Tomorrow? is nice with some lovely guitar and shows Moreno to be in the same class as Marti Brom. The band are superb on the cover of Elvis’ underrated 1962 moody rocker, Gonna Get Back Home Some How. They also cover Tupelo’s other star, Tammy Wynette, with a fine reading of Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad.

There’s two versions of Time is Wastin', one a duet with Butfoy and even better is the first version where she’s double-tracked to duet with herself. The cover of the Everly’s mid 60’s Gone Gone Gone is classy. Also worth mentioning is Butfoy’s Cinderella Story which has a Gene Vincent sound from the drums rolls to the guitar. I think my favourite is Walkin' With Angels which benefits from a great countrified beat and some piano from Holbrook. The introduction of the backing vocals at the end give a it neat rousing gospel finish. Very tasty, as is the singer, and the album.

Bill Fadden & The Mostly Losers - Looking For Some Happiness

Bill Fadden & The Mostly Losers - Looking For Some Happiness
Western Star Records

Tracklisting: Just A Waiting / La Mesa Prison Blues / Mission Bell / Tell Me Why / Gil's Place / Hold On Tight / Mexicalli Bound / The Dead Balladeer / North Wind / Dia De Los Muertos / Little Baby / Little Green Bag

Bill Fadden & The Mostly Losers are: Bill Fadden - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Alan Wilson - Lead Guitar, Keyboards, Jack Boxwell - Bass (except "Little Baby" which was Upton Lovell), Ben Turner - Drums, Bob Dixon - Pedal Steel, Graham C. Reynolds - Trumpet, Moses - Accordion, Steve Holbrook - Piano, Bill Fadden, Alan Wilson and Liz Avent - Backing Vocals

Bill Fadden and his band The Silvertone Fliers, hit the scene like a tornado a few years ago with two great albums, Bop Party and Satellite Rock. He now works with the remnants of the Rimshots/Gene Gambler's Shufflers, but for this latest release he's backed by a mix of musicians. It was recorded about five years ago with Western Star owner, Alan Wilson, who was also involved in the previous two albums. The story goes that Wilson invited Fadden to his over over Easter 2004 to write and record a few songs. Fadden turned up with two massive sombreros and a bottle of Tequilla. Wilson was fresh from a trip to Tijuana so everything took on a Mexican buzz.
For the most part the band comprises Fadden on vocals and rhythm, Alan Wilson on guitar, ex-Silvertone Flyer Jack Boxwell on bass and Ben Turner on drums. With their pedigree you won't be surprised to hear that the musicianship is spot-on throughout, be it rockabilly, country or the Tex-Mex sound that oozes throughout the album. The opener is a Western ballad complete whistled intro and outro that is an inspired, subtle way to show that the guy is happy to keep "just a waiting". La Mesa Prison Blues is the first of the quartet that Fadden and Wilson co-wrote. It tells the gruesome tale of life in a shithouse Mexican prison, set to a dark rockabilly sound and trumpet. Mexicalli Bound and Dia De Los Muertos again get their inspiration from south of El Paso, with the instrumental Dia De Los Muertos being ideal fodder for a tarantino or Coen Brothers movie. The Dead Balladeer is a rhumba ballad with trumpet that doesn't really work for me, but then I don't like the rhumba beat.

Fadden wrote three of his own, the best being the rockaballad Tell Me Why. The best track on the album is Little Baby, a stop start rocker that has a hint of His Latest Flame. North Wind is a western rockabilly number that runs Little Baby a close second. The album is rounded off with a rockin' take on the late 60's hit Little Green Bag. So bhasically what you've got is a hot little platter that should appeal to rockers and westerners alike.