Charlie Bop Trio – Mr Big Feet
Capitol F4100
This slab of rockabilly goes out to the king of the Weston-super-Mare boppers, Keith “Mr Big Feet” Wilkinson and his lovely lady Nicki. I don’t know much about the Charlie Bop trio other than that two of the trio are Charles Johnson and lead singer Jimmy Kersey. The single came out on Capitol in November/December 1958 and was backed by Tokyo Queen. Like most people this side of the Atlantic, I didn’t hear until the rockabilly revival when it was released on the Capitol Rockabilly Originals vinyl lp in 1977. I bought the album in the early ‘80s and was knocked out by the likes of Ferlin Huskey (Slow Down Brother), Farmer Boys (Slow Down Mame) and Bobby Trammel (You Mostest Girl). But it was the Charlie Bop trio and Mr Big Feet that blew me away. What an opening to a record – “Hello there man, what’s your front name?” – “They call me Big Feet”. Eat your heart out Tin Pan Alley, this is hillbilly Leiber and Stoller. According to Bear Family nothing is known about the band other than the record was recorded on 6th October 1958, and if Bear Family drew a blank that’s pretty much it. We might not have the details, but we’ve got the music. It’s got a driving rockabilly shuffle beat with call-and-response vocals, sax and piano solos and great lyrics. Check out the youTube clip below and you’ll see the back of the ’77 album. If you can’t find a copy of the single or the vinyl album, your best bet is the Bear Family’s 1993 CD, That’ll Flat Git It Volume 3 or the Disky CD, A Rockabilly Party Vol.2 (2000). Go, go, go, Mr Feet – that’s what you hear them hepcats say.
