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Reviews Tonträger "Rockabilly Town"
Reviews Tonträger "Boppin' Country Billy"
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Review by Blackcat of
www.rockabilly.nl |
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The rockabilly band "The Sun Skippers" from Hauptwil,
Switzerland were founded in 1993 and played with regularly changing
musicians until in 1996, when they finally found the dedicated
musicians to work with in the future. In 1998 the band released
their first CD single "Long Black Veil" and they introduced
their new musical style, which they call "Boppin' Country
Billy", a mix of Sun rockabilly, blues bop and country
skiffle, mixed with some Cajun drawl vocals. Now, in 2001, they
are proud to proud to present their first full length CD.
The artwork of the CD cover is exceptionally beautiful, included
is a very nice 8 page booklet too. First thing that struck me
when I looked at the tracklisting, was the fact that there are
only covers on this CD. Not one selfpenned item, and that's
too bad, I like to explore new sounds, songs and ideas. So,
let's just see if the Sun Skippers' choice of covers can add
anything to existing recordings.
The album starts with Tarheel Slim's classic "Number Nine
Train", a good choice indeed, because I can't recall having
ever heard a cover of this song before. It's a beautiful song
and it deserves to be back on the market again and the Skippers
play it in a traditional rockabilly style. If anyone would ask
me what Glen Glenn song I like best, it would be "One Cup
Of Coffee", great lyrics and an ingenious song, just by
its simplicity. This cover version is nice, but to be honest,
I'd rather hear the original. Johnny Burnette's "Lonesome
Train", cannot ever be topped, many bands have tried though
and that is probably the reason that just about every rockabilly
fan is very familiar with this song. "Wabash Cannonball"
has been released by so many artists over the past 50 years
that I wouldn't even know who was actually the first one to
record it. It's surely not rockabilly, so this must be the country
part from "Boppin' Country Billy", heavily influenced
by skiffle.
Buddy Holly's "Midnight Shift" sounds different on
this album. That's good, because there ain't no use in copying
any song exactly as the original. The bluesy harmonica makes
this a refreshing version of the old time classic. Don Gibson's
"Sea Of Heartbreak" never was one of my favourites,
too much country, but then again, what do I know about country
music... No, I like the Skippers' revved up version of Ersel
Hickey's "Goin' Down that Road" much better. Or Roy
Orbison's "Domino" for that matter! Very cool low
down lead guitar.
Eddie Cochran's "Cut Across Shorty" (written instead
of all the well known Cochran hits. Next is a nice boppin' billy
version of Merle Travis' instrumental "Barbeque Rag",
well done, followed by another Buddy Holly classic "Maybe
Babe". The Rice Miller (a.k.a. Sonny Boy Williamson II)
song "Let Your Conscience Be Yby Wayne Walker) and Hank
& Eddie's "Latch On" (written by Ray Stanley)
are two Cochran songs that tend to be a bit forgotten these
days. Very nice to hear them again,our Guide" is an uptenpo
blues original, and the Sun Skippers turn out to be pretty good
with this kinda music, and although it's not rockabilly, it
sure does rock!
The last track is an odd duck in the pond. It's a cover of Prince's
"Kiss" from 1986. I actually had to look this up,
because I know very little about Prince, but one thing I do
know is, that he was certainly not a rockabilly man! Well, hold
on to your pants, because this Skippers' version is true rockabilly,
with a raving lead guitar and a great boppin' slap. This might
well be the best song on this album, but that's only my humble
opnion.
All in all, this is a nice album, not the greatest, and at times
a bit simple, but let's not forget that original rockabilly
was just that: simple music with great radiation. The use of
a blues harmonica on several tracks gives the sound a nice twitch
and I really enjoyed listening to it. Keep on rocking guys! |
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Review by Bruno Steffen
of www.acoustics.ch |
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Meine heimliche Liebe: Rockabilly. Hier aus heimischem Gefilde
mit Steve Blaser (git, voc), Tom Hanyecz (bs, voc) und Paul
Leuzinger (drums, voc) aus der Ostschweiz. Eine Mischung aus
Rockabilly, Blues Bop, Country Skiffle und eine Prise Cajun.
Sie wissen nicht was das ist: einfach hören und geniessen... |
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Review by Michael "Sky"
Knobloch of www.rockabilly.de |
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Sun Rockabilly mit Blues und Country bis hin zu Skiffle Einflüssen
ist der Sound den die Schweizer Band The Sun Skippers kreiern.
Die Besetzung der Band besteht aus Steve Blaser (guitar, lead
vocals), Tom Hanyecz (upright bass, backing vocals) und Paul
Leuzinger (drums, backing vocals). Auf dieser ihrer ersten CD
finden sich leider nur Covers, derer vierzehn in vielfältiger,
stilistischer Auswahl. Wenn man nur Cover einspielt muss man
natürlich damit rechnen, dass die Songs mit den Originalen
oder anderen bekannten Einspielungen verglichen werden. Dieses
hat in der Regel einen negativen Aspekt. So auch hier, wobei
der recht moderne Sound dazu kommt. Das soll niemanden abschrecken,
zum Beispiel ihre Version von „Midnight Shift“ (mit
Blues Harp, klasse) ist gut und das Cover von „Kiss“
(Prince) begeistert mich einfach. Es ist das erste Mal , dass
ich diesem Song etwas abbringen kann. Die Sun Skippers haben
es vollbracht diesen Song in einen hervorragenden Rockabilly
zu verwandeln, einfach genial.Die weiteren Tracks der CD sind
„Number Nine Train“, „One Cup Of Coffee“,
„Lonesome Train“, „Wabash Cannonball“,
„Sea Of Heartbreak“, „Goin’ Down The
Road“, „Domino“, „Cut Across Shorty“,
„Latch On“, „Barbeque Rag“ (instr.),
“Maybe Babe” und “Let Your Consience Be Your
Guide”. Hier liegt der Vorteil wenn man nur Cover spielt,
denn mit mit Auflistung der Tracks kann man schnell erkennen
ob diese CD eine Anschaffung wert ist für jemanden oder
halt nicht. Alleine für ihre Version von „Kiss“
lohnt sich die Anschaffung dieser CD, abwechslungsreich ist
sie dazu und Spass beim Hören hat man auch. |
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Review by Marc Bristol
of www.bluesuedenews.com |
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This Swiss trio picked 13 songs from the Rockabilly catalog
including a few country tunes and one surprise cover, Prince’s
hit “Kiss” - hey, if Tom Jones can do it, why not
the Sun Skippers. They transform it into a blues bopper! Only
SUN song here is Roy Orbison’s “Domino”, one
of the strongernumbers. “Number Nine Train” starts
off the CD in a rockin’ manner, Glen Glenn’s “OneCup
Of Coffee” holds up well with distinctive guitar playing
by singer SteveBlaser and so does the Rock’n’Roll
trio’s energetic “Lonesome Train”. Unfortunately
the singer’s accent is pretty obvious and a little distractingexpecially
on the slower and mid-tempo numbers and makes songs like “Wabash
Cannonball” (with mandolin and washboard!) and Eddie Cochran’s
“Cut Across Shorty” and “Latch On” sound
a little strange. Extra points for piano on “Sea Of Heartbreak”
and fiddle on the Merle Travis instrumental “Barbeque
Rag”. Theyare obviously talented musicians and a fun band
live. |
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Review bei F.P of www.kamikazerecords.de |
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Die Schweiz macht in Sachen Rockabilly mobil. Die Sun Skippers
aus Hauptwilmusizieren seit 1993 als klassisches Rockabilly-Trio
mit Gesang,Rhythmus-/Leadgitarre und slappenden Kontrabass.
Leider liegt mir nur ein 4Track-Auszug aus der aktuellen CD
vor, doch die vorgelegten Tracks ("Lonesome Train",
"Midnight Shift", "Domino" und "Goin'
Down That Road") gefallen mir wirklich alle sehr gut. Auch
wenn es sich ausnahmslos um Coverversionen handelt, besitzen
alle Songs einen gewissen Hauch Modernität, ohne das hier
das nötige Rockabilly-Feeling auf der Strecke bleibt. Mein
Anspieltipp: "Goin' Down That Road". Guter Rock'n'Roll
- made in Switzerland. |
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