James Wilsey – The Rattler

I love instrumentals and this one and the complete album has some great ones. 

I told CB when he sent me this link…I would not know his name but I would know it was Chris Isaak’s guitar player by just listening. He had a unique sound all his own which I admire. I would know his guitar sound anywhere…I listened to his album El Dorado this week along with the Chris Isaak album San Francisco Days. These instrumentals are great and I wish I could have said this first…but a reviewer said the album is Wilsey paying homage to the cinematic soundscapes of the American West…and I totally get that. This song has such a fantastic sound.  

His guitar playing really helped make Wicked Game such a fantastic and popular song. He used a 1965 Fender Stratocaster and reverb, delay, and slight vibrato. You could tell he was influenced by Duane Eddy, Link Wray, James Burton, and others from that era. 

He grew up in Indiana. In the late 1970s, he joined The Avengers, a punk rock band from San Francisco, where he played bass. They would go on to influence The Dead Kennedys and others. They released two EPs and one album in 1983.  The self-titled album was made from studio takes because Wilsey had left the band by then. He joined Chris Isaak’s band The Silvertones in 1980. In the late nineties and the 2000s, The Avengers would release 4 more albums that were live and studio cuts with Wilsey. 

He made four albums with Issak. Silvertone (1985), Chris Isaak (1986), Heart Shaped World (1989), and the last one San Francisco Days (1993). He and Isaak would soon be estranged and Wilsey went his own way. One of the problems was Wilsey’s growing substance abuse. 

He formed an instrumental band called The Mysteries (they never recorded an album) in the late nineties but it was in 2008 that he made his only solo album of instrumentals called El Dorado. In 2018 he would pass away because of substance abuse. 

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

44 thoughts on “James Wilsey – The Rattler”

  7. I don’t remember Wilsey’s name but I did have ‘SF Days’ and the one with ‘wicked game’ on it and liked both. It was good to hear ‘Can’t do a thing to stop Me’ again, been years since I last did. Oops- probably covering both your posts here in one comment. Anyway, I like this track a lot, very Chris Isaak-like, very spacious…someone needs to make a noir film just to use this in the soundtrack as someone drives through the desert…But am I reading this right? This was the great guitarist on ‘Wicked Game’, not Chris?? I always assumed it was the singer

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    1. Yes it was Wilsey on guitar… when you hear this it has that same feel. His guitar playing made a lot of the atmosphere around Isaak’s already different style of singing. Together they were totally original… it’s too bad they didn’t stay together longer.
      I did this last weekend with the Katmen and Imelda May…they linked together like Chris and James do.

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  8. Ooh yeah like that kinda guitar playing. I see why you compare him to Link Wray. He also reminds me of Friends of Dean Martinez, which is a group I first heard on a doc about The Salton Sea, called, “Plagues and Pleasures of the Salton Sea.” Love the mood this music sets.

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    1. He has that sound…like I told Steve…when you can tell who a guitar player is just by hearing him play…you have your own sound…I knew without hearing the name that he was the guitarist from Isaak’s band.
      I remember that documentary…yes I agree. I just listened to Friends of Dean Martinez….yes it’s that style and I love it.

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      1. Yes they are. I was reading at least one member played or plays in Calexico, which is the band Robert Rodriguez (movie director) was in. Calexico did soundtrack work on at least one of his movies iirc. Max saw the doc I’m talking about and Friends of DM was perfect music for it.

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      2. Calexico s all over the place. They play o my music box a lot. They are up there in the high place for me. Burns and Convertino were with Giant Sand originally. Thats where i found them. So much great music from them two and anyone they associate with. You’re full of surprises. Lisa.

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      6. Various female members over the years. It’s a real revolving door of players. Plus a bus load of albums. Howe Gelb is the constant. Nearly impossible to keep up with the wealth of music. Following GS, Howe’s solo and Calexico would keep you busy for a long time. Is it Neko Case on vocals on what you’re listening to? They cover a lot of territory musically. I like the creativity. Im sure Lisa will find some good listening.

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      8. Those two are good ones. Howe is always mixing things up. If you’re familiar (Which I think you are if I recall) with Neko Case (She’s great) she drops in on Howe.
        CB did a couple takes way back on my first exposure with GS, Also a take on a great Calexico number.

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    1. When I read that reviewer say “cinematic soundscapes of the American West” I thought…yes! It has a slight tex-mex feel as well…cool unique sounding guitar player.

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      1. Great write up by the wat. Shedding light on some gems. Yeah it has that sound/feel for sure. James and Chris made some magic but James had some creative juices he had to explore. Great stuff. Why they call you Max on Wax. Oh yeah I like the bass laying it down.

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      2. Thanks CB…the music is getting some great reactions. I think people are really interested in Wilsey…his sound…and this sounds stupid..but his sound is huge and thin at the same time. I can hear Wray in that sound and others as well.
        Yea the bass in this one is the foundation to play around…I loved that they had a live cut of it.

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