I don’t do many album reviews, but this one, I had to write something. I spent this weekend totally locked in on this 2006 album, having it on my computer and phone. It’s a fun rockabilly album well done, and the song selection is terrific. I was going to review another artist, but I got stuck on this one, so I’ll post him next weekend. After the Motörhead post on Friday, CB brought up a rockabilly band that Lemmy was in. I was surprised, to say the least, because I didn’t remember this from the documentary but it’s been a while. I love what I heard.
I don’t skip tracks because one is as good as the other. There is a bounciness to this album…if that is a word. I could have written a one-word review… FUN.
Let’s get with the members of this band. On drums, you have Slim Jim Phantom from the Stray Cats. This man pops up everywhere by the way. On Guitar and piano, you have a rockabilly guitarist named Danny B. Harvey. On bass you have Lemmy Kilmister taking a break from Motörhead to play some rockabilly. His voice fits this music well.
The origins of The Head Cat trace back to a casual collaboration. Lemmy Kilmister, Slim Jim Phantom, and Danny B. Harvey teamed up in 1999 to record a tribute album to Elvis Presley, titled Swing Cats: A Special Tribute to Elvis. The band’s name? Can you guess? Combining Motörhead and The Stray Cats. They released 6 studio and live albums combined.
They didn’t always pick the most popular rockabilly songs which I love. You have Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Jimmy Reed, and The Crickets songs on this album. Rather than covering Peggy Sue, they cover Peggy Sue Got Married instead which personally I like more. You have a Buddy Holly title cut Fool’s Paradise. You also have Crying, Waiting, Hoping, Not Fade Away, and one of my favorite Holly songs in Well…All Right.
The reason this and other similar rockabilly albums work is because 1: The musicians love this type of music and…that damn word again…FUN. 2: The songs are simple and that is not a put-down but they don’t have 12 chords and studio tricks. The songs sound good on backyard porches and would sound great in the Royal Albert Hall or Ryman Auditorium. I think music has moved too far away from this style. 3: When I said these songs were simple I was NOT implying they are easy to play right…on the contrary because you have no distortion box or tricks to hide behind. It takes pure musicians and a love for this music to play it right. These guys grew up with this music so they pour their heart into it.
I’ll get off my soapbox now but how I wish I would have had this music growing up. I didn’t grow up in this era when the songs were real time but I see why all of the great artists I like… cling to this music. Everyone from The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Stones, Springsteen, Dylan, and The Kinks spent their career trying to recapture the spirit in these wonderful songs. The Head Cat did a great job!
Here is the tracklist:
1 Fool’s Paradise
2 Tell Me How
3 You Got Me Dizzy
4 Not Fade Away
5 Cut Across Shorty
6 Lawdy Miss Clawdy
7 Take Your Time
8 Well…All Right
9 Trying To Get To You
10 Learning The Game
11 Peggy Sue Got Married
12 Crying, Waiting, Hoping
13 Love’s Made A Fool To You
14 Big River
15 Matchbox
If you want the complete album on YouTube…here is the link
Well…All Right
Well, alright, so I’m being foolish
Well, alright, let people know
About the dreams I know that you wish
In the night when lights are low
Well, alright, well, alright
We’ll live and love with all our might
Well, alright, well, alright
Our lifetime love will be alright
Well, alright, so I’m going steady
It’s alright, let people say
That those foolish kids can’t be ready
For the love that comes their way
Well, alright, well, alright
We’ll live and love with all our might
Well, alright, well, alright
Our lifetime love will be alright
Well, alright, well, alright
You know we’ll live and love with all our might
Well, alright, well, alright
You know our lifetime love will be alright
….
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Wonderful post 🌅🌅
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I’d completely forgotten about this band! Lemmy does a great job with the vocals which are distinctive but much more mellower than the mighty Motorhead…..enough of the M’s already.
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I was skeptical when I heard he was singing…but he convinced me completely…this is such a…dare I say it? FUN album. I don’t mind M’s at all…says Max
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The Head Cat sound like fun, and I definitely want to check out this album after sampling a few of the tracks!
I’m headed to Asbury Park for an all-afternoon music for a cause type event, so I’m going to be offline, possibly for the remainder of the day. You’ll hopefully learn more about it tomorrow. At least, that’s my plan, hoping I can get some good footage! 🙂
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Ok man have a good time and I’ll talk to you when you get back! Good luck! You ARE a true music fan!
I’m sorry to unload three posts today on you guys Christian!
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Thanks, Max, there’s never such as a thing as too many posts from you. I adjust admire your capacity – not to mention your inventory of non-published posts! 🙂
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I’m running low now! lol… I wanted you of all people to see this one….thanks Christian. Go and have fun and I’ll talk to you when you get back! Thanks for that man.
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“Low” for you probably means you still have at least 10 posts written up. That’s still a multiple of my 3.5! 🙂
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LOL…I’m up 11 right now. I like staying ahead of the game…now all of today’s posts I wrote yesterday….so I still do that on weekends.
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I remember Well All Right from the Blind Faith album, and I enjoyed this peppier version.
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I was surprised because I didn’t know what to expect from Lemmy’s vocals…but they work well.
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Would not have guessed Lemmy would pop up in a rockabilly band. Not my first choice of sound, but it sounds good enough & in all likelihood if I listened to more of the tracks too, I’d like it more than his ‘other band’
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I thought he did a great job on these songs. I was surprised and they nailed them well. I love this music.
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We’re talking my kind of music. An usual pairing for Rockabilly but hey, it works!
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It does work Randy….and it sounds so dang good!
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Great writeup, Max. And yes, The Head Cat rocks. I love it! The way Lemmy goes tender on Well…All Right…brought a smile.
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It’s so much better than I thought. I didn’t know if his voice would translate to it…but it did!
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Was not aware of this combo of talent. I like the two songs posted. As you said, you can tell that these people revere this music and bring a certain energy to it.
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I just found out Friday and have been listening to this album all weekend. I can’t stop listening to it.
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Maybe I might have to change my tune about Lemmy, at least a bit. I remember another version, perhaps as Jim says, Blind Faiths?
Post wise- how how how can you be ahead of schedule, AND post every day? My stash of unpublished drivel (drivia?) consists of maybe half a dozen rough-as-guts outlines and one or two half assed efforts that require too much effort to mangle and wrangle into some sort of shape. (Man, I vow from today on to get my shi- script together.)
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This surprised me when I heard it. I wasn’t sure his voice would work.
Well you are creating obverse… I’m spitting out facts and my opinion… what you do is akin to me writing a song… that would be more comparable I think. Also when I cover let’s say a WHO song… all I have to do for the chart positions is to look at another one of my posts to get that info… now… I will admit that these last two posts took a while! The Raspberries one was easy because I had a history of posts with info on them. Beatles, Stones, and Who I just know their history so well also… but Maryann Price was hard. Took me around an hour and a half to find info on her.
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Yeah, I get it. Fact checking gets tough when you go down from acts who are not SuperMegaMassive stars. Info on, say, who drummed on some one-hit wonder might be hard to find 30 40 60 years after the fact.
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“Fun” is the word. It all starts with rockabilly for these guys.
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I was way more impressed than I thought I would’ve been. It’s staying on my playlist for a long time.
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You are edging towards your rockabilly takes. So much good music and surprises around it
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This is pure rock n roll. Very cool. I’ll check the album out!
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You won’t regret it man.
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Very cool Max! 😎
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Yup this album is fun and what a crafty band name as well…
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Wonderful write-up, Max. I feel your passion for the music in it. I am listening to it right now and have saved the playlist in spotify.
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Thank you Lisa so much. I’m sorry to spring that on you and the same goes to you…if I miss a post that you wanted me to see…send it. I just thought you would maybe like Lemmy singing Rockabilly
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You’re welcome. The new computer is running but so much to add/tweak yet. It got here around 11 and have been messing with it ever since. So stressful!
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Oh cool! I’m glad you got it anyway.
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p.s. It’s been awhile since watching the Lemmy doc. I may have to pour myself a toddy and watch it real soon.
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