Gene Vincent "Bird Doggin" 1967 (Challenge/Line Rec)

Gene looking upwards as if in a trance, his black gloved hands wrapped firmly around the mike, one knee bent and the Cripled leg stretched. Dressed in black leathers, with a huge chain around his neck, singing ‘Be Bop-A-Lula’ with an otherworldliness that was both intimidating and enthralling at the same time.Faced with a career that was going nowhere fast on a treadmill of gigs, booze and oldies, Gene Vincent regrouped in 1966 and with the help of an allstar team of Southern California studio whizzes, recorded a batch of songs that stand out as some of his best work. Challenge Records assembled some topnotch session cats like Glen Campbell, Al Casey, Jim Seals, Dash Crofts and David Gates, rounded up some good songs, and let Gene loose. The songs aren't rockabilly, though, not even a little. Instead they are solid mid'60s fare with a folkrockmeetsgarage sound. He is in fine voice throughout, sounding tough and ready on hard rockers like "Bird Doggin'," "Ain't That Too Much" and "Words and Music," sensitive on sweet ballads like "HiLili, HiLo," and heartbroken and blue on desperate songs like "Hurtin' for You Baby" and "Am I That Easy to Forget." He shows off his country side on a rocksolid cover of Merle Haggard's "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive," gets loose and swinging on a boppy "Poor Man's Prison," and on what may be the album's best song, the chiming folkrocker "Love Is a Bird," which sounds very much like Gene Clark. In fact at times the record sounds like (with some 12string guitar added) the Byrds, but mostly the results are not too far from what the Everly Brothers were doing around the same time. Sadly, Vincent had even less commercial success than the Brothers, as his Challenge singles sank without a trace and were never collected as an album in the States. Most of the songs remained unreleased except on cheapie European albums. In 2002 Magnum released a version of the sessions called Bird Doggin': The Complete Challenge Sessions which comes close to being as good as 1992's excellent release on Sundazed, Ain't That Too Much: The Complete Challenge Sessions. It comes up short in the sound and package department, and also loses points by including modern remakes of "Hurtin' for You Baby" and "Born to Be a Rolling Stone," by the songwriter Jerry Merritt. Stick to the Sundazed version for the real goods. - Tim Sendra, All Music Guidetraxfromwax:
1. Hurtin' for You Baby 2. I'm a Lonesome Fugitive 3. Born to be a Rolling Stone 4. Hi Lili, Hi Lo 5. Poor Man's Prison 6. Words and Music 7. Bird Doggin' 8. I've Got My Eyes on You 9. Love is a Bird 10. Ain't That Too Much 11. Lonely Street 12. Am I That Easy to Forget