"THE ROOTS OF PSYCHOBILLY"

Never mind all these silly labels, this is just a solid rockabilly/rock 'n' roll collection! (Gyro1966)2-CD set packed with rockin' tracks which influenced the birth of Psychobilly.

Here is a wealth of fantastic music from the wilder side of Rock 'n' Roll - these are the songs that have been covered by or influenced Psychobilly bands in recent years. An incredible 50 track selection featuring wild rockin' classics.

Psychobilly is a sub-genre that was gradually spawned over decades from a huge number of influences and historical precedents. Besides the obvious Rockabilly origins, there are musical elements of Punk, Surf, 50's Rhythm and Blues, and Hard Country to go with visual and style elements from such disparate sources as 50's and 60's pulp fiction, B-grade sci-fi and horror movies, teen exploitation features and biker flicks.

Not Now records in the U.K. has done a bang-up job of collecting 50 songs (spread over two discs) which represent some of the many elements that ended up leading to the development of this subgenre beginning in the late 70's and early 80's. The "Roots of Psychobilly" collection has a share of songs common to other readily available Rockabilly and 50's rock collections, such as the two Johnny Burnette/Rock and Roll Trio songs, Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You", and Link Wray's "Rumble" (one of four Link Wray songs on the collection), but for the most part, a good share of the other songs are a bit more obscure and a lot of these turn out to be cool little glimpses into the non-major label underbelly of the early years of Rock-n-Roll.

Instrumentals and some occasionally rather unhinged Rockabilly dominate the proceedings here. Around half of these songs have minimal or no vocals (or at least, no lyrics, in the case of the Rock-A-Teens' "Woo Hoo"), so you need to be in the mood for lots of early rockin' instrumentals to enjoy this set. Occasionally a song will dip into another sub-genre, such as doo wop for Sheriff and the Ravels' "Shombalor", or dawn-of-surf with "Moondawg" from the Gamblers, the but the bulk of these tunes stay around the 3 chord, 2 minutes-or-so mark of sax-honkin', whoopin' and hollerin' basic early Rock-n-Roll.

Sure, there are some duds here, but not that many. "Unitar Rock" from Willie Joe never gets off the ground, and the Ramrods'"Ghost Riders In The Sky" is ruined by overly prominent cattle sounds. "Have Guitar Will Travel" is a much better title than song from Scotty Moore and the other Elvis backing musicians. The good news is that every clunker is greatly outnumbered by obscure gems like the scorchin' proto-power-chord romp of "Uh Oh" by the Imps, The somewhat goofy tribal shout-along "I Want Some Of That" by Kai Ray, and the menacing-but-brief twang of "Jungle Fever" from the Playboys (which, incidentally, sounds like it provided some of the DNA for Vince Taylor's "Brand New Cadillac", later covered by the Clash).

If this musical journey through the untamed and obscure side of late 50's and early 60's Rock-n-Roll sounds like your musical cup of tea, at this price and with this quality, you really can't go wrong with this wide-ranging collection from the fringes of polite society.

trax CD 1:

1. Love Me - The Phantom 2. Rumble - Link Wray & His Ray Men 3. Jessie Pearl - Dick Dale 4. Switchblade - Ron Thompson 5. Rockin' In The Graveyard - Jackie Morningstar 6. Storm Warning - Mac Rebennack (Dr. John) 7. Sunglasses After Dark - Dwight Pullens 8. Strollin' After Dark - The Shades 9. Uh Oh - The Imps 10. Stampede - The Scarlets 11. Moon Dawg - The Gamblers 12. Nameless - The Rockin' R's 13. Ghost Riders In The Sky - The Ramrods 14. Right Turn - Link Wray & His Ray Men 15. Woo Hoo - The Rock-A-Teens 16. President's Walk - Ray Ethier 17. Jungle Hop - Kip Tyler & The Flips 18. Sinners - Freddie & The Hitch-Hikers 19. Machine Gun - The Riptides 20. Go Girl Go - Jeff Powers 21. Shombalor - The Sheriff & The Ravels 22. Please Give Me Something - Bill Allen & The Backbeats 23. Tornado - Dale Hawkins 24. Werewolf - The Frantics 25. The Train Kept A Rollin' - Johnny Burnette

trax CD 2:

1. Rock Billy Boogie - Johnny Burnette 2. Weekend - The Kingsmen 3. Trapped Love - Keith Courvale 4. Madness - The Rhythm Rockers 5. Jungle Fever - The Playboys 6. Comanche - Link Wray & His Ray Men 7. Mule Skinner Blues - The Fendermen 8. Bip Bop Boom - Mickey Hawks & The Night Raiders 9. Rockin' Bones - Ronnie Dawson 10. School Of Rock'n'Roll - Gene Summers & His Rebels 11. Warrior Sam - Don Willis 12. Let's Have A Ball - Jim McDonald 13. Blue Moon Baby - Dave Diddle Day 14. I Want Some Of That - Kai Ray 15. Unitar Rock - Willie Joe And His Unitar 16. Jelly Roll Rock - Walter Brown & His Band 17. Her Love Rubbed Off - Carl Perkins 18. Have Guitar, Will Travel - Scotty Moore Trio 19. Slip, Slip ,Slippin' In - Eddie Bonds 20. Cotton Pickin' - Mickey Hawks & The Night Raiders 21. I Put A Spell On You - Screamin' Jay Hawkins 22. Come On Little Mama - Ray Harris 23. How Come You Do Me - Junior Thompson 24. Boppin' High School Baby - Don Willis 25. Rawhide - Link Wray & His Ray Men

...served by Gyro1966...