Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA Collection: Missouri Rockers Volume 2
 | This volume features just three bands, all from Marshall, Missouri, all recorded in '58 and '59, and all previously unreleased. No surf, but some fine examples of small town rock 'n' roll. |
Picks: Raw-Hide, Guitar Boogie Shuffle, Drum Rip, E-String Boogie, Stompin', Mud Hut, Boogie With Me, Steel Guitar Rag
Track by Track Review
Rock (Instrumental)
What a cool version of Link Wray 's "Raw-Hide!" The guts and rawness are replaces with a more restrained sound, clean guitar, echo plex, and Jerry Lee Lewis style piano. The result is a small town combo innocence that's quite infectious.
Rock (Instrumental)
The Virtues' claim to fame "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" is nicely converted to a softer less distinct style that befits the song well. The silky lead flashes in the break seem much more Americana than the original. Way cool.
Rock (Instrumental)
This is a drum solo, and I suppose the title is supposed to imply that it rips, but I have to say it's very amateur and disorganized, and the meter is pretty rough.
Rock (Instrumental)
"E-String Boogie" is a raw-ish traditional guitar boogie. While it's not unlike dozens of others in many ways, it does have a certain primal edge that gives it an attractive sound.
Rock (Instrumental)
Like a stompin' version of "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" combined with some Hank Snow epic, "Stompin'" is thumping and pumping backwoods groovy with edge. Lots of jamming guitar work and fine piano plinking too.
Rock (Instrumental)
Country lap steel brings out a railroad influence while a New Orleans style lagging piano and thumpin' bass hold up the rhythm section. Pretty jammy, but pretty cool too.
Rock (Instrumental)
Another basic riffin' boogie, but with lap steel in the background and murky bass. Not melodic, but rhythmically infectious.
Rock (Instrumental)
While "Steel Guitar Rag" is not unlike many other lap steel instros from the Fifties, it's an interesting blend of a shuffle beat and a lap steel that's playing in a country style, but with just a touch of a rock 'n' roll attitude. It's a very cool track.