Not a straightforward Country & Western album series, but one with a different take on the genre that sees the categories of rhythm and blues and C&W colliding whether directly in terms of musical representation or purely by song title and words of a song. Saddling up for the next volume of ‘Rhythm & Western’, this one is aimed straight at the emotions and classic Hank Williams territory of that condition known as a broken heart. Far from being a miserable experience in terms of listening, ‘Volume 2 – Your Cheatin’ Heart’ is certainly on the “emotional downside” in terms of its (appropriate) song titles e.g. ‘It Makes No Difference Now’ (Ray Charles), ‘Long Gone’ (Eartha Kitt) and ‘I Wanna Be Loved’ (The Lovers) for example, but when it comes to many of the songs the rhythms are lively. Take for example Clyde McPhatter and his fleet-footed version of Hank Snow’s ‘I’m Movin’ On’, or bigger band representation of ‘Whiskey, Women & Loaded Dice’ by Joe Liggins And His “Honeydrippers”. It’s such songs here that are more in vein of rhythm and blues than C&W but, as mentioned in our review of Volume 1, the album series ‘Rhythm & Western’ is not just a vehicle of direct representation of country music by African American artists because the album series is much more than that. The melding of rhythm and blues and C&W works admirably during ‘Night Train To Memphis’ where you can even hear the influence of gospel during its up-tempo rhythm that is unfussy and vocals that mirror this by Bobby Hebb. There’s a relaxed feel to Lou Rawls’ ‘If He Holds Your Hand’ that is typical of that early 60s country sound where there was a certain gloss to the overall production. The title track, ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’, is left to King Curtis who knows how to turn a song on its head and offer a unique take on the Hank Williams classic that has more in common with Ben E. King’s ‘Stand By Me’. With “Little” Esther Phillips adding the tearjerker ‘Why Should We Try Anymore’ and add to that Ruth Brown ‘I Burned Your Letter’, before finally closing the album with The Big Three Trio and their interesting take on ‘Cigareets, Whuskey & Wild Women’, then you can safely say that all the drama often associated with country music is contained within the grooves of ‘Rhythm & Western Volume 2 – Your Cheatin’ Heart’.

Taking a jaunt for the third time is the album series ‘R&B Goes R&R’. With its by now customary twenty-eight tracks of its playlist completing Volume 3, DeeJay Mark Armstrong is once more responsible for sourcing the material. The songs unearthed contains much familiarity but there’s also unfamiliar choices and one or two unusual additions, which is often the strength of this album series. One item which has not been mentioned yet is the quality of the artwork, which is an impressive sight and makes for an attractive addition to the quality of the music set. Moving through the years from 1955 to 1963, ‘R&B Goes R&R 3: Dance Girl Dance’ offers cover versions of rhythm and blues’ rockers performed by American and Australian artists who aimed to emulate the original performers but, in doing so, also provided further exposure of the “original” rock ‘n’ roll sound. The decision to start with Eddie Dugosh and song ‘Strange Kinda Feeling’ is prime example of the quality of the music chosen, but also for not opting for the most obvious considering there’s Gene Vincent (‘Jump Back, Honey, Jump Back’), Jerry Lee Lewis (‘Save The Last Dance For Me’) and The Everly Brothers (‘Hey Doll Baby’) all present yet not in pole position. The vintage rockabilly of ‘Strange Kinda Feeling’ is as impressive as anything the bigger “names” conjure up here and, if anything, Volume 3 certainly provides room for the lesser known/less featured artists to perform. Step forward Lawrence Shaul and primitive yet engaging rendition of ‘Tutti Frutti’, Frances Faye ‘It’s You I Love’, which is certainly more sophisticated and is music set for films of its era as well. Paul Peek maintains the less featured rhythm via his version of Ray Charles classic ‘The Rock-A-Round’ and it’s an absolute belter! Add to an ongoing list Ernie Sigley (‘The Big Beat’), Cody Brennan (‘Ruby Baby’), and Bunny Paul once again (See Volume 2) and track ‘Honey Love’, and ‘R&B Goes R&R 3: Dance Girl Dance’ is equal to its previous albums, but also adds a considerable bit more with a longer line of obscurer cover songs. Top quality from start to finish and worth far more in monetary value than its given price tag, ‘R&B Goes R&R 3: Dance Girl’ is essential!

New arrival ‘R&B Goes R&R 1 My Baby Left Me’ via Atomicat sees twenty-eight tracks of rhythm and blues given the cover version treatment! Featuring artists from both America and Australia, the songs chosen are either directly represented or reinterpreted for your listening pleasure. It makes for an interesting combination where a big band interpretation begins proceedings via Loren Becker and truly upbeat rendition of ‘My Baby Left Me’, before knocking on the neighbouring door and enquiring if Johnny Rebb would like to come out and play, with the answer being a resounding “Yes!” and then proceeding to apply a touch of grease to Chuck Berry’s ‘Maybellene’. Rock ‘n’ roll (albeit a rather clean application) applies to Boyd Bennett and his version of ‘Mumbles Blues’. Bennett’s version makes for a tight, snappy rhythm and it lingers in the mind for some time after. From there the music continues to intrigue with a stunning interpretation of ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ from Helene Dixon who compels via a throaty vocal and the guitar almost too hot to handle! The company surrounding this track is equally impressive with heavyweight names adding their worth from Jerry Lee Lewis and ‘Hit The Road Jack’, Elvis Presley and great choice with Ray Charles’ ‘I Got A Woman’, Ronnie Hawkins adding ‘My Girl Is Red Hot’, and not Jerry Lee this time but Paul Wyatt offering an impressive take on ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’. With talk of a five-album collection featuring rhythm and blues tracks being given the rock ‘n’ roll treatment, Volume 1 “My Baby Left Me” in this new series certainly gets off to a flyer especially when there’s terrific rockabilly via Lou Millet (‘Shorty The Barber’), a classic from The Johnny Burnette Trio (‘Train Kept A Rollin’), and Vince Everett (Baby Let’s Play House’) and plenty of interesting versions of rock ‘n’ roll featuring David Houston (‘Sugar Sweet’) and Pete Peters (‘Fanny Brown’) for example.

It has been a while since the last visit to ‘Sadie’s Gentlemen’s Club’ but here we are again, and expectations are high given the sheer quality of said previous visit proving to be the most memorable yet. The last encounter proved delightful for living up to its billing creating much “Ecstasy” via its glorious track choices arranged by Mark Armstrong. Latest album, with its additional heading “Branded”, sees a different atmosphere created once more that provides light and shade from it numerous grooves. Highlighting such differences are tracks such as the lively rhythm and blues from Otis Riley and likely contender to become tongue-tied in its pronunciation, ‘Little Miss Bibbity Bobbity Boom’, that is full of optimism. Ditto the electric blues guitar of Otis Rush and introduction of that early sixties sound of ‘I’m Satisfied’ that sounds effortless in its enthusiastic delivery such is the talent behind this song. From these two candidates positioning themselves to be album winners, Bobby Day with album opener ‘My Blue Heaven’ is another contender for such accolades where his vocal alone is enough to drive this feelgood number. There are songs that reflect its period with the introduction of the atomic age and imaginatively represented by Chance Halladay and ’13 Women’. Mary Ann Fisher flips this position via excellent ‘It’s A Man’s World’ where her vocals really own the song. Richie Robin stumps up the album’s title track and provides a vocal turn that may not be the strongest yet makes up for it due to its unconventional qualities, which are appropriate for the setting of Sadie’s Gentlemen’s Club. It is such tracks along with other diversified songs as The Hollywood’s harmonious pop ‘Chicks Hey, Little Gigolo’, always upbeat Chubby Checker and ‘Dancin’ Party’, sultry popcorn Don Lanier ‘Need Your Loving’, and famous names dropping in with Marilyn Monroe and ‘I Wanna Be Loved By You’, and it all makes for one interesting night out. With the final word given to Dinah Washington and ‘Teach Me Tonight’, then ‘Sadie’s Gentlemen’s Club Visit 05. Branded’ ends in perfect style.

Ushering in a new album series is Atomicat with ‘Twist-A-Rama’. The first volume focuses specifically on, you guessed it, “The Twist” which was the dance of the 1960s. Therefore, in line with the fashionable dance of the time, and naturally still popular throughout dance halls today, ‘Twist-A-Rama Volume 1’ features various artists from the periods 1959 through to 1963 with songs often upbeat in style and plenty of “twists” in their titles! So, expect to hear songs relaying the glories of this popular dance, to memories of this time in history combined with themes of love and romance. It’s a glorious album from start to finish and one that is packed with much energy and enthusiasm. It’s the kind of album that immediately puts a smile on your face with opening song ‘Kissin’ Twist’ by Jack Hammer proving this with its infectious rhythm and charismatic vocals. From there, the mood continues to be infectious with tracks by Herbert Hunter and ‘Twist It Up’, to an instrumental from The Champs (‘Tequila Twist’), and teen-pop by Jo Ann Campbell and ‘Let Me Do My Twist’. Packed with lively numbers by the likes of Hank Ballard and The Midnighters and specifically for the dance in question ‘The Twist’, which made a name for Chubby Checker who, on this occasion, pops up with ‘My Baby Cares For Me’ and shares vocals with Bobby Rydell. Once again, Atomicat does its research and plunges for the less obvious choices when selecting its track list and opts for interesting turns from Chuck Berry and ‘I’m Talking About You’, Kay Armen ‘I Wanna Twist’, Brice Coefield ‘Cha Cha Twist’, and U.S. Bonds (Interesting moniker!) ‘New Orleans’. If you want to move to songs predominately featuring “The Twist”, then you have come to the right place because ‘Twist-A-Rama Volume 1’ is an irresistible force that will have you dancing the night away at your local dance hall.

An album to commemorate four major stars of country and western music who died in tragic circumstances is issued by Atomicat Records and under the banner ‘Sweet Dreams Forever’. The four country stars celebrated by this album release are Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, Randy Hughes, and Hawkshaw Hawkins who lost their lives in 1963 when a small plane they were travelling in crashed on their way back to Nashville after a concert. With country music losing such talented musicians, their music remains alive and well and worthy of such tributes bestowed upon them such as Atomicat’s ‘Sweet Dreams Forever’. It remains the sweetest of dreams with the album coming in a threefold digipak complete with tasteful, and representative of its time, poster design, with the rest left for Dee Jay Mark Armstrong who supplies the liner notes and track list. Focusing on the songs, those that feature is taken from the years 1948 to 1962, with this being prime up-tempo country and western music of course and most definitely the authentic kind! With all four country stars – Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas, Patsy Cline, and Randy Hughes sharing the same billing, the album, ‘Sweet Dreams Forever’, divides their tracks, but is done based on the year of each song release. Chronologically selected therefore, the songs chosen beginning in 1948 as mentioned above, with Hawkshaw Hawkins making the opening appearance with the fine ‘Dog House Boogie’ that should be considered prototype rockabilly. From this position, Cowboy Copas present C&W ‘Hangman’s Boogie’, before sidestepping and making way for Randy Hughes and His Band and fascinating, not to mention ahead of its time anecdote of the ‘Tattooed Lady’, which raises further intrigue given there is no writer assigned to this song. A quick perusal of the song list suggests Randy Hughes edges it with most of the songs for this collection, with more brilliant examples as the romantic ‘My Little Country Rose’, hillbilly boogie ‘Tapping That Thing’, and another eccentricity on the back of local homebrew ‘When Elephants Start To Roost In Trees’. The rest of the album then ping-pongs between Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas, and Patsy Cline, with the latter artist performing trademark ‘Walkin’ After Midnight’ and established ‘Stop, Look And Listen’ which surely gave those rockabilly cats a run for their money with its sharp, snappin’ rhythm and strong, dominant vocals. Excellent performances all round, with a good representation of their works considering there is only twenty-nine tracks to do so, ‘Sweet Dreams Forever’ is therefore a remarkable album and one that remembers these four stars of country music in style, not to mention offering terrific value for your money. Essential listening.