Hey, hello again, John Lennon album. No, I won’t write about you again today. Maybe in a week? And today I’d rather write about a great vinyl record by the British band Wild Angels from the early seventies. And this time I will try to make a compact article, limit myself to a minimal introduction and write as much as possible on the topic, and therefore – let’s go!
So, Wild Angels. The band is a non-classical line-up of five musicians with a bass guitar and a full drum kit, but nevertheless plays in the most classical style. They got together in ’67, named themselves after the Peter Fonda film of the same name, and almost immediately began to gain popularity. In 1970, their first album was released, and in 1971, they visited the USSR with a concert, where, according to what Waxy Maxi wrote on the back of the CD cover, they had a fan club. And although most of their records were released in the 70s, in 2013, after a break of 17 years, the album The Wild Angels Ride Again was released. And, apparently, he was at least somewhat popular, because three years later another record was released, the last one at the moment, called Leathers, Studs’n’stripes.
Nevertheless, it is worth noting that already on the album Let’s Get Back To Rock’n’roll, the band is no longer playing in the original line-up. The Wild Angels were constantly changing, mostly just because each of them was busy with something else. Therefore, we played with those who were free at one time or another. The only founding member on our record is lead guitarist John Hawkins. But I must say right away, despite such a wild approach to business, the band plays very smoothly and cohesively. All we know for sure is that pianist Bill Kingston was already a veteran of the rock and roll scene at the time of the album’s recording, as he had been playing since the fifties, but judging by the quality of the music, I suspect that each of the Wild Angels had some experience.
And the album itself is a set of covers of twenty rock and roll icons. Recorded on the budget label Golden Hour, Let’s Get Back To Rock’n’roll offers just that: sixty minutes of pure musical gold. And, to be honest, a cover album like this is a win-win. The band knows how to play, and each track is already legendary – that’s it, by and large, you can end this article. But I’ll still give you a couple of lines about the album in general and about some of the tracks in particular.
So, the record opens with the immortal track Ready Teddy – and it was he who became the reason for the purchase of this album. The fact is that the only version of this song that spread on the Internet had a jamb: the needle jumped during recording. It was impossible to re-record it: the friend who digitized the record did not notice the mistake in time, and the vinyl managed to go spinning on the gramophone at St. Peter’s. Well, I liked Wild Angels so much that I couldn’t resist. So now I’m sharing with everyone the opportunity to listen to this track in its original form. And yes, it was worth it.
Wild Angels – Ready Teddy
I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You is slow, one of only two frankly slow tracks on this record. There are a few more love songs here: nevertheless, the vast majority of the time on this album is occupied by pure, fast and incendiary rock’n’roll, created for parties and fast dancing. The second slowie, Love Me, will be waiting for you on the B side.
Rip It Up fully lives up to its name. This is definitely one of the best tracks on this album. Solo performances on guitar and piano are frankly pleasing to the ear. Pete Scott gives his best, which I think he only did on half the record. Mostly in the second half of it. I don’t know if I’m wrong, but the vocal work, for example, in the compositions Bony Moronie and Good Golly Miss Molly, frankly wins over the vocals in You‘re So Square (Baby I Don’t Care).
All Shook Up made me wonder if the band had set up the microphone correctly. In general, his settings seemed to change from song to song, and, in general, I liked everything, but in this composition it’s just sometimes hard to hear the glory. Fortunately, of course, I know them by heart, but, damn. Fortunately, this nuance is present only in All Shook Up – it doesn’t happen in any other song.
In Travel All Over This Land, you will hear a trumpet. She’s in a lot of places here – in Slow Down, Long Tall Sally, Get Out… almost half of the songs on the album, in total. This is because, in addition to the five-member main cast, tenor saxophone player Freddie Ling and guitarist Keith Reed, who was already a full-fledged member of the Wild Angels band, took part in the recording. And not only as a guitarist, but also as a vocalist. Strangely enough, we won’t hear the Whale’s voice on Let’s Get Back To Rock’n’roll.
It’s strange, because almost the whole group was holding a microphone in their hands. For example, bassist Billy Barnes sings very well in Slow Down, and John Hawkins takes over the vocalist role in Flying Saucer. By the way, he has a peculiar tone of voice that immediately makes me think of stereotypical Southerners. But he doesn’t have an appropriate accent at all. Twenty Flight Rock is performed by Bill Kingston, whom I have already mentioned, and I must say, he performs perfectly. Kingston gave his all and, as it seems to me, on this album the Wild Angels recorded one of the best versions of this song.
Bill participates no less diligently in the track Let It Rock. At least, it was this composition that I remembered for a particularly aggressive piano solo. I would also like to highlight Teddy Bear – a great cover came out. I’m not afraid to say that Wild Angels performed this song at least at the level of Elvis Presley, unlike All Shook Up. In addition to the tracks already mentioned, the King is also featured on the album by the immortal Jailhouse Rock, which is paired with the equally famous song Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton, as well as the song C‘mon Everybody. Between Teddy Bear and Jailhouse Rock is Roy Orbison’s Down The Line, and immediately after Hound Dog, Chuck Berry’s second track on this album, Too Much Monkey Business, plays. Fans of Ray Charles’s work will find What’d I Say, which completes the second side of the record.
But I couldn’t identify the tracks Why Doncha Come Over, as well as Get Out, by the way. The record says Kingston, so maybe these are Bill Kingston songs? They don’t spoil the overall composition at all, and Why Doncha Come Over is actually one of the best tracks on the record. But I still haven’t figured out if these two songs are covers.If anyone suddenly finds themselves in the know, write a couple of lines on the topic, it’s too interesting.
And yes, I mentioned the microphone setup, but in a separate line I want to write about the bass guitar. Despite the fact that it does not use a classical double bass at all, the notes of the instrument are heard extremely clearly and clearly, as they should be in proper rock’n’roll. So, overall, I was pleased with the sound. An hour of pleasant music in a very high-quality performance – damn it, are any of you going to refuse to press play right now? You know, you must have a very good reason for this. Otherwise, I just won’t be able to understand why you’re reading all this.
Wild Angels – Let’s Get Back To Rock-n-Roll (1975)
2. I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You
3. Rip It Up
4. You’re So Square (Baby I Don’t Care)
5. All Shook Up
6. Travel All Over This Land
7. Twenty Flight Rock
8. Let It Rock
9. C’mon Everybody
10. Slow Down
11. Long Tall Sally
12. Good Golly Miss Molly
13. Love Me
14. Flying Saucer
15. Why Doncha Come Over
16. Teddy Bear
17. Down The Line
18. Jailhouse Rock & Hound Dog
19. Too Much Monkey Business
20. Boney Maronie
21. Get Out
22. What’d I Say
Download Wild Angels – Let’s Get Back To Rock-n-Roll (1975) (mp3, 125 Mb)
Legendary keyboardist Freddie Fingers Lee also participated in the ensemble.
One of the founders of the Wild Angels, bassist Mitch Mitchell, should not be confused with Mitch Mitchell from the Jimi Hendrix Experience, they are completely 2 different people.
But other works by vocalist Pete Scott could not be found, Pete Scott is present only on this record, perhaps he was a guest session musician.
Bill Kingston is on the album cover with his magnificent sideburns, yes, and his performance of 20 Flight Rock really hooked me, I would like him to sing more.
Slow Down here is not a Jack Earls rockabilly standard, but a Beatles song.
In general, the name suggests going back to the roots of rock and roll, in 1975, I think, punk and new wave were at the top, not to mention disco. But another five years and a revival will happen.
In terms of line-up variability, it’s really one of the wildest bands I’ve ever seen. It reminds me of something like that… projects where there is one name for a whole bunch of invited musicians.