For quite some time now, I’ve been wanting to introduce all those who visit our website to collections called Rockabilly Nationals. And it seems that there won’t be a better moment than now – right after the article about custom from Sweden. By the way, I was attracted to these discs precisely by the fact that each of them has a classic car on the cover, and I buy into such pictures very easily. The only good thing is that behind the images of the American automotive industry in the first half of the last century, very high-quality content is quite common – and these collections only confirm this rule. Four discs of Swedish music, twenty tracks each – almost 4 hours of pure rockabilly – opened up a lot of interesting bands to me. In this review, I will not describe each track, but will focus on the fact that, well, it is very strongly recommended to listen.
Rockabilly Nationals CD1
The first disc, in my opinion, is the weakest in this collection, and if I had bought them separately, I probably would have thought a lot: is it worth taking the other three discs at all? Nevertheless, some tracks can definitely be singled out. For example, number thirteen is a Rock & Roll Party Man performed by the band Black Knights. A light, modern rockabilly sound with very pleasant lyrics about how fun it is to get drunk, turn on the music to the fullest and rock in your own house, despite the neighbors knocking on the walls and their complaints.
Jack Baymoore And The Bandits, with the track Losing You at number sixteen, also deserve a mention. Their minimalist style with, it seems to me, very Elvish vocals is present on every disc of the collection and, in fact, every song they perform is worth listening to. Bandits and Jack are definitely very talented guys; an extremely strong team, however, in my opinion, they lack something… features, maybe. I want to say that, despite the recordings that stand out from the rest of the bands, I nevertheless did not have the desire to get acquainted with the entire discography of the band. However, perhaps you will have it.
Well, the last track of the first disc, Get On from The Roaring Cadillacs, is an extremely rocking thing. Opening with a bouncy Chuck Berry-style guitar solo, it captures from the first notes and doesn’t let go until the last seconds. A powerful, full, very aggressive and rocking record – it always seems very strange to me when something like this is put at the very end of the disc. After that, you want to rock on, but you have to stop. But not this time – today we have three more discs ahead of us.
Rockabilly Nationals CD2
The fifth track of the second disc belongs to the band Top Cats, and I will mention them only in passing. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, I liked them so much that I wrote a separate article about them – everyone interested should go there. And secondly, apparently, no one liked this team except me. There’s no arguing about tastes, so let’s move on.
Wild Rooster and the song Angels are ranked eleventh on this CD, and I must say, this is an amazing track. His sound is very different from everything on the four discs. A sad and, perhaps, rather darkly performed song that surprised and captured me – but what surprised me even more was the fact that despite the first-class recording in my opinion, there is not a single track from the Wild Rooster collective on any of the discs. Either this is a one-hit band, or something incomprehensible or bad happened somewhere. In any case, this one and only song from this band left me wanting to listen to their other recordings… however, so far I have not had time to realize this intention.
Little Linn from The Hubcaps is the fourteenth track on the CD, and it’s another song that single-handedly convinced me to find the band’s discography and start listening to it. I must say, I was not disappointed: The Hubcaps will definitely receive a separate article from me soon, but for now, I recommend that every fan of high-quality rock and roll, in addition to Little Linn, find and listen to such awesome pieces as Bangalore Bop (Raganroll) and Sparkplug Betty (Tiki-Tiki Timebomb).
Well, it’s worth noting the penultimate, nineteenth track of the disc – Stepping Out’n’GOING performed by The Kingbees. It’s a damn vivid recording that combines a full range of instruments, including brass and piano. In addition, in addition to male vocals, we also have some female vocals – in general, a really full range of sound that does not hesitate to show itself from the very first notes. And, by the way, it’s at the end of the album again. At least this time it’s not at the very end.
Rockabilly Nationals CD3
The third disc is, for my taste, the most powerful in the collection. There are a hell of a lot of either just good or extremely interesting songs on it. Let’s start with the fifth one, Please Caroline from TT Grace, and God knows I really like this record. Yes, in my opinion, there are a few unfortunate moments in it, but overall it is definitely one of the best tracks of all four compilations. An amazing doo-wop vocal performance in which the lead singer switches places with the backing vocalist and other elements of the genre – unfortunately, something like this is quite rare nowadays, and I personally would like to see more recordings in this direction.
The Black Knights, which were already mentioned on the first disc, return in the second (and, unfortunately, the last) This time, their work is the seventh and is called Powder And Dynamite. The track is quite simple – this time the whole trick is in the text: its theme and the mention of atomic bombs instantly record this song in my personal playlist for Fallout nights and shootouts in the expanses of New Vegas in the colors of Kings. I must say, I never had a desire to listen to the discography of the Black Knights before, but now, when writing this article and taking into account the fact that both tracks of this band were included in it, I think I should do it somehow.
The next, eighth track of the CD, Coming Home To Stay from the band The Refreshes, also deserves a mention. Extremely pleasant, lingering and, as it seemed to me, with a bit of country in the sound, I really liked it. As the name suggests, this is a very road track, which is nice to turn on while driving on a free and long straight highway. And I can’t say for sure what it is, but there is something unique about this record that sets it apart from all the others – perhaps the pleasant slowness and singability of the vocals in particular and the sound in general. In general, something hooked me and I really liked Coming Home To Stay.
The ninth track is also good – it‘s Kingbee Boogie, and it’s performed, as you can guess from the name, by the recently mentioned band The Kingbees. Kingbee Boogie is in no way inferior to Stepping Out’n’GOING: it has the same full range of sound, the same diverse vocals and the same incendiary rhythm. But I would like to note one thing: as in the case of Black Knights, both tracks from The Kingbees were included in this article, but I don’t want to listen to the discography of Bees.The Kingbees, just like Jack Baymour and his Gangsters, are missing something from my point of view… Something like that. Something that would make me say, wow, that’s exactly what I need. However, this is just my opinion again, and if, unlike me, you want to get acquainted with the work of The Kingbees or Bandits, I will be only glad that I helped you find a new rock and roll band that grows records of your kind. Moreover, if you suddenly hear something really cool there, don’t forget to return to this article and tell us about it in the comments section.
And we’re moving on to the third disc. The eleventh is Ain’t It A Shame by The Domestic Bumblebees – a very pleasant track with a distinct rhythm and a skillful combination of piano and guitar, it tells us how sad it is that out of seven days a week, fun things happen only on weekends. And even though I’m not much of a music critic, I still dare to write that Ain’t It A Shame combines both decades-old and modern rock and roll techniques: at least in my opinion, despite the very classic sound, there are also such moments that I It seems like I’ve never heard of recordings from the 50s to the 80s. In general, it’s an interesting thing and it’s recommended for listening.
The fifteenth in line is the John Lindberg Trio with the song Dig It! “and she’s very good.” It sounds, I would say, surprisingly electronic, and at the same time, without a doubt, rock’n’roll. It’s modern in the best sense of the word, and besides, it’s extremely fresh. I especially want to highlight the chorus – it reminded me of the Elvis Presley remix. Without a doubt, it’s not the most straightforward track, but I liked it. The John Lindberg Trio has a track on each Rockabilly Nationals CD, and Dig It! – if not the best, then certainly the most interesting of them.
And right after Dig It! The much-mentioned Jack Baymoore And The Bandits are waiting for us – this time with the song Fireball Roberts, and oh, how I love this record! Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite tracks on all four discs: it’s entirely dedicated to the early days of NASCAR, and it’s just great. It’s a pleasure to hear about the Fireball fight between Roberts and Junior Johnson, how Johnson’s tire bursts, and how Roberts transports moonshine at night… Another crazy day with the racing pack, Fireball Roberts tearin’ up the track! If you, like me, like video games and rock’n’roll, try combining this record with some racing game. The first Motorstorm, for example, is great.
Well, I also really liked the eighteenth track of the third disc. Emmy Lou And The Rhythm Boys recorded Faith for us, a very pleasant track performed in the style of such smile-inducing songs as the famous Twenty Flight Rock or the much less well-known Wrong Number, Try Again from the British band Wild Angels. Actually, there’s nothing to add here: if you like such cheerful, comedic songs, then you can safely add Faith to your collection.
Rockabilly Nationals CD4
And now, only the last, fourth disc remains. Let’s continue going in order and start with the third track: Easy To Pick Up, Hard To Put Down from the same guys who performed Coming Home To Stay on the third disc. This track tells about how hard it is to quit bad habits: music, alcohol, smoking and girls. In general, it’s a good, masculine and rock’n’roll track, except that the verse about cars is missing. Again, despite the seeming unremarkability and relative simplicity of execution, something invisible hooked me. The Refreshes team clearly has some kind of magic.
And immediately after Easy To Pick Up, Hard To Put Down – TT Grace again! Giving You My Heart, in my opinion, is not as bombastic as the song from the previous disc, but nevertheless, it has all the same advantages, and I just can’t help but recommend listening to it to everyone who has read up to this point, especially if you like vocal music and doo-wop. Needless to say, after listening to Rockabilly Nationals, I literally pounced on TT Grace’s discography. I’ll probably write about them separately one day, too, but in the meantime, I advise you to discover and evaluate at least the songs of King Of The Road and Betty – they definitely deserve it.
The ninth track was also recorded by the aforementioned band, Emmy Lou And The Rhythm Boys. And to be honest, I tried my best to avoid the covers and focus on the original Swedish work, but… Bring My Cadillac Back is one of my favorite songs in principle. I was very pleasantly surprised to find it on the fourth disc. I was even more pleasantly surprised to hear this track performed by a beautiful lady. In general, it’s just an atomic record. Emmy Lou and her guys took the time to slightly change the words so that they fit the female performance, so I’m happy as an elephant. It’s literally impossible to dream of the best.
It would be strange to write about 80 Swedish songs and not mention a single song in Swedish. Although, of course, it’s not my fault that most of the songs here are in English… In general, the thirteenth track of the fourth disc is called Bli Min, and it deservedly receives the award “Best Swedish Rockabilly Nationals Track In My Opinion”. “Bli Min” translates as “Be Mine,” and, in terms of lyrics, it’s a standard love song, but the sound is frankly pleasing. The performance, I would say, of the insufficiently famous Eva Eastwood is accompanied by simple but very pretty du-vop backing vocals and an extremely pleasant melody, which includes a drop of synthesizer – in short, it’s good, creative, a credit.
And finally, I would like to mention the last, twentieth track performed by Cherry Tess & Her Rhythm Sparks – Drip Drop. Personally, I really liked how male and female vocals are mixed in this song. They work on equal terms here, not inferior to each other in any way, and the sound is very pleasant. And the melody – though mostly quiet, remaining in the background – is nevertheless very tasty and artlessly beautiful. In general, it seems to me that the best slow track among all eighty is right here, on the fourth disc – and that’s exactly the kind of songs that should be put at the very end. Unhurried, a little sad, but at the same time leaving behind the most pleasant sensations – and, consequently, after listening to the entire disc.
So we skimmed through twenty tracks from Rockabilly Nationals compilations. However, I sincerely recommend that you listen to the remaining sixty. I’m not writing about them now just because it will be too tedious, long, and the verdict will be the same as in the vast majority of all my other articles about music: I liked everything, well done. On the other hand, this is absolutely always the true truth. For example, Gonna Rock And Roll Tonight and Move On from Jack Baymour and the Bandits are no worse than the two tracks I wrote about above. Or You Went Away And Left Me performed by Simon Crashley and The Roadmasters – it was very hard for me not to dedicate a separate paragraph to this record. And it was even harder for me not to write about songs about cars: ’59 Volvo, Chevy ’55, Pink Cadillac – they all remained outside the scope of this article. Let this serve as proof that I tried to be as objective and unbiased as possible.
So I can say with all objectivity: if you love rockabilly and you have four hours of free time, you definitely should listen to all the Rockabilly Nationals CDs from beginning to end. You can hardly think of a more convenient way to get to know the Swedish rockabilly scene, and it really deserves it.
