Sue Moreno & Jack Rabbit Slim – One Track Mind
13 track CD
Western Star Records WSRC 037[hr]
Original Liner Notes for ONE TRACK MIND:
SUE MORENO AND JACK RABBIT SLIM `ONE TRACK MIND`
I started writing these notes just after it was announced that Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton would be on the same F1 team for 2010.
All the sports pages were calling it `The Dream Ticket. So what has that got to do with this? It`s the rock n roll equivalent, that`s what.
I first met and worked with the wonderful Sue Moreno a few years back, at one of the great `Eddie Cochran` weekenders in Chippenham, UK. I`d heard about her, but nothing prepared me for when this stunning young woman appeared backstage. Looking the proverbial million dollars, she breezed in like she`d just stepped off a movie set from the golden age of Hollywood! But an even bigger impact on all of us , was when she got on stage. Backed then, by the DiMaggio Band, she tore the place up with a fantastic set. The hook-up producing the excellent CD `Bye Bye Blues` (Jungle Records, Finland, 2005).
Sue cut her rock n roll teeth in her native Holland where she fronted her first band at just 15 and with her first love being Elvis, his songs virtually made up their whole repertoire. She relocated to the USA for some years where her career really took off, playing gigs and festivals there, with return trips to Europe, which cemented her growing reputation here. Along the way working with some of the greats, including Wanda Jackson, Linda Gail Lewis, The Comets, Rocky Burnette and Paul Burlison.
After paying their individual dues in some of the hottest bands on the UK scene, Jack Rabbit Slim burst onto the scene as a new unit in 2005 with the release of their first Western Star CD `Sin-uendo`. Followed by two more slabs of rockabilly dynamite with `Sleaze A Billy` (2007) and `From The Waist Down ` (2008). At the time of writing, their new CD `Hairdo`s & Heartaches` is scheduled for early 2010. As I`ve oft-said on the airwaves, they are the most dynamic band to appear in many a long year. They`ve burned a fearsome reputation across the UK, Europe, Japan and back to the birthplace of this music….the USA, greatly assisted by their stunning live performances.
If the late, great Johnny Burnette could be time-warped back, he would be right at home with these guys. 21st Century rockabillies of the highest order. When producer Alan Wilson told me about the planned team-up of Sue and the Jack Rabbit boys, my reaction was ….”that is gonna be great `…soon confirmed when I first heard these tracks. So here we are now, with the whole project at fruition.
I saw little point in previewing every track, as you are probably listening already, but here’s just a few things I thought I’d throw in: Title track One Track Mind, is one of six here from the prolific pen of Jack Rabbit Slim front-man Bob Butfoy, who’s long had the knack of writing great `new` rock n roll. This track also has some great backing vocals from Jim Knowler of the Keytones.
Sue wrote `The Fire Is A-Burnin` which has nice echoes of Elvis’s `I’m Left, You’re Right She’s Gone`, also emphasised by Darren’s excellent guitar work.`Gone Gone Gone` was one of Don & Phil Everly`s best-ever singles, but it only grazed the UK charts at Christmas 1964, before being virtually forgotten until a revival by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss on their much – Grammy`d album `Raising Sand` in 2009. Sue and Bob`s duet borrows their arrangement, but gives it much more of a rockabilly boot-up.
Don’t Hurt Me Baby, is another of Bob’s, with a nod towards the Burnette Trio’s `Lonesome Tears In My Eyes`. Lovely, sultry vocal from Sue and check out that tasty guitar. Gonna Get Back Home Somehow was a gigantic Elvis hit waiting to happen…..had it ever been a single. From the revered duo of Pomus & Shuman, it was inexplicably tucked away on The King’s 1962 album `Pot Luck`. (But he still managed five consecutive #1`s that year…..so what the hell do I know?). Sue and the guys really go for it and you can hear how much she loved cutting a song from her original main-man. Record Hop is the wildest track on here, which I was pleased to give a first-radio airing to. A frantic rocker which really shows Sue can kick any butt when she feels the urge.
Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad was the title track of the 1967 debut album from future country-queen Tammy Wynette. But to paraphrase the words of Hank Williams Jnr; `I Don`t Think Tammy Done It This Way` .
Time Is A-Wastin` closes the set and appropriately enough, it`s a duet between Sue and Bob. This is take 2 of the track on this collection, on the other. you get `two Sue`s` for your money…What a deal!
So there you go. A great collection of original songs and tasty covers…with not a played-out, done-to-death tune in sight.[hr]
An inspired partnership; Sue Moreno & Jack Rabbit Slim.
`The Dream Ticket` indeed!
Let`s just hope we get a chance to see them doing it live.
Geoff Barker: November 2009
BBC Radio: West & Southwest Network
`The Saturday Night Rock n Roll Party`
SHOP>CD>ONE TRACK MIND>REVIEWS ONE TRACK MIND:
(Western Star)
Hot and sultry vocals backed by the Sleaze-a-billy kings.
5/5
Sue Moreno has the looks of a 1950’s Hollywood starlet and vocals that with a bit of crackle could well have oozed from a long lost recording session of the very same era. The tempo changes from track to track in the manner of a hand feathering along nylon stockings, garter and silky leg, in others words; it’s all good and it’s all Rockabilly. The perfect complement for Sue’s sex kitten vocals come from the band that can barely contain lust in their music, Jack Rabbit Slim. The bass humps, bumps and grinds each song along with the odd whoop of encouragement from the band and teased by a guitar that could twang a bra-clasp open from the stage. Yep this is a sexy little record in case you hadn’t guessed it, file under “could melt knicker elastic”.
Simon Nott[hr]
In het booklet van dit nieuwe album wordt de combinatie Sue Moreno en Jack Rabbit Slim door Geoff Barker (BBC’s Saturday Night Rock ‘n’ Roll Party) gepresenteert als ‘The Dream Team’. Zonder dat ik ook maar één noot gehoord heb ga ik dat natuurlijk niet tegenspreken, maar het is wel zo dat ik in eerste instantie de combinatie niet de meest voor de hand liggende vond. Sue heeft dat charismatische, mysterieuze overkomen, terwijl Jack Rabbit Slim je huis afbreken mochten ze bij je binnen spelen. Ik had dan ook eerder een album van Sue verwacht met de wat meer ‘subtielere’ Keytones (inclusief Sue’s boyfriend Jim, vandaar), zeker na een soortgelijke samenwerking met DiMaggio met als resultaat de CD Bye Bye Blues.
Wat kan een mens zich vergissen. Beluisterend naar het album lijkt het alsof we het hier met een bestaande groep van doen te hebben. De sound van de CD is gedegen, de muziek zit in een lekker jasje én er is over nagedacht (maar ook weer niet te lang). Het is zelfs zo dat de meeste songs speciaal voor dit album geschreven zijn. Sue schreef zelf The Fire Is Burnin’, dat zo’n zelfde sfeer en opzet heeft als Elvis’ I’m Left You’re Right. Jack Rabbit Slim zanger Bob Butfoy pende de meeste songs, soms ook min of meer, bewust of onbewust, gebaseerd op iets bestaands. Zo heeft zijn Too Late qua melodie weer wat weg van datzelfde, zojuist genoemde Elvis nummer en Don’t Hurt Me Baby doet denken aan Johnny Burnette’s Lonesome Tears In My Eyes. Gelijkend of niet, de songs worden met een zekere intensiteit gebracht waarbij de tandem Sue en Jack Rabbit Slim prima blijkt te voldoen. Erg geslaagd is de titeltrack One Track Mind, een ideale stroller, de prima jiver Cinderella Story doet het ook zeer goed (let ook op het gitaarspel!), en in contrast staat dan het uitgelaten, wilde Record Hop. (Nee, niet van The Tielman Brothers, maar van Butfoy). Het met piano gespeelde Walkin’ With Angels heeft, zeker dankzij de prima backingvocals een mooi gospelgeluid. Tussen de spaarzame covers valt de Everly Brothers song Gone Gone Gone misschien wel het meest op. Naast dat de song niet zo voor de hand liggend is, blijkt dit een duet te zijn met Sue en Bob. Het wordt volgens mij een fractie langzamer gebracht dan het origineel en aardig is het subtiele gitaarwerk, met een opvallend Bo Diddley gitaarriffje aan het einde van het nummer. Over duetten gesproken: Time Is Wastin’ staat er twee keer op, waarvan de bonustrack een duet is.
Sue en de mannen van Jack Rabbit teamen goed samen en doen dit zonder dat ze hun identiteit verloochenen. Sue blijft warm en zwoel, Jack Rabbit Slim blijft puik en rockabilly. En zo krijg je samen een aantrekkelijk album.
Frans van Dongen[hr]
One Track Mind / The Fire Is Burnin’ / Too Late / Time is Wastin’ / Gone Gone Gone / Don’t Hurt Me Baby / Gonna Get Back Home Some How / What About Tomorrow? / Record Hop / Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad / Cinderella Story / Walkin’ With Angels / Time is A-Wastin.
When Sue Moreno meets the boys of Jack Rabbit Slim, the result is sure to be hot. Contrary to many of her counterparts, Sue doesn’t try to sound mean and plays more on the seductive side of things which is a good and refreshing thing (when you can afford to do it, and she can). She never screams or else, but instead use her warm voice to whisper in your ears.
She penned the Fire is Burnin’ a fine rockaballad with a slight country tinge. Still on the country side are “What About Twomorrow” with a melody that reminds a bit of Buck Owens’ Street Of Backersfield. She also gives a great rendition of Tammy Wynette’s Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad.
Jack Rabbit Slim’s frontman Bob Butfoy provided eight songs tailor made for the singer, going from rockabilly to latin-with-a-Johnny-Burnette-feeling (Don’t Hurt Me) and even a country gospel (Walkin’ With Angels). In addition to Jack Rabbit Slim, you’ll find the talent of Jim Knowler (Keytones) on backing vocals as well as producer Alan Wilson playing guitar on Elvis’Gonna Get Back Home Somehow.
In my opinion the sole low point is their cover of Gone Gone Gone that borrows more to Robert Plant/Allison Kraus version than the Everly Brothers original. But it’s not enough to waste the overall feeling of this excellent album.
Available at Western Star.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis
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