Thirteen To Go - ROLLIN ROCK CD-112
THE STARLIGHT DRIFTERS
Cold Fish / Telephone Call -/ Two Bottles An Hour / Long Black Train / We Can Make It / Pretty Little Ring / Wolverton Mountain / I'm Not The Guy / Never Felt Like This / I Want You, I Need You, I Love You / Long Goner / Six Pack To Go / End Of The Road
Ronny Weiser is starting to get his Rollin' Rock label back in full swing. After several CDs by rockabilly sensation Mack Stevens, a great CD by Bill Haley's Original Band and long over due CDs by Narvel Felts and Alvis Wayne, the latest effort on Rollin' Rock features The Starlight Drifters. At the 1999 Ann Arbor Summer Festival, this talented local band caught the eye and ear of no other than Jack Scott with their highly entertaining mixture of honky tonk, rockabilly and swing. Their first CDs ("Starlight Drifters" and "Every Note a Pearl.." on Dyna Electro) have a distinct honky tonk flavor with a touch of swing and a pinch of rockabilly.
It should come as no surprise that Ronny Weiser has pushed the band more into the Rock & Roll mode. This CD still has several honky tonk songs, like the old Hank Thompson anthem of the drinking man "Six Pack To Go", and also "Two Bottles An Hour", written by Chris Casello would get a lot of playing time when put on a honky tonk jukebox. However, overall the material on this CD has a much stronger Rock & Roll edge then their earlier CDs. Just listen to their interpretation of the Claude King classic "Wolverton Mountain". The use of a solid pumping piano in the background turns it into a great rock & roll stomper. Along the same lines comes "Long Goner" a frantic rocker driven by excellent guitar work and extremely tight drumming. Conway Twitty's "Long Black Train" leaves the station slowly against some outstanding guitar riffs by Chris Casello, before picking up speed and rocking along at full steam. Bill Alton, raspy vocals and all, brings it back to the station with just the right amount of echo over his hiccups at the end. Jack Scott's "I Never Felt Like This" and Elvis's "I Want You I Need You" offer no surprises even though the Starlight Drifters stay away from photo copies of these standards as they give each song a little bit of their own flavor.
Two songs deserve a special mention and both are new compositions by Chris Casello. "We Can Make It' is a R&B ballad not unlike they used to record in South Louisiana and South West Texas during the fifties. This is the type of material which made Gene Thomas a legend and I hate to think what Elvis could have done with it because it really is that good! Finally a warning about "End Of The Road" the closing track. This ballad starts off very slow, almost dragging along for several minutes but then a big surprise. After three minutes it turns into a fast rocking gospel style ballad with a great slappin' bass, then switches to an acappella verse before turning wilder yet and finishing in just over six minutes!!
"Thirteen To Go" is yet another successful production by Ronny Weiser and a good indication that Rollin' Rock is alive and well, ready to record not only old time rockabilly and rock & roll icons but also new talented bands like The Starlight Drifters.
Available from Ronny Weiser, 2460 Casey Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89120 ($15.98 incl S/H).
Or write Ronny at Rockronny@aol.com or Rockabillyron@yahoo.com
