Published on Dec 7, 1999
Some musical pairings I will never understand no matter how long
I live – take the duet between Elton John and RuPaul, for example.
(Whoof,
there goes three years’ of therapy down the drain.)
So excuse me if I was a bit skeptical about any album that would
feature Billy Barty – what kind of a disc would this, or could
this, be? The answer comes quickly with Deke Dickerson and the
Ecco-Fonics’s latest release,
More Million $eller$, which remains just kitsch enough to be
hip.
Back to Barty for a minute. His role in the album is limited to
that of introducing the band at the start – as well as providing a
few uncredited jokes at the end. (Sample: What does a bass player
use for birth control? His personality. Cute – though I’ve heard
“music reviewer” substituted for “bass player”.) If anything, Barty
is underused; in short (no, no, wait, bad choice of words…), he
provides relief when it’s needed.
Admittedly, there are times when the guest appearances get to be
a little too much. Dickerson’s duet with Hadda Brooks, “You’re My
Cadillac,” is an excellent pairing, but one wonders what reason
Jerry Scoggins, the original voice of the “Beverly Hillbillies”
theme, is on this album other than Dickerson was able to land him.
And the duet with Carl Sonny Leyland, “I Think You Got To Pay For
That,” is the only real weak link in the bunch.
Otherwise, Dickerson and his band turn on the charm through
these rockabilly numbers. Tracks like “The Hatchet Man,” “I’m A
Wreck,” “Mean Son Of A Gun” and “Red Headed Woman” all leave little
doubt that rockabilly is still a viable form of music, even as rock
music hits middle age. Dickerson and the Ecco-Fonics almost make
you feel like the year is 1954, and the swing is the thing as they
create a 41-minute party for you to enjoy.
Especially noteworthy are the two instrumental numbers, “Rockin’
Gypsy” (on which Dickerson concentrates his effort on the
mandolin-like portion of his double-neck guitar) and “Tropical
Island Boogie Serenade”. Both these tracks allow Dickerson and the
band to really cut loose and allow the music to take over without
burdening them with vocals. In effect, the guitars become the lead
singers – and it’s a pleasant exchange.
More Million $eller$ is the kind of album that might
intrigue you by the schmaltz that is present throughout the disc –
even down to the “radio spots” that make way for a few of Barty’s
jokes and a hidden track. But one listen to the disc, and you’ll be
coming back for more thanks to the musicianship of Dickerson and
the Ecco-Fonics.