Published on Jun 14, 1998
If there’s been any benefit I’ve experienced from running this
site, it’s that I’ve gained a healthy respect for rockabilly.
Sure, I had heard some in my youth, hearing early works from
Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley. I re-discovered this music form
when I got to hear the Paladins during my stint in college radio.
But in the last few months, I’ve gotten a healthy dose of the
genre, and it’s not been unpleasant at all.
The latest offering comes from the Fly-Rite Boys, their first
outing without lead singer/guitarist Big Sandy. Their solo effort
shows their musical talents quite well, though it’s not always the
easiest disc to get through.
Comprising of pianist/vocalist Carl “Sonny” Leyland (vocals are
only on two of the album’s twelve tracks), bassist Wally Hersom (is
he the vocalist on “Booze Party”? I can’t tell), lead guitarist
Ashley Kingman, steel guitarist Lee Jeffriess and drummer Bobby
Trimble, the Fly-Rite Boys quickly demonstrate their agilities on
their instruments on “Straight-8 Boogie”. Each member of the band
comes through crisply without sounding gaudy; you can tell that
each member appreciates the others’ contributions, making this
truly a group effort.
As enjoyable as the two vocal tracks (“Rosetta” and “Booze
Party”) are, in a sense they break the mood of an all-out rockin’
instrumental album. Of the two, “Booze Party” is more fun to listen
to – not that “Rosetta” is a bad song, mind you.
Big Sandy Presents The Fly-Rite Boys runs the gamut of
musical styles, breaking out of the simple rockabilly style that
some detractors of the genre might want to pigeon-hole it into. You
can almost imagine the plodding “Laguna Sunset” to be the
background music for a ’70s murder-mystery TV show set on the
coast, while “Hit And Run” is an all-out barrel of fun that allows
some solo opportunities for the musicians. (Trimble especially
shines on this track, sounding not unlike Buddy Rich at times.)
So is there any down side to this album? Not if you’re a
drooling fan of rockabilly or any forms it may take; you’ll eat
this up faster than Dom DeLuise in front of a sweet table. But for
the occasional dabbler in the genre (like myself), the songs
occasionally blur together. It took me a few tries to get through
this entire disc, and even after three complete listenings after
that, I don’t think I’ve captured all the nuances yet.
And, there are a few clunkers on this one. One of these, “Minor
Struggle,” is a nice attempt to create a rockin’ number in a minor
key, but it just doesn’t seem to fly. Still, there aren’t that many
misses.
Big Sandy Presents The Fly-Rite Boys is a decent enough
effort, even though its target audience might be more limited than
a typical release. It does cause the listener to become more
interested in the genre of rockabilly – without that genre, we most
likely wouldn’t have developed rock and roll as soon as we did.