Search - Kentucky Headhunters :: ELECTRIC BARNYARD

More country with a touch of metal

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 03/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This group was different - for innovation, they deserved to be major stars, but innovation rarely gets what it deserves in the music industry. Though rooted in traditional country, their music encompasses elements of rockabilly, western swing, and a lot of boogie-woogie. They look more like a metal band than a country group. The group were made up of Greg Martin (lead and slide guitar), Doug Phelps (bass and vocals), Ricky Lee Phelps (lead vocals, percussion and harmonica), Fred Young (drums and percussion) and Richard Young (rhythm guitar).They wrote most of their own songs, the best of the eight on this, their second album, being It's chittling time, Wishing well, Big Mexican dinner and Kicking them blues around. They also recorded some fascinating covers, five of which are on this album - Ballad of Davy Crockett (the fifties children's classic variously associated with Bill Hayes, Fess Parker and Tennessee Ernie Ford), Only Daddy that'll walk the line (Waylon Jennings), With body and soul (Bill Monroe), Spirit in the sky (Norman Greenbaum) and Love bug crawl (Jimmy Edwards). Like the covers on their debut album, Picking on Nashville, they sound fresh and exciting.In its general style, this is similar to their debut album, Picking on Nashville, though I slightly prefer this one."