Search - Various Artists :: Whistle Bait: 25 Rockabilly Rave-Ups

Excellent Intro For The Curious Future Hep Cat

Stanley Runk | Camp North Pines | 06/13/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes! Raw and greasy rock and roll from back in the day when music could be considered dangerous...A MENACE that only snot-nosed delinquent punks listened to when they engaged in sinful activities like pre-marital sex and hanging around root beer stands. Today's music sure as hell isn't considered dangerous. Sure, we can load it with four letter words, down tuned guitars, clown makeup, piercings, halloween masks, tons of tattoos, simulated sex with rubber sex toys and what have ya. Odd thing is, nobody's really all that shocked by it these days, and it's certainly not seen as the threat rockabilly was regardless of how many F Bombs are dropped. But in building this musical freak show, we seem to have forgotten....the music.

Sorry about that rant, lets get down to business. Whistle Bait is a great collection of rockabilly tunes from more obscure artists, some don't even qualify as one-hit-wonders. But just because fame eluded them doesn't mean they couldn't rock with the best of them. Getting a good intro to the rockabilly sound certainly doesn't require you to purchase a Carl Perkins or Gene Vincent(though they are both worth getting) album to make it legit. Carl Perkins and Johny Cash do make appearances here. This cd and it's companion, Ain't I'm A Dog(which you'd might as well purchase along with this cd since both are so reasonably priced) are prime examples of the pure rockabilly sound. Some of it is very early rockabilly, western swing even. And many of these artists were country singers before becoming full blown rockabilly(or doubled as both), so there is a heavy duty country vibe here that may have you thinking as much about cowboy hats and hillbilly bars as hot rods and greased hair. Don't let that scare you if you're not a country fan. This isn't Barf Brooks here, this is gritty, swingin' raw country with a groove.

There are many great rockabilly and neo-rockabilly compilations out there, as well as many great albums by many great artists. You'll find out alot if you search, but if you want a real good introduction to the real rockabilly sound, and you don't want to invest a bunch of money right off the bat, you can't do much better than this cd and Ain't I'm A Dog.

So, don't be a wimp, listen to something dangerous for a change."