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Worth A Listen
Spanic Boys: Spanic Boys
Milwaukee father-and-son duo that got their 15 minutes of fame as a last-minute replacement on "Saturday Night Live." Take a walk around your office and ask if anybody likes them. If you find someone who's a fan, beg them to show you their record collection or make you a mix tape. You have found a true fan of the rock and roll music. A blend of '50s rock, rockabilly, country and blues sung in innate harmony found only in blood relatives. Sample lyric: "You're drivin' me insane/ Like a man that's lost his brain. While you're out there having fun, I'm sittin' home havin' none." -- "Looks Good To Me" Note: The picture is actually The Spanics' "Dream Your Life Away" album (thanks a lot, Amazon), but it's a good one, too.Tim Easton: Break Your Mother's Heart
Another discovery as an opening act; this time the headliner was John Hiatt. A great songwriter and fingerpicker who has honed his craft on the road in the States and overseas. While Ashlee Simpson was lip-synching on "Saturday Night Live" and, even worse, actually singing at halftime of the Orange Bowl, this guy was in a club somewhere, playing for tips. Get thee now to a record store and find this CD. You won't be sorry. Sample lyric: "A pack of dull monkeys could write circles around that fourth-grade, mumbly slang, stream-of-consciousness jive that you call a song." -- "Poor, Poor LA"- Will T. Massey: Will T. Massey
This 1991 album is out of print, but if you shop around on eBay you can probably find a copy for less than a buck. That's a crime. Fans of Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty will find something for them here. Steve Earle did; I discovered Massey when he opened for Earle around the time this disc came out. Mike Campbell, Roy Bittan, and Jim Keltner did; they all played on it. This guy should have been a star, and I can't for the life of me figure out why he wasn't. In fact, I don't know what happened to him. If anyone out there knows, drop me a line. Sample lyric: "And when I was young they starting ropin'/Now the roundup's done and I ain't broken" -- "Barbed Wire Town"
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Brian Setzer: Rockabilly Riot! Vol. 1: A Tribute to Sun Records
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