CD AND VINYL REVIEWS FEBRUARY 2026
ELVIS
‘ 'ON TOUR 1974 – SOUTH BEND INDIANA’
(Memphis Recording Service)
Recorded at the University Of Notre Dame, South Bend Indiana on the first of October 1974 this catches Elvis near the beginning of his fourth and final tour of the year. He appears in buoyant form, joking with the sold out 12,300 crowd and quoting from a recent review which proclaimed ‘Elvis sings from the gut’ he evidently liked that. The concert itself has a format which will be familiar to anyone who has collected this series, there’s lots of chit chat, vocal acrobatics, karate, band introductions and jokes but of course it has its own unique flavour. Looking retrospectively, this was 20 years after Elvis recorded his first single at Sun and soon after became the king of rock n roll. Probably understandably, Elvis in his late 30’s shows scant interest in his old rock n roll hits, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ are adlibbed over, slurred and just given lip service, Elvis could be excused for wanted to skip over them when he had ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, ‘Let Me Be There’ and ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’ to get stuck into, and doesn’t he just belt them out with full lunged passion, amazing, a for the time middle-aged man enjoying his maturity and proving himself to be one of the greatest singers in the planet, spine tingling stuff reproduced in sensational sound quality as is the packaging, plenty of photos and memorabilia of the show.
Simon Nott
THE COAL DUST COWBOYS
‘BENEATH THE OLD SLAG HEAP’
(Western Star)
This album comes up on my iTunes as a compilation, it’s not of course but has that multifaceted feel to it which is hardly surprising given a multitude of talent have got themselves together to put this dozen tracks together. The Coal Dust Cowboys are three quarters of the now sadly defunct Stage Frite, Alan Wilson and Patt Winn with a guest appearance. The opening Wilson contribution ‘The Jolly Collier’ sets the scene with a spooky intro then we cascade into a cavalcade of lyrically dark fun, there’s plenty of humour in what is a hugely entertaining album, ‘Three Holed Electric Love Doll’ as a taster anyone? As has been the tradition since the big bang of psychobilly, and make no mistake that’s what this is psychobilly, the songwriters mostly sing on their own compositions. As all parties have been involved performing psychobilly since the 1980’s it’s hardly surprising that some of their past glories are recognisable, Alan Wilson’s vocals and guitar backed up with some superb slapping bass had me hurtling back to the early 1990’s Sharks. Stage Frite’s Clive’s vocal contributions are rougher and tougher as the band dig into heavier mode ‘Nuns With Guns’ would pulverise a pit. Pat Winn’s contribution ‘Porn In The Woods’ will get the older amongst us thinking out loud, what was it with porn and bushes back in the 1970’s. Given the credentials of The Coal Dust Cowboys you’d be expecting good things, they just stepped it up a couple of notches on a belting album.
Simon Nott
THE BULLETS
‘GO CRAZY, GET WILD’
(Western Star)
Yet another band that excel at Western Star, held down to vinyl by Alan Wilson, this is a tough slab of rocking and a wild ride from start only easing to finish. This album is self-penned, lyrically steeped in the traditional though not hamstrung by the1950’s. Musically, well it’s nodding to a lot, not least with the opening guitar riff which will be familiar to anyone who is aware of The Rock n Roll Trio. There are 14 tracks here all which have a flavour of their own many which will nudge a distant echo in your musical memory. This is a band who can’t be mistaken for a same shirts retro outfit, this is punchy, but are still finest purveyors of rockabilly and the golden era of rock n roll. These guys can do the lot, it’s bopping, it’s bluesy, there’s steel, there’s country, a song the Sonics could have recorded bang in the middle and an ease out hillbilly blues to finish. You can hear why these The Bullets are said to be one of the most popular live bands in the UK rock n roll scene, they are an outfit that can run the whole gamut of the rocking spectrum right up with the best of them and the proof is here for all to hear.
Simon Nott
CHERRY CASINO AND THE GAMBLERS
‘THE AUTOMATIC FOOL’
(Bear Family)
Where better to reproduce a band as authentic as this combo than on 10” vinyl that this is released on, the sound is loud, proud and silky smooth the content all original. These guys really would have knocked them dead back in the day and certainly sound like they could have emanated from Memphis in 1956. That is apart from the sound, it’s a knockout, everything is crystal sharp in a quality they could only dream of at 706 Union. The title track is a fantastic duel vocal chorus, velvety bass driven, sax honking, masterpiece. There are no rough edges here, it’s not safe either, there’s an edge to it, it’s a dance inducing breathless slab of jiving class, ‘Shake Me Up Baby Shake It’ has that relentless rhythm that gets the toes tapping and could easily have been Sid King and The Five Strings cover, while ‘Gotta Learn To Dance’ has a poppier feel though the sax emulates the previous track, quality overloaded and cool as it comes, what a sound, what an album, what a band.
Simon Nott
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