a bit older now, and Billy Gibbons' growl is more sandpaper and Jack Daniels soaked than ever. There are many highlights here, not the least
of which are the two tracks featuring cameos from Jeff Beck, who contributes unmistakable Beck guitar solos to "Rough Boy" and joins the boogie of Tennessee Ernie Ford’s classic,"Six- teen Tons," updated, and washed in the blood of Texas. “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers,” recorded in
Las Vegas is raw and rockin,’ as are the other classic ZZ tunes, “Cheap Sunglasses,” “Waitin for the Bus,” “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” and a trio of MTV era, dance tracks – “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs,” and “Gimmie All Your Lovin.” The more obscure “Pincushion” joins more hits like the immortal “LaGrange,” “Tush,” and “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide,” and it wouldn’t be a party without a little “Tube Snake Boogie.” The band may be a little older, but these
Texas home wreckers and heart breakers ain’t done yet. Not by a damned long shot. Grab a sixer of Lone Star, settle in and turn it up to eleven.
-Michael Buffalo Smith
Rev. Billy C. Wirtz Full Circle (EllerSoul Records) I’ve been a fan of the
good Reverend Billy C. Wirtz since around 1990. My first exposure to his
music was either from my Sunday night ritual of tuning in to Dr. Demento’s syndicated radio, or from listening to WEGR, Memphis’ Rock 103 on my thirty-minute morning commute. Wirtz’s music was getting a lot of airplay on both. It didn’t take long before I was hooked and pur- chased Wirtz’s wonderfully wicked album, Backslider’s Tractor Pull, which featured hilar- iously twisted songs such as “Sleeper Hold on Satan”, “Just Friends”, and “Honky Tonk Her- maphrodite”. Recorded live from the First House of Poly- ester Worship, Full Circle is a brand new, tasty
dish of humorous off-the-wall songs performed by Wirtz on piano, and fried up with a heaping helping of swinging back-up from legendary blues greats, The Nighthawks (Paul Bell – gui- tar, Johnny Castle – bass, Mark Stutso – drums, and Mark Wenner – harmonica)., Other players featured on the album include guitarist Bob Driver, bassist Steve Riggs, and Lil’ Ronnie Owens on harp. Wirtz takes a satirical tongue-in-cheek jab at
The Grateful Dead and its diehard community with “Mama Was a Deadhead.” He then takes country music to a whole new planet with the hilarious “Daddy Was a Sensitive Man,” about a channeling, Volvo-driving, drum-circle fanatic who makes his living at the futon shop, and longs for quality time with his family. While on the subject of family matters, Wirtz hits an- other homerun with a ditty based on a true story, as told to him by a waitress at a diner he often visited. Her father had passed away, and her step mother ran off with her favorite girl- friend, “Daddy Passed Away” and mama turned gay. On the serious side of the album, Wirtz and
The Nighthawks rip it up on a smashing rendi- tion of Charlie Rich’s “Breakup.” This is rocka- billy goodness at its best. In addition, Brother Billy serves up a couple of cool instrumentals, showcasing his piano prowess on the 1959 Bill Black Combo hit, “Smokie Part 2”, and dishing out a smooth and velvety cover of Floyd Cramer’s, “Your Last Goodbye”. Wirtz scores with Full Circle. The combina-
tion of Reverend Billy and The Nighthawks makes for such a terrific listen. It takes me back to the carefree days of being glued to the radio on Sunday nights listening to Dr. De- mento.
-Phillip Smith
Read more of Phillip Smith’s excellent CD re- views at
phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/
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