I will admit that prior to receiving this two CD set, I was completely ignorant of SWET MIKEY C. In fact if you had mentioned the name to me, I probably would have thought that he was a rap artiste.
Thankfully, I am ignorant no longer, and have to say that Mikey produces some excellent rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly, the like of which hasn’t been heard here for several years. Yet far from being a mere imitator, he has blended cover versions that are done with a very fine attention to detail seamlessly with originals featuring the sort of lyrical twists that you find on the classic songs from the 1950s. For a man who has reached the age of sixty, to release a debut album as great as this is a testament to his drive and enthusiasm for this genre.
What you get here are two CDs that have a definite split. The first CD features the guitar talents of Danny Gatton (1945-1994), who was known as The Telemaster. Danny was an excellent and extremely talented guitarist, whose skills were appreciated by Eric Clapton, Steve Earle and even Les Paul, who practically invented the solid bodied electric guitar. The eleven tracks on this CD remained in the vaults for fifteen years, before Mikey decided to get the songs together and finish the project.
What you get on this CD is the mixture of Mikey’s excellent rockabilly vocals welded to a much missed, searing guitar talent. Cover versions here vary from Buddy Holly’s ‘Well All Right’ and ‘Listen To Me’ along with Gene Vincent’s ‘Be Bop A Lula’, an absolutely stunning track which is slightly faster and heavier than the original, a bit like Vincent’s re-release of 1961 which was a sort of twist version. Here, Gatton’s guitar lines mirror those of Cliff Gallup’s, and the sound is crystal clear. Mikey’s vocals actually give Gene’s a run for their money, in fact I’m sure that if this song were taken to most recording houses and presented as a long lost outtake of Gene’s from the 1960s, there would be plenty of people taken in.
The version of ‘Got A Lot Of Livin’ To Do’, an Elvis song from the movie ‘Loving You’ has some excellent vocal harmonies in the background, courtesy of The Jordanaires, who backed Elvis, and included Gordon Stoker, who has been with the band for sixty years!
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The second CD on this set is again a mixture of originals and covers, the first of which goes right back to the birth of rockabilly. ‘That’s All Right’ was released on the Sun record label with the catalogue no. SUN 209 on 5th July 1954. It was the record that changed music as we know it, launching Elvis’ career, and spawning a generation of rockabilly artistes. Here, Mikey does the business, he doesn’t tamper with it in any way, and actually has Scotty Moore, who was the original guitarist playing on it. Like the original, there are no drums, the beat being provided by the slap click of the double bass. Mikey’s vocals are again spot on, sounding very similar to that of the original. In fact, this is another track that if it were played at a party, everyone would think that it’s Elvis.
With that said, it is important to state that Mikey is no mere impersonator, he is someone who can channel the true feeling of rockabilly and get it down on CD. The original tracks on this CD are ones like Rock ‘n Roll Time Capsule’ with a set of lyrics referencing his “Be Bop A Lula heart and my own set of rules” tracks like this work well being interspersed with the covers, so that there is an even continuity throughout. I particularly liked Mikey’s line on ‘She Backed Me Into A Corner’ to the effect of “I was standin’ there lookin’ square, like I usually do."
Let me tell you that with a record of this quality, Mikey is certainly no square. The last track on the second CD is a lovely version of ‘I Fought The Law’, which stays true to the original, rather than The Clash’s version. All in all this is a great rockin’ album that any rockabilly or rock ‘n’ roll fan should have in their collection.
Sweet Mikey C online
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