Sonny George – Rockin’ Country & Western Roundup, Vol. 1
On this recording, Sonny George (formerly of the Planet Rockers) uses some of Nashville’s finest players — guitarists Kenny Vaughn (currently touring with Kim Richey), and George Bradfute (Webb Wilder), drummer Steve Ebe (George Ducas), bassist Preston Rumbaugh (Radio Kings), and multi-instrumentalist Fats Kaplin on pedal steel and fiddle. Los Straitjackets players Eddie Angel and Les J. Lester sit in on a couple of tunes, too. The result is a record that sounds like it could have been released in 1966 as easily as 1996.
Kicking off with the rockin’ arrangement of the traditional “Hillbilly Beat”, this record contains all the classic honky-tonk themes. “Dixie Doll” and “Look-A-Here” are jump swing songs that make you hope this guy plays in a tonk with a dance floor. “King of Hillbilly Hill”, “Who’s Been Playin’ My Guitar” and “Treadin’Water” all boast their fair share of metaphors, while “Big Iron” is a truck-drivin’ song that would fit right in on a Dave Dudley record.
“Love Star” is a beautiful change of pace from the rockers. It has an almost ethereal feel in context with the rest of the album. George gets the rockin’ back on track with “Hillbilly Train”, a song that made me pull out my Elvis records the first time I heard it. “Lovesick Daddy”, penned by Eddie Angel, is a special treat here, while “The Rebel (Johnny Yuma)” makes me think that a Western TV show like “Gunsmoke” is getting ready to come on the old black-and-white. If you enjoy Big Sandy and Dale Watson, this record is highly recommended.