“ You Don’t Believe Me” shows the influence of Elmore James with Setzer on slide-guitar. “ Rev It Up and Go” and, to a lesser extent “, Little Miss Prissy” are obviously influenced by the great Chuck Berry. Half of the album consists of blues or blues-influenced songs. Helped by that prestigious line-up, they played a bluesier form of rock’n’roll rather than the modern Rockabilly they were known for. It included veteran Lee Allen (Little Richard, Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis and later The Blasters) on sax and Ian Stewart ( Rolling Stones) on the keyboard. The presence of prestigious guests augmented the trio. This time the band took over the production duties with the help of sound engineer Heinz Hoven. In August 81, they flew to Air Recording Studios in Montserrat in the East Indies to record their second album. Brilliant.īaby Blue Eyes – Little Miss Prissy – Wasn’t That – Good Cryin’ Shame – (She’ll Stay) Just One More Day – You Don’t Believe Me – Gonna Ball – Wicked Whisky – Rev It Up and Go – Lonely Summer Nights – Crazy Mixed Up Kidįollowing the massive success of their debut album, at least in Europe, the Stray Cats took a break in their heavy touring schedule. The covers on this side are Ricky Nelson’s “ My One Desire”, Vincent’s Double Talkin’ Baby and Roy Montrell’s “ Mellow Saxophone” renamed here “ Wild Saxophone.” Slim Jim Phantom provides a solid beat and Gary Barnacle (who played with the Clash) on sax. “ Crawl Up And Die” is a variation on Bill Allen and the Back Beats’ “ Please Gimme Something” and shows another side of Setzer’s voice, the torrid one. Anyway, the band put enough of them to make it a great number and one of the highlights of their shows. Listen to the guitar solo from Robert Quine and the “Woo-Woo” in the middle. That’s why I believe that the origin of Stray Cat Strut is to be found in Richard Hell’s Blank Generation (a band that often had as a support act the Bloodless Pharaohs). But these are somewhat obscure songs, especially in the late ’70s, and it neglects the fact that Setzer grew up in New York and, as we said, was a Punk fan in his youth. Of course, it’s the same chord progression as “ Hit The Road Jack” and some advanced “ Icky Poo”, an instrumental by the Nomads or “ Lonely Travelin’” by Lonesome Lee as possible sources. The origins of “ Stray Cat Strut”, which became their signature song, were subject to questions. Depending on the pressing, one can hear Setzer yell “ Ein, Swei, Drei, Vier” to open the tune, but you have to listen closely. The wild (also with a hypnotic riff) “ Rumble In Brighton” opens the show. The B-side is more or less built on the same structure.
With a song so closely linked to the actuality, it didn’t allow them to perform it on stage long after 1981, which is a pity because, musically speaking, it rocks (listen to the live bootlegs issued from this period). The song is rather political and refers to the Iranian crisis and American hostages in the late ’70s. “ Storm The Embassy” is a solid rocker but have nothing to do with rockabilly (actually Setzer played it in his previous band “The Bloodless Pharaohs” under the name “ Boys Having Babies” and with different lyrics). Of course, “ Fishnet Stockings” is similar to Lew Williams’ “ Bop Bop Ba Doo Bop”. In between, two covers get the Stray Cats treatment (Warren Smith’s “ Ubangi Stomp” and Cochran’s “ Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie”) and two original songs. A-side opens with the hypnotic beat of “ Runaway Boys” and ends with the rockin’ hymn “ Rock This Town”. The construction and the progression of the album itself are faultless. Without any complex and a good dose of naivety, they took 25-year-old music and made it sound fresh again (which led to a certain animosity from the purists.) Sure they liked Cochran, Vincent and Burnette, but they also grew up in New York during the heydays of Punk music. In the late ’70s, a trio of three young Rockabilly cats dug in their parents’ records collection. Runaway boys – Fishnet stockings – Ubangi stomp – Jeanie jeanie jeanie – Storm the embassy – Rock this town – Rumble in Brighton – Stray cat strut – Crawl up and die – Double talkin baby – My one desire – Wild saxaphone
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