Robert Gordon
Rockabilly For Life
Reference tracks
(Cleopatra)

In my previous review of this CD, I focused on the many guest-star iterations. These reference tracks, included on the disc, warrant
individual remark.

Some are briefer than the celebrity sit-in versions. Brevity multiplies their punch. Bass player Pierre Pelegrin and drummer Paul Vezelis make for a brisk and muscular rhythm section. They prove their worth at each turn.

But the real selling point, in addition to Robert's own impressive vocal talents -- he gives no less robust performances as on the celebrity tracks -- is producer Danny B. Harvey's flabbergasting guitar. He infuses the material with jaw-dropping acrobatics which leap up cheerily from the American roots well.

Harvey is among rockabilly's premier fretboard prestidigitators. But he cleverly ventures across genre demarcations in summoning spellbinding expostulations.

The guest-star versions are significant and possessed of peculiar merit. But some say they prefer these reference tracks. 

Recommended: "Steady With Betty," "Let's Go Baby," "Everybody's Rockin' But Me," "She Will Come Back," "Try Me," "Please Give Me Something," "Three Alley Cats," "Hot Dog! That Made Her Mad," "One Cup Of Coffee," "I've Had Enough," "Knock Three Times."

Cleopatra Records