Sunday 15 April 2012
The Fulminators get to grips with Duane Eddy's "Ramrod"
Some over-enthusiastic finger-picking on my Telecaster has left me with with a blister on one of my fingers, so I had to resort to a plectrum this afternoon, began twanging away and, before I knew it, had recorded the above.
"Ramrod" was Duane Eddy's follow-up to his 1957 mega-hit, "Rebel Rouser". Maybe he had a blister on his finger, because the most notable thing about "Ramrod" is that the man who, according to one LP title, had The Biggest Twang in the World (a proud boast indeed, but it's difficult to know how you'd check such a claim - I think I'd have stuck a "probably" in there somewhere) didn't actually play on the record. In fact, it had already been recorded by a guitarist named Al Casey. Eddy's producer, Lee Hazelwood, simply took the Casey track, added some handclaps, a saxophone break, a few Rebel Rouser-style whoops and yells, and stuck his protégée's name on it.
Mind you, fat lot of good it did them, as it only got to 27 in the US charts, and didn't chart at all here.
Still, I've always loved it. The production's a bit ragged - but it isn't meant to be Bert Kaemfert!
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Mighty tighty, that's alrighty. Sounds like y'all were havin' a pretty good down home wing ding. Rock on, til the break of dawn, Scotty.
ReplyDeleteWhy bless your heart, Gram, you old bastardo! Love you, man (in a big, bearded, masculine, quick bear-hug sort of way, y'dig?). What about lowerin' the dosage fer a while and gettin' on with them thar backin' tracks for our next super-group collaboration? ("Everyone's Gone to the Moon" or "The Birdie Song" - choice is yours, son.)
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