Nick Saloman of the Bevis Frond once again invites us to join him in the obscure pleasures of little-known pop, R&B, and jazz instrumental sides of the '60s and '70s with this collection. A number of the selections featured on Return of the Instro-Hipsters are so obscure that even Saloman isn't sure just who is responsible for them (though he offers some educated guesses on the artists behind such names as Sharks, Oliver Bone, and the Masked Phantom), but there are a good share of solid grooves and kicky melodies to be found here from a number of gifted little-knowns. If you went to the movies in the '70s, "Soul Thing" by Tony Newman will sound familiar, while flautist Harold McNair solos over a Dave Brubeck-influenced piano groove on "The Hipster," Jerry Allen demonstrates new uses for game calls on "Fuzzy Duck," Thunder Road's synthesized version of "Peter Gunn" beats Art of Noise's variation on the theme by more than 15 years, "The Brooke Bond Beat" by Cliff Adams may be the most swingin' tea commercial ever, and the Outer Limits serve up some tough, moody rock, appropriately titled "Black Boots".
24 tracks. Shazam! features two dozen vocal-free (give or take the occasional rebel yell etc) nuggets written by the great Lee Hazlewood. Star of the show is twang master Duane Eddy with three great tracks: the title number, the menacing 'Stalkin' and 'This Town', a lesser-known 45 from Hazlewood's stint writing and producing gems for Nancy Sinatra and others at Reprise Records. Other key artists include guitar wiz Al Casey, top Wrecking Crew drummer Hal Blaine, renowned arranger,orchestra leader Jack Nitzsche and ace surf combo the Astronauts, not forgetting Dick Dale with his axe-shredding version of 'Angry Generation'.
The second release from Famous Flames is all about the power of melody and the marvels of the juxtaposition of saxophones and guitars. 'The Backbeat Of Rock and Roll' brings together the great songs that didn't need a sing-along chorus or a life-defining one liner in their lyrics. This wordless journey includes the infectious grooves and finger-popping hits that relied on twangy guitars, syncopated rhythms, all-consuming organs and honking brass stabs…