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The
Frantic Flintsones
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A Nightmare On Nervous [1988]
Nervous Records NERCD034
Hellfire - Monte
Carlo or Bust - 44 -
Please Cool Baby - Oh
Baby oh Yeah - Alley Cat
King - Gone Gone Well
Gone - Red Chevy - Ring
ring ringin' - What the
Hell - Sugar Daddy -
Frantic Flintstones -
Safe Surf - Shake Your
Honey Maker - Old Jack
Joe - Jack the Ripper -
Whisky Bottle Baby
Released in 1988, A
Nightmare On Nervous
marks the debut of a
prolific career. In a
certain aspect you can
compare it to an early
Johnny Cash album. I mean
this guy turn their low
points into a strength.
With a guitarist far from
being a virtuoso, they
build their songs around
Chuck's distinctive voice
and a solid rhythm
section that features
Gary Day on bass.
Sometimes the system
shows its limits. Songs
like "Suggar Daddy"
and "Monte Carlo and
bust", though very
good, could easily be one
minute shorter. But this
album is full of classics
approaching different
styles : early
psychobilly (Alley Cat
King, What The Hell), neo-rockabilly
(44, Red Chevy) and even
a wild rockin' blues (Gone
Gone Well Gone). The cd
version features 5 bonus
tracks recorded later
with Gasty on bass : two
covers played the
Flintstones way "Shake
Your Honey Maker"
and "Old Black Joe",
"Safe Surf" a
semi instrumental (Safe
surf repeated a dozen
times doesn't count as
lyrics, does it?)
variation around "Hang
10", "Jack The
Ripper" is not
Screaming Lord Sutch's
one but another version
of "Necro Blues",
and an excellent original
"Whisky Bottle Baby"
previously known in a
live version on the
"Live & Rockin'"
album.
The Radioactive Kid |
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Live’n’Rockin’
Link
Alone Again - Round the Mountain - What The Hell -. Shake Your Moneymaker - No One Stays - Rockin'Bones - Necro Blues - Hang Ten - Bedrock - Old Black Joe - Gone Gone Well Gone - Playschool Baby - Just Because -. Whisky Bottle Baby - One Night Stand - Blue Christmas
The Live and Rockin’ serie on Link was mostly a poorly recorded (and often poorly played) affair. One notable exception was the Frantic Flintstone live album recorded during the Rocking Out tour in November 1988. Despite being recorded just after the departure of ace bass player Gary “Gaz” Day who is replaced by Gasty from the Blue Ridge Rockets, it found the Flintstones in top form playing classics one after another. The songs come from Nightmare on Nervous, Rockin’ Out and for the large part Not A Christmas Album recorded a couple of weeks after this gig. It hasn’t been reissued on CD which is a shame but you can download it legally on Amazon or on other sites that sells music..
The Radioactive Kid
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Cuttin A Fine Line [1991]
Rumble RUMBCD009 / Raucous RAUCD0000106
Chilled bones - You're the one who done it - Sweet Marilee - Jungle love - Time of day - You got me rockin' - Tom Dooley - Gotta know - Brown eyed girl - Boneshaker baby - Slowly killing me - Don't want you baby - Drug squad - West of London - Love me - Am I that easy to forget.
Released in the early nineties for the German label Rumble Records (Scum Rats, Rockabilly Mafia, Punishers etc.) “Cuttin’ A Fine Line” finds the band in superb form with the return of Gaz Day on bass with Rich Taylor on drums (Nitros), Pug still on guitar and of course the unmistakable voice of Chuck Harvey. This excellent album (one the very best ever released by the band) mixes classic psychobilly numbers (Chilled Bones, Don’t Want You Baby that features Gaz on lead vocals), blues (Time Of A Day), first class rockabilly (You’re The One That Done It, Sweet Marilee, Gotta Know), skiffle (Tom Dooley) and some country songs like West Of London and Drug Squad that deals with one of Chuck’s favourite subject. The selection is rounded with two acoustic numbers (Elvis’Love Me and Am I That Easy To Forget) with just Pug and Chuck that announces their following album, the all acoustic Skin Up, Chill Out, Just Buskin’ Through.
The Radioactive Kid
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Take A Hike [1991]
Kix 4 U KIXCD3363
Your Cheatin' Heart -
Dream On-Blue - Just A
Dream - Sweet Nothings -
So Sad - Little old Lady
- Necro Blues -
Nurned'n'Turned - Rockin'
Bones - Frantic - Honey
Maker - Gone Gone Well
Gone - Blue Xmas - Santa
Bring My Baby Back -
Santa Claus Is Back In
Town - Old Black Joe -
Dream On-move
Though the sound is quite
good, this album is far
from being essential.
Actually, on the 17 songs
, 7 come from "Not A
Christmas Album", 3
are re-corded versions of
Flintstones classics (Burned
and Turned, Rockin'
Bones, Necro blues) and
in the remaining 7, Dream
On is featured two times
(a slow one and a fast
one). That said the new
versions are excellent,
the group is in fine form
and the Frantic
Flintstones have released
far worst than this album.
One for the completist.
The Radioactive Kid |
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Skin Up, Chill Out [1992]
Rumble RUMCD018/ Raucous
Hello Marylou - Blue Moon of Kentucky - Will the Circle be Unboken - You Are my Sunshine - Tom Dooley - I Can't Help it - Born to Lose - Goodnight Irene - It's Hard to be Humble - Love me - Drugs in the Valley - Take me Home, Country Roads - I Gotta Baby - Am I That Easy to Forget
The only thing predictable with theFrantic Flintstones is that they are unpredictable. For this record originally released on Rumble Records in 1992 the band is reduced to just Chuck and Pug for an acoustic session. The mood is very laid back and the repertoire is made of covers of classic rockabilly and hillbilly tunes taken from the catalog of Hank Williams, Mac Davis, John Denver, Ricky Nelson, Elvis, Johnny Cash, The Carter Family and though they appear in brand new version here, some of them have been recorded by the band before. It's not completely representative of the style of the Frantic Flintstones but it's a nice addition to your collection.
The Radioactive Kid |
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Rock It Boy [1993]
Rumble RUMBCD024
Marylou - You Call
Everybody Darlin' - You
Ain't Nothing But Fine -
I Cant Trust Me In Your
Arms Anymore - Carry Me
Back To Old Virginia -
Blues Stay Away From Me -
Blue Moon Of Kentucky -
Your Cheatin' Heart - I'm
Walkin' - Sweet Baby Doll
- Will The Circle Be
Unbroken - So CLose To
Heaven - Jimmy Jazz -
Love For A Nutter -
Broken Heart
Originally released in
1993, this is the third
Frantic Flintstones'
album for the German
label Rumble records. And
like "Cuttin'..."
and "Skill Up..."
it has a strong
rockabilly flavour in it.
The line-up for this one
is Chuck, Pug, Johnny
Bowler (Get Smart, Guana
Batz) and Scag. It's a
very good album that only
lacks of original songs,
but with a charismatic
band-leader like Chuck (and
a solid band to back him)
that's not such a big
problem. The band draws
into the catalog of Jerry
Lee Lewis, hence the
presence of a piano,
Ricky Nelson, Rockin'
Sydney, Johnny Burnette/Delmore
Brothers, Hank Williams
and delivers an excellent
rockabilly version of the
Clash's Jimmy Jazz. As
usual with the FF it
features different
versions of previously
released tunes like Blue
Moon Of Kentucky, Will
The Circle Be Unbroken
and Your Cheatin' Heart
wasted by the backing
vocals. "Love For A
Nutter" is a demo
recorded with Alan Wilson
that announces the
following albums (X-Ray
Sessions and Jalmboree)
and the beginning of a
fruitful collaboration.
Bowler closes the set
with a vocal prestation
on "Broken Heart"
that won't figure as one
of the highest moment in
the Frantic Flintstones
history. It's been
reissued on the British
label Raucous Records
with a slightly different
cover.
The Radioactive Kid |
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Jamboree [1993]
CDMPSYCHO15
Detroit Dirtbox -
Love For A Nutter - Your
Time Is Up - Mean Mean
Woman - Diablo - Stay
With Me - Sweet Georgia
Brown - Lunatics (Are
Raving) - Busted -
Mindkill - (To The Devil)A
Son - Oh 898 - Candyman -
He's Waitin' - Sad N'
Lonely - Suspended - Chop-Chop,
Slash Slash - Honey Child
- Hey Chuck - Detroit
Bloodbox
Previously issued in 1993
but out of print since
then, Anagram had the
good idea to reissue this
20 songs album in their
Psychobilly serie.
Produced by Sharks
frontman Alan Wilson who
also plays most of the
guitar parts, with former
bassist Gary Day back in
the line-up, this is one
of the 3 best album the
Frantic Flinstones ever
made and probably the
richest in styles
approached. Wilson is one
hell of a guitar player
and songwriter and his
team with Chuck Harvey is
just perfect. From Diablo
with its surprising jazzy
solo in the middle, to
the country tune To
the Devil A Son,
and even a waltz (SadnLonely)
they apparently have fun
to work together and
explore various kind of
music. Some guests are
present too. Detroit
Donny plays harmonica on
Detroit Dirt Box
a bluesy instrumental.and
on Roy Orbisons
Candyman,
Sonny West, who had an
album on Nervous, plays
some guitars (the fore
mentioned solo on Diablo
and the slide guitar on
the rockin blues
Stay With Me)
and sings The Sonics
Hes Waitin.
Alan Wilson sings Mindkill
he co-wrote with Hodges.
This one can be seen as
the first song from the
resurrected Sharks for
this is during this
recording that Gaz Day
convinced him to reform
the band. Psychobilly is
present, of course, withYour
Time Is Up which is
not far from What
The Hell on their
debut album, Sweet
Georgia Brown (not
the jazz standard) and
the great Love For
A Nutter, although
I do prefer the demo
version issued on Rock
It Boy. Add a bit
of rockabilly (Honey
Child and Mean
Mean Woman) and if
you still wonder why are
the Frantic Flinstones so
great, just ask yourself
who could better than
them sing a song about a
psycho killer like a
sixties pop ballad?
The Radioactive Kid |
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