Segment 38

Whenever someone asks what I do here in the Deep Tracks I say my job is like being the curator at a museum where we have a lot more art than we have wall space to display it. And it’s my job to select six or eight pieces at a time and arrange them in just the right way to create an exhibit. And since museums typically name their exhibitions, we’ll call this batch of All Hand Mixed Vinyl: “Goin’ Wild on Rock and Roll.” It started with this great collection called Chess Records Original Rhythm and Blues Hits. This is a French reissue package with all sorts of great artists including Etta James, Koko Taylor, and a guy named Bobby Deab doing a song listed as “Going Wild on R and R” with a songwriting credit that says, “Unknow” not ‘unknown.’ Well it turns out the folks at Mode Records not only can’t proof read very well, their research also leaves something to be desired.

Turns out the song is actually called “Just Go Wild on Rock and Roll” credited to a writer named Bullock and performed by a guy named Bobby Dean, not Deab. Well, as they say, mon Dieu. Anyway, the song rocks and it sets the tone and the pace for the rest of the set, even though it’s near the end, just before a jump blues beauty from the great Finis Tasby. Now, elsewhere in that same collection is the original version of “Rocket 88” which I almost played but instead, we’re gonna hear a version by guitarist extraordinare Arlen Roth. That’ll pop up during the false ending of Huey Lewis and the News “Workin’ For a Livin’” which is followed by one of the many great tracks from 2008’s Donna Jean and the Tricksters. We’ll also hear “Walkin’ the Road” from Peter Green. And Stevie Ray Vaughn weighs in with his furious little instrumental “Scuttle Buttin’.” But the set gets started with another rockin’ instrumental. Now, if you’re driving, you might want to cinch up that seat belt a little and keep an eye on the speedometer. From the Way Back Studios, here’s “Rough Mix” from Ronnie Lane and Pete Townshend.

That’s Finis Tasby doing the title track to his disc Jump Children. And if you like that one, I can recommend the whole disc, which I admit I was playing off CD because it was never released on vinyl. I came across the disc one night when I was staying at a place just outside of Clarksdale, Mississippi, on the old Hopson Plantation. The Shack Up Inn is a B&B which for them means Bed & Beer since they don’t get up early enough to cook you breakfast. I’ve got some pictures of the place on my website and they’ve got their own site as well. If you’re ever in that part of the Delta, I highly recommend you stay there. And be sure to tell ‘em I sent you. Now, speaking of Clarksdale, Mississippi, the original version of “Rocket 88” is credited to Clarksdale native Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, but the song was actually worked out by Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm at the Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale long before the Shack Up Inn opened for business. Well, earlier in the set we heard Arlen Roth’s version of “Rockett 88” with Janey Schram on lead vocals. That’s from a great album called Guitarist.

Also in that set, we went all the way back to 1957 for Bobby Dean’s “Just Go Wild For Rock and Roll.” We also heard a little blues rocker from ex-Fleetwood Mac guitarist, Peter Green, a song called “Walkin’ the Road.” There were two instrumentals in the set, one from Stevie Ray Vaughn’s album, Couldn’t Stand the Weather, a song called “Scuttle Buttin’.” And at the top, we heard the instrumental “Rough Mix” the title track from the collaboration between Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane. Other than the Finis Tasby, the only other track we played from CD, came from the 2008 release, Donna Jean and the Tricksters doing “No Better Way.” And back to vinyl, we heard one from Huey Lewis and the News. We’re takin’ what they’re givin’ ‘cause we’re “Workin’ For a Livin’” here in the Way Back Studios. I’m Bill Fitzhugh, thanks for listening. I’ll be back next time with a fresh batch of All Hand Mixed Vinyl, right here in the Deep Tracks.