The Cocktail Hour with Ginger Fizz

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it on here before, but of an evening, I do the very occasional bit of DJing.  Mainly at friends' nights, I've been lucky enough to spin some platters (only vinyl of course!) at Cotton Tail Club, Rave On, The Black Dove and most recently in London for the recording of MFC Chicken's new live single.  As Ginger Fizz, I'm usually sharing the decks with one of my best gals, Becky Boop and Ms Cotton Tail and collectively we are The Gin Slingers (we even have a facebook page and everything!).

The Gin Slingers - Ms Cotton Tail, Becky Boop and Ginger Fizz

 

Anyway, I digress.  The reason I am talking about DJing (and by extension the music I love) is because a couple of weeks ago I uploaded the first episode of my show, The Cocktail Cabinet, to mixcloud.  Each episode will be themed and as it was nearing the end of October the show was a Halloween special - who doesn't love Halloween tunes?  Most of the songs I play on the shows are things I've picked up on vinyl and are mostly from the '50s and '60s. There will be an awful lot of rhythm and blues, doo wop, rock 'n' roll, a bit of Northern soul, garage and '60s girl groups, with the odd smattering of surf, swing, gospel and popcorn.

 

I hope you'll have a listen to the show and let me know what you think.  The next one is animal themed and should be up either tonight or tomorrow, although I'm having some issues with equipment at the mo.  If you like what you hear, you can follow me on mixcloud, just search for Ginger Fizz.

 

 

Do the Albequerque Turkey - Bad Bad Whiskey Album Review

I interviewed the Bad Bad Whiskey boys last year at Vintage Nation, (you can watch that here - skip to 3.33 for the interview).   Now they are back with a new drummer and a new album - 'Albuquerque Turkey'.  It's been almost two years since their debut 'Home Cookin'' was released, so it was about time that we heard from the Godfathers of Skifflebilly.

Along with Don Gio on drums, Bad Bad Whiskey is comprised of Citizen Lane, (singer, guitarist and handy with a harmonica) and The Moocher, who rounds off the trio on the double bass.  Together, they play a mixture of rockabilly, skiffle (et voilà- skifflebilly), rhythm & blues and jazz, all with a skiffle edge.  The album was recorded as live, with the band all gathered around a microphone in Gio's shed - it gives the whole recording a slightly homemade quality that really suits the music.

'Albuquerque Turkey' is a mixture of original material and reinterpretations of songs from artists such as Woody Guthrie, the Memphis Jug Band and Hank Williams.  In my humble opinion, all the best albums have a least one song dedicated to a dance craze, so the tradition of songs such as The Twist, The Madison and The Hucklebuck, the title track is all about the Albuquerque Turkey.  Such is the physical response this song is set to illicit from those that hear it, Bad Bad Whiskey are even calling on their fans to send footage of them bopping and jiving to be featured in their next video(email your footage to BadBadWhiskey@ymail.com).

 

One of the three original tracks, Give Her Back, really stood out.  It's really upbeat and features some great vocals from frontman Citizen Lane - it could only be improved by being slightly longer than 85 seconds!  Another stand out track is their rendition of Hound Dog as is unlike any other version I've heard.  Closer to Elvis than Big Mama Thornton, its somehow darker tone puts an interesting, and very well executed, spin on the classic song.

 

Alongside the trio, the album features a few well-chosen guests, including Anthony Hodgson on the fiddle for  I Ain't Got Nobody and piano from James Farebrother on Move That Thang.  Also featured is Col. Spencer from MFC Chicken playing the 'yakety sax' on versions of Vince Taylor's Brand New Cadillac and Roy Brown's Hip Shakin' Baby. These additions give Bad Bad Whiskey the opportunity to try out a greater range of sounds with considerable success.  Overall, 'Albuquerque Turkey' is a strong follow-up to their debut, albeit with much more of a rockabilly feel than its more rhythm and blues influenced predecessor.  It goes some of the way to capturing much of the spirit of their often raucous live shows.

The band are launching 'Albuquerque Turkey' on November 9th at The Great Eastern in Brighton, details can be found here.  As well as seeing a couple of sets from Bad Bad Whiskey, there will also be special cocktails and food deals from Brighton Burger.

You can download 'Albuquerque Turkey' (and their previous offering, 'Home Cookin'') from their Bandcamp site, or head down to the launch on Saturday.