Al Ritch on - Royal Crown Revue, Star Room Boys, Evan Johns and The Hillbilly Soul Surfers, and Kristie Stremel

By Al Ritch

From now on all my reviews are going to be based on how much I enjoy a CD when I'm stuck in my pickup. We all know how much driving in L.A. can suck so I've decided that if a CD can keep me awake while I'm driving or else prevent me from having a attack of road rage while I'm stuck in traffic then I'll give it a good review.

Royal Crown Revue Passport to Australia (Live)

You might not think that a live CD by a swing band is the kind of thing that I would enjoy during a boring drive. Well I didn't either but on a recent drive to Riverside and back I took the CDs I was reviewing along with me. I started off with Royal Crown Revue's CD, I was completely prepared to dislike it and just skip through the tracks and move on. Well I popped it in just as I got on the 110 headed north and the next thing I knew I was in Riverside. Not bad since Swing is nowhere near my favorite type of music and I especially don't care for live recordings in general. The engineering on this is exceptional for a live recording and I enjoyed listening to Eddie banter with the crowd and other RCR members, especially his quick description of the Viva Las Vegas Weekender right before they do an excellent version of Johnny Burnette's Lonesome Tears. Throw in a few instrumentals along with some of the songs RCR has been doing forever, like Fever and Bye Bye Blackbird, and next thing you know you've ended up where ever it is you headed out for. If you can find this CD I recommend you pick it up. I'm gonna have to give it a four out of four mud-flap girl rating.

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Star Room Boys This World Just Won't Leave You Alone (Slewfoot Records)

I was almost positive I was going to love the Star Room Boys CD. I have usually been pleased with anything I've heard on the Slewfoot label. The first song, White Lies, Blue Tears, had me. I was sure that this was a great CD for driving. Well, my snap judgment was wrong. Most of the songs on the CD are very slow ballads, which is a shame because the one or two times these guys wind up and pick up the tempo they really shine. These guys play great guitar and pedal steel, especially on a truckin' song Daydreamer that's sneaks up in the middle of the disc. If they had a few more up tempo numbers on the disc it would have really broken up the monotony of slow song after slow song. I can't recommend this disc for long drives; you'll most likely fall asleep behind the wheel. I'm only gonna be able to give this one two out of four mud-flap girls.

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Evan Johns and The Hillbilly Soul Surfers - Moontan Big (Cypress Records)

Now here's a CD that'll keep you awake and playing drums on you r steering wheel. I have to admit I've been a Evan Johns fan ever since I saw him doing blues at the Wooden Nickel in Birmingham Alabama once when I was home on leave from the Marines. I guess I should also disclose the fact that Sherman LeRoi of the Hillbilly Soul Surfers is a friend of mine. This is a great fun CD that slips easily between Blues, Surf, Country, and combinations of all three. There's tons of scorching hot guitar licks on this CD along with a lot of songs that are just down right silly, but in a good way, and one country instrumental that's gonna end up on my answering machine before too long. If had to pick favorites off this disc they would have to be Surf Don't Crawl (instrumental surf), Ever So Desperate (rocker), Love Thang (silly ballad), Shootin' the Merle (country instumental) and All Your Cheatin (country vocal). I recommend that you run out and get this CD, it wont change your life but I bet it'll make your commute a little more tolerable. I give this one four out of four mud-flap girls.

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Kristie Stremel All I Really Want Slewfoot Records

With this CD I figured I was getting some alt-country treats. Mainly because it's on Slewfoot and the fact that Kristie Stremel is sporting a nice straw western hat on the cover. Well don't judge this CD by it's cover, it aint alt-country but it is good, really good in fact. This is psudo-progressive rock that kind of sounds familiar, I cant think of who they remind me of but it must have been a band I liked. I'm really surprised at myself for liking this CD so much; I think anyone who knows me would be surprised as well. I can't find fault with this CD at all Kristie Stremel has a great voice, she backed by a good band, and the song writing is excellent, as is the engineering. The title track is probably my favorite of the CD but I didn't find any songs I felt compelled to skip tracks on. This is a great CD for driving, you can be the person singing along and bobbing your head at the traffic lights that we all see from time to time. I have to give this one all four mud-flap girls, an all around great CD that isn't really so much of a style that I can pigeon hole it in to any other category than just plane good ol' rock and roll.

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