Butt Rockin'

It's 1981 and it's easy to tell the T-Birds are really starting to spread their wings geographically as well as musically. Most of this album was recorded in Hollywood California. With the addition of three members of the other great American Blues band, Room Full of Blues (Greg Piccolo, tenor sax; Al Copley, piano; and Doug James, baritone sax), these "Birds" really take off!! As always this record is a mixture of originals, mostly by Kim Wilson, and those great "cherry picked" covers, some not done in 25 years or more.

These covers, starting with Roll, Roll, Roll are "played, not reproduced" in the words of their manager Denny Bruce, and you can tell these guys know the difference. Flavored from south of the border we have Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White a hit for Perez Prado and his Orchestra in 1955. After that, it's a pair of great old "Excello" hits, I Hear You Knockin' (a Smiley Lewis smash hit) and the jumpin', Tip On In, (Dedicated with great respect to the memoryof Slim Harpo). With these 2 gems, the T-birds go right through New Orleans on this "crawfish coast" tour.

Kim Wilson's, I'm Sorry is the swingin'est tune on the album in my humble opinion. To keep saying that this music is great is a bit redundant. This stuff is the real gravy, the sauce that you put on top of things to make them taste GOOD!!!! Mathilda is the tune that all doo-wop songs only wish they could be. That's because it's a Louisiana classic. The original record (1981) is rounded out with 2 original tunes, the harp rockin' Tell Me Why and a swingin' instrumental, In Orbit.

Outtakes from the original recording date were added to this new release. This is one of the reasons we celebrate the advent of the 74 minute CD. Found A New Love is a cool slow Blues. I Got Eyes is the slow rockin' Blues that really makes you glad these guys got together with that bunch of cats from Roomfull of Blues.

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