| Hey Doll Baby, Frankie & The Real Rockers Rarity Records CD 192756
Frankie and the Real Rockers is a five piece band from The Hague in The Netherlands. The Hague being the cradle of some great bands in the mid fifties and sixties, like Willie and the Giants, Rene and his Alligators and The Golden Earrings to name a few, has allways been a city with a warm rockin' climate. The guys met each other through an advertisement on a Dutch website and soon after that, this CD was a fact. The CD takes off very strong with a rockin version of Hank Ballard & the Midnighter's version of "Sexy Ways". The Titel track is Titus Turner's "Hey Doll Baby", first recorded by the Clovers, and also done by Phil & Don Everly. The real Rockers adapted the latter, and this version proofs that they're also able to do very decent harmonies (listen to track 10, Ronnie Hawkin's "Hayride"). "Brush Those Tears" is a song that is not covered very much. Evelyn Knight recorded it in 1948, and the best ever cover version has never been surpassed since Savage Kalman and The Explosion Rockets recorded it (with the Master of The Jazzmaster, Bart Strik squeezing the meanest ever guitarsolo from his jazzmaster). Frankie and his Real Rockers give it a great try. Track four is the first selfpenned song on this CD, which contains 4 songs written by guitar player Zweekhorst. Nice little rocker! Patsy Cline's "Stop Look & Listen would be my favorite track on this album. Frankie and his mates have also prepared a few surprises on this album. First one is a pleasant version of Adamo's "Liassons-Dire" and it comes out real fine as an early "Cliff" rocker. There's also two adaptions of two Dutch mid-seventies / eighties hits sung in Dutch language which the band rendered into catchy rockin tunes. "Baby Let's Play House" really explodes out of your speakers, seldom I heard a rock version like this one, great! This CD is well filled with 23 tracks, and gives a fair impression of what the band does on stage. I'm sure we will be hearing a lot more of Frankie and The Real Rockers. Overall, this is a CD that brings back the Rock into the Roll! Tracklisting:
Musicians: Contact information: Phone Frankie: +31 (0)6 45098799 Rarity Records Reviewed by Uncle_B, 2005 |
