JIMMY PAGE - THIS GUITAR KILLS

 

This guitar kills: more 60s groups & sessions - all music guide review :Before Jimmy Page rose to guitar godhood with the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin, he was England's premier session guitar player. His presence on a song pretty much guarantees a scorching guitar break that lifts the song up at least one notch and sometimes vaults it straight into the atmosphere. This Guitar Kills: More 60s Groups & Sessions is a follow-up to Castle's 2000 collection Hip Young Guitar Slinger & His Heavy Friends and features Page's work with a wide range of artists. The first disc covers the years 1962 to 1964 and is dominated by the wispy British Invasion and Brit blues sounds of Neil Christian, Dave Berry, Mickie Most & the Gear, and Mickey Finn & the Blue Men but also finds space for Page's work backing girl singers like Antoinette, Peggy Lee (whose powerful "Is It True" should have been a big hit), Louise Cordet, and Jackie DeShannon. There are also two great cuts by the Authetnics, "Without You" being a haunting beat ballad and "Climbing Through" a storming blues romp that finds Page uncharacteristically struggling to keep up with the wildness of the band he is sessioneering for. The second disc covers the years 1965 to 1968 and features Page in a wider (and stranger) range of settings: everything from the weird fusion of big-band jazz and rock rhythms of Bobby Graham to the nasty blues-pop of Dave Berry, the Talismen, and Heinz & the Wild Boys, the wall of sunshine pop of Kenny & Deny, the girl-group sounds of Vashti and Marianne Faithful, and his appearance on a great Pretty Things track, the chiming "You Must Believe Me." Weirdest of all have to be the easy listening orchestral selections by Burt Bacharach & His Orchestra, the Larry Page Orchestra, and the London Studio Group that feature Page's guitar doing subdued battle with a whole raft of string players. Hey, a guy has to eat. The disc rounds off with Page's appearance with Jeff Beck on the amazing "Beck's Bolero" and two very rare songs he cut with French rocker Johnny Hallyday: the trippy "Psychedelic" and the very funky "A Tout Casseer." The two discs are just the tip of the whirlwind that was Page in the '60s. It is a very fun listen because even if a song or singer is pretty rotten Page can save the song with his fleet-fingered, wildly imaginative approach. Not quite an essential listen, but Page fans and fans of the '60s British scene should be quite happy. [Castle issued a remastered edition in 2007.] ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide

Disc 1: 1962 -1964 1 - Neil Christian - The Road To Love

2 - Neil Christian - The Big Beat Drum

3 - Neil Christian & The Crusaders - Get A Load Of This

4 - Carter-Lewis & The Southerners - Somebody Told My Girl

5 - Carter-Lewis & The Southerners - Your Mamma’s Out Of Town

6 - Redcaps - Talkin’ About You

7 - Dave Berry - My Baby Left Me

8 - Antoinette - Jenny Let Him Go

9 - Mickey Finn & The Blue Men - Pills

10 - Mickey Finn & The Blue Men - Hush Your Mouth

11 - Mickie Most & The Gear - Money Honey

12 - Mickie Most & The Gear - That’s Alright

13 - Louise Cordet - Two Lovers

14 - Mickey Finn & The Blue Men - Reelin’ And A Rockin’

15 - Mickey Finn & The Blue Men - I Still Want You

16 - The Authentics Featuring Jimmy Page - Without You

17 - The Authentics Featuring Jimmy Page - Climbing Through

18 - Brenda Lee - Is It True

19 - The McKinleys - Sweet And Tender Romance

20 - Jackie DeShannon - Don’t Turn Your Back On Me

Disc 2, 1965-1968: 1 - Bobbie Graham _ Skin Deep

2 - Bobbie Graham _ Zoom, Widge & Wag

3 - Dave Berry _ Go On Home

4 - Dave Berry _ C.C. Rider

5 - Kenny & Deny _ Try To Forget Me

6 - Kenny & Deny _ Little Surfer Girl

7 - Heinz & The Wild Boys _ Diggin’ My Potatoes

8 - The Talismen _ Casting My Spell

9 - The Talismen _ Masters Of War

10 - Vashti _ Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind

11 - Marianne Faithful _ In My Time Of Sorrow

12 - Burt Bacharach & His Orchestra _ Trains And Boats And Planes

13 - Larry Page Orchestra _ One Fine Day

14 - Larry Page Orchestra _ You Really Got Me

15 - The Pretty Things _ You Must Believe Me

16 - Bobbie Graham _ Teensville

17 - Bobbie Graham _ Grotty Drums

18 - The London Studio Group _ Pageing Sullivan

19 - The London Studio Group _ March Of The Defiant Ones

20 - Dave Berry _ I’ve Got My Tears To Remind Me

21 - Jeff Beck _ Beck’s Bolero

22 - Johnny Hallyday _ Psychedelic23 - Johnny Hallyday _ A Tout Casser

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