VA - Great Rock'n'roll Stringbenders ( 2015) @ 320

 

The Great Rock'n'Roll Stringbenders (2015) @ 320

Big Stringbenders Show: Cliff Gallup and Friends 

Label:Righteous – PSALM 23.84

31 tracks featuring the great rock 'n' roll guitar innovators, the people who crafted modern rock music with Gene Vincent's Cliff Gallup plus 11 more. Featuring Gallup's 20 best Blue Caps' tracks and most distinctive riffs and solos. Plus 11 other key songs that fashioned rock 'n roll guitar playing with contributions from Scotty Moore, Luther Perkins, Grady Martin, James Burton, Roland Janes, Johnny Carroll and Sonny Fisher among many others. 

Cliff Gallup Biography by Richie Unterberger

Cliff Gallup was the original lead guitarist in Gene Vincent's Blue Caps. His stint in the band was brief, encompassing much of 1956 and about 35 tracks in the studio. Yet in that short burst of time, he established himself as one of the greatest guitarists in early rock & roll, and certainly one of the greatest rockabilly guitarists ever. His name is not well-known to the public because he was a sideman to Vincent, the main star. Most rock fans have heard his riffs on "Be-Bop-A-Lula," if nothing else, and his speed and dexterous imagination on numerous other early Vincent tracks still dazzle.

Gallup might still be unknown today had not Sheriff Tex Davis, a DJ in Norfolk, Virginia, gotten involved with managing Vincent in early 1956, after noticing his popular radio performances. Davis assembled a band from local musicians, including Cliff Gallup, who was picked as lead guitarist. The story goes that when Vincent and the Blue Caps went to Nashville for their first session in May 1956, producer Ken Nelson had arranged to have top session musicians standing by in case the band wasn't up to par. But, goes the legend, as soon as Gallup ripped into the lightning solos on "Race with the Devil," they knew they wouldn't be needed. "Be-Bop-A-Lula" and "Race with the Devil" were among the songs recorded at this initial session, and both had solos that showcased Gallup's slithery tone, quick hands, and knack for wildly imaginative, unexpected notes that fit.

"Be-Bop-A-Lula" was the only big hit Vincent cut while Gallup was still in the band, and the guitarist's talent was to some extent squandered when the band covered a bunch of pop standards on their second round of sessions in June. However, there were still a number of opportunities for Gallup to strut his stuff on uptempo rockabilly cuts, like "Bluejean Bop," "Jumps, Giggles and Shouts," and "Jump Back, Honey, Jump Back." With "Be-Bop-A-Lula" a big hit, the Blue Caps hit the road, with Gallup initially in tow. Gallup, however, was already 26 and married, and didn't enjoy touring. He gave his notice in the fall.

Fortunately, Ken Nelson asked Gallup to come to Nashville for another round of sessions in October, and the guitarist played lead, although he was technically no longer in the band. These sessions produced more than a dozen tracks which rate with Vincent's finest work, although they're relatively undiscovered by the public. "Cruisin'" has a sensational skittering lead, and is a blueprint for the Stray Cats' arrangements; "Cat Man" shows Gallup's ability to leap from aggressive high tones to growling, sinister low ones; and "B-I-Bickey-Bi, Bo-Bo Go," "Five Feet of Lovin'," and "You Better Believe" are all great cuts on which Gallup, Vincent, and the band crackle with rockabilly exuberance. Still, these would be the last Vincent tracks on which Gallup would appear. As a partial consequence of Gallup's absence, Vincent's own style would veer toward the softer and less exciting after 1956. In addition to his skill as a picker, Gallup was at the cutting-edge of mid-'50s technology. He played his Gretsch guitar with a Fender Tweed amplifier, and produced the reverb that has come to be associated with much classic rockabilly by using echo units he constructed himself from parts from old tape recorders. He used a flat pick in conjunction with fingerpicks on his middle and ring fingers, using his little finger to work the vibrato bar. It is amazing that a guitarist of Gallup's phenomenal abilities had not recorded before 1956. It is also amazing, and disappointing, that Gallup became so obscure after 1956; surely he had enough chops and inventiveness to thrive as a session player in Nashville or Los Angeles, had he so chosen.

The Capitol Years

Gallup did say that after he left the Blue Caps, Ken Nelson had offered him a good contract, but Cliff turned it down. He did make a solo album for the local Pussy Cat label in Norfolk, Straight Down the Middle, in the mid-'60s. According to the liner notes for Vincent's The Capitol Years '56-'63 box set, this contained "a combination of supper club and country music instrumentals but included a few songs associated with Gene, including 'Be-Bop-A-Lula.' Cliff's style had mellowed by then but was still equally as ingenious." At the time of his death from a heart attack in 1988, he was the Director of Maintenance and Transportation for his regional school system. Gallup's playing, however, influenced numerous subsequent guitarists, particularly Jeff Beck (listen to the Yardbirds' "Jeff's Boogie"), who made an album-length tribute to Gallup in 1993, Crazy Legs.

Gallup was ranked 79th by Rolling Stone magazine's David Fricke in his list of "100 Greatest Guitarists." He was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

https://www.rocknroll-schallplatten-forum.de/topic.php?t=14452

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Big Stringbenders Show: Cliff Gallup and Friends 

 01. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Race With The Devil 

 02. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Be-Bop-A-Lula 

 03. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Woman Love 

 04. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Gonna Back Up Baby 

 05. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Who Slapped John 

 06. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Jumps, Giggles And Shouts 

 07. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Bluejean Bop 

 08. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - I Flipped 

 09. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Well, I Knocked Bim Bam 

 10. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Jump Back, Honey, Jump Back 

 11. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Teenage Partner 

 12. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Cat Man 

 13. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Double Talkin' Baby 

 14. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Hold Me, Hug Me, Rock Me 

 15. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - B-I-Bickey-Bi Bo Bo Go 

 16. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Pink Thunderbird 

 17. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Pretty, Pretty Baby 

 18. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Cruisin' 

 19. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - You Better Believe 

 20. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Red Bluejeans And A Pony Tail 

 21. Eddie Bond - Rockin' Daddy 

 22. Dale Hawkins - Suzie Q 

 23. Johnny Carroll & His Hot Rocks - Trying To Get To You 

 24. Sonny Fisher - Pink And Black 

 25. Wade & Dick - Bop Bop Baby 

 26. Roland Janes - Guitarville 

 27. Scotty Moore Trio - Have Guitar Will Travel 

 28. Luther Perkins - Blues For Two 

 29. Gene Summers - School Of Rock'n'Roll 

 30. The Johnny Burnette Trio - The Train Kept-A-Rollin' 

 31. Johnny Horton - I'm Coming Home 

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