From his very first solo hit in 1970 (a cover of Dave Bartholomew’s “I Hear You Knocking”) to his final album release (2015’s On Guitar…Rags and Classics), Welsh guitarist-singer-songwriter-producer Dave Edmunds proselytized for the power of pure rock-and-roll. Whether stripping the sound down to basics or doing a spot-on emulation of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, Edmunds emphasized the joy of the genre. In January 1972, he released his first solo album: Rockpile. Its title would augur prominently for Edmunds’ future when, four years later, he co-founded a band of that name with…
Reissue Theory Three-Peat: The Stray Cats
Musical inspiration can come from anyone, anywhere – even if you’re not a musician. Consider the notion of talking with friends about evolving musical tastes. The conversation shifts to music enjoyed during early adolescence – when suddenly, you discover a revelation: a friend secretly spent their early middle school years enamored of the swingin’ sounds of The Brian Setzer Orchestra. You laugh and joke about it – because what pre-teen in the past decade could possibly jazzed by Setzer’s swing revival? – but then you start thinking. And researching. You remember Setzer was…
