Dave Edmunds -- "I Hear You Knocking" (1970)

Dave Edmunds has had many rock and roll lives, and if there's any justice, one day he'll be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Welsh guitarist is one of the few famous rock and roll purists still around. For Edmunds, it seemed like music never progressed past 1967 or so, and the only thing that ever happened was rock and roll and rockabilly... basic, raw, no tricks, all based on Chuck Berry riffs and licks.

Way before Edmunds was a member of Rockpile, put out several classic rock albums in the New Wave era, hung out with all the pub rockers like Brinsley Schwarz, or produced early 80's rockabilly revivalists The Stray Cats, he put out this lo-fi, one-man band version of an old rock tune first recorded by Smiley Lewis.

A bare bones production, Edmunds probably was not much of a drummer, so he used only a hi hat to keep the steady 4/4 beat. I don't even think he bothered with a kick drum. Surrounded by an old plate reverb. He used the old "telephone effect" for his vocals, EQ filtering off both the high and low ends to create a tinny up close tone. Edmunds laid down a flawless classic blues rock progression, palming down the guitar strings for that back and forth motion.

You can't really say Edmunds' version "cranks" -- it's a real throwback to late 50's cheap rock productions where it was all arranged Berry licks and yelping and howling.

If you're like me, digging the little things that people sometimes put on their records, this one featured Edmunds calling out the names of famous 50's rock artists during the solo:

Fats Domino!
Smiley Lewis!
Chuck Berry!
Huey Smith!
(and one other name I still can't hear clearly)

The other cool little thing: when that solo is over and Edmunds finishes shouting out those names, he plays his one and only piano chord of the entire song to act as a bridge back to the third verse -- an augmented one, it seems to me.

Below are a few videos, including where you see poor Dave standing by himself lip-synching with that amazing looking Gibson in his hands, then another with Rockpile, and finally with a foll blown band including two drummer and a horn section. Long live rock and roll!
I Hear You Knocking - Dave Edmunds (Dec. 1970)

Here another early TV spot. Check out the boots. What show was this where people just hung out or danced?

With Rockpile (yes, that's Nick Lowe on bass)

Edmunds with the full treatment... and an awesome Telecaster!

Marshall Crenshaw - "Whenever You're On My Mind" (1983)

Marshall Crenshaw, a certified member of a dying breed, the rock and roll singer/songwriter. Not rock. Rock and roll.

Here is a proven commodity: Detroit native Crenshaw cuts an amazing debut album in 1982 for Warner Brothers, full of All-American Strat-driven early 60's rock hooks and riffs, light enough to verge on pop, hard enough to get away with being called "rock and roll." Twelve songs that just won't quit. The critics fall over themselves calling it a masterpiece, and damn, they're right this time.

So now it's time to follow it up, and Crenshaw makes a bit of a left turn. Instead of retaining the services of the first album's producer, 60's rock producer Richard Gottherer, he taps hot upcoming English producer Steve Lillywhite, who has had a hand in U2, Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds, and many other English new wave bands.

The result, Field Day, catches everybody by surprise -- while the songs are still top notch, the album sounds like it was recorded on inexpensive analog equipment. The drums clatter, the echo feels like slapback delay, the guitars sound big but saturated. Clearly their plan was to make a real retro sounding American rock record, turning back the hands of time 20 years when it was all recorded on four- and eight-track tape. The critics and the public didn't know what to do, simply because it didn't sound like the first. Warner Brothers gave me this record and I had the same reaction: I put it away after a jump-the-gun judgment call.

However, Crenshaw pulled out one of his rare hit singles from it, and it remains one of my very favorite Crenshaw songs, which is pretty hard to do considering his quality output. "Whenever You're On My Mind" had all the hallmarks of songs I love: unusual chord changes that sound perfectly natural, strong melody, a solo that echoes that melody, a bridge that works, all wound up in three minutes. Frankly, you can describe many of Crenshaw's songs this way, but I can't help pulling this one slightly above the others.

The video for "Whenever You're On My Mind" is typical 80's goof, and I'm surprised Crenshaw indulged, but that's probably what Warner Brothers was paying for. This was one tough video to find, so enjoy it (and pardon the commercial before it).

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