Gene Vincent's last albums "If Only You Could See Me Today" and "The Day the World Turned Blue" found him bidding to revive a status he'd achieved with his mid-'50s hit "Be-Bop-A-Lula." These releases tackled different styles to varying success, with inconsistent material being the main problem.
ROCK'N ROLL
Sunshine / I Need Woman's Love / Slow Times Comin' / Danse Colinda / Geese / 500 Miles / Listen To The Music / If Only You Could See Me Today / A Million Shades Of Blue / Tush Hog / How I Love Them Old Songs / High On Life / North Carolina Line / You Can Make It If You Try / Our Souls / There Is Something On Your Mind / The Day The World Turned Blue / Boppin' The Blues / Looking Back / Oh Lonesome Me / The Woman In Black
The man who had wowed America, challenged Elvis, launched Rock n Roll in Britain and France and inspired a generation, was seen in his native land as a bit of a has-been. His audience was the French arty intelligentsia and UK Teds but there were still those who believed in Gene, one was Kama Sutra, the New York label who brought us The Lovin' Spoonful and Gene fanatics The Flamin' Groovies (and obliquely The Shangri-Las too, but that's another story...)
In 1969 and 1970 they put Gene in their newly acquired LA studio with the cream of young session men to produce an album. Taking a cue from The Band, Bob Dylan, The Sir Douglas Quintet, and possibly fellow not as old as you might think rocker Dale Hawkins (who had just had an amazing album out himself!) Gene rose to the occasion bigtime! Possibly one of the most unexpected and astonishing albums of roots rock and Americana is what we have here with Gene as on good form as ever!
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