Brisbane Bop

Amazon.com
Jimmie Rivers was the leader of a late-'50s/early-'60s eight-man house band at a Brisbane, California, nightclub called DeMarco's 23 Club. There, when they weren't backing the likes of Lefty Frizzell and Ernest Tubb, Rivers and the boys indulged their own Western swing whims. Brisbane Bop captures those flights of fancy, and it's a revelation. Rivers was a sophisticated, fleet-fingered player with a love for Charlie Christian and Barney Kessel, and eclectic taste in material that encompassed everything from pop standards to the odd Art Pepper cover. Brisbane Bop is culled from informal recordings made by steel guitarist Vance Terry. While they're not clean by today's standards, the CD is eminently listenable and has its own kind of honky-tonk charm. The whoops from the crowd and on-stage announcements ("Every Sunday we'll start at 7 ... so you can get drunk and go home early") gives the 19-song collection a kind of roadhouse Live at the Regal ambiance. --Steven Stolder

Brisbane Bop,Jimmie Rivers,Joaquin Records,Country,Country & Western,Pop,Rock

Average customer rating:

The missing link

Grade "A" West Coast Swing

Overwhelming Unknown Genius!

Western Swing's Finest

Western Swing's Finest

Brisbane Bop
Jimmie Rivers
Manufacturer: Joaquin Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music
Western Swing | Country | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
General | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Western Swing | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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ASIN: B0000009DN
Release Date: 1995-08-29

Tracks:

Back Bay Shuffle
Jimmie's Blues
Jammin' With Jimmy
On The Alamo
Hold It
A Smo-o-o-oth One
Slow Boat To China
It's All Your Fault
Steelin' Home
Tippin' In
After You've Gone
Sweedish Pastry
Buffalo Burgers
Airmail Special
How High The Moon
Surf Ride
Rose Room
It's A Sin To Tell A Lie
Twin Guitar Special

Amazon.com

Jimmie Rivers was the leader of a late-'50s/early-'60s eight-man house band at a Brisbane, California, nightclub called DeMarco's 23 Club. There, when they weren't backing the likes of Lefty Frizzell and Ernest Tubb, Rivers and the boys indulged their own Western swing whims. Brisbane Bop captures those flights of fancy, and it's a revelation. Rivers was a sophisticated, fleet-fingered player with a love for Charlie Christian and Barney Kessel, and eclectic taste in material that encompassed everything from pop standards to the odd Art Pepper cover. Brisbane Bop is culled from informal recordings made by steel guitarist Vance Terry. While they're not clean by today's standards, the CD is eminently listenable and has its own kind of honky-tonk charm. The whoops from the crowd and on-stage announcements ("Every Sunday we'll start at 7 ... so you can get drunk and go home early") gives the 19-song collection a kind of roadhouse Live at the Regal ambiance. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

The missing link.......2005-10-01

By the time these tunes were recorded in the early '60's, western swing was dead. Someone forgot to tell this band. The electric & steel guitar duo of Jimmie Rivers/Vance Terry will remind you of Jimmy Bryant/Speedy West. But "Brisbane Bop" has more of a swing and bop influence. The tunes are mostly head/solo arrangements played by our duo and everything swings like mad. "Brisbane Bop" is the missing link between western swing and hillbilly jazz. Add in the grittiness of the live recording and the virtuoso chops, and you have the best CD I've bought this year.

Grade "A" West Coast Swing.......2002-11-12

This fine compilation of live reel-to-reel recordings capture Rivers as leader of the best bay-area western swing group of the 1960's. The chugging, honky-tonk rhythm playing and singing of Gene Duncan was a perfect compliment to the magnificient jazz-influenced double-picking of Rivers. Of particular interest are the breathtaking duets featuring Rivers and teen-aged steel guitar innovator Vance Terry, formerly with Billy Jack Wills' Western Swing Band. (Fortunately, this CD is packed full of those brilliant, uptempo dutes.) After a few notes from Rivers' custom-made Gibson double-neck 6 & 12-string guitar you realize that live club playing simply doesn't get much better than this. Rivers' astonishing ability didn't go unnoticed. He received (and turned down) an employment offer from Bob Wills himself ("...sir, I just can't do that. You're offering me $85 a week. I have a family. I'm making $300-$1000 a week now...") and is highly respected by most west-coast musicians today. Thankfully, these live recordings have been reissued with 6 additional tracks (featuring Rivers' hilarious microphone antics) which prove the case convincingly.

Overwhelming Unknown Genius!.......2002-05-11

It blows my mind to think that a guitarist of such high caliber could toil away nightly in total obscurity at such a rough&tumble blue collar dive bar. From start to finish this CD is jammed with endless bebop runs in the style of Jimmy Bryant, Charlie Christian, etc. impeccably executed to the absolute disinterest of the assembled patrons and the world at large. Thank god someone was running a tape recorder so that we can now appreciate this immense talent and these fantastic performances.

Western Swing's Finest.......2000-08-09

Brisbane Bop, which is a compilation of live recordings made at the 23 Club in Brisbane, CA in the early 60s, is the best example of the Western Swing genre. The album features the smoking guitar work of Western Swing Hall of Fame inductees Jimmy Rivers (lead) and Gene Duncan (rhythm) and the steel guitar of Vance Terry. While the bulk of the album is instrumental, the track "It's All Your Fault" features a stellar vocal performance by Gene Duncan. If you're at all interested in Country Western, Swing or Blues, this is a "must-have" album.

Western Swing's Finest.......2000-08-09

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