Rock-A-Billy: Rare & Unissued Recordings

by Charlie Feathers

Overview

This 1998 Bear Family reissue of a CD originally issued in 1990 on Colin Escott's Zu-Zazz imprint gathers together the absolute cream of Charlie Feathers' unreleased and alternate recordings. Usually an album of outtakes would infer a compilation of less than releasable material. But Charlie Feathers' unreleased demos and outtakes are every bit as illuminating and wonderful as his better-known singles, making this just as good as any Feathers collection out there, save for the two-disc Revenant anthology, which contains all of his '50s recordings intact. Here are 1954 living room rehearsals for his first Sun session ("Defrost Your Heart," "Runnin' Around," "I've Been Deceived"), outtakes from his second ("Wedding Gown of White," "Defrost Your Heart"), the 1956 Sun demo session ("Corrine, Corrina," "Frankie & Johnny," "So Ashamed," "Honky Tonk Kind," and an early stab at "Bottle to the Baby" with different lyrics), rowdier and looser King outtakes ("Bottle to the Baby," "One Hand Loose," "Everybody's Lovin' My Baby," and "I Can't Hardly Stand It"), and rare singles for local labels like Wal-May, Memphis, and Kay ("Dinky John," "Today and Tomorrow," and "Wild, Wild Party"), rounded out by some great '60s and early-'70s sides cut at the Sun and Select-O-Hits studios (a recut of "Tongue Tied Jill," "Gone! Gone! Gone!," "Where's She at Tonight," and "Wild Side of Life"). Some -- but not all -- of this also appears on Revenant's The Essential Recordings two-disc set. This particular edition, however, sports superior sound and mastering. ~ Cub Koda

Product Details

Release Date:	11/25/1998
Label:	Bear Family Records
UPC:	4000127163097
Rank:	119426

Tracks

1. Bottle to the Baby
2. So Ashamed
3. Honky Tonk Kind
4. Frankie and Johnny
5. Defrost Your Heart
6. Runnin' Around
7. I've Been Deceived
8. Corrine, Corrina
9. Wedding Gown of White
10. Defrost Your Heart
11. Bottle to the Baby
12. I Can't Hardly Stand It
13. One Hand Loose
14. Everybody's Loving My Baby
15. Dinky John
16. South of Chicago
17. I'm Walking the Dog
18. Today and Tomorrow
19. Wild, Wild Party
20. Where's She at Tonight
21. Don't You Know
22. Wild Side of Life
23. Long Time Ago
24. Tongue-Tied Jill
25. Folsom Prison Blues
26. Gone, Gone, Gone

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Charlie Feathers   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Clive Blewchamp   Art Direction
J. Mayo Williams   Composer
Cindy Wilson   Composer
Fred Schneider   Composer
Charlie Feathers   Composer
Mark Mothersbaugh   Composer
Kate Pierson   Composer
Quinton Claunch   Composer
Peter Guralnick   Liner Notes
Tommy Keene   Composer
Mitchell Parish   Composer
Bo Chatmon   Composer
Bob Jones   Mastering
Carl Perkins   Composer
Johnny Cash   Composer
Phil Rosenthal   Composer
Arlie Carter   Composer
William Warren   Composer
Bill Cantrell   Composer
Ricky Wilson   Composer
Jody Chastain   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Keith Strickland   Composer