"The Kingbees deserved better and I rank their lead singer Jamie James as almost as good a songwriter/guitarist/singer as Brian Setzer—which is high praise.
"I always felt if the Stray Cats rhythm section had replaced Brian Setzer with Jamie James, they'd have been able to keep going longer than Phantom Rocker & Slick did. Eventually, Slim Jim and Lee Rocker played with James on guitar on a few cuts in the revolving door of THE SWING CATS, but too little too late!
"This BEST OF collection includes the tracks Jamie did with The Swing Cats, and had they picked up where The Stray Cats left off, when Setzer left, it wouldn't have seemed so desperate--going swing after Setzer did. But the other two Stray Cats are consistently excellent as well, so it worked.
"I put this together a long time ago, but it fits right into our guitarist collections that encompass an artist's whole career. I had to make room to fit what Jamie's currently doing--backing actor Dennis Quaid as the band leader of Dennis Quaid & The Sharks. Jamie met Dennis when he was leading actor Harry Dean Stanton's band and started playing with Quaid after Stanton’s death.
"This collection also has two songs I’ve never seen anywhere else from a 10” single I have that I’m amazed doesn’t go for more than $4 on Discogs—but I guess he’s destined to be an unsung hero of mine."
Thanks, Stinky! If you remember rockabilly radio, visit our posts on The Tomcats, Tav Falco, and queen bee Pearl Harbour (who just had a b-day!)
The Best Of Jamie James
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Another Stinky Production
Back in the day, Jon Young from Trouser Press wrote:
ReplyDelete"Prefiguring the Stray Cats, the Kingbees were one of the first neo-rockabilly bands to augment nostalgia with an original approach. The West Coast trio’s sound on these two albums is sinewy and unpretentious, thanks primarily to frontman Jamie James’ economical guitar and no-nonsense vocals. What’s more, the material is a first-rate blend of his originals and well-chosen songs by Charlie Rich, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins et al."
Great stuff....i remember buying the 2 RSO lp's when they came out.....'My Mistake' got quite a lot of airplay in the Philadelphia area, ca 1980 or so......think there was a video clip for it too....
ReplyDeleteThanks Jim! One of the best new wave bands where I grew up used to play Shake Bop & I thought it was their best original song until I got The Kingbee's album! - Stinky
ReplyDeleteNice rockabilly, thanks again.
ReplyDeleteThank YOU, Art! Always glad to hear from the rockabilly-loving contingency!
ReplyDeleteGracias Jonder, tienes un pedazo de blog
ReplyDeleteMil gracias! Lo aprecio mucho.
DeleteI was in College and was the program direct of our little radio station.The first LP was in heavy rotation for a full year until the second release came out and both LPs were in heavy rotation. What great music! Really appreciate the shout out and sharing of Jamie's work.
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