IN THE MIX The Skeletons Edition Vol. 1 - with STEVE FORBERT & DAVE ALVIN!

 IN THE MIX The Skeletons Edition Vol. 1 POST

There were two contenders for the title of “World’s Greatest Bar Band” NRBQ & THE SKELETONS.  Both bands’ styles are nearly indefinable because they play a kitchen sink combination of rock, rockabilly, surf, R&B, bluegrass, & country.  And they both inserted obscure songs into their set-lists, and wrote songs about topics other bands didn’t.

THE SKELETONS had at their core bassist LOU WHITNEY and guitar whiz D. CLINTON THOMPSON.  Depending on who the other players were, they performed/recorded as THE SYMPTOMS, & THE MORELLS.  And they recorded with a staggering number of artists—only partly because LOU WHITNEY owned a recording studio in their hometown, Springfield MO.  It’s safe to say just as many artists recorded there because the members of these groups could be coerced into playing on their album.

D. CLINTON THOMPSON is as good as any stringbender you can mention, and with Lou the two have a chemistry that makes any number pop—which is proven here track after track. Both played with the more commercially successful OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS from time to time, and Lou’s wife MARALIE WHITNEY played keys with THE SYMPTOMS, & THE MORELLS.  Drummer RON “WRONGO” GREMP beat the skins for THE SYMPTOMS, & BOBBY LLOYD HICKS rounded out THE SKELETONS, augmented by second guitarist NICK SIBLEY & keyboardist JOE TERRY (who I saw playing with DAVE ALVIN).

STEVE FORBERT gets credit for exposing them to a wider audience by hiring them to back him for the tour promoting Jackrabbit Slim which contained his biggest hit Romeo’s Tune.  On that tour, they met FORBERT’s friend JONATHAN RICHMAN (who recorded his JONATHAN PLAYS COUNTRY album at Lou’s studio).  And LOU WHITNEY was immortalized in the song Laughter Lou (Who Needs You?) on FORBERT’s follow-up release.

On this collection, there are songs that feature one or more of THE SKELETONS backing other artists.  The whole group backs RICHMAN, BOXCAR WILLIE, RUDI “TUTTI” GRAYZELL, The Del-Lords’ SCOTT KEMPNER, & SYD STRAW.  A few live tracks by the band are included on this edition of IN THE MIX.  One is a CORNELL HURD song If You Play With My Mind (You’ll Get Your Hands Dirty).  They also back HURD on The Long Goodbye.

I was given all but one of the live DAVE ALVIN tracks over 30 years ago by a dear friend who was allowed to videotape one of Dave’s shows where he was backed by THE SKELETONS.  I had to swear I wouldn’t share them all this time, but for this collection, my friend lifted the moratorium, allowing JOKONKY to share with you a rarity around these parts—tracks that are unavailable anywhere else!

On them, it’s clear to hear the affection ALVIN has for the band in his gentle ribbing that the monitors sound “Lou Whitney-ish” before having him sing Going South, or having BOBBY LLOYD HICKS sing Crazy Country Hop, the last song of his PALOMINO set.  BOBBY LLOYD HICKS and JOE TERRY probably backed Alvin the longest.

You're in for a treat, whether you listen to this collection in your den, on a high-performance stereo system, after a long day of insider trading--or in your shed, on a boom box, after mowing the back forty.  Just shy of 80 minutes of bare-bones rock & roll by THE SKELETONS!