Narvel Felts: Rocket Ride Stroll/Dream World (Mercury 71275x45)

Narvel Felts is better known today as a country singer, but his success in that area wouldn't come until the 1970s. Long before that, he was trying his hand at this new rock 'n' roll like just about everybody else that wasn't smitten with Pat Boone. Hence this item from 1958 in which the A-side ("Dream World") is a typical period ballad style that fellow rocker-turned-countryman Conway Twitty would specialize in. You already know if you like that kind of thing or not and while it's not too bad, the credit "Vocal by Narvel Felts with the Anita Kerr Singers" might sound warning bells in some of you. However, "Rocket Ride Stroll" is indeed a nice surprise. It's a brassy instrumental with a slow-walkin' beat and lots of blazin' sax and ol' Narvel gets to kick in a few tasty guitar licks midway through. This kind of makes me wonder if anything else Mr. Felts recorded during this period is worth laying ears to. Anyway, Mr. Felts served in the Army National Guard from '61 to '67 and resumed his music career shortly after that. A country version of Dobie Gray's "Drift Away" hit #8 in 1973 and that was that.