Well, here's a tasty item brought to you by the waning days of the Sun Records dynasty. We all know that in the 50s, Sun gave the world such monumental stars as Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, to say nothing of all the great rockabilly that was recorded for that label. In the 60s, their fortunes began to decline, but if records like this are any indication, they were still in there swingin'.
In putting this review together, my search for information on Billy Adams turned up zip. However, I did run across a site called "Sun Masters" which gave recording information on all the recordings Adams made for the studio. This one was recorded in December of 1963 (same month and year I was born) and it's definitely a wild one worth your ears.
I'm not sure if "Got My Mojo Workin'" is the same song as the blues classic we all know and love.
It certainly sounds like it. The thing is, the words are a little different here. This time, the song is credited on the label to Adams, but it's still the classic song with slightly different lyrics. The mystery goes on.
But it doesn't matter because Adams gets things started by announcing to the world, "I'm gonna tell everybody about my mojo!" From there, Adams starts singing "I got my mojo workin', got it workin' got it workin', workin' on you," the band kicks in with a rapid rhythm, a wailing sax riff and thumpin' piano. This hot backing section continues throughout the song as Adams sings some more about how his mojo's workin'. There's also a smokin' guitar solo in midsong that could count as an early example of the use of fuzz.
The B-side's a not too bad version of Chuck Willis' "Betty and Dupree," but my advice is to stick to the mojo side and you'll be just fine.
1 comment:
I'd agree it's a great version, tho, once again, I need to apologize for the scratchiness of my copy of the 45.
Post a Comment