Jon Spencer – AceRecords.co.uk: Top 10

AceRecords.co.uk have published a Top 10 list of records selected by Jon Spencer.

Ike Turner & His Kings of Rhythm – Ike’s Instrumentals
Screaming Lord Sutch – Rock and Horror
Wanda Jackson – Queen of Rockabilly
Dean Carter – Call of The Wild
Chocolate Watchband – 44
Link Wray – Early Recordings
Various Artists (Big Beat Various) – Rockabilly Psychosis
Funkadelic – Funkadelic
Charlie Feathers – Get With It/Tongue Tied Jill
Various Artists (Fun Time)- Dead! The Grim Reaper’s Greatest Hits

Visit the acerecords.co.uk for the full article with notes, images and links to each release.

Link: http://acerecords.co.uk/features/top-10s/jon-spencer

Ike Turner & His Kings of Rhythm – Ike’s Instrumentals:
The man is a genius. Forget everything he did with Tina (and that is A LOT) and as a record scout. This comp of early R&B-soul-twist-country instrumentals is sure enough tough! The band is road-tight and Ike’s gtr cuts deep. Crazy whammy/trem action. Stabbing sound! The New Breed, The Gulley, Twist-A-Roo, Prancing. Used to play this on the PA a lot before gigs.

Screaming Lord Sutch – Rock and Horror:
Long-haired English “eccentric” let’s his freak flag fly on some of the greatest horror-novelty garage rockers. So what if he had some of the finest UK rock musicians as session men? All Black & Hairy, Jack The Ripper.

Wanda Jackson – Queen of Rockabilly:
Queen of Rockabilly Indeed! Ms Jackson had the looks and the chops. Great rockabilly with a lot of sass. Mean Mean Man, Fujiyama Mama, Cool One, Funnel Of Love. She set the bar and is sill going strong today.

Dean Carter – Call of The Wild:
This comp of bizarre and cool garage-rockabilly 60s wildness totally blindsided me. My good friend Brian Waters of the Flash Express hipped me a coupla years back. I had heard the cover of Jailhouse Rock but was unprepared for the depth and scope of Mr Carter’s musical madness. It became my soundtrack for a very long lost weekend (lasting an entire Australian tour). Call Of The Wild, Black Boots, The Lucky One.

Chocolate Watchband – 44:
Super cool 60s tough R&B rock. The LA Stones, or one of ‘em. Got this on vinyl when I started to discover garage and wore it out. Who cares if they (sometimes) weren’t a real band? Don’t Need Your Lovin’, I’m Not Like Everybody Else, Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love In), Blues Theme

Link Wray – Early Recordings:
The MAN, the king! Link was the guy who brought it down from the mountain. The greatest, greasiest gtr instrumentals ever. Batman Theme – best version ever! Ace Of Spades, Hidden Charms – oh my gosh! Run Chicken Run

Rockabilly Psychosis – Various Artists (Big Beat Various):
May have been one of the first Ace-related release I ever got. Not the greatest comp but really helped me and my friends connect some dots when we was just starting to dig some of this music. (There was no internet back then, and no CD comps!) We had heard of the Gun Club and the Cramps but to discover that the “sickness” went way back was the first step in a long journey. Love Me -The Phantom. Psycho – the Sonics. Red Headed Woman – Jim Dickinson. Dateless Night – Tav Falco. Jack On Fire – the Gun Club.

Funkadelic – Funkadelic:
The whole album is great. Unparalleled. Amazing stuff. Goes from the Hillcountry Delta to Detroit to somewhere else. Hoo-wee.

Charlie Feathers – Get With It/Tongue Tied Jill:
The greatest Rockabilly ever lived. My hero. Two great sides.

Various Artists (Fun Time)- Dead! The Grim Reaper’s Greatest Hits:
This is a great bunch of death-related songs. Many fine morbid and kooky numbers, running the gamut from country, to pop, to country, to inspirational public service, to really drunk and creepy country. Endless Sleep – Jody Reynolds. The Drunk Driver – Ferlin Husky. Dead – CarolynSullivan. Once You Understand – Think. Ebony Eyes – Everly Bros. Let’s Talk About Living – Bob Luman.