This album by Si Cranston is a true guilty pleasure. As the title suggests, the album takes you back to the days of early rock, R&B and rockabilly, when the common denominator between all three was that thing called “swing.” Cranstoun sings, plays bass and keyboards and teams up with Mez Clough/dr, Stewart Panaman/b, Neil Case y-Paddy Milner/p, Simon Picton-Jay Gipson/g and a horn team of Dan Faulkner/sax, Drew Davies/sax, Jon Radford/tp and Trombone/tb to take you to the last era when popular music was happy, innocent and fun.
Cranstoun writes almost all of the songs, but the feel may be familiar to pre-Beatles fans. Lots of hints of Jackie Wilson, Lloyd Price and Clyde McPhatter in terms of horns, beat and attitude, even with “Lover Please” thrown into the mix. Cranstoun’s voice is vintage Crescent City spiced, with hints of Gary US Bonds on “Old School” and he even delves into doo wop on” Happy Birthday” and “Right Girl.” Lots of baritone sax provide the riffs here, while the horn section sounds like its traversing a Town Without Pity on “Run Free.” Kitschy Spanish Harlem riffs are on the fun “Elise The Brazilian” and even some of Ricky Nelson’s pompadour gets oiled on “Count On Me. “ An ultimate party album to lift you out of any mood, or at least get you ready for Cruise Night.
Ruf Records