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That Friday was a good day. For starters it was Friday,
and better yet, Ed Burleson was playing at Bill's.
Midday rolled around and off I went for my usual pre-weekend
dose of good music, fellowship, free food and ice cream.
Ed and fiddler, Thurston Selby, put on a great show, as
always. This review, however, isn't about Ed because I
doubt I could say anything that most people reading this don't
already know about Ed. I'll just say he plays the best
damn honky tonk music in Texas. This review also is not
about the Austin band, Foscoe Jones, that followed Ed.
They, too, showed a lot of talent for performing and
songwriting. I'm sure we'll hear more from them.
This review IS about the unusual looking band (for Bill's on
Friday) setting up in the back. Five young men from
Seattle with pompadours and/or long sideburns and one, whose
hair was combed into a single long spike on top, were working
away setting up a sound system. Bruce Kidder introduced
them as the Dusty 45s, and they immediately tore into a real
hot rockabilly number. The skeptical crowd at the front
turned to watch and listen. The buzz started - these
guys are good...damn good. Soon the crowd was at the
back enjoying the music and the band.
Bespectacled, wide-grinning vocalist Billy Joe Huels played
some really hot guitar licks and then picked up a trumpet and
blew out some of the sweetest and swingingest notes this side
of the fifties. Kevin Scott thumped his standup doghouse
bass with a real authority that drove the rhythm right down to
my tapping toes. Drummer Scotty Kastopoulas kept the
beat (and back beat) but would also throw in well timed little
solos that left no doubt of his prowess on the drum kit.
Heavily tattooed and spiked-haired lead guitarist Randy Lee
Fader would roar in with a short solo that always enhanced the
song and thoroughly pleased the crowd. In the midst of this
totally controlled rockabilly mayhem, a piano riff would drift
in and become an amazing run filled with the spirits of music
legends past.
And damn! That was just the first song. These guys
certainly looked and sounded like a very promising rockabilly
band. But each song revealed that there is much more to
their music. They performed country, swing,
jive, twenties style hot jazz, surf music, blues, fifties
pop, rock and roll and even played a great version of Herb
Alpert's "A Taste Of Honey". Each tune proved the
talents of the individuals in the group. For the big
finale, Billy Joe soaks a rag in lighter fluid, puts it around
the bell of his trumpet, lights it and blows hot swing through
the flaming instrument. I've never seen that before.
In short, they were entertaining and fun. I spoke with
them briefly after the show about a CD. They were quite
personable and I learned they have a CD and an earlier
five-song CD available.
I decided I would like to see a whole show and get both CDs.
I called a friend that I knew would love their musical
stylings and antics and made plans to venture into Deep Ellum
on a Friday night.
We arrived at Bar of Soap around eight as the opening band,
The East Dallas Daggers, were to play at nine. The club
is located on Parry Avenue across the street from Fair Park
and The Music Hall. When we pulled into the parking lot,
a young man with bleached, spiked hair jumped into his car and
roared out of the lot. We joked about angst-ridden youth
and proceeded inside.
The bar was pretty full of mostly Deep Ellum twenty-something
people with a smattering of other folks. The young
ladies wore a lot of make-up and their clothes were made to
show off their tattoos. But the place had a neighborhood
feel and everyone was pretty cool. We decided to sit at
the bar, which had a view of the small stage up front. I
got an ice-cold Shiner draw in a frosted mug and looked
around. The club only has five or six tables and a pool
table. The bar, while not large, was stocked with a nice
variety of beers, liquors and liqueurs, plus detergent and
fabric softener...and Camels (the Deep Ellum smoke of choice).
The laundry supplies are for the Laundromat in the back room.
The wall behind the bar is a mural of all the Fair Park
statues and icons, such as Big Tex, in various stages of doing
heir laundry. Pretty cool place.
The angst filled youth we encountered in the parking lot came
in about 8:30 and recognized my friend as a former co-worker.
(computer support geeks). It turned out he played
the standup bass for the East Dallas Daggers, the opening
rockabilly band. This was their first real gig.
Soon the Dusty 45s walked in and looked around. I had
the only recognizable face so they joined us at the bar.
They are as nice as they are talented and fun. All five
are avid record collectors of all kinds of music, so we had a
common bond. We talked about music and of their
backgrounds and career as a band.
They have played together for six or seven years and have been
very successful along the West Coast. They regularly
tour California, Oregon and Arizona as well as Washington.
They have played a number of important clubs and have shared
stages with The Ventures (kings of the sixties instrumental
groups), Dick Dale (sixties surf music legend), Big Sandy and
the Fly Rite Boys and Jesse Dayton (on numerous occasions)
among others. The previous night they had played the
Continental Club in Austin and were playing in Houston on
Saturday night. This was their fourth tour of Texas and
their fourth trip to Dallas where they usually play at Club
Clearview, which is not their favorite place. Several
gave up professional, real jobs to follow their dream and go
for the gold.
Billy Joe hails from Illinois and was raised on a several
hundred-acre farm, where he was a real farm boy. His
family listened to all kinds of music but especially country
and western. His idols include Merle Travis, Louis
Armstrong, Louis Prima and Buddy Holly. He is engaged to
a Texas girl.
Scott is from Iowa and idolizes Jimi Hendrix and his drummer,
Mitch Mitchell and George Jones.
Kevin was born in Massachusetts and collects Elvis, Johnny
Cash, Carl Perkins, Bill Black and early punk. Kevin
also drinks scotch, another thing we have in common.
Guitarist Randy was raised in Alaska and listened to Chuck
Berry, Scotty Moore and Peter Fampton. I inquired about
the injury he had sustained at Bill's. At the end of the
flaming trumpet number, Billy Joe stripped the burning rag
from the trumpet and a part of it landed on Randy's bare back
as he was adjusting an amp. He said he was okay but had
a big black burn on his back but that he was thankful it
hadn't landed on his head because with "all the grease and
shit in my hair to make the spike, it would have burned the
place down".
Pianist Micah was born in Seattle to a family of classical
musicians. He is classically trained, as you can hear in
listening to him play. His musical heroes are Jerry Lee
Lewis, Buck Owens and Floyd Cramer. Again, which you can
hear when you listen to him play.
The East Dallas Daggers took the stage and played a nice set
of rockabilly standards and some original tunes. The
trio consists of Charlie ? (sorry, Charlie) on bass, an Elvis
look alike on vocals and guitar and a drummer. They were
good, but the sound system wasn't, unfortunately. Billy
Joe said they were going to bring in their system and I agreed
it would be a good idea. The crowd (and it was packed)
danced and enjoyed themselves and gave the Daggers a good
reception. They have promise as a band, but Charlie is
already talking about starting a jazz band also while
attending North Texas State.
The Daggers finished and the 45s quickly set up their sound
system. Soon they were ready to play. The band
started with "Little Shack", a track on both of their CDs.
The crowd at Bar of Soap reacted the same as those at Bill's,
only much more boisterously. They crowded around the
stage and danced and clapped and joked with the band and some
sang along, indicating they were already fans before the show.
They seemed to enjoy every minute of the long set and actually
listened to the music, danced and had fun rather than talk.
I like that in a crowd.
The band played most of the songs from their CDs and threw in
"A Taste of Honey" and a rousing Latin tinged Louis Prima
number. They also did a wonderful version of Louis
Armstrong's masterpiece "St. James Infirmary" from the
twenties. They closed with the flaming trumpet number
and the crowd roared their approval. Billy Joe commented
that this was their best show in Dallas because of the
appreciative audience.
We visited with the band after the show and later we gathered
at their blue travel bus for a group photo.
Unfortunately, the photos didn't turn out because they were
taken using a brand new, inexpensive digital camera at night
by my less than sober friend. You can see good photos on
their web site at www.dusty45s.com.
This past week I've listened to their CDs numerous times and
have enjoyed every minute of listening. To keep this
review from being overly long and redundant, I'll just say up
front that the singing, playing and songwriting are
consistently great on all the tracks. All of the songs
are originals credited to Billy Joe Huels and the Dusty 45s.
These guys have a flair for writing songs that sound like they
came out of the fifties and sixties.
Dusty 45's - A five song
CD released in 1998. The CD starts with "A Simple
Thing", a fast rockabilly number with a good guitar break and
when Billy Joe sings "Gimme Jerry Lee", Micah responds with a
piano riff that would make "The Killer" smile. "Little
Shack" is the only song on both CDs. This version is a
little faster and rawer. It's a good-time beach song
that sounds like it could have come from a 60's beach movie
except those songs were never this good. "Little Girl"
features an organ (unaccredited) and a nice shuffle rhythm.
Nice piano solo. "Wanna Cry" is balls out rockabilly
with guitar breaks, cascading piano and bass solo (whew!).
"Frosty Morning" - I loved this song in concert. It has
a kind of "Zorba via Klezmer" sound. It features
standout trumpet work and great call and callback style
vocals. It picks up speed as it goes resulting in a hot
rockin' finish. I hope this song is on their live CD
that's in the works.
Their latest CD, "Shackin' Up" was released in 1999. It starts with a slightly
polished "Little Shack" that rocks the house. "289 V-8"
is a boy meets dream car story. "She's my best
friend"... It has a dreamy melody. Nice tune.
"Break the Law" - drums and guitars kick off this flat out
rocker about a guy that lifts his spirits by taking his Ford
truck and hauling ass. "Let's Run Away" - A slower paced
tune that features guest, Don Pawlak, on steel guitar.
The interplay between the trumpet and steel is very nice work.
"32 Quarters" reminds me of the jump jive Harlem shuffle style
of Duke Ellington in the early twenties. Here it's
updated with a killer guitar. "Baby's Gone" adds Ronnie
Pierce on clarinet for a Dixieland style ditty that jumps
between Dixieland and boogie. "Chase Your Dream" sounds
autobiographical - the message is "don't let life pass you
by-chase your dream"...like these guys are doing.
"Maria" is a Tejano tinged ditty with great rhythm. Lots
of drums and trumpet. It makes you want to dance.
"For A Moment" - A slower rhythm and blues song with some
wonderful piano and lead guitar. "The Exploding Pinto" -
A country hoe-down instrumental that had the crowd at Bill's
cheering. Texas style boogie with a few twists. If
your foot doesn't tap to this one, check your pulse.
"Two Beers in Texas" - There's even a catchy song about Texas.
Two minutes
after the last listed track finishes comes a hidden surfing
style instrumental that would be a "golden classic" today had
it been released in the sixties.
What else can I say? I like these guys and their music.
I don't think their CDs are available much in Texas, but they
can be purchased from their web site. I hope they return
for a fifth Texas trip soon and play the Sons of Hermann Hall
or Allgood Café. Teaming them with Cooder Graw and/or
John Evans sure would make for a fun-tastic show (are you
reading this, Mike?). Until then, I'll just keep
watching for their live CD to be released and listening to the
two I have now which is better than no Dusty 45s at all.
Good luck, fellows, and Godspeed!
Written by Jim Hughes 6/1/2001
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