Velvetone - Velvetone (LP, 10inch)

(Bear Family Records) 7 tracks THAT NIGHT IN NOVEMBER... THE FIRST TIME I SAW VELVETONE WAS IN NOVEMBER ‘95 IN BREMEN, GERMANY, WHICH IS A LONG WAY FROM MY HOME IN CALIFORNIA. I KEPT THINKIN‘ TO MYSELF "MAN, DO I KNOW THESE GUYS?". AN OLD FAMILIAR FEELING WAS PULSING THROUGH MY VEINS AS THEIR BAND WAS LAYIN‘ IT DOWN TO STAY. YEAH, I‘LL TELL YOU WHAT IT WAS: IT BROUGHT ME BACK TO THE DAYS IN ‘a 81 , WHEN THE PALADINS WERE FIRST TAKIN‘ THE ROAD FROM SAN DIEGO OUT TO PHOENIX, AZ. IT WAS THERE WE FOUND A VIVACIOUS SCENE OF ABOUT A DOZEN OR SO ROCKABILLY / ROCK‘N‘ROLL BANDS THAT RESEMBLED A CAMP OF BANDITOS MORE THAN THE DOWN RITE HOT PLAYERS THAT THEY WERE - GROUPS LIKE THE GEEZERS, COLIN WINSKY, THE VELVETONE SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE! PLAYIN‘ CLUBS LIKE THE THE MASON CLUB, ALL US BANDS WOULD TURN THESE TRASHY LITTLE HONKY TONKS INTO A ROCK‘N‘ROLL RIOT. WE SANG ABOUT CADILLACS AND OWNED THEM VARMINTS AND HELLFIRE:‘ JAR, MERLINS AND THE SUN TOO. WE‘D PARK ‘EM IN FRONT OF THE CLUB, ALL IN A LINE. VELVETONE WOULD‘VE HAD THEIRS OUT THERE.  THE CLUBS WOULD SHUT DOWN AT 1:00 AM, BUT THAT DIDN‘T MEAN THE JAM WAS OVER. WE‘D ALL HEAD OVER TO THE HELL HOUSE AND JAM TILL DAWN, OR TILL IT GOT OVER 105 °F, WHICH EVER CAME FIRST. I SWEAR I SAW VELVETONE THERE. ONE AFTERNOON WE WERE CLEANING UP AFTER ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS. WE FOUND SO MANY BOTTLES AND CANS THAT WE CASHED ‘EM IN AND BOUGHT A KEG OF BEER AND SOME ICE, PUT IT IN A SHOPPING CART, TOOK OUR ACOUSTICS AND RAMBLED THROUGH THE TOWN. SINGIN‘ AND PLAYIN‘ AND QUENCHIN‘ THE THIRST OF A MASSIVE CROWD ON THAT DAY IN 115 °F. HEAT... YEAH, BUT THAT NIGHT IN BREMEN LAST NOVEMBER...IT WAS SNOWIN‘ OUTDOORS, BUT I WAS BREAKIN‘ INTO A MIGHTY SWEAT WATCHIN‘ VELVETONE BRING ON THAT OLD ROCK‘N‘ROLL FEELING. Tom Yearsley (The Paladins)