What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

HANK MIZELL "jungle rock" 1976, vinyl.

i mentioned the artist and lead track to MH on FB the other week and he'd never heard of him, i was surprised, yet also not surprised, guess i would have been more surprised had he heard of Hank???
anyway, i usually, once a week trawl through the local secandhand vinyl dealer in my area to see what little oddities/curiousities he may have in stock and couldnt believe it this week when i actually discovered this one tucked away in the country section...so i bought it.
now it could fit in the country thread fine, but being rockabilly it could also be classed as early 'classic rock and roll', so i decided to put it here.
now, Hank has an interesting story for his fifteen mintes of fame...the title track was recorded and released in 1957 in the US, it failed to chart anywhere and HM dissapeared into obscurity until 1975 when a rollerrink DJ in the UK went on holiday to the US, he was a fan of the old 1950's rock era and subsequently found "jungle rock"-the single at a carboot sale covered in dust etc so he took it back to the UK and started playing it at therollerrink, the kids loved it,apparently the track got more people up and skating than any other song he played....
fastforeward a couple of months...he played the track to a friend of his who worked at Charley Records, a small independant label, who liked it and sought out the publisher etc for re-releasing, sure enough, the single "jungle rock" became a huge hit in the UK in 1976 reaching #3 on the singles charts, as there was no video then or no singer to sing the song on to of the pops, a search was launched to find the elusive Hank Mizell, he was found living in a trailer park in Chicago totally unaware the single was a hit. he was taken back to the UK to record this album in a similar vein, but his fifteen minutes were up, no more hits, the album didnt chart etc etc...back to obscurity again.
however the result was a twelve track album of pretty good rockabilly tunes, most of which were either written or co-written by Mizell.


I LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: higher
best track: jungle rock

jungle rock:

I was walking through the jungle just the other night
Oh well, I heard a big a-rumble and I thought it was a fight
We stopped there to listen, I began to move my feet
It was a jungle drummer doin' a knocked out beat
It was a jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A knocked out beat and I had to move my feet
It was a jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock

Oh well, I moved a little closer just to get a better view
I saw a chimp and a monkey hat done the Suzy Q
Oh well, a-gator and a hippo was a-doin' the bop, while a great big frog was a-makin' me hop
It was a jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A knocked out beat and I had to move my feet
It was a jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock

Oh well, the fox grabbed the rabbit and they hit the bunny hug
And all the beasts that fly was a-cuttin' the rug
Oh well, the camel was a jitter buggin' with a kangaroo
And the elephant, the mover, with the ring-ding-oo
It was a jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A knocked out beat and I had to move my feet
It was a jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock
A jungle, jungle, jungle, jungle rock


tracks:

1. jungle rock***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OPp6gngT...ure=fvwrel audio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9ToIq7AZkg live(not good quality but probably his only ever live performance??)
2. aint got a thing**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUwNgFPemfc audio
3. ready freddy**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMRFxFe3K...re=related audio
4. higher*
5. easy money**
6. rakin' and scrapin'**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AboqC-Nyqjw audio
7. singing in the jungle**
8. sweetie pie**
9. kangaroo rock**
10.animal rock and roll**
11.ubangi stomp**
12.flatfoot sam**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km8kZPHev...re=related audio

3s=1
2s=10
1s=1

rating: 2.0