Customer Reviews

Blue Jean Bop

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3 star:		(1)
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Recorded hot on the heels of Gene Vincent's hitting with "Be Bop a Lula", this is the earliest document of the classic Blue Caps line-up...the LP oddly leaves out their biggest hit, but makes up for it by capturing the lightning-in-a-bottle of Gene and the band at their Hadacol & trucker-speed fueled greasy best. Cliff Gallup is at the top of his game here, running supernaturally-fast lead-solos, shutting down 99% of the boomer-icon "guitar heroes" still plaguing the FM dial. The album also dips into tin pan alley ballad standards like "Ain't She Sweet"...I actually really like their take on that material, as it really shows off Gene's vocal abilities.
Thanks to Norton Records for making Vincent's Capital LPs available again on vinyl, the way they where meant to be heard, preferably on a mono turntable through a drive-in speaker...here's to you, Norton!

Ok, I'm a little tired of reading Vincent reviews which complain of having to hear a few of his superbly done ballads, lol. Gene Vincent's treatment of old standards such as "Lazy River", "Aint She Sweet' and "Jezebel" here are brilliant. For the price of this disc it's one of the best buys in music. You can't even buy a 6-pack hardly for this much cash.

Not to mention you get a full 18 tunes, with the bonus songs, which include at least two-thirds hard rockers he was known for. It's a no-brainer purchase loaded with rockin' tunes like "Race With The Devil", "Jumps, Giggles and Shouts", "Blue Jean Bop" and "Jump Back Honey" as well as his one big hit "Be Bop a Lula" as a bonus song (originally a single not included on this first album) and the very cool but hard to find elsewhere "Bop Street".

As another review noted, this was one of the first true rock albums ever. If you go back and look at all the greats who were Gene's contemporaries it is truly mind boggling how much talent those years witnessed. With Elvis, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard etc. rock n roll fans must have become a little jaded because Gene Vincent soon would soon have to pack his bags for England just to make a living!

But for me, his bad management and poor business decisions, coupled with the obvious success of Elvis and others, which forced him overseas to find an audience, can never diminish this fact...Gene Vincent was a rocker who held his own in comparison with anyone. The Blue Caps could rock circles around any other band I have heard from the era. Gene and the Caps together here on their first album could be one of the greatest, and certainly the most influential, group of rock musicians EVER...buy this disc to see why.

One of Gene's poorer CD's. Most of the songs are slow waltz type. The CD does contain a few of his hits. Not one of his better CD's.