Fool's Paradise

The Head Cat | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 27, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Cleopatra
• ASIN: B000FI8LX0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,238 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #49 in Music > Rock > Roots Rock
  • #56 in Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro > Rockabilly

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Head Cat brings together Lemmy (Motörhead), Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats), and guitar wizard Danny B. Harvey (Rockats) for a batch of cover tunes from Buddy Holly ("Tell Me How," "Not Fade Away"), Carl Perkins ("Matchbox"), and Johnny Cash ("Big River"). A longtime rockabilly fan and skilled harmonica player (as evidenced on "You Got Me Dizzy"), Lemmy does at times sound a bit out of place and tentative in a setting stripped of the unmitigated power and unsubtle glory heard on all the best Motörhead albums, but there's a rugged charm hearing him beside Phantom and Harvey, who lend authenticity and spark to the affair. If it all seems improbable, a related live DVD, Rockin' The Cat Club: Live From Sunset Strip , captures the three friends plus ex-Guana Bats bassist Johnny Bowler in action. This won't take anyone involved away from their day job forever, but it is an interesting shift for the mighty Lem and a souvenir that will raise the eyebrows of diehards and the curiosity level of casual fans. --Jedd Beaudoin

Product Description

1. Fool's Paradise
2. Tell Me How
3. You Got Me Dizzy
4. Not Fade Away
5. Cut Across Shorty
6. Lawdy Miss Clawdy
7. Take Your Time
8. Well...All Right
9. Trying To Get To You
10. Learning The Game
11. Peggy Sue Got Married
12. Crying, Waiting, Hoping
13. Love's Made A Fool Of You
14. Big River
15. Matchbox

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars just picture Lemmy singing rockabilly, February 14, 2007

By 

George Dionne (Cape Cod, MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fool's Paradise (Audio CD)

Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister teams up with Stay Cat's Slim Jim Phantom for a rockabilly side-project. Um, just picture Lemmy singing rockabilly, and that pretty much sums it up. I thought it was going to be disastrous, but it was actually quite surprising and good. You're grandfather might not like it, but it's cool to hear a different and softer side of Lemmy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fool's Paradise strange but good fun, February 29, 2008

By 

M. Wilkinson (England, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fool's Paradise (Audio CD)

Lanky drummer, Slim Jim Phantom of 1980s new rockabilly group, "The Stray Cats"; rock and roll guitarist, Danny B Harvey; and the "Everything Louder Than Everything Else" gravel-voiced rock god, Lemmy, present several of Buddy Holly's most sensitive songs. It shouldn't work, but it does.

The album presents songs written by a clean cut young man for a younger audience at a time when kissing in public was sometimes considered lewd. Here, they are sung by a man of nearly 60, who's been around the block many times. In most cases, it works, and Lemmy gives a real depth to lyrics that could easily become sentimental or even soppy.

Instrumentally, it is good old fashioned rock and roll (Lemmy hates genre labels like "rockabilliy") and good fun. A few times, it doesn't quite work, but it is always enjoyable, and always sincere. These are three people who love rock and roll, playing it with affection and respect for the pioneers like Holly, Cochran and Perkins whose songs are featured.

The version of Carl Perkins' classic "Matchbox" provides an excellent climax to an enjoyably eccentric album. Recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lemmy rules, August 15, 2009

By 

dog freak (seattle, wa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fool's Paradise (Audio CD)

Some Motorhead fans may disagree, and some rockabilly fans may not like The Head Cat
because of Lemmy's rough voice, but I'm a fan of both of those and LOVED IT. They are fun live too.
I commend Lemmy for going back to roots music and doing a really nice job of it.