Webb Wilder
& the Beatnecks Set to Unleash Some Powerful Stuff! April 27 on
Album of Previously-Unreleased Tracks Recorded from 1985-1993 Via Landslide
Records
NASHVILLE,
TN - Landslide Records is excited to announce an April 27 street date for its
next release, Powerful Stuff!, by veteran rock and rollers, Webb
Wilder and the Beatnecks. Since 1985, Wilder and his cohorts have been
cranking out their own brand of rootsy Rock and ROLL throughout the USA and the
world. The band’s energy and intensity is well exemplified by the heretofore
unreleased, vintage tracks contained on Powerful Stuff! A potent
mixture of roots rock, Americana, blues, and British influences, the album
primarily features the “original” Beatnecks: Wilder on lead vocals and guitar;
Donny “The Twangler” Roberts, guitar and vocals; Denny “Cletus” Blakely, bass
and vocals; and Jimmy Lester, drums.
Special
guests featured on these rare, unissued tracks include the legendary Al Kooper
on organ, acclaimed guitarist David Grissom (Joe Ely, John Mellencamp and
Storyville), and renowned bass player Willie Weeks (Eric Clapton, Gregg
Allman).
Webb
Wilder and the Beatnecks will perform at the official CD release party for Powerful
Stuff! on Sunday, April 29, starting at 7 PM at Nashville’s Exit/In, a venue
where several of the tracks on the new CD were originally recorded live in
1986. The current band lineup includes Webb Wilder – guitar, vocals; Jimmy
Lester – drums; Tom Comet – bass; and Bob Williams - guitar.
Powerful
Stuff!
presents timeless live and studio tracks produced by R.S. “Bobby” Field, a
founding member of The Beatnecks. Recorded between 1985 and 1993, the material
is split equally between original songs and distinctive cover renditions, all
of which inexplicably escaped release back in the day.
The
title track, “Powerful Stuff,” written by Field, is an unreleased Beatnecks
original that stayed in the can after The Fabulous Thunderbirds picked it up
and made it one of their biggest hits. Other original tunes appearing for
the first time include “New Day,” a prescient and timely composition by Webb
and Terry Anderson, and a popular concert favorite, “Animal Lover.” The band
adds its own distinctive flair to raucous covers of songs by Levi and the
Rockats, Sam and Dave, Johnny Paycheck, Little Richard, and Tina Turner.
“‘Lost
In The Shuffle,’ a tune on the new album, kind of suggests what happened to
those tracks,” said Wilder, who is thrilled to finally see them available for
his “loving public” and beyond. Compiled and remixed (where possible) by Wilder
and George “The Tone Chaperone” Bradfute at his Tone Chaparral studio in
Madison, Tennessee, Powerful Stuff! was culled from dozens of
recordings that had been carefully stored in a Nashville facility for over 30 years.
A
native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and a member of the Mississippi Music Hall
of Fame, Wilder and his friend since junior high, Bobby Field (producer for
several earlier records), crafted their signature brand of
"Mid-Atlantic" (British and American) rock and roll into their often
double-time tunes which separated Wilder’s music from the pack and boasted
classic influences from both sides of the pond. The band’s 1986 debut album, It
Came from Nashville, a brazenly rocking bar-band rave-up that’s also
available from Landslide Records, was recently named one of the top 50 all-time
best Southern Rock albums by Paste Magazine.
Webb
Wilder & The Beatnecks, Powerful Stuff! Track List
1)
Make That Move (S. Preston)
2) New Day (W. Wilder, T. Anderson)
3) No Great Shakes (R. Field, W. Wilder)
4) Lost In The Shuffle (R. Field, M. Smith)
5) Powerful Stuff (R. Field)
6) Ain’t That A Lot Of Love (H. Banks, W. Parker)
7) Wild About You Baby (B. Shad)
8) Animal Lover (R. Field)
9) Nutbush City Limits (T. Turner)
10) High Rollin’ (R. Field)
11) Catbird Seat (S. Forbert)
12) Hey Mae (D. Kershaw, R. Kershaw)
13) Revenooer Man (J. Paycheck)
14) Is This All There Is? (R. Field)
15} Dead and Starting To Cool (R. Field)
16) Lucille (R. Penniman, A. Collins)
Tracks
1-3 recorded at Sanctuary Sound, Nashville, July, 1993, Produced by Mike
Musmanno and Webb Wilder
Track
4 recorded at Sixteenth Avenue Sound, Nashville, March, 1991, Produced by R. S.
Field
Track
5 recorded live at Mountain Stage, Charleston, WV, May 15, 1988
Track
6 recorded at Nightingale Studios, Nashville, circa 1989, produced by R.S.
Field
Track
7 recorded live at 1313 Club, Charlotte, NC, September 18, 1991
Track
8 recorded at Treasure Isle Recorders, Nashville, March 10, 1988, produced by
R.S. Field
Tracks
9, 12, 13, 15, 16 recorded live at the Exit/In, Nashville, March 14, 1986 by
Johnny Rosen/Fanta Sound, produced by R.S. Field
Track
10 recorded at The Masters Touch, Nashville, 1985, produced by R. S. Field
Tracks
11, 14 recorded live at Oklahoma City Museum of Art, June 24, 1989
PERSONNEL:
Webb
Wilder – Lead Vocals, Guitars
Jimmy Lester – Drums (Tracks 1-9, 11-16)
Donny “The Twangler” Roberts – Guitar, Vocals (Tracks 1-3, 5-16)
Denny “Cletus” Blakely – Bass, Vocals (Tracks 5,8,9, 11-16)
Kelley Looney – Bass, (Tracks 1-3)
Rich Ruth – Bass (Track 7)
Billy Prince – Bass (Track 10)
R.S. Field – Drums (Track 10), Guitar (Track 4)
Scott Baggett – Bass (Track 4)
Al Kooper – Organ (Track 4)
Gary “El Bujo” Gazaway – Trumpet (Track 4)
Jim Hoke – Tenor and Baritone Sax (Tracks 4, 6)
Hugh Garraway – Sax (Track 6)
David Grissom – Guitar, Track 6)
Willie Weeks – Bass (Track 6)
Wally Wilson – Piano (Track 10)
