Crazy Times! – GENE VINCENT***

Crazy Times/She She Little Sheila/Darlene/Everybody’s Got A Date But Me/Why Don’t You People Learn To Drive/Green Back Dollar/Big Fat Saturday Night/Mitchiko From Tokyo/Hot Dollar/Accentuate The Positive/Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain/Pretty Pearly

One of the kings of rockabilly Gene Vincent was noted for his wild stage act. By the early 1960s he had begun to fade in his native USA but he still retained a loyal following in Britain. His only UK album chart success came with Crazy Times. (UK:12)

“Known for his black leather image, hell-raising lifestyle and the sheer brilliance of his wild stage act, Gene Vincent became the best rockabilly vocalist of the 1950s.”

“I absolutely love Gene's voice no end. Although there are no major hits here there is plenty of great and ageless music. One must listen a few times. It's great stuff but differs some from his earlier discs. Not as gutsy as his first two albums, but with great musicianship and interplay with piano, sax and background vocalists. Give it some time and plenty of spins. You'll be glad you did.”

“Gene stretches beyond the narrow confines of rockabilly. It's a nice mixture of novelty tunes, rockers and ballads which should please any fan.”

“Less than stellar production aside, there are some gorgeous gems highlighting Vincent's vocal talents. It doesn’t approach the raw energy of earlier material. Overall, this LP is more pop, more controlled, yet still helping define rock 'n' roll.”

“Gene Vincent, rock's original bad boy, and The Blue Caps, a band that was arguably the toughest and most cohesive rock outfit of their day. Unlike some of his earlier albums, there's little throwaway period filler here; the occasional pre-rock pop standard like Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive notwithstanding, most of the songs are flat-out rockers. As usual, Vincent and band throw themselves into the material with an almost feral energy, and when the songs are good, the results are transcendent.”

“If you like Gene Vincent, then you can't go wrong with this. This is full of his echoed, hiccupped vocals. He turns standards like Johnny Mercer's Accentuate The Positive into swingin' rockabilly bebop. If you like him, you'll love this, and since all his recordings feature the great backup band The Blue Caps, all the stuff he recorded with them is excellent. Great rockabilly that swings as much as it rocks.”