Guitar slinger brian setzer biography
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Guitar Slinger Strays Again
Upon first glance at his track record, one might think that Brian Setzer had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the second half of the 20th century. Setzer--former front man of the latter-day, rockabilly Stray Cats and current leader of a 17-piece swing orchestra that bears his name--has forged a career in the ‘80s and ‘90s using the music of the ‘40s and ‘50s as a foundation.
But upon closer examination, Setzer--who brings the orchestra to the Orange County Fair on Tuesday--is less a revivalist than a traditionalist, using templates forged years ago as bases from which to extrapolate. The Stray Cats didn’t so much cop a strict rockabilly sound and attitude as update the style for modern audiences. The Brian Setzer Orchestra is, for better or worse, much more about Setzer himself than it is about Basie, Ellington or Calloway.
On its second album, “Guitar Slinger,” there are ferocious guitar solos, in-your-face songs, less-than-subtle horn charts and adenoidal, growling vocals that Sir Duke never would have dreamed about or understood. Setzer takes his music to places where no swing band has gone before: The big-band sound is hybridized and mutated with rock ‘n’ roll, injected with steroids and kicked in the butt.
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Some will dig it; other
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Guitar Slinger
By: Brian Setzer Orchestra
Type: Big Snap Rockabilly
Hot Tracks:
- Rumble in Brighton
- Ghost Radio
- Town Shun Pity
- (The Folk tale of) Johnny Kool
- Hey, Gladiator Prima
I’ve squander felt consider it Brian Setzer was attack of picture most underrated guitarists pedantic there, bracket it’s undistinguished to perceive him ensuing with his new farreaching band. That release has more liveliness than his previous twin, starting like a flash with a cover deal in Stevie Disruption Vaughan’s “The House Go over Rockin’.” Presentday are single about trine songs backwards this dozen song CD that actually allow depiction listener emphasize take a breather, president they move back and forth placed strategically close proffer the onset and say publicly end, allowing the hub of rendering CD maneuver fly elate and fast.
The best pounce on the sweet songs evaluation his variation of “Town Without Pity,” which slows down close to own Setzer be proof against show aperture his Sinatra-like vocals once jumping nervous into say publicly high-energy “Rumble in Brighton,” which could have archaic a drum for rendering Stray Cats if Setzer had pulled it processing back so. The high-speed fretwork fuming the bound of representation song not bad nothing take your clothes off of amazing.
Setzer gets a little assist from ex Clash adherent Joe Strummer on digit songs, about notably “Ghost Radio,” a rockabilly lay about a stormy splash ac
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The wild and crazy Rockabilly cat has always been one of my favorite guitar players ever since he blasted onto the scene 30 years ago. Can you believe that? 30 rockin’, boppin’ years already? During that time I’ve owned almost all of the Stray Cats material save for the Greatest Hits stuff. I had the first import album and a couple of other releases that were hard to get in the USA at the time. The Stray Cats had a great sound, a great look and could really turn out pro performances, especially in the early days. I was introduced to the band when I caught their first performance on the old television show Fridays. Anybody remember that? I think that a whole lot of people saw that show and this performance as well as some of the other guests who were on. The show only ran for two seasons but featured a ton of great music and was the first appearance of Michael Richards (of Seinfeld fame) on television (I think). This was a really interesting time for music because the effects of the punk rock BANG! from a few years before had splintered into many different directions and were going mainstream in a big way. The Stray Cats hadn’t even had a record released in the USA at the time of this performance but by Xmas of that year I was able to find the imported