Keb Darge and Cut Chemist Present: Lost and Found: Rockabilly and Jump Blues

Once upon a time there was a goat, and that goat needed to sleep, and thus was born rock-a-billy!… no, scrap that. Once upon a time there were hillbillies, and them there hillbillies had guitars, pianos, drums and horns and an irrepressible urge to party. Thus rock-a-billy was born. Yeah, much better.

BBE is proud to present the first of Keb Darge’s installments in the Lost and Found series (he is already working on a forthcoming episode with a certain Paul Weller, so watch this space!). Here, he teams up with his friend and fellow crate digger Cut Chemist to present to you a high-octane selection of old and new rockabilly gems.

Yes, you read that right: Keb Darge, the ultimate purveyor of funk, teams up with Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow’s partner in crime and the man behind the übercool hip-hop outfits Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli, to showcase, celebrate, and – let’s not be coy about this – show off their slabs of rockabilly gold.

Strange choice you may think. Not so. Rockabilly has earned its place in the history books as the first form of modern popular music, and both the playful hip-hop breaks and filthy funk selections these two vinyl dons have gotten us used to owe plenty to the driving, unpretentious sounds of the Deep South.

So here it is. Lost and Found Rockabilly: a selection of rare and obscure yet totally accessible hillbilly naughtiness, unearthed for your aural pleasure by two masters of their craft. Dance or be damned.

Cut Chemist wrote:
When I was creating my solo album for Warner Brother, I tried to explore new genres of music. Keb Darge was kind enough to introduce me to a handful of rockabilly and blues songs. I remember “Ramble” by John Lee Hooker and “long blonde hair” by Johnny Powers. This quickly became an all time favourite of mine, it has qualities of jazz in it’s arrangement as the last measure of the chorus misses the four count. This is my kind of behaviour.
The Phantom “Love Me” is another personal favourite, distorted, dirty, raw, abrasive… everything I love about garage and psych can be heard here.
No time to look back when hearing this one as the phantom screams “Let’s Go!” Amazing how he spent 3 months getting this sound as it sounds so impetuous.
If anyone knows how I experiment with sounds then you’ll have no question why I put Link Wray in my selection. He’s one of my favourite artists of this genre. Some say he is actually the link from rockabilly to garage and psych. This could be because he created distorted fuzz by playing through an amp with a torn speaker. God bless him.
Why did I choose “Run, Chicken Run”? Because it clears the dancefloor like roaches scurrying when the lights come on. Play this one loud!!!
Oh, and the rest of my selections are good too. Enjoy!