|
Post by fogcitygal on Aug 4, 2004 0:29:43 GMT -5
From Billboard.com: "Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss and Lee Greenwood are among the guests contributing vocals to "Rock 'n Polka," the forthcoming album by polka king Jimmy Sturr. Due Sept. 14 from Rounder, the set features covers of rock'n'roll classics such as the Coasters' "Charlie Brown," the Everly Brothers' "Bye Bye Love," the Beach Boys' "Fun Fun Fun" and the Elvis Presley-popularized "Don't Be Cruel." Other favorites given the polka treatment on the 13-track disc include Bobby Darin's "Splish Splash" and "Dream Lover," and Del Shannon's "The Wanderer." A cover of Duane Eddy's "Rebel Rouser," a No. 6 Billboard pop hit in 1958, features the guitar great himself. Doo-wop group Larry Chance & the Earls and progressive bluegrass act Blue Highway are guest on the album."
|
|
|
Post by fogcitygal on Aug 26, 2004 0:48:59 GMT -5
HERE'S THE DETAILS ON THIS UPCOMING ALBUM. THEY SAY ALISON DOES A "YEARNING TAKE" ON `DREAM LOVER'! ;D ---------------------------------------- Polka star puts the squeeze on early rock By DAVE TIANEN
Great balls of keeshka. Who put the oom-pah-pah in the rama-lama-ding-dong?
That would be Jimmy Sturr.
Far and away the biggest star in polka music, Sturr all but owns the Grammy for best polka album: He's won it 14 times. But he has also sought to expand the boundaries of the music, recording with such diverse artists as Arlo Guthrie, Willie Nelson, Boots Randolph, the Oak Ridge Boys and Bela Fleck.
On his forthcoming album, Sturr kicks the boundaries once again with "Rock 'N Polka," a collection of 13 first-generation rock tunes squeezed through an accordion. The tune list includes Bobby Darin's "Splish Splash," the Coaster's "Charlie Brown," the Beach Boys' "Fun, Fun, Fun," Rick Nelson's "Hello Mary Lou" and Elvis' "Don't Be Cruel."
"Rock 'N Polka" also boosts a series of high-profile guests. Willie Nelson sings "Bye Bye Love," "Singin' the Blues" and "Since I Met You Baby." Alison Krauss offers a yearning take on "Dream Lover," Lee Greenwood reworks "Personality," and Duane Eddy revisits his own breakout hit "Rebel Rouser."
Although he's recorded more than 100 albums, including polka country and polka disco collections, Sturr had never delved too much into malt shop-era rock.
"I just wanted to do something different," he says. "You know, we always have the traditional polka, but I wanted to gain a broader audience. . . .
"Don't get me wrong. I like traditional polka music. Rounder records actually came up with the idea. They said, 'Let's try this and gain a broader audience.' The people now of the age that would like polkas, they grew up during that era."
It's in the rhythm Given the antipathy with which the "Beer Barrel Polka" contingent and the "Jailhouse Rock" partisans once regarded each other, the entire project has more than a little irony. That obviously doesn't deter Sturr.
"Maybe the polka people didn't like rock 'n' roll, just like today, the rock 'n' roll people possibly don't like polka. But there's so many of those same ones - especially the younger people - that love the polkas, but they're afraid to admit to their friends because they think people will make fun of them. It's not hip."
Finding the latent polka soul in a classic rock tune is largely an issue of rhythm.
"It has to be that tempo, which is a polka tempo. It has to be what they call two/four time," Sturr says. "That's what's difficult. You can not deviate. Rock 'n' roll music, it can be fast, it can be slow, it can be three/four, it can be jazzed up, but it can't be polka unless it's near that two/four tempo. When I picked these songs, that's what I had to think about."
Some great tunes couldn't be squeezed into a squeeze box.
"I could not get Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode.' I couldn't feel that as a polka. It's too fast to be a polka. 'Roll Over Beethoven' might work, or 'Great Balls of Fire.' "
Willie's everywhere Unlike many artists, Sturr really puts his guest artists to work. Krauss sings the lead for "Dream Lover," Eddy re-creates his famous riffs for "Rebel Rouser," and Willie Nelson is all over the disc. The Sturr/Nelson marriage makes a little more sense if you know that Willie's first band gig was John Raycjeck's Bohemian Polka Band.
"I read Willie Nelson's book, and in the first chapter, almost the first page, he says he started out in a polka band. That's where I got the idea. I thought, 'Gee, wouldn't it be great if I could get him to record with us?' All of a sudden, one day we get the opportunity to perform with him. I went up and I asked him, and he said, 'Well, ah'd like to do that.'
"This is actually our third album, and since that time I've become close friends with Willie."
Although "Rock 'N Polka" isn't due for release until Sept. 14, Rounder already is starting to talk about a sequel, and Sturr is thinking of possible tunes.
"You know who else we missed on this? The Beatles . . . 'Hard Day's Night,' 'Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da.' Those kind of things. 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.' 'Can't Buy Me Love' might work. 'Rock Around the Clock' probably could work. I've got to sit down and listen to some of these. As a waltz - 'In the Still of a the Night.' "
And guests?
"Jimmy Buffett," Sturr says. "That might be one guy. I've always been a big fan. Maybe Wayne Newton, not that he still has a great, great voice, but he has such charisma. He might be a good one."
|
|