| The Good, The Bad and The Bandido, Carlos & The Bandidos Bandido-A-Go-Go (The Best Of), Carlos & The Bandidos Part Records, Part-CD 655.002/655.003
Carlos & The Bandidios, formed in 1995 by Carlos Mejuto and Malcolm Chapman. They come from London, England, although they look as if they come from Mexico. Well, I think that everybody who loves Rock-n-Roll know who Carlos & The Bandidos are. You can read their full history here. I will go back a few years, and talk about two albums, both from 2008. Carlos & The Bandidos has played at High Rockabilly this year, 2010, so I thought it's time to put them in the spotlights. Of course I would have seen them if I was there, but again I did not go to Spain. I don't know if I can say this, but check out YouTube and look for Carlos at High Rockabilly, it looks like Great Fun! Okay, let's start with The Good, The Bad and The Bandido. This is album number five, after six years finally a new CD. Carlos and friends are also known for their different styles, such as Western, Rockabilly, Mambo, Jive and a mix of all that. They play it all with a Mexican attitude, straight forward without compromises. This CD is one with a few highlights, it contains 16 tracks, and I will tell you which of them come out of the shade. It begins with the opener: You're Gone Gone Gone, this is pure Rockabilly as it should be, great drums and a very steady bass. My Baby Thinks She's A Train, a western-swing song that you wouldn't expect here, the same for The Vanishing Race, very Indian melody, nice though. A very Mexican Western balad is The Alibi, trumpets give a sad swing to the song, you'll almost start to cry by hearing the lyrics. The Devils Slate is a great bopper, Miserlou make's you think of Franky Laine in his good ol' days. You have noticed, I went back and forth through this album, hoping to find a real highlight, for me that's the opening track. The rest is more melodius, tells a story with good music. Still not a bad album. Over to the next album: Bandido-A-Go-Go, this is The Best Of Carlos & The Bandidos. It is a compilation of their first two CD's and the last one, from 1995 until 2008. Songs from the CD A Fist Full Of Carlos you're not going to find here, because that's from another label. This album has 28 tracks on it, so you have one hour and almost twenty minutes of history of Carlos & The Bandidos! All their great songs are here, selfpenned stuff as well as covers. Covers from Carlos & The Bandidos are not just covers, these are almost new arrangements. Nice examples are Fever, Unchain My Heart, both uptempo Rockabilly or Adelita, a Trini Lopez song, sang in Spanish. Boppers, Strollers, Rockabilly, Balads or Mambo: Jockey Full Of Bourbon from Tom Waits, the Bandidos do it all! What must be said is that there are six bonus tracks on this album: an alternative track of Jukebox Rock with vocals by Boz Boorer, Temptation in a new version, You're Crazy with saxophone of Li'l Lisa, Miserlou in an alternative English/Spanish version, with great trumpets. Real new bonus tracks are Little Baby Doll, written by Chapman and Mejuto, and a Johnny Burnette song We're Gonna Rock Tonight. Is it really The Best Of? I don't know, because not all of their songs are thrown together, but I may say, it's a good album. Tracklisting: The Good, The Bad And The Bandido Tracklisting: Bandido-A-Go-Go/The Best of Carlos & The Bandidos are: Information: Part Records Reviewed by Rockin' Kees, 2010 |
