"A pivotal figure on the northern soul scene in the 1980s who went on to coin a new genre and spearhead a worldwide collecting/ DJing scene with the launch of his Deep Funk club in the early 90s, Keb Darge’s knack for tapping into the right thing at the right time shows no signs of slowing as BBE issues his compilation of rockabilly and jump blues just in time for the current resurgence in the 50s rockin’ scene. Just as Deep Funk before it, the Lost & Found club – on which this collection is based - began on a Sunday night, drawing in moderate but passionate crowds for a then pretty unique mixture of rock n’ roll, ska, R&B and northern soul. Nowadays, Lost & Found has taken its rightful place on the Saturday night at London club Madame JoJos and pulls in as large a weekly crowd as Deep Funk continues to do on the preceding evening. For this compilation Darge enlists the help of record collector extraordinaire and sometime hip- hop DJ and producer Cut Chemist. Spread across two CDs, both sets break the sound in easily with some strikingly accessible jump blues sides before settling into more straight up rockin’ gear. For those with a background in soul, funk and black music in general, rockabilly might seem a million miles away but it would be hard for even the most casual digger to deny the power and timeless appeal of Jesse Powell and Fluffy Turner’s ‘Walkin Blues’. Honest, direct and experimental in equal measure, these early 50s recordings are the very roots of modern pop/rock and soul music - the synthesis of rhythm & blues which informed all modern music thereafter. And whilst the colour divisions between the black and white sounds of that decade might seem stark initially, they’re quickly blurred on hearing both the stomping black rock and roll of McKinley Mitchell’s ‘Rock Everybody Rock’ and John Fred & The Playboys’ raucous blue-eyed cover of the seminal John Lee Hooker side ‘Boogie Children’. Elsewhere, Johnny Burnette’s barnstorming ‘Rock Billy Boogie’ and Wayne Walker’s country- inflected upright bass-driven ‘All I Can Do Is Cry’ should find more converts to the rockin’ sound. The 50s were a hugely important musical era, often overshadowed by the perfected pop and soul sounds of the 60s. But this was a decade of real and dynamic experimentation, wherein lies the formation of youth culture and modern music in general. Whilst young fashionistas fall over each other to appropriate a vintage 50s look, this CD offers a musical education to the newly acquainted whilst offering a solid set for the more seasoned rocker. " - Spine Magazine, 18 September 2007
