Billy Adams & the New Rock-A-Teers
Hemsby, Norfolk, England - 4. oktober 2002
Hemsby, Norfolk, England - 4. oktober 2002
 Billy Adams and the New Rock-A-Teers backstage at Hemsby. Fra venstre: Bobby Smith - bass, Billy Adams, Clif Doyal - trommer og Dave Moore - gitar. Foto: Redbush Classics Records |
Media hype aside though, after waiting for this moment for many years, Adams kept the focus on the music, and he came with his band from the U.S. all set to deliver the goods to what some critics have called "the toughest Rock 'n' Roll crowd on the planet," and deliver he did. That night, Adams started the show with what is becoming his signature opener, "Rockabilly Rock It" and instantly got the crowd on his side. Continuing right along, he rocked thru his repertoire of rockabilly sides, and brought an uproar of approval from the crowd when he nailed a rendition of his "Return of the All American Boy" from 1959. Continuing the musical journey through his recorded history, he called up sax and keyboard men to support sounds from his early 60's belter, "Darlin' Take My Hand" and the Antoine "Fats" Domino inspired, "Blue Eyed Ella." However, the real showstopper came when Adams brought out his legendary lard bucket lid and played it during "Mama Don't Allow," and the hard-pounding rhythms from the amplified lid drove the crowd into a wild frenzy. Just when the huge gathering thought that they had seen everything he possessed in his bag of tricks, Adams then introduced Wayne Hopkins, noted Hemsby perennial upright bass man, who joined Rock-A-Teers upright player Bobby Smith, in a recreation of Adams double attack 50's line-up of two basses playing at once (historians say that he was the only band of the era to perform that way). In fast succession, he poured out his 1998 Sun session Legacy cuts, "Rockabilly Special," and the edgy "Hey Jesus" before closing out the set like the roar of a bass 'n' drum-driven freight train, on his previously unheard song, "Hot Dog, I'm A Real Cool Cat." Then Adams waved, and left the stage. But it was only momentarily, as the crowd screamed for more, until he and the band came back for two encores, "True Love Will Come Your Way," from his 1958 Dot Records release, and he closed the show with the one that they had all been waiting forâ?|the big-bang that started Adams' career, his first record, "Rock, Pretty Mama."
After the show, Adams was joined backstage by many well-wishers, including Hemsby promoter, Willie Jeffery who was heard congratulating him with the words: "That show was brilliant manâ?|.spot-on perfect!!!" Jack Earls, a Sun-era artist who was also on the festival, yelled out to Adams, "Man, you better keep your bags packedâ?|you'll be coming back to Europe soon." Other luminaries, including Sam Szczepanski, of Sanctuary Records (who came from London to attend the show), posed for pictures with the man-of-the-hour and his band, and gave kudos all around. Cameras flashed as Adams was quickly ushered into a several hour autograph session with a waiting line of fans, and he stayed until the last person was greeted. Pretty heady stuff for his first appearance outside of the USA, but he came prepared, and he surely put to rest any rumors that he was deadâ?|for good. No proper dead man rocks like Billy Adams!
Clif Doyal - manager for Billy Adams