“Roots-rockers are seldom as purist as Dave Edmunds. Throughout his career, he stayed true to '50s and '60s rock & roll – for Edmunds, rock & roll history stopped somewhere in 1963, after the Beach Boys’ first singles but before the Beatles’ hits.”The above piece was taken from the allmusic.com site on the overview of the great artist, sorry rock & roller named Dave Edmunds. Cause rock & roll is no art, it’s more than this! Anyway, of course I have a boundless respect for the Beatles but as a music fan I’m more to Dave Edmunds side of things. And you know it’s cool to like better the Ronettes than the Beatles, right? Dave is an underappreciated guitarist. If you already witness Love Sculpture records’, you know what he was/is able to do with this weapon in his hands (“Sabre Dance” gives the boot to all the Claptons of this world). When the blues outfit of Sculpture called its quits, Dave on his small recording studio, launched a kind of successful career just by recording and playing all the instruments by himself, pickin’ almost entirely on ‘oldies’ covers. And what job he did! He was the ONLY ONE that tried and succeeded to re-create the unique sounds of Sun, Chess and Philles, a subject that MANY (if not all…) tried and of course FAILED! Don’t get wrong on him, he was no revivalist. At least in the way we all think of revivalists today. He was/is a PURE fan of the golden age of American rock & roll. I’m not sure what I like more on him, cause he was excellent bandleader just like he was the best maybe producer of the genre after Phil Spector. I never understood why the Stones never tried something with him behind the boards. Their sometime evil twin (the Flamin’ Groovies) got him to produce monsters, and “Shake Some Action” is (at least) a good example. Brian Wilson listening to an Edmunds recording said was “God behind the drums”! Really now, there are tons of things I could say ‘bout the brilliancy of Mr. Edmunds and I really don’t know where to start and where to finish. The Rockpile were probably the best pub rock band of the 70s and is a chapter that also needs further investigation for most of the rock & roll fans. This is a GREAT piece on Dave Edmunds by the mighty pen of Greg Shaw as it published with Bomp! Magazine back in Spring 1976. That’s essential reading and it’s truly a pity we don’t have today writers or musicians with a passion like theirs! Hope this excerpt is the start for all those never looked on Dave Edmunds brilliant career for both of his personas, musician & producer. As long as Dave’s still around, there’s hope for roots rock & roll to survive.
