HeadCat Rocks with Walk the Walk...OR, How Strange Bedfellows Make Great Music

HeadCat promotional photo, courtesy of Danny B. Harvey

The music gods have been a benevolent lot this year. With rockabilly’s reigning queen, Wanda Jackson, popular Irish songbird Imelda May, and the venerable Brian Setzer among those who’ve released new discs--not to mention two Buddy Holly tribute albums and Jeff Beck’s 

rockabilly-infused homage to the grandfather of the electric guitar, Les Paul--fans of the genre have had plenty of reasons to pay their favorite music purveyor a visit.

Here’s another.

Walk the Walk…Talk the Talk is a feel-good, car windows down, crank-up-the-volume-to-eleven rocker. Steeped in rockabilly--the essence of rock and roll--and blues, Walk the Walk… is the latest offering from HeadCat, a most unlikely trio. Comprised of Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom, versatile guitar slinger and movie soundtrack composer Danny B. Harvey, and Lemmy Kilmister, lead vocalist of metal band Motorhead--yes, that Motorhead--HeadCat has taken its wealth of individual musical experiences and seamlessly meshed them into an album that’s a can’t miss. Harvey’s pedigree is well known in rockabilly circles: guitarist for The Rockats, a member--with HeadCat bandmate Slim Jim Phantom--of rockabilly supergroup 13 Cats, one-half of the acclaimed duo Lonesome Spurs…and that’s just a snapshot of Danny’s resume. Harvey’s fine guitarmanship is the perfect accompaniment to Phantom’s merciless beat and Lemmy Kilmister’s unique singing skills. Kilmister sounds as if his throat were laced with gravel, his voice rough, yet startlingly soulful. 

Unlikely? Yes. Surprisingly good? Definitely.

A follow-up to the Buddy Holly covers-heavy Fool’s Paradise, Walk the Walk…Talk the Talk continues the HeadCat tradition of making what was once old new again. Interspersed with rockin’ takes on Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, and The Beatles is a smattering of HeadCat originals. The album kicks off with “American Beat”, an infectious HeadCat compilation that’s one of the record’s shining stars. Slim Jim Phantom’s driving drumbeat sets the tone for this toe tapper, while Danny B. Harvey pulls double duty, adding a jangling piano line to his usual top-notch guitar work. If “American Beat” doesn’t cause your fingers to snap or your body to sway, then you don’t have a rock and roll heart.

Fiery versions of Gene Vincent’s “Say Mama” and Chuck Berry’s “Let It Rock” are sandwiched amongst a rowdy version of the Eddie Cochran standard, “Something Else”, and the Webb Pierce/Mel Tillis-penned “I Ain’t Never”. Although initially a country number, “I Ain’t Never” is one of those songs that has bridged the musical divide. Co-writer Tillis, country sweetheart Patsy Cline, and rock and roller Dave Edmunds are just a few of the artists to have recorded the tune. HeadCat eases their usual frenetic tempo just a notch, making this version of the song a nice addition to the album.

HeadCat also gives the re-do treatment to the Johnny Kidd & The Pirates classic, “Shakin’ All Over”. Harvey’s blistering guitar and Lemmy’s rocky voice lend the number just enough raunch to nag at your conscience.

“The Eagle Flies on Friday”, another original, is an example of what HeadCat is capable of. The song begins like a slow burn: Slim Jim’s subtle percussion supplementing Kilmister’s soft crooning, before crescendoing into a blast of bluesy guitar riffs from Danny. From opening lyric--“Well, if you wanna see the

reason why all the world is crying out…”--to closing note, “The Eagle Flies on Friday” is spot on.

A pair of lesser known Beatles tunes, “Bad Boy” and “You Can’t Do That”, are unexpectedly good vehicles for Lemmy’s distinctive tone. You may not think that a man synonymous with the metal subculture of rock and roll could sing a Beatles song…rather, sing one well. You’d be wrong. The former is an almost whimsical tale of a ne’er do well transplant to the neighborhood; the latter, one of the record’s best tracks.

Blues legend Robert Johnson may have relinquished his soul to the devil in exchange for improved guitar prowess--or so the Johnson mythology tells us--but the devil apparently saw fit to bestow his influence upon HeadCat’s rollicking version of “Crossroads”, the album’s closer. More similar in style to Eric Clapton’s rendition than to Johnson’s original “Cross Road Blues”, HeadCat spins the song into a tornado of raucous guitar, thumping bass, and pounding drums. Wanna know why Danny B. Harvey is such a respected member of guitar player society? Take a listen to “Crossroads”. You’ll hear the answer.

In an era when rock and roll has seemingly morphed into an overly-mixed, corporate influenced, focus 
group-approved bland stew, it’s a relief to know that HeadCat is around to keep roots-based rock alive and thriving. “When the three of us play rock ‘n’ roll songs, it’s completely different from any of our other bands,” Danny B. Harvey told me in a 2008 interview for Blue Suede News magazine (available at http://www.bluesuedenews.com/84cover.html). “It’s always a pleasure to be on stage with those two [Lemmy Kilmister and Slim Jim Phantom] and look around and see us all excited about the music we’re making.”

With Walk the Walk…Talk the Talk, it shows.