Viva Las Vegas #22 Part two

Saturday at Viva Las Vegas is Car Show day where dozens of hot rods and custom cars gather on the back lot of the Orleans Hotel with their proud owners. There is also live music, the first of which, featuring Linda Gail Lewis, with daughter Annie-Marie and Eddie Angel guesting on guitar as well as Danny B Harvey, was terrific. I've rarely seen her in such exciting form. Beginning with 'Boogie Woogie Country Girl' she rocked through favourites like 'Shake Rattle and Roll', 'Blue Suede Shoes' and 'Roll Over Beethoven' while Annie-Marie contributed 'Hot Rod Girl' and 'Should I Ever Love Again'. Linda continued with the aptly titled 'Sister of a Hell Raiser' before going through the Jerry Lee songbook with 'High School Confidential', 'Whole Lotta Shakin'' and 'Great Balls of Fire' and ending with 'Johnny B Goode'. Familiar material but expertly performed and a great set. Next up were The Coasters, featuring 86 year old original member Leon Hughes, who were filling in for Freddie Cannon, who in turn was due to replace Wanda Jackson, both of whom have seemingly retired for health reasons. Sadly the sound was poor on a batch of their hits including 'Poison Ivy'  'Young Blood', 'Charlie Brown' and 'Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart'. The guys then apparently forgot which group they were in by veering off into a medley of Drifters songs and went even further off topic with 'Sixteen Tons' and 'The Twist'. They finished with 'Love Potion No 9', Searchin' and 'Yakety Yak' but this was a disappointing set. The other acts at the Car Show, local favourites the Delta Bombers and the Rev Horton Heat, didn't appeal so we checked out Joey and the Showmen at the Pool Party. They are a good surf guitar group from LA with links to Dick Dale and the Deltones.
Most interesting act in the evening session was fifties rockabilly singer Sid King, a man who had rather less success than he deserved. Now 83 he looks younger and remains in good shape vocally. His full set comprised many of the songs he recorded back in the day, including 'Good Rocking Baby', 'Let Her Roll', Sag Drag and Fall', 'Booger Red', 'Shake That Shack Tonight' and 'I Like It' plus a couple of well known songs that he also recorded back in 1956 - 'Ooby Dooby' and 'Blue Suede Shoes'. His face was deadpan throughout but the singing spoke for itself and this was a good set. Earlier in the evening I caught a bit of Anita O'Night, from Barcelona, and Dutch band the Barnstompers, both of whom were pretty good, but the highlight were the Moontones, with singer Shannon Mac and a great horn section, who set the Bailiwick stage alight with songs such as 'Ding Dong Daddy' and 'Buzz Buzz Buzz'. Also good were the Rockin' Rebels which featured an eccentric stand up drummer and some good sax playing. The evening finished with Deke Dickerson's Guitar Geek Show which featured one or two numbers by various guitarists including Jim Heath and Los Straitjackets and his own new band the Whippersnappers. In some ways the real stars of the evening were the females in the crowd, many of whom dressed in long gowns in the style of 1950s Princess Margaret or exotic and revealing dresses with expertly applied make up.
On the final day John Howard and I, together with John's friend Russ Martin, kept up the tradition of heading out to Red Rock Canyon. This time, however, we didn't eat at Bonnie Springs as it has apparently closed down so went record hunting in the Arts District instead. The final evening at VLV began with a Stars of Rock and Roll segment which was shorter than usual and less satisfying. Essex's own Rod Glazebrook did a couple of numbers ahead of his main set, before Big Sandy introduced Hal 'Holiday' Schneider, a name new to me. Turns out he had a one off Christmas hit in 1960 as the Joker in Three Aces and a Joker, from Salt Lake City. Looking rather scruffy in a t shirt and baseball cap the 80 year old sang both sides of his hit, 'Sleigh Bell Rock' and 'Booze Party'. And that was it for his mini set. Next up were The Medallions,  a doowop group from LA featuring lead singer Billy Foster. They were very slick on their mostly car themed records, including 'Speeding, 'Volvo '59' and 'Buick '59', plus 'Magic Mountain' and 'Behind The Door'. Following them were The Majors, who proved to be a major disappointment. Only one of their numbers - 'A Wonderful Dream' - was one of their own songs, the others all being covers including 'Rockin' Robin', 'Zing and, after a couple of false starts, 'Book of Love'.
Chris Casello, former guitarist with Jack Scott was next on in the Bienville Room and I caught the last part of his set. Very strange it was too despite his obvious guitar artistry. After literally 'talking' through his guitar, he finished instrumentally with 'Spanish Flea', 'Classical Gas', a Magic Sam blues number and his own 'X-ray Man'.
Biggest hit of the night and indeed the whole weekend was Sy Cranstoun who played to a packed main hall and proved yet again what a dynamic showman he is, as well as a good singer. Numbers included 'Coupe De Ville', 'Ella Hula Hula', 'Open Up Your Heart' and his biggest hit 'Dynamo'. After a 'Shake  and twist' number he ended with a duet on 'You Got What It Takes. Judging by the reception he got, with many attempting to dance in the busy ballroom, he certainly has what it takes for the VLV audience. Excellent stuff.
Last year Chris Casello introduced a good looking songstress called Tammi Savoy. This year she deservedly got her own set and showed that she has poise and a decent voice in addition to her beauty. Songs included 'This Little Girl's Gone Rocking', 'I've Got It Bad and 'Them There Eyes' . I'm not sure Chris's intricate and at times intrusive guitar work suited her act and personally I would like to see her with a full band, but she comes across as a latter day Ruth Brown and has real potential. Other acts I caught during the evening were the Kingbees, a blues flavoured band, and Rod Glazebrook's House Rockers, whose rather sparsely attended set included 'You Shake Me', 'Red Cadillac and a Black Moustache', 'Dragging Main Street', 'Be Gone Long' and 'Two Left Feet, a song he said that had been inspired by a girl friend. By this time we were music'd out so missed Big Sandy's set, but this was a pretty good VLV, although probably my last. Now it's off to Arizona. More soon and photos when I get home.