El Watusi
Watermelon Man
Smash Records SRS 67036
1963
From Billboard, July 20, 1963: Bill Justis has jumped on a flock of recent top hits here and has given them swinging renditions very much in the manner of the original waxwings. Teens should dig the Justis-styled recordings of Tamure (that's how Billboard spelled the track title), Pipeline, Hot Pastrami, Watermelon Man, Gravy Waltz and Wiggle Wobble.
This album seems to takes its' cue from other "discotheque" LPs on the market at the time. So, the song approaches are varied but good space age fair.
Unfortunately, Bill Justis is pretty much forgotten today. He didn't start out as a Rock & Roll man, but when he found out how much money there was to be made in the genre, he bought a bunch of albums and mastered the craft. He left a HUGE impact on popular music, either writing or recording covers of tons of songs. He was also an arranger, manager and producer, running the PLAY ME label for a few years after a falling out with Sam Phillips.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to find many of his early 1960s albums (thanks, eBay!) but "The Red Album," 'Bill Justis Plays 12 Top Tunes ' continues to elude me. It's my white whale this month!
There is another instrumental version of Hot Pastrami, it has a heavy accent on the guitar, could you help me?
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