An explosion that burned brightly but briefly…
Topped the chart:
6th March 1960 (for 1 week)
1 week total
“We don’t know, it may be next week, it may be two or three years…but I think we’ll be in the business either up there or down there for at least another four years.” – George Harrison, BBC interview, August 1963.
Rock n roll was never really built to last. Very few true rockers from the 1950s had careers into the follow decade—most were either has-beens (Bill Haley, the second people saw him performing live), abandoned their signature sound almost as quickly as they’d created it (Elvis, Tommy Steele) or, in some cases, were no longer with us. Even those that did continue to tour and make records ended up pale imitations- some in the church, some hitting number one with My Ding-A-Ling.
Only a few stayed true to the backbeat, the noise and the rebellion of rock n roll, and one of those was Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon. If he’s remembered at all these days, is lumped in with the “pretty boys” of the era- the Gene Vincents, the Eddie Cochrans and their ilk. Ignoring the fact that Cannon made Frankie Valli look like Brad Pitt, he had a niche of his own that, although only very briefly finding its way to the top, he deserves his place as the final original rock n roller.
As the title of his only UK number one album (in fact, his only album to chart), Freddy Cannon was LOUD, even though it may not have the same impact these days. Prior to the 1970s, it was very difficult to turn bass sounds up on records due to concerns at making the needle jump so, while the volume may be a little trebly these days, the snare crack, booming bass drum and scream of his vocals would only have been matched by the terror of Jerry Lee Lewis on release in 1960.
Born just five miles outside Boston, Cannon is that city’s accent made flesh—big, bold, brash and only occasionally in tune. But while he may find bum notes from time to time, he more than makes up for it in sheer force, with a crack squad backing him. In terms of set up, Cannon’s band isn’t a million miles away from the team behind Bill Haley, but there’s a looseness and freedom to the music that the Comets could only dream of. Every song here features that skin-cracking snare as part of the backbeat, propulsive, striding basslines supporting the likes of Kansas City and Way Down Yonder in New Orleans. Most impressive though are the hot horns and relentless pianos that feature throughout: the former shriek and tear through the wax on the likes of California Here I Come and Sweet Georgia Brown; while the piano runs on St Louis Blues and Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy among others borrow their style from Little Richard and the aforementioned Lee Lewis.
These stand out performances are welcome on a record that, underneath the flash and style, can occasionally start to feel a little samey even over 29 short minutes. Most of the songs carry the traditional 12-bar blues style that throw back to rock n roll’s roots, with a directness and lack of songwriting pretention that nods liberally to his Cannon’s hero, Chuck Berry. This is especially true on California Here I Come- it’s not hard to imagine Berry duck-walking onto the stage in the middle of a performance.
The fact that each track on The Explosive… features a different US location in its title points to the restlessness of the record, always keen to gallop to the end of the song to get you into the next one. As a result, one can feel a step or two behind what’s going on, and there’s very little light and shade here. Crucially, on the occasions when the backing drops lower in the mix (Sweet Georgia Brown), Cannon’s vocal ability feels exposed. Despite that, Cannon stands as a brash, charismatic powerhouse, the album’s best two songs are its hit singles Way Down Yonder in New Orleans and the absolute barnstormer Tallahassee Lassie, which brings the record together with a hot live feel and Cannon’s most powerful, immediate vocal.
Cannon would have one more hit on the singles chart with the shinier, amusement-themed novelty Palisades Park two years later, but that would prove to be his final US top 10 and UK top 20 hit before he dropped onto the retro scene and slowly into obscurity. It’s a shame that he wasn’t one of those celebrated by the punks in the late-70s, as their ethos of getting up and making some noise over actual ability suits Cannon down to the ground. Freddy Cannon deserved to fire more than he did.
Score: 7/10
Tracklisting:
1. Boston (My Home Town)
2. Kansas City
3. Sweet Georgia Brown
4. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
5. St Louis Blues
6. Indiana
7. Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy
8. Deep in the Heart of Texas
9. California Here I Come
10. Okefenokee
11. Carolina in the Morning
12. Tallahassee Lassie
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