Steeds vaker zie ik dat countryfestivals geopend worden met een Rock Night en daarom verdiend deze cd meer dan de nodige aandacht.

Shawn Harvey is geboren in Plymouth (England) en groeide op in Cornwall samen met de Rock’n Roll, Blues en Country . Hij is niet alleen een singer.songwriter maar ook een multimuzikant en producer. Ik zag hem live aan het werk tijdens de cd presentatie van Shannah waarvoor hij het nummer “Haystack Life” schreef, dat ook op deze cd terug te vinden is samen met nog 9 eigen songs. Met Albert Lee op de lead guitar kan je gerust stellen dat je de beste in huis hebt. Ongecompliceerde heerlijk Roch&Roll met een tintje Blues is wat je van deze cd mag verwachten.

Opener “I Drove Up In My Cadillac Car”en “ Whassa Matter With You” deden mij onbewust terugdenken aan de sound en de stem van Buddy Holly, al wil ik hier geen vergelijkingen gaan maken. , toch heb je vaak zoiets van een back in time gevoel zoals met “Baby I’m Gonna Leave You Soon” waar de blues van Gene Vincent zo vanaf straalt. Dit album swing zoveel is zeker en ook live haal je met Shawn Harvey een dynamische entertainer in huis, een man die de Rock&Roll van de Fifties en de Sixties helemaal uitstraalt Helemaal in contrast met de overige 9 nummers is de akoestische afsluiter “Without Your Love”. een nummer dat met veel gevoel gebracht word en een heel andere kant van Shawn laat zien.

Dit is zonder twijfel een album met topmuzikanten, geproduceerd door Boz Boorner & John David, het werd deels opgenomen in de Mill Hill Studios in Londen en de Berry Hill Studio in Gloucestershire.

Muzikanten zijn: Albert Lee (lead guitar),Shawn Harvey (vocals,rhythm guitar,acoustic guitar and lead guitar), Boz Boorer (acoustic guitar), Silke Harvey (bass guitar) Richard Blanchard (drums & piano)

Een stevige aanrader voor de liefhebbers van Rock’n Roll en the sound of the fifties

Info: www.shawnharvey.com

Data dodania: 02-05-2005

Shawn to w zasadzie prosty ch³opak – chcia³by mieæ w ¿yciu tylko Cadillaca, gitarê i fajn¹ dupê przy boku. Na pierwszy rzut oka widaæ, ¿e Cadillaca i gitarê ju¿ ma, wiêc dupy to ju¿ tylko formalnoœæ, chocia¿ nie by³bym do koñca pewien, czy Harvey ma czas na dupcenie, bo mimo niezbyt zaawansowanego wieku, dorobi³ siê ju¿ oko³o 450 autorskich kompozycji (od 1995 roku ten psychopata wyda³ ju¿ oko³o 30 wydawnictw), wiêc istnieje prawdopodobieñstwo, ¿e nigdy nie wyszed³ z domu. Sarkazm na bok, bo Shawn Harvey to powa¿na sprawa – ch³op ma chyba intencjê zostania drugim Setzerem, na to przynajmniej wskazywa³oby niesamowite zaanga¿owanie, z jakim brnie w muzyczny œwiat, a „In the hills” to dowód na to, ¿e wci¹¿ nie brakuje mu pomys³ów na kolejne rock’n’rollowe przeboje. Shawn lubi tytu³owaæ siê jako „rock’n’roll cyber boy”, co mo¿e brzmieæ nieco naiwnie, zwa¿ywszy, ¿e rock’n’roll to jednak mêska muzyka (w koñcu trzeba pary w rêkach ¿eby udŸwign¹æ kontrabas), chocia¿ przy s³uchaniu „In the hills” nachodzi mnie jednak myœl, ¿e faktycznie, rockabilly w wykonaniu Harveya jest doœæ „ch³opiêce” – delikatny g³os, lekka gra na gitarze, schowany gdzieœ z ty³u bas – wszystko to kreuje wizjê takiego relaksacyjnego rockabilly, o ile tak makabryczne okreœlenie mo¿e byæ przez kogokolwiek zaakceptowane. Zgrabna, aczkolwiek wyciszona pl¹tanina rockabilly, country i bluesa w wykonaniu Harveya z pewnoœci¹ nie nadaje siê do serwowania sobie ³okci pod scen¹, ale na pewno sprawdzi siê znakomicie na ckliwych potañcówkach, tudzie¿ przy patrzeniu swojej wybrance w oczy. Nie chcia³bym tu sugerowaæ, ¿e Harvey jest gejem, ja jedynie uwa¿am, ¿e jego muzyce brakuje jeszcze solidnego pazura, który poderwa³by mnie do góry, jak to robi chocia¿by wspomniany na pocz¹tku Brian Setzer. Nie znaczy to jednak, ¿e nie powrócê jeszcze wielokrotnie do „In the hills”. Kciuk w górê jest, ale piêœæ jeszcze nie. (Hellbastard)

Think rockabilly's dead and be proved wrong, as there's at least one young fella who's familiar with the magic of Barbarella to sing about her with a classic slap echo, equally classic rock 'n' roll set of lyrics and a classic "Brown Sugar" lead-in. Pitching himself sonewhere near Eddie Cochran, Plymouth's own Shawn Harvey sounds like he's having the time of his life. "I Drove Up In My Cadillac Car" gently pulls the listener in and takes him for a ride, so comfortable alongside Shawn's unpretentious, boy-next-door's vocals and scintillating guitar lines. Half of the tracks here are graced by the great Albert Lee's presence, which is rather shadowy as Harvey's competent at six-string end himself. When some blues shape up "Baby I'm Gonna Leave You Soon", they ram it all home, even though the prevailing boogie pace, most captivating in piano-driven "Howdy Judy", feels a tad tedious after a while. Fortunately, the album sounds a bit raw, and that's where its allure lies, in this authentic pre-Fabs rock. Missed that? Run in the hills, then, where a new hillbilly cat's playing.

****

Ruud Kuijpers, the singer of the Explosion Rockets has many contacts in the U.K. Rock 'n' Roll scene. One of his friends is the famous U.K. Rock 'n' Roll-singer SHAWN HARVEY. Ruud asked him for a performance during our fanmeeting.

The fans were very surprised to see this young U.K. singer
The Explosion Rockets accompanied Shawn.      
At first 3 songs written by Shawn and after that, 3 songs together with Ruud, viz.
LAWDY MISS CLAWDY
BABY LET'S PLAY HOUSE and
HONEY DON'T

                  

During the last song of the evening Shawn came back on stage for a duet with Ruud.
Together they sang, Johnny B. Good. The whole hall was completely overjoyed and the fans screamed: "we want more"

                     

We're all drooling over the Wild Wild Woman music video in my office, guys and gals alike. Shawn Harvey and that wild wild woman are sooooo hot and the song just won't get out of my head! Check it out for yourself, fellow rock 'n' roll fans, 'cos I don't think MTV will be be letting it get anywhere near our screens: http://www.mssvision.com/VOD/038.asp#SHWWW
- Love, Olga (aka The Shrink(W)rapper) xxxx

Shawn was born in Plymouth, UK on 2nd September 1971. He learned to play guitar age 13 on an old beaten up accoustic. Shawn recalls:" I replaced the nylon strings with steel ones for that authentic Rock'n'Roll sound, tuned it 2 octaves too high to match my young voice and wondered why the bridge ripped off! So I just nailed it back down with about 20 pannel pins and continued to abuse the poor instrument until I got my first decent tune out of it, a rather off-key version of Carl Perkins' 'Honey Don't'". Shawn learned totally by ear, never had a music lesson in his life and his earliest recordings were made in good old fashioned Rockabilly style in the bathroom because of the great accoustics on an old tape recorder. Appart from giving his parents bladder trouble by denying them access to the toilet for hours, he learned the basics of overdubbing by experimenting that way. "I was proud to have had 'invented' the process, until I found out years later that Les Paul had done it in 1954! - Ah well, we can't all be Rock'n'Roll geniuses!" laughs Shawn today. Over the years, Shawn rehearsed with quite a few guys and sang at every opportunity from holiday camps to the first ever audition for 'Stars In Their Eyes' in 1988. "I never realised that it was for impersonators only. I turned up with my old guitar and done my own version of an old Shaky song called 'I'm Lookin'. The producer was impressed enough to advise me to go out there and do my own thing, and I have done so ever since." In 1990, Shawn formed his first band with his wife Silke, who he had met at a concert in 1988 in Nottingham and who had been a pen pal since. The name was 'Ricky Fentone And The Flat Top Cats' which was taken from a line in the Little Richard classic 'Ready Teddy'. They played mainly Rock'n'Roll covers by Burnette, Cochran, Holly, Presley etc., but as the years went by, Shawn introduced more and more of his own material into the set. In 1995, the band, Shawn alias Ricky Fentone on vocals and guitar, Silke alias Little Lena on bass and Alan Nott alias Swingin' Chuck on drums, recorded their first of several albums all containing Shawn's original work only, called 'Night Of Passion'. It was sponsored by a £200 Princes Youth Business Trust test marketing grant and was recorded over 3 days at Meyday Music in Blackwood, Gwent, Wales, home of the Manic Street Preachers. "I recall a very brief meeting with the Manics in a studio in Mounmouthshire." says Shawn, "I turned up in a Rock'n'Roll car and they didn't say a lot." In 1996 came a second album 'Don't Knock Me, Don't Rock Me', recorded at the YMCA recording studio in Hirwaun, Wales, and in 1997 'Cadillac Man' and a Christmas EP called 'Rock'n'Rollin' Christmas', both recorded at the YMCA as well. 1997 was a busy year for the band with Shawn being interviewed on Valleys Radio and the band taking part in the yearly local carnival on the back of a massive articulated truck. They raised over £700 for the local Cancer Research Campaign that day and were made executive members of the Cancer Research Committee. They also launched their own fan club, and the rest of the year was spent fund raising, doing signings of their latest album etc. The end of 1997 also saw Shawn's first self produced album 'Ricky Rocks And Ricky Rolls' which was recorded at home on Shawn's reel to reel 4-tracker which he favours to this day to record demos and ideas on. The band also recorded several videos to various of the songs on the album in early 1998. In 1998, Shawn and Silke wrote a musical called 'Zog'. After listening to Earth's radio transmissions for the last 50 years or so, the Zoggians have developed their own futuristic Rock'n'Roll culture. Shawn and Silke are currently re-vamping the musical and updating the story line as they are planning to develop the musical into a computer game and a comic strip to make it more appealing to the younger generation of today. With so many song writing and recording projects on the go, Shawn decided to call the band a day in 1998 and concentrate on his song writing only for a while. He has recorded now over 300 songs in various stages from demos only to finished products, all in his unique style. He combines the sounds from the 50's to the 70's, which he loves, with modern beats and sounds to give his music a more up-to-date feel. He feels that he has developed a different sound and is confident that he can record Rock'n'Roll for the new millenium. Shawn has now moved back home to Cornwall after staying in Wales for several years. Now living in St. Austell, near his birth place Plymouth, Shawn is thinking about going back live, this time under his real name as a solo artist performing his own material to backing tracks which he has recorded himself. "I think it will be a good way of showcasing my material to the public and the music industry." Shawn has also established a solid web presence over the last year and has had a very good response. Signed up after only 2 weeks on-line by an american promoter and entering the charts on several of his mp3 sites regularly, he has attracted interest from several music industry links and radio stations around the world. With a bit of luck, a record deal will be just around the corner. Visit the site http://www.shawnharvey.com

Go to the official shawn harvey rock n roll cyber boy website

Wild Wild Woman & I Travelled Along
Shawn Harvey, UK singer/songwriter, has just released WILD WILD WOMAN on the Kissy Music label. The song will be available on all major MP3 download sites. It is released for the international Rock/Pop market

"An innovative explosion of Pop joy!" (Popshow, London).

Shawn, a talented singer, songwriter, guitarist, multi instrumentalist, producer and live performer, has written and recorded over 450 original works. Shawn's style is firmly based in Rock and Pop, yet fresh and exciting. It's new, it's old, it's ELECTRO RETRO! A mix of Rock'n'Roll, Dance, Rhythm'n'Blues, Rock and Techno, it goes down a storm wherever he plays in the UK and Europe.
His brand new single WILD WILD WOMAN has just been released by Kissy Music. It is available in selected Indie record stores in the UK and on-line.The song will be available on all major MP3 download sites and distributed through www.theorchard.com

Don't miss the sexy video featuring the delectable Valeria Dragova. You can see it on the net, but also watch out for it on UK satellite TV and internet TV world wide in the coming weeks. The B-side is 2151, a Cyber Rockabilly track. The CD single features the video, radio edit, DJ Funtana Oh Yeah Remix, original demo version and 2151. Only the radio edit and 2151 will be available for MP3 download.

WILD WILD WOMAN has hit the internet MP3 charts at No.2 in France and No.7 in USA. Find out more at www.shawnharvey.com

Whilst this release is targeted specifically at the Rock and Pop market, Shawn's I TRAVELLED ALONG, a melodic, catchy Country tune with a melancholic video reflecting the mood of the lyrics, and double A-side ANNA MARIE, an upbeat Rock'n'Roll number with a video to match is being targeted specifically at the Country market. It will be distributed through www.theorchard.com and available for download only on all major MP3 sites from early November.

All three videos can be viewed free of charge at:

Wild Wild Woman: www.mssvision.com/VOD/038.asp#SHWWW
I Travelled Along: www.mssvision.com/VOD/040.asp#SHITA
Anna Marie: www.mssvision.com/VOD/041.asp#SHAM

"Yeah, he's really something else. I like this Retro Rockabilly thang. And Mr. Harvey's got one big advantage. There'll be a whole lot of good material and others still have to invent it." (Jens Hausmann, Besonic)

"Like Rock'n'Roll? Or maybe Country, R'n'B or Soul? Or what about a combination of all four?" (West Briton, Cornwall)

"I've been showing your picture all week and the girls have been screaming, oh yes!" (Chris Young Show, Taunton TV)

A guaranteed good time 'till you drop" (Cynon Valley Leader, Wales

"A feeling like you just pulled out of a Bodmin roadside cafe in your MK1 Capri onto the A30 with your windows down and the wireless honking out a Teddyboy classic...it's Shawn Harvey, Rock'n'Roll rebel ready for download" (West Briton, Cornwall)

"Electro Retro is a brand new genre, it's got huge commercial possibilities, like it's own brand of merchandise" (Channel 4 TV Film Crew)

"This young man has what it takes to go all the way. He writes his own songs, records them and performs them as well, the industry is crying out for people like him." (Stairway To The Stars, Torquay)

An innovative explosion of Pop joy!" (Popshow, London)

"Wild Wild Woman" is a funky little song sample that is going to leave you wanting more! Well, you are in luck! Here's the music video: http://www.mssvision.com/VOD/038.asp#SHWW (Heather Leona, Besonic)

Oh Lord won?t you buy me a mercedes benz...", song for those and their gals...sounds like driving ?round in circles...but this song cut?s got style...listen! (Strehl Music, Besonic)