MUST HAVE SILVER JET AND SMILE

I had the player on shuffle the other day and had to stop for a second. I had completely forgotten how good Billy Zoom's cover of Ray Charles's "Hallelujah, I Love Her So" was. It doesn't deviate much from Eddie Cochran's version, which is why I was taken aback, because it's sooo close, you'd be tempted to think it was a live recording of Cochran's. It's that good.

Zoom, for you pea greens that don't know, was/is the guitarist for X, and even before that had some serious cred. He played for a brief period with Gene Vincent (shortly before Vincent passed away), and with Big Joe Turner and Etta James. Just a couple years before X, he recorded some really good stuff for Rollin' Rock (the same label mentioned a couple days ago in the Mac Curtis thing).

Zoom's day job: serious tube amp geek

The Zoom cuts below come from his web site, and, if you dig these, you should check it out. There's a few others, including a cover of Johnny Carroll's "Crazy, Crazy Lovin'", and a whole set (43 minutes) with Mark Neil in his band. Neil is the guy who produced the Black Keys' Brothers LP, amongst a lot of lower profile stuff, and he's no slouch on the guitar himself. The recording on that one's not as good as the others, but you get to hear Zoom doing double duty on sax  (Note: The links at his site aren't highlighted or underlined. Just click on the song titles. On the last one, the set with Neil, click on "Billy Zoom Band - 2005".)

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~ 

Listen:
The Billy Zoom Band - Hallelujah, I Love Her So (live) mp3 at Billy Zoom 1981
The Billy Zoom - Bad Boy mp3 at Billy Zoom Rollin' Rock 1976
The Billy Zoom - Say When mp3 at Billy Zoom Rollin' Rock 1975
Eddie Cochran - Hallelujah, I Love Her So (streaming) at YouTube
Ray Charles - Hallelujah, I Love Her So (live) mp3 at Blog No Blat (?)
Video:
Johnny Carroll- Crazy, Crazy Lovin' at YouTube