From a warehouse find, this is a new, unplayed stock copy. Somehow I've managed to never hear this great version of the Chuck Berry classic until now. I remember having it on a wish list back in the 1980's, but gave up finding a copy that was worth buying. Now that I've heard it, it's pretty clear to me that the Velaires were working from the same blueprints as some young British bands who were just starting out in 1961. It took the Brits another 3 years to crack the U.S. market, but when they did everybody here remarked on what a "fresh" and "new" sound groups like the Beatles had. I tell you, if they had heard this Velaires single from summer/fall 1961, they wouldn't have been so surprised. The Velaires didn't have British accents, but what was unusual for groups like them at the time is that they used their voices at all. This was the age of the Instrumental Rock group, when for some reason All the Young Dudes just kept their mouths shut when singing. Indeed, the B side of this single is an instrumental. But to actually sing a Chuck Berry song---and to sing it like this with
those guitars and drums---was practically radical!
