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On April 27, roots rocker Webb Wilder and his band The Beatnecks will release “Powerful Stuff!” a new collection of old songs. previously unreleased songs that were recorded between 1985 and 1993.
Many of the songs on “Powerful Stuff!” were found on “old two-inch, 24-track reels that have been bouncing around one storage facility or another for years,” said Wilder. All of the tapes had to be baked to remove moisture they’d accumulated over the years, transferred, listened to and mixed. Wilder added, “It was quite a process. You can’t listen in fast forward. In a couple of cases, (the tapes) yielded renditions of songs I had completely forgotten recording in the first place.”
The album title comes from an original song penned by Wally Wilson, Mike Henderson and Wilder’s longtime collaborator R.S. Field. The Fabulous Thunderbirds released a version of the song in the late 1980s, but the Beatnecks version of “Powerful Stuff” has stayed in the can for nearly 30 years.
Eclectic covers, including takes on Tina Turner’s “Nutbush City Limits,” Little Richard’s “Lucille,” brother duo Rusty and Doug’s “Hey, Mae” and “Revenooer Man,” which was written by Johnny Paycheck and recorded by George Jones, punctuate the 16-song track listing.
“I guess I am from that generation who often discovered the originals through their British interpreters,” said Wilder of his choices in cover songs. “The Rolling Stones led to Chuck Berry, The Who led to Eddie Cochran.
Eclectic covers, including takes on Tina Turner’s “Nutbush City Limits,” Little Richard’s “Lucille,” brother duo Rusty and Doug’s “Hey, Mae” and “Revenooer Man,” which was written by Johnny Paycheck and recorded by George Jones, punctuate the 16-song track listing.
“I guess I am from that generation who often discovered the originals through their British interpreters,” said Wilder of his choices in cover songs. “The Rolling Stones led to Chuck Berry, The Who led to Eddie Cochran. … This wasn’t always the case but, it happened. So, as late as the ’80s, I suppose it was still happening in the case of ‘Revenooer Man’ and ‘Hey, Mae.’ We heard those first by Shakin’ Stevens, the Welsh Elvis who made some great and rootsy records.”
Wilder and the Beatnecks — the current lineup consists of drummer Rick Schell, bassist Tom Comet and guitarist Bob Williams — will play an album release show at the Exit/In on Apr. 29. Five of the 16 songs on “Powerful Stuff!” were recorded live to tape at the club in 1986. Other songs from that show ended up on Wilder’s debut album, “It Came From Nashville” or ended up as bonus cuts on expanded editions of that record. There are still unreleased recordings from that night. Said Wilder, “We must have done about a million songs that night starting with the sound check that afternoon.”