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There must be something in the frozen waters of Scandinavia that keeps producing these razor-sharp rockabilly bands. The list is seemingly endless with bands like Jack Baymoore & the Bandits, Wildfire Willie, Hal Peters and one of the best, The Barnshakers. The first time I came across them was as the backing band on Darrel Higham's High Class Baby album. By the time I'd listened to the first few beats on Five Minutes To Live I was well and truly hooked.
The band sort of formed by accident when Goofin' Records president, Pete Hakonen booked the legendary rocker Johnny Carroll for a gig in Finalnd in 1992. And while filling the venue wasn't a problem for Hakonen, fulfilling the date was - he didn't have a band. He talked four musicians from various bands like The Whistle Bait and Hal Peters String Busters to form a band to do the honour. Ans so the Barnshakers were born with Vesa Haaja on vocals and guitar, Jussi Huhtakangas a.k.a. Lester Peabody on lead guitar, Mika Liikari on double bass and Mike Salminen on drums. The band hit it off straight away and it wasn't too long (1993) before they were in the studio cutting a 10" album, Cool Enough for Goofin'. Later that year they cut a single She Done Quit Me, again for Goofin' and one (Big Sandy) the following year for Willie Lewis' Rockabilly Records out of Colorado.
The next EP, Complicated Fool came out in '94, followed by their first CD, A Honky Tonk Session for Goofin'. They toured Europe for the next couple of years and they backed High Noon's Shaun Young on his Scandinavian tour. They also backed him for his solo Goofin' album, Red Hot Daddy. In '96 they scored a record hop favourite with the Wiggle Like a Worm 45. That year also saw them undertake their first US tour on the back of their latest Goofin' release, String-O-Rama.
Now a seasoned band, the Barnshakers have backed mant Finnish visitors, old and new, among them Hank Thompson, Narvel Felts, Hayden Thompson, Alvis Wayne, Johnny Carroll, Sanford Clark, Huelyn Duvall, Sid and Billy King, Martí Brom, Shaun Young, Johnny Carroll, Darrel Higham, Kim Lenz and Mack Stevens. Some of these dates led to session dates and they cut the Hocus Pocus single in 1997 when Mack Stevens was struggling with a sore throat. In the same year they cut the Goofin' EP, Pretty Little Devil with Darrel Higham, followed a year by the High Class Baby CD.
A lot of their early singles, the 10" LP and other odds and sods were complied by On The Hill Records for the 1998 release Barnyard Stomp. In 199 they backed the smouldering Marti Brom for a Scandinavian tour, and ended up recording the Maybe I Do EP with her in Sweden, at Jo-Allans legendary vintage studio. They rejoined her for her Snake Ranch album, along with Texan T. Jarrod Bonta on piano. It was a fantastic effort from both the Barnshakers and Brom, with the likes of Blue tattoo and Eat My Words being particularly grand.
2001 saw the release of the brilliant mini album North of Juarez on Goofin', recorded with the bands newest addition, Harri Saanio on piano. A highlight of the year for the band was a tour in France backing the one and only Hank Thompson. Their sound, always authentic and always tight, must have been ideal for the great man.
In 2002 a 300 copy limited addition 45 coupling Boppin' In Roswell and Raining in My Heart was released to critical acclaim, followed shortly after by their finest album to date, Five Minutes to Live.
Discography
Singles/EP's
SHE DONE QUIT ME - SO DOGGONE BLUE 45 RPM
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, GOOFY 1031) 1993
BIG SANDY - OOH' BABY 45 RPM
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, GOOFY 542) 1993
COMPLICATED FOOL EP
(ROCKABILLY RECORDS, R-503) 1994
COMPLICATED FOOL - WHO'S GONNA BE THE NEXT ONE HONEY -
WHEN I TAKE MY SUGAR TO TEA - TAKE ONE - WIGGLE LIKE A WORM -
CHOO CHOO'S COMING BACK 45 RPM
(SKITZMATIC RECORDS 60041-0001-2) 1996
DESPERATE SANTA - SANTA'S GOT A BRAND NEW PEDAL STEEL 45 RPM
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, GRCD 6068) 1996
HOCUS POCUS - GONE A-ROCKIN' 45 RPM
(ON THE HILL RECORDS, OTHRLP-003) 1997
DARREL HIGHAM & THE BARNSHAKERS: PRETTY LITTLE DEVIL EP
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, GOOFY 583) 1997
MARTI BROM & THE BARNSHAKERS: MAYBE I DO EP
(ON THE HILL RECORDS, OTHRCD-005) 1998
YOU'RE THE CAUSE OF IT ALL - TELL MY BABY I LOVE HER
MOVE ON - WHAT'CHA GONNA DO 45 RPM
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, GRACD 6701) 1999
RAINING IN MY HEART - BOPPIN' IN ROSWELL 45 RPM
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, GRCD 6109) 2001
Albums
COOL ENOUGH 10" LP
THE WILDEST SOUND ON EARTH - WHENEVER YOU'RE READY -
BARNDANCE STOMP - LITTLE THINGS - CHOO CHOO TRAIN -
TENNESSEE RAG - COOL ENOUGH - LILY DALE
A HONKY TONK SESSION WITH CD
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, GOOFY 546) 1994
FLIPPIN' AWAY - SHE LIKES TO BOP - PLEASE BELIEVE ME -
HOT & SPICY - WHO'S GONNA BE THE NEXT ONE HONEY - ROCKIN'
BEAUTY - WHEN I TAKE MY SUGAR TO TEA - PLEASE HELP ME -
SHAKE THE BARN - LOVER COME BACK TO ME - I COULDN'T CARE
LESS - KISSIN' IN THE CARWASH - HOOKED ON YOU - FAST JIVIN'
- CHOO CHOO TRAIN
SHAKES THE BARN 10" LP
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, GRCD 6048) 1994
FLIPPIN' AWAY - SHE LIKES TO BOP - PLEASE BELIEVE ME
- HOT & SPICY - PLEASE HELP ME - SHAKE THE BARN - LOVER
COME BACK TO ME - I COULDN'T CARE LESS -
KISSIN' IN THE CARWASH - HOOKED ON YOU
STRING-O-RAMA CD
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, GOOFY 566) 1996
HEARTBREAKERS' SCHOOL - LOOSIN' THE GAME OF LOVE -
HEY BABY - SIOUX SQUAW - SHE'S NO LONGER THERE - HEART
TROUBLE - COMING HOME SOON - OLD SWEAT, STALE BEER AND
CHEAP PERFUME - TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY BABY - YOU'RE GONE -
GYPSY - BE GOOD, BEHAVE OR BE GONE - HARD WORKIN' DADDY - BLUE SMOKE
STRING-O-RAMA LP
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, XMAS 567) 1996
HEARTBREAKERS' SCHOOL - LOOSIN' THE GAME OF LOVE - HEY BABY
- SIOUX SQUAW - SHE'S NO LONGER THERE - HEART TROUBLE - COMING
HOME SOON - OLD SWEAT, STALE BEER AND CHEAP PERFUME - TAKE YOUR
HANDS OFF OF MY BABY - YOU'RE GONE - GYPSY - BE GOOD, BEHAVE OR BE
GONE - HARD WORKIN' DADDY - BLUE SMOKE
DARREL HIGHAM & THE BARNSHAKERS: HIGH CLASS BABY CD
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, GOOFY 570) 1997
BARNYARD STOMP CD
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, GRCD 6090) 1998
COMPLICATED FOOL - SERVANT OF LOVE - WILDEST SOUND ON
EARTH - LITTLE THINGS - TENNESSEE RAG - MODERN DON JUAN -
BIG SANDY - SO DOGGONE BLUE - COOL ENOUGH - TAKE ONE -
SHE DONE QUIT ME - WHENEVER YOU'RE READY - LILY DALE -
OOH BABY - BARNDANCE STOMP - TALL DARK AND HANDSOME MAN
MARTI BROM AND HER BARNSHAKERS: SNAKE RANCH CD
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, GOOFY 598) 1999
NORTH OF JUAREZ CD
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, MILLE 2000) 2000
HEARTBREAK TRAIN, WATCHDOG, MAIL MAN, OPERATOR L-O-V-E,
DID YOU TELL ME, LIFE LONG BOUND, JUAREZ, KILLER DILLER
FIVE MINUTES TO LIVE CD
(GOOFIN' RECORDS, GRCD 6118) 2002
NATURE'S GOODNESS, TOO TIRED TODAY, BOPPIN' IN ROSWELL,
GHOST MEMORIES, YOU DON'T OWE ME A THING, SHE'S A GOODIE,
TWO GUN DADDY, TROUBLE BOUND, WHITE LINE, ARIZONA EXPRESS,
MAYBE LITTLE BABY, DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME, BLACK NIGHT
BLUES, HI-FLYIN', FIVE MINUTES TO LIVE
Recommended listening
NORTH OF JUAREZ
Goofin' Records
If ever there was a case for less is more, then this is it. Only eight tracks, but it's a stunning, stab of rockabilly that leaves you breathless. If nothing else it serves as a delicious appetiser for the Five Minutes To Live CD. The original '50s songs we love so much were packaged as hit-em-between-the-eyes singles - two and a half minutes of pounding, that left the listener stunned, reflecting on what he'd just heard. That doesn't happen these days when we get fed our music in 30 track compilations, where songs can sort of drift from one to another. This eight tracker is more like the singles and works really well because of it - you don't have time to get bored with it. The pace is unrelenting, from the opening strains of Heartbreak Train to the manic Killer Diller. Watchdog and Did You Tell Me do full justice to the originals, whilst their own compositions like the western bopper Mail Man and the latino Jaurez.... Life Long Bound is done like ala Johnny Cash's Sun period and is stunning.
A HONKY TONK SESSION WITH
Goofin' Records
A really pleasant album with tasty hillbilly feel, but without any nasal moments!! Two absolute beauties are the easybilly numbers, Who's Gonna Be The Next One Honey and the oh-so catchy, Kissin' In The Carwash. Fast Jivin' kicks in ala Eddie baby, before turning into a piano instrumental with the Chuck Berry backbeat. Choo Choo Train sounds like Bo Diddley in Nashville, while I Couldn't Care Less and She Likes To Bop are straight ahead rockabilly. The band are so tasteful, concentrating more on the melody and rhythm that just tearing the guts out of each note. Another I eally rate is When I Take My Sugar to Tea, a fun little ditty not unlike some of Gene Vincent's '56 cuts.
FIVE MINUTES TO LIVE
Goofin' Records
I don't think it's taking things too far to say that this is one of the top 5 rockabilly albums of the last twenty years. Again featuring a well balanced mixture of covers and originals, the sound is pure rockabilly augmented with some tasty steel guitar. The album kicks off with three boppers in Nature's Goodness, Too Tired Today (superb drumming here) and another crack at the marvellous Boppin' In Roswell. Add this thunderous rocker to the distinguished list of flying saucers rock 'n' roll that has been running as long as them little green men. Two-Gun Daddy is another flat-outer whilst Arizona Express and Don't Worry About Me have a beautiful western feel about them. They have really nailed this cactus and sand-storm sound and you have to pinch yourself to remember these guys are from Finland not El Paso. Which brings along nicely to Marty Robbins who is remembered with a pleasing version of his You Don't Owe Me A Thing - a commendable choice. Their acoustic heavy rhythm is ideal for Billy Lee Riley's Trouble Bound and George Jones' Maybe Little Baby. Gene McKown's 1964 Brass single Ghost Memories is given a mysterious sound and is superb, as is their cover of Ronnie Self's Black Night Blues. The album is rounded off in fine style with the title track, from the little known Johnny Cash flick of the same name. It's a brilliant way to finish (excuse the pun!).
Shaun Mather
Shaun.mather@btinternet.com
April 2004
The Barnshakers Web Site
