rocket ship

n.

A spacecraft powered and propelled by rockets.

• Artist: Various Artists
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1997
• Type: Collection (various artists)
• Genre: Rock

Review

This is a theme compilation -- 34 rock & roll songs dating from the late 1950s and early 1960s, hooked around flying saucers, space ships, satellites, Sputnik and similar subjects, though mostly they're about sex. There are some serious professional musicians represented, such as country-rockabilly veterans Alden Holloway (pictured with a double-necked guitar) and Dell Vaughn, but some of this CD is in a loose, wild rockabilly vein. Gene Vincent's "Spaceship to Mars" would've fit in perfectly, and Terry Dunavan's "Rock It on Mars" even recalls the Vincent number, but there's cooler and more interesting stuff here: the Love Brothers' unissued acetate of "Flying Saucer Rock 'n Roll" is rockabilly punk at its most primitive -- real A-Bones type material; the Rockers' "Rock, Rock, Rocket Ship," which isn't far behind and has a crunchy bass; Holloway's "Blast Off," which has crisp Chet Atkins licks, a cool tenor sax solo and some catchy choruses; Vaughn's "Rock the Universe," which has a real roadhouse band feel to it; Monte Mead's "Cape Canaveral" on the Fortune label, with its crisply arranged country-style guitars and a solid, hard beat; "Moon Beat" by the Fabulous Imperials; and Jimmy Stewart's raw, hard country raunch "Rock on the Moon," stuff that makes Carl Perkins seem almost urban. Buck Trail's "Knocked Out Joint on Mars" gets the equation of sex, space and guitars assembled in the right order, with a good beat; Stewart's "Rock on the Moon" is tighter and has a better dance beat. Jackie Gotroe's "Rock It to the Moon" strips the formula to its basics, with lyrics that equate girls, moon rockets and blast-offs, with a hot guitar break in the middle and a better melody than the competition -- even it gets outdone for scatology, however, by Stan Beaver's "Got a Rocket in My Pocket." Billy Nix's "Moon Twist" is about as much fun as a twist record done by a guy who obviously prefer rockabilly could possibly be -- Nix melds the two forms beautifully, nice and slow but never sluggishly. Carl & Norman's "Shooting for the Moon" is a different twist, a comical harmony number (with nice piano ornamentation dressing up a basic country band backing) that equates a failed rocket launch with frustrated romantic possibilities. "Light My Rockets" is a more upbeat look at the same scenario by Neil Alan. Gene Lanzi's "Countdown 4-3-2-1" stands out as the only real instrumental here, a tense guitar piece (with Lanzi providing narration every so often). Billy Hogan's "Shake It Over Sputnik" is a silly topical number about southern pride, the Jupiter-C and the space program, and it (and the last numbers) tends to be a little more tuneless than those that precede them -- they're fun, and they fill out the CD, but that's about all. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Flying Saucers Rock'n Roll	Billy Lee Riley, Ray Scott	Love Brothers	(1:52)
Rock, Rock, Rocket Ship		The Rockers	(2:28)
Satelite Rock		Rebelaires	(2:41)
Blast Off	Alden Holloway	Alden Holloway	(2:40)
Rock It on Mars	Terry Dunavan	Terry Dunavan	(1:57)
Rock the Universe	Dell Vaughan	Dell Vaughan	(1:43)
Knocked Out Joint on Mars	Buck Trail	Buck Trail	(2:28)
Cape Caneveral	D. Thomas Moon	Monte Mead	(2:24)
Moon Beat		Fabulous Imperials	(2:08)
Rock on the Moon	J. Stewart	Jimmy Stewart	(1:54)
Rock It on the Moon	Jackie Gotroe	Jackie Gotroe	(2:30)
Moon Twist	Joe Dallison	Billy Nix	(2:30)
Rock Old Sputnick	Neil Young	Nelson Young	(1:28)
Shooting for the Moon		Carl and Norman	(1:46)
Satelite		Rocks	(2:15)
Light My Rockets		Neil Alan	(2:18)
Satelite Rock		Jimmy Copeland & the Jayteens	(1:41)
Space Dance	Royce Simpson	Royce Simpson	(2:18)
Rockin' on the Moon		Deacon & the Rock & Rollers	(1:45)
Got a Rocket in My Pocket		Stan Beaver	(2:31)
The Little Moon Men	E.J. Robinson	Lee George	(2:31)
Trip to the Moon		Wesley Reynolds	(2:03)
Countdown 4-3-2-1	Geno Lanzi	Geno Lanzi	(2:31)
Rocking on the Moon	Ronnie Sando	Ronnie Sando	(1:55)
The Boppin' Martian		Dick Robinson	(1:57)
Shake It Over Sputnik	Billy Hogan	Billy Hogan	(2:08)
Rock Moon Rock	Daniel James	Daniel James	(2:26)
Man from Mars	Butch Paulson	Butch Paulson	(2:17)
Orbit Twist	Rufus Shoffner	Rufus Shoffner	(2:48)
Rocket to the Moon	John Wesley Caves	John Wesley Caves	(1:42)
Moon Rocketin'		Les Vogt	(2:04)
Moon Twist	Chuck Dallis	Chuck Dallis	(2:25)
Honey Moon Trip to Mars		Jack Tucker	(2:03)
Rockin' Space Girl	Jimmy Grubbs	Jimmy Grubbs	(2:27)

Credits

Dan Zanes (Performer)