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ALBUM REVIEWS: "REVERB CENTRAL" review Phil Dirt There may be only one surf instro here, but Peter "Buzz" Miller and Bill Bonney surf can cut a tune. Both men have deep roots in British instros. This is a set of covers that they just wanted to do. Very good! Track by Track Review Amazing Grace This is a countrified rendering of "Amazing Grace," with slide guitar, and the break is lifted from Bach's "Joy Of Man's Desiring," and it's a perfect fit. Goofin' Around "Goofin' Around" is a very fun and classic fifties country/rockabilly boogie done with flair and genuine style. Aside from the exquisite recording, you'd swear it was cut in 1956. Bill Haley and the Comets would be proud. Cast Your Fate To The Wind Vince Guaraldi's glorious "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" is done with charming reverence and sultry tremolo. This is simply a joy to hear. Easy, pretty, and very endearing. The Green Leaves Of Summer Dimitri Tiomkin's theme is done in a light hearted fashion that compliments its intent. Very nicely done. Bad Penny Blues Humphrey Lyttelton's "Bad Penny Blues" is a mono track with subtle stereo ambient reverb to spread it out. Innocent, fun, spirited, and exquisitely played. Czardas With a traditional Mediterranean rhythm and guitar sound, Vittorio Monti's "Czardas" eases you into an afternoon on holiday in Italy. Pretty and gentle. It speeds up towards the end for a bit of a lift. Last Date Floyd Cramer's lagging piano style made his "Last Date" a super hit. The slither into the note that Floyd used on his piano is liquidly replicated on guitar. Wah wah in the middle gives it an easy quirkiness. The guitar is simply liquid. El Bimbo Claude Morgan's "El Bimbo" is a gentle number with a film score feel. It's fluid and very easy on the ears. Can Can This classic tune is done with great regard for The Jaywalkers did it 40 years ago. More or less mono, except spatial reverb, "Can Can" nonetheless really charms. It's innocent, rockin' in the early British instro way, and thoroughly enjoyable. Honky Tonk "Honky Tonk" is one of those timeless songs that doesn't need to be spit polished to please. The precision and liquid slither of Peter Miller's playing makes this shine! Swinging Shepherd Blues Swimming is spatial reverb, Moe Kauffman's "Swinging Shepherd Blues" saunters through the air with a gentle liquid sound. Very nicely done. The Breeze And I Ernesto Lacuona's classic "The Breeze and I" is done in a very fresh arrangement. A catchy rhythm track and long slushy guitar lines give it a lush and bouncing sound. This is infectious and compelling. Blue Monk Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk"moves along as if it was written as a country tune. Slithery and warm, you'd never suspect its jazz roots. The sax break is saucy and fifties R&B cool. The Stumble Part of British R&B band sets forever, and made famous by Dave Edmunds' Love Sculpture, Bonney and Buzz have taken Freddie King's "The Stumble" into an entirely different corner with their liquidy playing. Really nice. Raunchy "Raunchy" is another of those classic instros that's very durable. Bill Justis' classic song sounds as if it was inspired by Duane Eddy via the guitar twang and sax. This is sultry cool vintage rock'n'roll. F.B.I. Semi-goofy keys pump behind The Shadows' "F.B.I." for a different sound. tremolo shimmer adds an aquatic feel. Frothy and bouncy, with very tasteful and inventive arrangement nuances. This really grows on you. Along Came Linda Duane Eddy's "Along Came Linda" is soft and lush, liquidy in a pretty darn surf manner, and romantic in a solo guitar way. The guitar is reverbed and echoed all across the spectrum for a full and wide sound. Just beautiful! Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA
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"Twist & Shake" review by Beverly Paterson A few years ago, Bonney & Buzz's debut album, "Rock-Ola," arrived in the bins and garnered rave reviews far and wide. So how wonderful it is they have returned to the fore, armed with another collection of sharp and stimulating instrumentals slice of a vintage stripe. Spiffy licks parallel to those of The Shadows, Buddy Holly and Duane Eddy flourish everywhere on "Bang It Again!," while at the same time a distinctive identity is forged. Standards such as "Cast Your Fate To The Wind," "Amazing Grace," "Blue Monk" and "The Green Leaves Of Summer" are executed with immediate expression. The sound is deep and rich, and the rhythms shift, sway and swing with utter coolness. Skilled performers Bonney and Buzz are, as they both played in noted British bands of the early sixties. Bassist Bill Bonney was in The Fentones and guitar maestro Pete Miller (aka Buzz) was in Peter Jay and The Jaywalkers and The News prior to embarking on a solo career, that has to date, fathered a bevy of brilliant musings. "Bang It Again!" stands as a fine example of what happens when two gifted guys get together to make music that is dear to their hearts.
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Pipeline Magazine review by Alan Taylor Pipeline Instrumental Revue #77 - Summer 2008 Bill Bonney (The Fentones) and Peter "Buzz" Miller (The Jaywalkers) impressed with their first joint effort Rock-Ola (see Pipeline 70) and are back now to Bang It Again! Having first delivered an all original set, this time around they turn their attention to 17 hits from the days when instrumentals |
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Guitar Player Magazine Oct. 2208 |
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ROCK BEAT INTERNATIONAL - Summer 2008 |
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VINTAGE GUITAR MAGAZINE - November 2008
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20th Century Guitar & Music Web Express - January 2009 DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS - Washington state based Double Crown Records is one of the finest instrumental rock and roll imprints in the world and one of their coolest CD releases of 2008 is the second album from Bonney & Buzz featuring guitarist Pete “Buzz” Miller and Fender bass ace Bill Bonney. Recorded in 2007/08 Bang It Again! finds the R.I. duo pulling out all the stops on an instrumental rock and roll album that recalls Miller’s early travels as a guitarist in England back in the ‘60s. Back in his homeland Miller grew up around giants like Hank B. Marvin of The Shadows and was equally influenced by U.S. groups such as The Ventures and early instro rocker Duane Eddy. Miller’s guitar sensibilities are right on throughout the 17 track Bang It Again! Highlights include rock instros of beautiful music classics like “Cast Your Fate To The Wind,” “The Breeze And I” and even Thelonious Monk’s “Blue Monk,” a jazz classic given the Miller guitar treatment here. Shades of early Hank and the Shadows abound though clearly, after hearing this excellent CD, Miller is overdue for some name recognition himself. All in all Bang It Again! revives the guitar instro sound with a fresh perspective and solid playing by Miller, Bonney and all the fine players backing them up. www.dblcrown.com |
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Cri-de Coyote - January 2009 BONNEY & BUZZ : Bang it Again !Qui sont les membres de ce duo instrumen-tal ? Deux Britanniques d"origine, Bill Bonney, ex-bassiste des Fentones de Shane Fenton, et Pete Buzz Miller, guitariste connu sous le nom de Big Boy Pete, parti aux USA dans les 70"s. Il s"agit de leur 2eme album, renforces par des in-vites, pour la marque americaine Double Crown, specialisee dans le surf instrumental. Au vu des morceaux qui le composent, on pourrait presu-mer, qu"hormis les reprises des Goofi n! around des Comets (avec une intro tres Twenty fl ight rock) Honky tonk de Bill Doggett (bien rock"n"roll) Raunchy de Bill Justis, F.B.i. des Shadows et Along came Linda de Duane Eddy, le reste ne va etre que de la variete. Et c"est la que resident les bonnes surprises : Amazing grace est traite a la maniere rock"n"roll dont Johnny & Hurricanes reprenaient d"anciens ti-tres, le Can can d"Offenbach, rocke bien aussi, de meme que The breeze & I ou The stumble de Freddie King. Le reste, comme Cast your fate to the wind ou The green leaves of summer, releve plus du style Shadows/ Ventures.
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Rock Beat International - December 2009 - by Gary Pig Gold "Big Boy" Pete Buzz Miller and Bill Bonney, veterans of such pioneering Anglo beat combos as the Fentones and Peter Jay's Jaywalkers, "breathe new fire into their Sixties hits plus fifteen versions of the best instrumentals ever recorded," to quote the CD's rear tray card, on this, their second full-length collaboration. And what an ultra-fab, fret-popping joy this is! A perfect chance to reacquaint one's ears - or, ideally, meet for the first time - such timeless works as Vince Guaraldi's "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" for starters. Likewise, tracks such as "Goofing' Around", ace guitarist Frank Beecher's showpiece in Bill Haley's comets, or Floyd Cramer's "Last Date" demonstrate just how yesteryear's instrumental creations often displayed melodic invention which far out-strips today's most adventurous vocal extravaganzas. The arrangements and playing throughout Bang It Again! is supremely tasteful and evocative, though never over-reverently so. For example, Buzz's wickedly J. Pagesque slide all over "Bad Penny Blues," the crazed Hungarian double-time which concludes "Czardas" or the utterly cracked take on the classic "Can Can" herein which wouldn't sound one note out of place on your favorite Rockpile B-side, believe-you-me. Of course, no such collection of wordless wonders could be considered complete without dipping into the low plains of the spaghetti-est western ("The Green Leaves Of Summer," El Bimbo"), but B 'n' B actually take things even further out there with a more-than-credible stab at Thelonius Monk's "Blue Monk". And no two Brit guitar slingers can leave the room without paying due tribute to the ripping twang of that magnificent B. Holly-spectacled Hank B. Marvin; hence, a grand (seven-minute-plus!) rendition of the Shadows' post-skiffle masterpiece "F.B.I" "Why did Bonney & Buzz choose these particular tunes for "Bang It Again!?" the liner notes ask. "A song can evoke a memory. It will take you back to a specific time and place, a particular event in your life which is etched in your mind. It awakens every time you hear that song. You see the place, feel the person, smell the day. The scene is forever burned into your memory." And on this disc,, Pete and Bill conjure many a future recollection for us all as well. Truly then, too cool for words. |
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