Editorial Reviews
About the Artist
Jim Thompson
Saxophonist Jim Thompson has been a fixture on the L.A. music scene for 25 years. Moving to L.A. from the great pacific northwest. Currently touring with R & B great Bobby Womack, he has a long list of credits including; Taj Mahal, Wynonna, Ike Turner, Big Joe Turner, Brian Adams, The Monkees and The Temptations.
Besides playing all saxophones as well as flute & clarinet Jim also plays Shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) and African percussion along with brother Larry who is the drummer for Bobby Fuller Drive.
Larry Knechtel
Born and raised in Bell, California, which is part of Southeast L. A., Larry began playing piano at an early age. By the time he was in high school, Larry was playing in rock concerts with such notables as Ed Townsend, Johnny Otis, Bumps Blackwell, Marvin and Johnny, Kip Tyler and Sonny Knight. Larry was joined by horn man, Jim Horn, Jim's sister Kathie, and The Guitarman, Mike Deasy during this time backing the stars, while still in high school. On weekends they would drive their low rider 1950 Chevy's to El Monte Legion Stadium, Long Beach municipal Auditorium, or Pasadena Civic Auditorium listening to the Art Lebo Radio show to find out which forum they would be rocking at that night, and then they would go back up the current top stars including Richie Valens, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard; in fact every early rocker that did concerts in L.A. in the late 50s and early 60s.
After touring with Duane Eddy for four years, Knechtel joined Jim Horn, Mike Deasy, Ron Tutt and David Hungate in becoming one of the top studio instrumentalists in Hollywood, working with the top stars including, Elvis, The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Sonny and Cher, The Mamas and The Papas, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Bread, Sammy Davis Jr and Simon and Garfunkel and Neil Diamond., to name only a few.
Larry Worked on many T.V. commercials including Coke, Pepsi and the famous "Heartbeat of America" Chevrolet commercial. His T.V. work included, Shindig, the 68 comeback Special with Elvis Presley, and numerous appearances on Dick Clark's shows American Bandstand and Where The Action Is. Film credits include The Graduate, The Hardy Boys, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Forrest Gump.
His sliding bass lines on The Byrd's' hit "Mr. Tambourine Man" are starkly contrasted by the soaring majesty of his grand piano intro to Simon and Garfunkel's all time classic "Bridge Over Troubled Water"., for which he won a Grammy , or his rocking B-3 organ on "Good Vibrations", and his multi-platinum wah-wah string bending with Bread.
Larry joined The Guitarman, Mike Deasy on hundreds of recordings including Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco.. Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair" and did indeed go to San Francisco, with Mike, to perform at the Monterey Pop Festival.
Mike Chiccarilli
Mike had played in every west Texas roadhouse and beer bar before he got out of high school. His distinct guitar styling can be heard on numerous recordings made in the most famous L.A. recording studios as well as the legendary Royal Recording Studio in Memphis. Legend has it that he blew out a twelve foot plate glass window at the Hollywood Palladium with an electric guitar, and there are witnesses. He disappeared in the California mountains at the peak of his career and has only recently resurfaced.
Mike is from El Paso, Texas. He is one of the last of the authentic Texas bluesmen. From the clubs of El Paso and Juarez Mexico to Memphis, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, he has a incredible amount of performing and recording experience. His unique guitar styling can be heard on numerous recordings and TV soundtracks. Leilani Greenwood once asked Chuck Berry when he was in El Paso what he thought of Mike when he was a youngster, and Berry replied … "he's good, he's real good."
Product Description
Randy Fuller, Larry Thompson and Billy Webb are three of the hardest working rock n' rollers on the planet. They originally came together in 1963 in a teenage band called the Fanatics in El Paso, Texas, playing alongside Randy's brother Bobby. It was this very lineup of the Fanatics that honed their skills night after night, devastating throngs of rockers at big brother Bobby's teen club, the Rendezvous (named after the California club famous for surf legend Dick Dale). The signature sound created by this early version of the Bobby Fuller Four came out of a combination of their own origins—Billy had arrived in Texas from Iowa, where'd he'd been playing with the legendary Black Cats, and Larry was of course the Tacoma, Washington import steeped in R&B, blues and sheer coolness. Bobby and Randy, though both hatched in the Southwest, had started playing music as young noisemakers in Salt Lake City, Utah. Their diverse formative influences combined with the sounds of true Texas heroes from Buddy Holly to Long John Hunter to create a truly unique, insanely infectious and down right driving sound.
Then, in June of 1964, at the height of their local popularity and with their home studio recording of I Fought The Law (pulled off of Randy's copy of the Crickets record) under their collective belt, Larry and Billy left the band for any of the long forgotten reasons that teenagers part ways, with Billy and Larry moving on to form the Rooks with another El Paso music legend, Joe Ritchie.
Bobby and Randy soon recruited two members from early El Paso rock n' roll combo the Counts, their first guitar player Jim Reese (who'd been on loan to the Fanatics in the preliminary lineup) and drummer Dalton Powell, who had replaced Bobby on skins when he left to form his own band on guitar. By the end of '64 the new edition of the Fanatics had landed in Hollywood as the Bobby Fuller Four, and the rest is history, sad and true. A year and a half later, in the summer of '66, the group's meteoric rise came to a crashing halt when Bobby was found dead under bizarre circumstances.
So here we are now, four decades after the Fanatics pounded the boards at El Paso teen clubs, holding in our hands a new rock n' roll collection by the very same bunch of guys that mixed that sockin' concoction of West Texas stomp with each of their far flung inspirations. Randy Fuller's fine voice is the lead vocal this time, and he's still pounding away on bass- without a doubt one of the best and most creative bass players in rock n' roll, and he's joined again by two unstoppables from the Rendezvous— Larry Thompson and Billy Webb. What are the chances? And what're the chances that they would be quite fantastic all over again? But here they all are, three of the Four, recorded at their home studio, calling all the shots on defiant rockers, heart stopping ballads-- some old, some new, some stormin', some undeniably blue. It Happened In El Paso, and it'll happen again and again, wherever these three cats decide to be at any given time, and whenever you make the right turn onto Bobby Fuller Drive. Buckle up. It's gonna be a wild ride.
Breakin Rocks,Bobby Fuller Drive,Indie,Country Rock - Rock - Retro. The original Bobby Fuller band from El Paso, Texas.,Rock/Pop
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Breakin Rocks
Bobby Fuller Drive Manufacturer: Indie ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
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ASIN: B0002R250E Release Date: 2003-12-30 |
Tracks:
Album Description
Randy Fuller, Larry Thompson and Billy Webb are three of the hardest working rock n' rollers on the planet. They originally came together in 1963 in a teenage band called the Fanatics in El Paso, Texas, playing alongside Randy's brother Bobby. It was this very lineup of the Fanatics that honed their skills night after night, devastating throngs of rockers at big brother Bobby's teen club, the Rendezvous (named after the California club famous for surf legend Dick Dale). The signature sound created by this early version of the Bobby Fuller Four came out of a combination of their own origins—Billy had arrived in Texas from Iowa, where'd he'd been playing with the legendary Black Cats, and Larry was of course the Tacoma, Washington import steeped in R&B, blues and sheer coolness. Bobby and Randy, though both hatched in the Southwest, had started playing music as young noisemakers in Salt Lake City, Utah. Their diverse formative influences combined with the sounds of true Texas heroes from Buddy Holly to Long John Hunter to create a truly unique, insanely infectious and down right driving sound.Then, in June of 1964, at the height of their local popularity and with their home studio recording of I Fought The Law (pulled off of Randy's copy of the Crickets record) under their collective belt, Larry and Billy left the band for any of the long forgotten reasons that teenagers part ways, with Billy and Larry moving on to form the Rooks with another El Paso music legend, Joe Ritchie.
Bobby and Randy soon recruited two members from early El Paso rock n' roll combo the Counts, their first guitar player Jim Reese (who'd been on loan to the Fanatics in the preliminary lineup) and drummer Dalton Powell, who had replaced Bobby on skins when he left to form his own band on guitar. By the end of '64 the new edition of the Fanatics had landed in Hollywood as the Bobby Fuller Four, and the rest is history, sad and true. A year and a half later, in the summer of '66, the group's meteoric rise came to a crashing halt when Bobby was found dead under bizarre circumstances.
So here we are now, four decades after the Fanatics pounded the boards at El Paso teen clubs, holding in our hands a new rock n' roll collection by the very same bunch of guys that mixed that sockin' concoction of West Texas stomp with each of their far flung inspirations. Randy Fuller's fine voice is the lead vocal this time, and he's still pounding away on bass- without a doubt one of the best and most creative bass players in rock n' roll, and he's joined again by two unstoppables from the Rendezvous— Larry Thompson and Billy Webb. What are the chances? And what're the chances that they would be quite fantastic all over again? But here they all are, three of the Four, recorded at their home studio, calling all the shots on defiant rockers, heart stopping ballads-- some old, some new, some stormin', some undeniably blue. It Happened In El Paso, and it'll happen again and again, wherever these three cats decide to be at any given time, and whenever you make the right turn onto Bobby Fuller Drive. Buckle up. It's gonna be a wild ride.
Customer Reviews:
Breakin' Rocks really rocks!!!.......2007-05-04
Breakin Rocks "ROCKS".......2004-08-13
Exuberant and Irresistible Rock 'n' Roll.......2004-07-29
Average customer rating: 
|
Breakin Rocks
Bobby Fuller Drive ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
CDs $7 - $10
| Pop General
| Pop
| Today's Deals in Music
| Formats
| Music
ASIN: B0006SUX26 Release Date: 2007-03-20 |
Tracks:
Rock Music: