Hayden Thompson, Country, 2007


March 2, 2007 - Tapio Väisänen - tapiov@pcuf.fi

In August we heard that Hayden Thompson, the legendary Sun Records rockabilly artist from the 50's, has made a country recording and now in March 2007 the CD is finally available.

HAYDEN THOMPSON
(Bluelight BLR 33132 2)
01 Sorrow Break A Good Man Down
02 Black Cloud
03 Big River
04 Just To Satisfy You
05 I've Got It Again
06 Sixteen Dollars Eighty-eight Cents
07 Midnight Blues
08 I'd Run A Mile To You
09 I Wanna Get Home
10 Ninety Seven More To Go
11 Drive Me Out Of My Mind
12 Four Strong Winds
13 No Love Have I
14 Still Nineteen
Bonus Jam Session Song
15 Mystery Train a.k.a. The Happy Song


It's just beginning of the 2007, but this will certainly be on my Top 10 country releases of the year. Great 60's sound on this album and on several songs it's not too far away what Rick Rubin did with J.R. Cash. "16:88" has been one of my favorites from the Kapp LP and the remake is perhaps even better. The cover songs are neatly picked and suit well to Hayden's mature voice. "I'd Run A Mile To You" has been one of my favorite Mac Curtis tracks and it's good to hear it here by Hayden. It seems that everything clicked when these Finnish musicians and Hayden began playing together. Many have praised Hayden's latest rockabilly album for St. George, but in my opinion, this is really Hayden's best album so far.

Here's some background info of the new album:
The pictoresque recording location, an old school house at a lakeside, is situated in the very heart of the Finnish countryside. The musicians on the album represent the top Finnish country pack. "The talent of these guys really knocked me out", says Hayden. "The head of the record label was a little bit worried about having only five days for the recording. By the afternoon of the third day we had cut 18 songs and the only problem now is what to leave out."

"Cutting a country album does not mean that I am turning my back to my rockabilly fans", states Hayden. The songs with a country flavor suit this Southern gentleman beautifully and when Bluelight Records from Finland offered a chance to record a country CD he accepted it without hesitation. Actually, the 1966 Kapp Records LP "Here's Hayden Thompson" can be regarded as a paragon for this forthcoming CD.

Hayden's own favorites of these 18 songs are the energetic "Midnight Blues" written by Charlie Rich and Waylon Jennings' seductive "Just To Satisfy You". The list of the pieces cut is long and im pressive, among them the Johnny Cash classic "Big River" and Ed Bruce's "Ninety Seven More To Go". You can also find two Hayden Thompson country originals "16:88" and "I Wanna Get Home"; according to Hayden himself, these new fabulous versions proudly contest the original ones.

The Hayden Thompson rockabilly fans will be pleased to discover the new version of his original "Drive Me Out Of My Mind" as well as the eight-minute-long exhilarating and enterprizing interpretation of the Elvis number "Mystery Train". This train got going so fast that the first take proved the quotation "One -Take Thompson": no need for subsequent ones.

Record Company & Media Contact:
Mr. Mika Myyryläinen / Bluelight Records
tel. +358-40-543 2776
email bluelight.records@co.inet.fi


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