Carl,Robert - Shake the Tree - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Robert Carl - Roundabout [COMPACT DISCS] date 10/21/2003

Contains the best of Carl Mann's rockin' Sun sides and more, replacing the out-of-print box set formerly issued by Bear Family! Contains both early demo and alternate take versions, as well as the original 45 of Carl Mann's greatest hit, Mona Lisa. Features three versions of the highly collectable Rockin Love, including the original Jaxon single. Showcases the spectacular electric guitar work of legendary musician Eddie Bush. Contains Carl Mann's most effective Philips International single, the Charlie Rich rocker I'm Coming Home, copied note-for-note by Elvis on his very next LP Includes newly esearched biography, discography and vintage photos. Carl Mann grew up just down the road from Memphis, where the rockabilly revolution was taking place during the mid-1950s. By the time Carl Mann got to Sun Records, as part of a group that included drummer W. S. Holland, most of Sun's reputation was already firmly in place. The tapes of Mona Lisa, Carl Mann's biggest hit record, sat unissued in the Sun studio where they might have remained if Conway Twitty had not flipped over them in early 1959 and produced a cover version at his next recording session. With Conway Twitty's record of Mona Lisa starting to chart, Sun was forced to their own original version by Carl Mann. Mona Lisa became a Top 20 record in the summer of 1959, spending 16 weeks on the 'Billboard' charts. Carl Mann was far more than a 'one hit wonder.' This CD offers a detailed look at the surprisingly powerful body of work Carl Mann recorded during a relatively brief period of time. Although unfairly cast into the role of 'rockin' up the standards, Carl Mann had a lot more to say musically than uptempo versions of Nat Cole hits (Mona Lisa had been a # 1 hit by Nat Cole in 1950). The best of Carl Mann's work is on display on this fine disc

A mix between Forster's lighthearted early folk songs and more recent musical movements with themes relating to loss and the difficulties of coming to terms with one's own mind, Family Trees is as influenced by his forays into Sigmund Freud and other obscure British psychoanalysts, as it is by his deep love for artist such as Brian Wilson and Randy Newman. All and all it's a fairly whimsical affair drenched in moods likely connected to the Southern California sunsets Ward and Forster grew up with. Produced by M Ward.