I must preface this review by saying I was inspired to listen to this because of the Grateful Dead and Beach Boys collaboration version of “Riot In Cell Block No. 9” written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by The Robins in 1954, on the night of April 27th in 1971. This album by The Coasters from 1958 is a great example of the early days of rock and roll, with definite inflections of blues contained within.
The first tracks contain some nice rollicking piano that equates to a nice rounded feeling throughout. In the track “Brazil”, the baritone voice in the vocals immediately catches your attention as the album morphs into something proto-doo-wop-like. The bluesy guitar in “Turtle Dovin'” adds a new layer to the album that is once again rounded and complemented very well by the rock and roll piano. The timbre of the saxophone is relatively clean, but it has a certain grit that brings a lot of emotion to the song.
“Smokey Joe’s Cafe” brings in a bass voice in the chorus that adds some serious texture to the track – I’d imagine the bass singer has been smoking at Smokey Joe’s quite a few times based on the sound of his voice. Then holy smokes, the saxophone solo brings some serious soul to this arrangement. The vocals are complemented so well by the clean, punchy mid-tones of the guitar that accentuates parts of the track, this track is super noteworthy.
“Wrap It Up” has some serious bluesy guitar behind the vocals the whole time that is a delight to hear in the doo-wop track. I can’t believe I haven’t listened to The Coasters until now.
The police siren that starts the track that I came to listen to this album for, “Riot In Cell Block No. 9”, is a great cover of the tune originally recorded by The Robins that sets the tone for an all time classic blues/rock and roll song formula. The Beach Boys’ song, “Student Demonstration Time” from their 1971 album “Surfs Up” is basically the same song with new lyrics. This song is insanely good, and that classic timeless blues formula never gets old – many people talk about how good the blues can be, but going back to some of the modern roots of blues rock is always exciting.
The Coasters were capable of showing such soul, even though the next song “Young Blood” has a definite change in vibe from the previous, The Coasters are able to play such that the album still feels cohesive. As the album continues on with “One Kiss”, it continues to change its feel closer to how it was at the beginning of album – less bluesy altogether, but still some early rock and roll and doo-wop.
“I Must Be Dreaming'” is a great classic rock and roll tune that picks the tempo up a bit from the previous song that keeps the energy of the album rocking with some awesome riffing going on with the guitar and the saxophone. The next trap with “Lola” brings in some Caribbean type vibes that shows the true range The Coasters were capable of displaying with its acoustic instrumentation and change in style. It’s difficult to not make a note of any of the songs on the album at this point.
The following track, “Framed”, brings in the classic blues formula from “Riot In Cell Block No. 9” but is a bit less guttural and is more rock and roll in nature than “Riot…”. All in all, it’s a great transformation/evolution of sound from one track to the next as the album continues. The guitar playing is not to be underrated in this album, though it plays as sort of second fiddle to the saxophone at times, it is absolutely superb – playing only what is required without overdoing it.
The final track “Down In Mexico” stretches the storytelling through song abilities of The Coasters that wraps up the album with a mix of blues, rock and roll, with a sort of latin flair in the rhythm section, and once again displays the range The Coasters had in this album. I honestly can’t believe I’m just now listening to the album, it’s worth the listen if you have 39 minutes to spare.
-A