Lee Rocker Struts into Town

Lee Rocker
FitzGerald’s, Berwyn
Friday, March 10, 2006

Although he might say otherwise, it had to be tough for former Stray Cat Lee Rocker to live in the professional shadow of Brian Setzer. You think Stray Cats, and you automatically think Setzer. It’s natural, like pulling up your pants after using the bathroom. Even though Rocker, along with drummer Slim Jim Phantom, co-founded the band and helped resurrect rockabilly in the process, too many people know him as one of the Stray Cats who isn’t Setzer.

But it sure as hell isn’t Rocker’s fault if you don’t know your head from your ass, because the truth is, the bassist has had a very productive career. In 1985, following the first demise of Stray Cats, Rocker and Phantom teamed with ex-David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick to form Phantom, Rocker & Slick. Although the project was short lived, their self-titled album spent nearly six months on the U.S. charts, and more than anything, proved Rocker could thrive creatively outside his former band.

After that Rocker jumped on the wagon anytime the Cats reunion rolled around, but he also began releasing solo records, starting with 1994’s Big Blues. While he never achieved the same commercial success as Setzer in the ’90s, Rocker released a string of records that both earned him strong reviews and kept his name alive in the roots rock circle. Rocker recently added Racin’ The Devil, to his resume — his fifth LP and first with Chicago’s own Alligator Records. Racin’ is what you would expect, Rocker and his ace band (guitarists Brophy Dale and Buzz Campbell, drummer Jimmy Sage) frolic through 12, mostly high-octane tracks and are more than happy to add some twangy country influences to “Texarkana To Panama City”and “The River Runs”and some swinging jazz on “Swing This.”Of course he’s at his best on straightahead rockabilly like “Rockin’ Harder,”where his thick slap bass snaps like a slingshot, and he even digs up an old Phantom, Rocker & Slick tune, “Runnin’ From The Hounds,”and gives it a facelift. But that’s not the record’s only cover: Rocker also remakes his other old band’s biggest hit, “Rock This Town.”And wouldn’t you know it, it might be the only weak spot on the entire record.

— Trevor Fisher

Click here to download Lee Rocker’s “Rockin’ Harder.”

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly