Garry Lee and Showdown – “Wanted! Garry Lee and Showdown: Loaded Loose and Rowdy”

The Sleeve:

The Liner/Sleeve Notes:
None.

Personal Review:
 So, this one is quite the interesting one, mainly because I know a guy who played in the band – who unfortunately is not on the album. So, here we go!

 The album opens with the song “Hot Dog Saturday Night” and it’s definitely an interesting song, the lead singers vocals are pretty good, the musicianship is great, the backing female vocals are awful. The musicianship is good, I’m not understanding these lyrics though. “Spend the Night Together” comes next, and hey, we’re getting into decent country music, and they mention a place I’ve been, Kingston, ON! Woo. It’s not bad, I do wish the chorus was more upbeat. Though, the chorus isn’t bad at all. Then we continue onto the song “Cajun Boogie” which has a lot of fiddle playing, which is great, because I love fiddles and I love banjos, so there better be some banjos. There ain’t no vocals, but it really isn’t a bad track, I’m highly intrigued by this whole song so far. After that comes the song “Ruby” which just goes right into some amazing guitar playing, and then the vocals come in, and you know, I’m warming up to this album. It’s pretty great. It’s definitely a good song. By the way, the song is about sex. I mean like the lyrics “When you hear the buckles hit the floor you know you got it made” – like come on, how obvious is that? “Awwww” comes next, which opens with a line about a guy decking his boss. “Awwww fuck it, I’ve got better things to do. Fuck it. All the years I’ve taken shit would fill a bucket.” – that’s the chorus, and it’s amazing. This is what I like, country music with swearing and fiddles.

 The B-Side opens with the song “Rodeo Cowboy” and it’s not a bad track at all, it’s pretty good, I definitely love when the chorus comes along, but it’s nothing compared to the amazing musicianship delivered by these guys, like I cannot get over how great this is. After that comes the song “Troubles to Spare” and well, it’s a song about women asking a guy for sex and he just wants to drink, it’s not one of the better songs on this album, but it still is a pretty good song, both vocally and musically. Then after that comes the track “First Time for Julie” which is literally a song about a girl losing her virginity, and you know, they play it off as one of those slower relaxed country songs, and it oddly works. I’m really digging this album a lot, for the fact that the songs do have come humor to them, but still provide something good musically. After that comes the song “Greasy Delight” and well, it kind of has that country funk sound to it at first, but then when the chorus comes around they kick off to a regular sounding country track, I’m kind of confused as to what this song is exactly about, but that guitar solo is pretty great. “Ethel Pump” and it’s another song about sex! Though, this is about a big fat women who is like a prostitute in a bar or something along those lines, not exactly sure. They do a pig snort a lot. The album ends with their ‘most known’ track “The Rodeo Song” closes the album, and there is some things called the ‘Canadian Beavers’ providing the vocals to the song, which seem to be like the Canadian version of Alvin and Chipmunks, and you know, Chipmunks, or er… Beavers singing the line “it’s 40 below and I don’t give a fuck” is quite, and I do mean, quite interesting. Anyways, all in all, it’s not a bad album, first track is a little lame, and this song would be better with real vocals. Nonetheless, everything inbetween is good.

Interesting Facts:
None.

Track Listing:
A1 – Hot Dog Saturday Night
A2 – Spend the Night Together
A3 – Cajun Boogie
A4 – Ruby
A5 – Awwww

B1 – Rodeo Cowboy
B2 – Troubles to Spare
B3 – First Time for Julie
B4 – Greasy Delight
B5 – Ethel Pump
B6 – The Rodeo Song (with the Canadian Beavers)

Label:
Damon

Catalog Number:
DS-1007

Studio Musicians & Other Album Credits:
Fiddle & Lead Vocals – Garry Lee
Guitar – Trevor Dunn, Red Volkaert & Freddie Pelletier
Bass – Rick Erickson
Drums – Rick Patterson
Background Singers – Randy Broadhead, Rick Erickson & Susan Gilmour
Vocal Arrangement on “Hot Dog Saturday Night” – Doug Rusu
Sound – Kent Frazier
Bus Driver – Darcy Berthold
Special Inspiration – Larry McEvoy
Engineers – Garry McDonall & Rick Erickson
Recorded & Mixed at Damon Sound Studios on the Neve 8108 Console with Necam
Produced by Garry McDonall & Garry Lee
Honda Mini Bikes Courtesy of Alberta Cycle, Edmonton
Charlie One Horse Hats Courtesy of Wayne Gretzky’s Western Corral, Edmonton
Cover Models – Hell’s Babys Mini-Cycle Club
Cover Concept – Garry Lee & Garry McDonall
Cover Photography – Doug Woolgar
Cover Art – David Advertising

Other Albums I Own by Garry Lee & Showdown:
“Welcome to the Rodeo”

Released:
1982

Related Vinyls:

Showdown – “Welcome to the Rodeo” Harold MacIntyre – “Area Code 705” Willie Nelson – “Georgia On My Mind” Hiding Out: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack