Search - Gene Vincent :: Blue Jean Bop / Gene Vincent & Blue Caps

Gene Vincent began his singing career after winning an Elvis Presley impersonation contest. Ironically, following the success of "Be Bop A Lula," he came to represent the black-leathered image of the early rock & roll delinquent more than Presley. Credit was due to his gritty Blue Caps, featuring Cliff Gallup, one of the first true guitar heroes. Vincent was hugely popular in England, and you can bet the Beatles heard Vincent's cover of the Tin Pan Alley tune "Ain't She Sweet," which was the first professional recording made by the Fabs. In fact, this repackaging of Vincent's first two LPs--both from 1957--reveals how wide-reaching the early rockers' notions of "pop" stretched. Vincent mines other old-time gems here, including "Peg o' My Heart," while turning in a gorgeous take on "Unchained Melody" years before the Righteous Brothers and Phil Spector had the same idea. With the exception of "Blue Jean Bop," you have to look elsewhere for such big Vincent hits as "Race with the Devil." And yet this twofer is interesting for what it does include...and for what Vincent and company make their own. --Bill Holdship