Name Slim Jim Phantom
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Best known for Drummer for the Stray Cats, DJ “Little Steven’s Underground Garage,” Owner of the Cat Club at 8911 Sunset Blvd., and providing a place to play for 5,000 bands you’ve never heard of.
Current City Los Angeles, CA.
Really want to be in Jamaica At Goldeneye with my beautiful and rocking wife Jennie Vee.
Excited about The Stray Cats upcoming tour of the U.S.A. with some new music on the way, Las Vegas show with the Midnight Cowgirls on the bill, we’ll be playing on Long Island for the first time in a long time!
My current music collection has a lot of Rockabilly, Elvis Presley.
And a little bit of Jump blues.
Preferred format Vinyl has always been the coolest, CDs were convenient, Sirius XM is the greatest thing ever!
5 Albums I Can’t Live Without:
1
The Sun Sessions, Elvis Presley
This is the record that changed my life. The first time I heard it and saw that famous hillbilly cat photo of Elvis, the world stopped spinning for a minute and I knew what the rest of my life was going to look and sound like. He is definitely the King of Rock ‘n Roll.
2
Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps, Gene Vincent
All these years later, I was trying to look up the exact title of this album and the best I could come up with is just the band name. Everyone just calls this the second Gene Vincent album. This one was probably the most influential record for me musically. It swings and it rocks which is the trickiest of all things to do as a drummer and a band. It’s got the perfect blend of chops and feel. It still sends me every time I hear any of the cuts. The drummer Dickie “Be-Bop” Harrell is a hero to me. When we first starting meeting all of our classic rock heroes like Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, the Stones, and George Harrison, they all told me how this album was their one, too!
3
Singin’ to My Baby, Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran was the best rock star ever. He played great, he sang great, he looked great, was way ahead of the curve technologically and left behind a timeless image and beyond-impressive catalog. This may have been his only official complete LP. We benefitted from compilations that included all the singles. Not many of the rockabilly stars had complete albums, just singles. We had to get the compilations on import as many of our original American rock ‘n roll stars’ records had gone out of print and many were re-issued by British and French labels. The records were expensive for young rockabilly boys, so we leaned towards the compilations with 20 tracks on each one.
4
Miss Etta James: The Complete Modern and Kent Recordings, Etta James
If anyone listens to my radio show “Rockabilly Rave Up” on “Little Steven’s Underground Garage,” then they know that I love Etta James. The early R&B numbers had a big impact on me. When we first got turned on to them in London in 1981, I didn’t know this style of music and it connected immediately with me in a big way. Jump blues and R&B from the mid-‘50s is the “rock” part of rockabilly, original Grand Ole Opry “hillbilly music” being the big part of the beautiful equation. “Good Rockin’ Daddy” is a stand out and Etta is the rockin-est gal in any galaxy.
5
Infinity, Journey
Does this tick the “hmmm…I had no idea they would listen to that” box?! My buddy Steve Perry is one the best singers ever. He hits all those notes full voice and makes it look easy. It’s not! He’s working really hard but makes it look and sound effortless. That’s a whole other gift. The whole band shreds on this album. I didn’t know until we became friendly that Steve is a Ricky Nelson fan. I shouldn’t have been surprised. When we first met Robert Plant, I was surprised when he told us he was such a big Gene Vincent fan. Of course, now, it all makes sense. The influence of the original American rock stars and R&B artists is everywhere and always will be.
To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.
