Bill Justis - Bop Train - 1958 Rock N Roll - Phillips 3535

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Bill Justis - Saxophone
Richard Mateller - Trumpet
Sid Manker - Guitar
Jimmy M. Van Eaton - Drums
Charlie Rich - Piano
More Details Unknown

"Bop Train" is another matter. Hidden on the B-side here and rarely reissued, this track is a gem that truly captures the hybrid spirit of Justis' music. The trouble is there's really nowhere to go after the first 12-bar verse. Its all been said. All that remains is to swap the soloing around until the clock on the wall tells us its time to wrap. In a true tough of class, rather than fade on somebody's solo, they return to the original guitar figure and the "Bop Train" rolls along the tracks until its out of sight. Fine work, girls.

The other nice story about ''Bop Train'' is a strange record that doesn't seem quite sure what it wants to be. It begins with a lovely, countrified 4-bar guitar intro in the key of B. Not many songs are in the key and there might not be another one on Sun. Then the band comes in playing a 120bar blues at a lazy rolling tempo with pleasant sax work by Justis in the style of Billy Vaughn. Only now they're in the key of A-flat. Huh? We never lose that 12-bar structure from here on. It's a train, rolling down the track, although the journey doesn't come to close to ''bop'' by anyone definition. (Then again, neither did Elvis when the critics called his music ''hillbilly bop'' back when he started). The first verse is led by the mellow sax. The next two-verses feature a lead guitar with a lot more edge and sting than any playing that comes before. This is as close to rock and roll as the record gets. Then there's one more sax-led verse (the Vaughn sound again) and we're out, back to that lovely hillbilly figure we started with.