“Hey Hey, My My, Rock-n-Roll will never die.”*
No truer words were ever spoken, and that is why there is The Big Fat Combo.
Nestled away in a tiny little town called Cheshire, Connecticut, The Big Fat Combo has honed true, pure Rock-n-Roll to perfection.
My parents taught me about Rock-n-Roll, they were teenagers in the 50’s. They witnessed the birth of Rock-n-Roll – Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and the list goes on… I was weaned on Rock-n-Roll, and as I grew up, so did Rock-n-Roll. Over the past 50-60 years Rock-n-Roll has evolved into too many genres to count, let alone identify, understand, and appreciate each of them.
If you want a nice hefty platter of hot wax - true, pure Rock-n-Roll – music you can identify, understand and appreciate, The Big Fat Combo brings it. Chicks Dig It is just that; it’s 33 & 1/3 and 45 r.p.m’s of good-time, old-school, early Rock-n-Roll. It’s a record with songs about girls and cars and drinking and heartbreak; all done with the swagger and bravado that can only be Rock-n-Roll. Or as BFC would say: “A little bit a country / a little bit of swing / a little blues and rock / and now we got that thing.” Make no bones about it, The Big Fat Combo doesn’t apologize for who they are, they just Rock your (bobby) socks off.
Just a 4 piece Rock(abilly)-n-Roll Band out there swinging it and laying it down so smooth. With Tom Hearn, the perfect front man, delivering dead-on, dead-pan vocals that know how to croon as well as turn a phrase, sometimes at the same time. Along with rhythm guitar Tom’s the quintessential figure that graced the stages of Rock-n-Roll’s birth. Cary Pollick is the master of Rock-n-Roll lead guitar, tearing off complex notes and runs that pour out of the amps in such fashionable ease that it makes his playing all the more engaging. Tom Murphy on stand-up bass slaps it silly with his precise plucking and down home feel and Jack Murphy on drums keeps the beat that hasn’t quit since 1955. But, the ace in the hole for The Big Fat Combo is someone who isn’t even in the band, 8 of the 14 songs were either written by or co written (w/Tom Hearn) by Ropeburns Russell. Tom calls him one of the greatest songwriters ever, and I have to agree. Try not to sing along with Too Pretty, Sedan de Ville, That’s Why I Call You Darlin and more. Go ahead try, I’ll bet you can’t. What’s that tell you? That tells you they’re great songs, Great Rock-n-Roll songs. They’re true, pure Rock-n-Roll.
The Big Fat Combo IS Truly, Purely Rock-n-Roll.
“My My, Hey Hey, Rock-n-Roll is here to stay.”*
My parents would be proud.
*Neil Young.
Listen: Chicks Dig It / Banned From Sam The Clams
The Big Fat Combo - Chicks Dig It
05-14-10 Live @ C.J. Sparrows
CD Release show
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