Gene Vincent: A Million Shades of Blue

Gene Vincent was a rockabilly giant, but the 1960 car crash that took the life of fellow giant Eddie Cochran didn't do Gene any favors, either: it injured him badly enough to derail his American career. By the turn of the next decade, he'd made his last two albums, anthologized here, and while they don't offer any revelations or recreate his classic sound, there are some pleasures here for devoted Gene fans.

In 1970, badly depressed and suffering from alcoholism, Fifties rockabilly giant Gene Vincent accepted a recording contract from Kama Sutra Records (best known for launching the Lovin' Spoonful) and made two abortive "comeback" LPs, 1970's If Only You Could See Me Today and 1971's The Day The World Turned Blue. This re-release offers the chance to hear both albums back-to-back, and while they're not terrible, they don't hold much interest for any but the most devoted Vincent fan: in an attempt to get him back on the charts, the folks at Kama Sutra apparently decided to turn the rockabilly legend into a strange hybrid of B.J. Thomas and Joe South -- earthy yet poppy, a little slick, occasionally preachy in the fashion of the time. Backed mostly by an English prog-rock group named Kansashook, Gene's voice sounds up to the task, but his singing is unfocused, unsure -- the vocals of a lost man.

The good news is that the album tracks give Gene a little room to stretch out: the Cajun standard "Dance Colinda" and the swamp-pop of "You Can Make It If You Try" at least get within spitting distance of his talent, while the long jams "Slow Times Comin'" and the Tex-Mex "Tush Hog" (done with two members of the Sir Douglas Quintet) allow you the chance to hear Gene's guitar. (Even the cover of Carl Perkins' "Boppin' The Blues" sounds like the Grateful Dead.) The only real standout is "Geese," a gentle original jailhouse ballad with a touch of that high lonesome. In the end, however, these two last gasps -- not quite his last recordings, but his last in the studio -- are more a snapshot of an era than a testimony to Gene's greatness. But hardcore fans will savor every attempt.