Review - Tommy Conwell and the Little Kings' "Sho' Gone Crazy"

Six From The Philly File by Jonathan Takiff
Daily News Staff Writer 
October 03, 1997 

Philadelphia-spawned artists rule the roost this week...

Burned badly by a major entertainment conglomerate that tried to reshape him as the next Bryan Adams, Philly blues rocker Tommy Conwell kissed the music business goodbye. He drove a cab for a spell, studied jazz guitar with local great Jimmy Bruno, then returned to college for an education degree and became an elementary school teacher. ("Here's my record review, Mister Conwell.") 

But in his spare time, Conwell is again making good time, retro rock 'n' boogie music - the bar-band-bashing brew that first got him noticed in this town in the '80s. And trust me, the spirit's still catching. 

Get a charge with the giddy "All God's Children Wanna Rock" and "Bad Haircut," the big beat rhythm and blues bopper "Get Down and Ride" and Chuck Berry-ish guitar blaster "Betty Jean" You'll also find a pretty cool treatment of Bobby Timmons' jazz lounge instrumental "Moanin'," and a couple of new songs that spin off the titles of old tunes - "Pony Time" and "Mashed Potatoes."

 
* Tommy Conwell and The Little Kings - Sho' Gone Crazy - Llist Records Grade B

Amps and Axes Podcast - Interview with Tommy Conwell

DJ Caterina:        *listening to Amps and Axes podcast*

Podcast host:      "I don't know anybody who plays like Jimmie Vaughan." 

DJ Caterina:         HAVE YOU HEARD TOMMY CONWELL PLAY THE GUITAR??? 

From the Amp and Axes show podcast:

"Guest of the Week: Tommy Conwell. A player and songwriter that decided to meld together a couple musical styles into his own brand of entertainment during the '80's, so please find your happy place and help us welcome from the Young Rumblers, Mr. Tommy Conwell. Enjoy!

Podcast show link here.

Conwell and Crew Rumble into Town [Oct. 1988]

Conwell and crew rumble into town 
by Marty Racine 
18 October 1988 - Houston Chronicle 
Hearst Communications, Inc.

Bulletin!
"Local commercial rock-radio station helps break career of local band!"' 

In Houston? 

Don't be silly. It happened in Philadelphia - City of Brotherly Rock 'n' Roll Love, and home to album-rock outlet WMMR-FM, long considered one of the more influential in the industry. That station has helped spring Philly locals Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers into a regional and possibly national act. 

The Rumblers try Houston on for size in their local debut tonight at Rockefeller's. It's in support of their  "Rumble"' album on CBS. 

For mainstream singer/songwriter rock fans, this may be a newcomer to watch. They'll be on at 10 for a 90-minute set. CBS reps will be in attendance. It will be a showcase in every respect. 

"WMMR will play good local music,"' Conwell said last week from Austin. "We were in their regular rotation (with an independent record) "before'' our Columbia (CBS) record came out. They got behind us. They got behind the Hooters, too, and they got behind other bands before them."

"Radio and the public (in Philadelphia) realize that they have the power to make an act well known around the country. They have the power to propel an act."

Were they really "that" instrumental in the Rumblers' case? 

"Yeah, it's definitely - you kick around the bar scene, you've got your following, and it grows and grows. But still, you get a record on the radio and it's played a lot, your following is gonna triple. That's the power of that medium."

Prior to getting airplay, the Rumblers - Christopher Day, Jim Hannum, Rob Miller and Paul Slivka - had established themselves as a regional act in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.-Baltimore, "within three or four hours' drive from home. But that's as far as we had ever gone," Conwell said. 

The Philadelphia club scene also rates good reviews from Conwell.

"It's a great scene. There's a whole lot of good clubs and good bands. The people are very receptive to original music."

"I don't know who's to credit for that - the clubs or the people. It's hard to find a cover (copy band) club in Philadelphia unless you're looking for one. There's a lot of clubs that book only original music."

With airplay, CBS/Columbia was not alone in pursuing the group. "We also talked to a number of other labels; Columbia is just the one we chose," Conwell said. "We waited until we felt we were ready, which is maybe different than a lot of bands do. We didn't go knocking on the door until we knew we were good and were ready for them, that we had something they could use, that we had a good product."

And that product is... ?

"The product being a band that is ready to go out on the road and knows how to play live; a band that knows how to make a record, since we had made our own record; a band that has established a track record among its fans. If nothing else, we'll sell records in Philly. So, we have a base from which to start. 

"Also, a band that has played a lot of opening acts - we opened for (David) Bowie, the Pretenders and Robert Palmer when they came to Philly. So we have experience, and it took four to five years."

For the first half of that apprenticeship, the band was a three-piece: guitar, bass and drums. "We were pretty much a blues band - Slim Harpo, B.B. King and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. I was really inspired by the T-Birds and Stevie Ray (Vaughan). Jimmie Vaughan changed my life. Those first two T-Birds records, 'whew!'"

From there, Conwell took it back to earlier inspirations: Lazy Lester, Freddie King and Magic Sam. 

But, tired of copying old blues songs, Conwell decided "to give my own songwriting a shot. When I made that decision, I started writing rock songs. I started writing for this band."

"Songwriting was never my thing. I tell you what: Being a rock star was never my thing. I was never interested in being a rock star, a singer or a songwriter. I'm a guitar player."

"But I realized that the singer and the songwriter - you can't do without them. I figured, if I could do those myself, I could save a lot of hassles with other people. So I just forced myself to become a singer and write songs. I was born with enough music in me to be able to do that."

"And one thing I've found out about songwriting is, I cannot take a break. If you don't use it, you lose it. I cannot take a break. I've got to keep it up."

With his fixation on the T-Birds, Conwell was eating up his first visit to Austin. He had rented a car and was making the rounds. 

"You familiar with Austin?"' he asked.

Somewhat. 

"Well, I think I've got the clubs cased out. I'm looking to buy some clothes, maybe some used clothes. You know any places?"

Cool young rock 'n' roller. You can tell.

Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers Cover Purple Rain

Audio Rumble appreciates great guitar players and dynamic, epic onstage rock 'n roll performances. On April 21, 2016, Audio Rumble sadly paid tribute to one of the greatest onstage performers and artists ever. #RIP Prince. 


And then less than a month later, Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers pull out this gem at The Ardmore Music Hall. TCYR covers Purple Rain! 

Buzz Zeemer No Depression article - 1999

A July/August 1999 No Depression Buzz Zeemer article written by Phil Sheridan.

Buzz Zeemer - Nothing Comes Easy 
June 30, 1999 

The story of Buzz Zeemer is really two stories, each straight out of the standard rock 'n' roll manual. First, there was Flight of Mavis, a three-piece band from the Replacements school of melodic, attitudinal rock. Distinguished by Frank Brown's cut-above songwriting and warm, personable singing voice, Mavis seemed in flight toward great things in the late 1980s and early '90s. 

The highlight and lowlight were one and the same: a six-week tour opening for the Reivers. "We were exhausted," Brown said. "We were gone for six weeks and we each came home with $50 in our pockets. I mean, it was a great experience. It was fun. But 50 bucks?" A lot more than 50 bucks was riding on the second story, whose star was a promising rocker named Tommy Conwell. Signed to a big bonus and hyped to the hilt by Columbia Records, Conwell and his band, the Young Rumblers, were all set to be stars. Surprise, surprise: It didn't quite happen. 

The stories collided in the mid-1990s. Brown broke up Mavis around the same time that Conwell got his degree in education and became the hippest second-grade teacher in North America. Eventually, the two started playing together in a new band, Buzz Zeemer (whose lineup also included other former Mavis members). Their debut disc, Plaything, came out in 1995. 

Looking back, Brown can't say whether it was a mistake to break up Flight of Mavis. Any momentum they'd built up seemed to disappear with the name change, but Brown's view is that there wasn't much there to begin with. "We had momentum when the first Buzz Zeemer came out; that was like another round of attention," Brown said. "But I think you only get a certain amount. You have certain periods, and that really goes with any band." 

Buzz Zeemer's new record, Delusions Of Grandeur, is a subversively brilliant pop-rock record on Philly's Record Cellar label. Brown, 34, is a master of the three-minute pop song, a quality craftsman along the lines of Jack Logan or Tommy Keene. Brown's innate gift for melody is surpassed by spare lyrics that reveal layers of meaning and emotion not apparent on first listen. "Red Balloon", from the new album, is a straightforward tale of a kid being goaded to spend more money by the barker at a midway water-gun game. But when Brown lets loose with "Nothing is free, nothing comes easy," you realize the barker is every slick A & R guy and the kid is every wide-eyed musician who ever stepped up to take a shot at the grand prize. 

"I love pop songs," Brown said. "You get to a point where you invested so much time listening to rock music, it doesn't do you any good. You can't make any money from it, but you have all this worthless knowledge." 

Again and again on Delusions, Brown establishes the foundation with a catchy verse and memorable chorus, and then Conwell steps up and elevates the song to another level with a virtuosic solo or two. That might sound formulaic, but the whole thing is carried off with a joy bordering on goofiness. You can't help smiling along. 

"Tommy's great," Brown said. "My feelings about getting anywhere [with the band]...I mean, I don't think about it. But just the idea of playing with Tom, that's half of what keeps you going. I'd write a song and I always had this hole left for Tom. It's so hilarious to be able to write something you're happy about and then have Tommy put the icing on. Anything you imagine, he can play." 

There is a definite connection between the relaxed brilliance of the tunes and the life stages of the band members. Brown has a 1-year-old son and is working on getting his degree. Conwell is teaching. The pressure is off. 

"You still hope," Brown said, "but everyone has so much going on in their lives. It's so different from eight or 10 years ago. That's a whole different world. There's nothing you can do to make yourselves bigger. You can't just go, 'We're big.' Because we just can't take it seriously enough to believe it."