King Of Nerd-a-Billy CD

Crazy Joe and The Mad River Outlaws
King Of Nerd-a-Billy CD

A varied set of rockin' styles, including some brilliant guitar duels with guest Deke Dickerson, are presented here on this magnificent album from Crazy Joe and his Mad River Outlaws.
There's lots of all-out Rockabilly, but also plenty of rockin' variety here, all well performed and produced resulting in a five-star release.  The musicians in the Mad River Outlaws, along with guest Deke, put in some sterling performances, but it is superb guitar and vocal of unlikely frontman Crazy Joe Tritschler that steal the show.

Review by Fred Turgis (Jumpin' From Six to Six)
The most amazing thing with Crazy Joe's latest release, besides his talent, is his maturity. This is only his third release and you'd swear to listen to a guy who has 10 albums under his belt. An accomplished singer, he's able to confront himself with Sam Cooke (Nothing Can Change This Love) with ease, and add this talent to his capacity to write his own song and the result is "You Never Cared For Me", an amazing-astounding-beautiful (and more) ballad with a strong sixties flavour. 
Rich in style this album goes through a rollicking rendition of Johnny Horton's "Wise To The Way Of A Woman" to a wild Surf tune (with theremin) via a rock'n'roll version of a jump blues classic (Smack Dab In The Middle) and a weeping Honky Tonk, Joe's own "Cryin' My Eyes Out Over You" with guest pedal steel player Dave Biller. "Kansas City Baby" rocks harder, this time with Deke Dickerson on guitar. 
And although he's probably one of the best guitar player on the current rockin' scene, he has this rare intelligence not to "overplay". He always focuses on the song and the melody and never tries to show his talent when there's no use (how many should learn this lesson). Every song is concise and goes straight to the point (they're almost all under the 3 minutes mark). His guitar skill can plainly express itself with the instrumentals. Remington Ride is given the same treatment "Steel Guitar Rag" received on the previous ep. "Flight Of The Beverly Bumblebillies" is a clever mix of Rimsky-Korsakov "Flight Of The Bumble Bee" and the theme from the "Beverly Hillbillies". 
And even if he's greatly talented I shouldn't forget to mention the Mad River Outlaws who never fail to deliver the right rhythm section for all of those tunes. This fine platter comes served in a beautifully designed digipack.