Tales from the Highway - The Draglinks
- johnaalex
- May 6
- 3 min read
Title: Tales from the Highway
Band: The Draglinks
Released: October 2024
Label: Independently released
Reviewed: April 2025
Genre: Rockabilly/Rock and Roll
Produced by: Dave Clark
Engineered by: Dave Clark
Artwork: George Guntrip
Band members…
Drums/percussion\vocals: Steve Clark
Guitar/harp/vocals: Johnny Egan
Bass/guitar/washboard/maracas: Dave Clark
+ A whole host of guest artists. (See insert for full personnel)
Track by track…
Ding! Ding! Round one opens with a ‘BRAND NEW CADILLAC type’ groove in the shape of
STRAIGHT OUTTA BROCKTON, a tribute to the undefeated heavyweight boxer, Rocky
Marciano, approved by none other than the great man’s son himself – a song that sports the same.
growling tension as the lull before Rocky’s storm, when he’d unceremoniously send his man to the canvas.
A legend in his own trousers? HENRY’S GOT A BONE is apparently based on a true incident.
Seemingly, (see what I did there?) ‘he’s got a secret hanging’ down.’ Not sure what they could
possibly mean. Answers on a postcard to…
Classy female vocals and blues harp have entered the chat…
A KANSAS CITY ROLL is when you hit the town with strips of newspaper wrapped in a couple
of $100 rolls, simulating a bigger wad – a metaphor for pretty much everything if I ever heard one. It’s all in the perception, baby. Inspired by an old zoot suit-wearing ne'er-do-well by the name of Detroit Red… better known as Malcolm X.
DEVIL’S BREW is a rollicking country shuffle alluding to the positives of sobriety. Or is that
the complete opposite? I’ll let you know when I sober up. TAKE BACK THAT CADILLAC is a MAYBELLINE-style stomper, which makes sense, being as Chuck’s debut was all about that big, glossy slab of automation. Blues harp and those female B-vox make a welcome return on HEARTBROKEN WOMAN. Other attractions include a John Lee Hooker-style talking sequence: you know the one: “I heard Mama and Papa talking’…”
Next up we have the one-two combination of HOLE IN MY POCKET and LAZY BONES. The former is a call-and-response thing in the spirit of Cliff’s MOVE IT. LAZY BONES is delivered in a dour monotone which could almost have been sung by the subject matter himself. See, you lazy b**stards, you’ve even had a song written for you now!
Not sure why so many "billy bands" think TAINTED LOVE is a good track to cover; the only
'rockin' version of it that was any good was Dave Phillips and the Hot Rod Gang’s original
interpretation way back when it mattered. So, it’s refreshing to hear the DRAGLINKS’ complete overhaul in the form of TRAFFIC STOPPER.
THE FINAL HAND is a nice bit of harp-loaded Chess blues relating the fate of card sharps
everywhere. “All gamblers die broke!” And from NORTH TO ALBERT LEA, but still south of
Alaska (sorry folks, Johnny Horton reference), comes this Nadine/Come On chugger.
For the initiated, Anglo/American rocker Vince Taylor left his band starving in Paris in the early 60s while he went off to London to collect some desperately needed funds. Taylor found himself at a party where someone gave him L.S.D., and he never really came back to earth, let alone Paris: an event captured with almost psychedelic effect with MATEUS & THE ACID, which brings us full circle with this surreal one-minute-long rock-a-beat poem about the original star man himself, famously the inspiration for David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust – a very original and ‘off narrative’ touch from the band to round off this fabulous waxing.
Track listing…
1) Straight Outta Brockton
3) Kansas City Roll
4) Devil’s Brew
5) Take Back That Cadillac
6) Heartbroken Woman
7) Hole in My Pocket (W. Page/D. Clark)
8) Lazy Bones
9) Traffic Stopper (D. Short)
10) The Final Hand (W. Page/D. Clark)
11) North to Albert Lea
12) Mateus & the Acid
In summary…
Find within twelve self-penned songs treated to a no-nonsense, stripped-down production, quite literally homegrown in a house somewhere out in the Badlands of Tring. Led by the workmanlike lead vocals and slap bass of Dave Clark (no, not THAT Dave Clark), pleasingly reminiscent of Johnny Kidd when he occasionally let his American accent slip. No going overboard with the reverb on this outing, which makes for a refreshing change. The whole production retains a classy restraint, making this a masterclass in never being afraid of keeping it simple.
TALES FROM THE HIGHWAY is populated with a cast of characters both real and fictional – Lazy Bones, Henry Bone, Rocky Marciano and the Devil. (Whether or not the latter is real or fictional is for YOU to decide.) You will hear shades of Berry, Cash and Taylor and a whole lotta DRAGLINKS’ idiosyncratic magic. The whole deal is topped off with some evocative artwork.
from the House of Guntrip, namely the graphic art designer and DJ himself, George, with some tough accompaniment from Johnny Egan, Steve Clark and a host of great support artists; TALES FROM THE HIGHWAY is a fabulous addition to any rockin’ aficionado’s record collection.
Split, hit and git the highway!
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