Tex And The Troubadours – Troubadour Rock

johnaalex
May 6
2 min read

Released April 2025 on Tone River (https://toneriver.co.uk/)

Reviewed April 2025 by Jailhouse John Alexander

Tex and The Troubadours are an authentic British teddy boy three piece band consisting of Tex on guitars and vocals, Wildman Nick on slap bass and Nice Nige on drums. Most of the tracks are originals, written by the band and there are four covers, “Drinkin’ Wine Spodee Odee”, “Kansas City”, “Washing Machine Boogie” and “Call Me The Breeze”. The album was produced and engineered by Paul “Doc” Stewart.

Track by track review

Sweet Rock And Roll is a mid-paced rocker that gives an insight into the band with their love for the music they play and their heroes from Buddy to Cavan. Good driving guitar riff and nice slap bass. A good scene setter for the rest of the album.

Drinkin' Wine Spodee Odee is an old R&B track dating back to the late 1940s. This is a good rockabilly version with nifty guitar work from Tex.

Troubadour Rock is more of a stroller than a bopper and like “Sweet Rock And Roll” it tells a story of life in the band. A warning to the DJs out there, this track has a sudden ending!

Kansas City is a rhythm and blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1952. This version is a stroller with the drums and a good slap bass setting the pace.

Easy On My Soul, another original track and a good jiver with more nice guitar work taking centre stage.

Living On Rock & Roll, bass drum and slap bass work well to give this bopper pace along with some wild guitar in the middle. Nice vocal harmonies too.

Move On Down The Line, this is not as I first suspected a cover of “Down The Line” but another original track. A mid-paced track that maybe could be done at a quicker pace, a good stroller nonetheless.

Surgery Number Nine picks up the pace and has some of the best guitar playing on the album. A good bopper with another sudden ending.

Talking Woman Blues is a stroller with a definite bluesey feel.

Washing Machine Boogie is a good bopping cover of the longtime club favourite first recorded by the Echo Valley Boys.

Didn't Make It As A Stray Cat is an obvious reference to another rockabilly trio. I love the line “I wanted to be cool, but when people scratch my back, I cover them with drool”!

Call Me The Breeze was written by J. J. Cale and I doubt if he could have seen his work being done in the rockabilly style that we have here. I think it works really well and I love the guitar sound.

Summary and Recommendation

These guys work well together both with their vocals and good musicianship. It is a very enjoyable album with a good mix of covers and originals. I hope it is a success for them, and they get due reward for their work.

You Tube - https://youtu.be/4xn954n13ZI?si=W_0rLk0Oe1uBjt-x

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/642788970584897/

The Bands press release - https://toneriver.co.uk/tex/

Jailhouse John Alexander

Track List

1, Sweet Rock And Roll

2, Drinkin' Wine Spodee Odee

3, Troubadour Rock

4, Kansas City

5, Easy On My Soul

6, Living On Rock & Roll

7, Move On Down The Line