Yeah, Al! The first version I heard of "Train Kept A Rollin’ " was in 1965, that by The Yardbirds with of course Jeff Beck on guitar. It’s a great version, and I was amazed in 1977 when I heard a version I liked even more, that of The Rock ’n’ Roll Trio. Absolute killer! Johnny Burnette’s scream in the song is on a Little Richard level---as good as it gets. The R & R Trio created an incredible feeling of tension, which requires the musicians to "hold back" in a way that’s hard to explain but easy to hear. The Who were good at that too, no more so than in "I Can See For Miles". Most bands are all about release, not first creating the tension which makes the release so, ahem, satisfying.
Tension and release, what makes the best Rock ’n’ Roll so sexual. Elvis’ early stuff is full of it, as is the work of Rock ’n’ Roll master Dave Edmunds. Listen to Dave’s guitar solo in his 1970 recording of the Dave Bartholomew song "I Hear You Knocking", a hit for Smiley Lewis in the mid-50’s. The held-back tension in the song is palpable, and then Dave’s guitar solo kicks it up a notch, his note-timing creating the most intense tension-and-release I’ve heard in music. XXX-Rated, baby!
Dave and Robert Plant are close friends, and both fans of the Blues and Hillbilly from which Rock ’n’ Roll evolved. Dave was one of the guitarists being considered as replacement for Brian Jones in The Stones. Luckily, he didn’t get the gig, and ended up creating the real "Best Rock ’n’ Roll Band In The World" (the claim to that title by The Rolling Stones notwithstanding) with Nick Lowe, Billy Bremmer, and Terry Williams---Rockpile. One of the maybe four best bands I’ve seen live, the other two being Little Village, NRBQ, and of course The Band. The Beatles weren’t very good when I saw them live in '65, by the way.
