Leading with a track from the duo’s second album, the A-side of this single lets Tina take the lead while Ike provides responses to her lines, with a trim guitar line and drums backing them up, along with a few extra female singers. The B-side is an advance track from their 1963 album Dynamite!, and it shifts to fuller instrumentation and a duet from the Turners. Both tracks move quickly, but the spirit with which they’re performed brings quite a punch to their short runs.
On the “Alley Cat” A-side of this single, Bent Fabric lays down a sinuous, slow-strutting line on the piano, with minimal drum and guitar backing lending it a nice jazz aura. “Markin’ Time”, the B-side, takes a similar approach but ups the drum presence and straightens out the piano-lines into a clear progression from point A to point B. Enjoyable on both fronts, but low on depth.
One of four albums released by Bill Black’s Combo in 1961, Movin’ features the band’s usual instrumental work (with some background yells in “Hey Bo Diddley”) over a dozen tracks, none of them breaking the three-minute mark. Keeping things fast and active, all but two of the songs taken on by the sax, bass, drums, and piano line-up are covers, though the style and condensing changes makes some practically unrecognizable at first hearing. The quick turn-over and fairly narrow span of tempos for most of the songs also leads to some of the music blurring together without high attention paid, but through it all, the band keeps up a fine style and strong performances.
Scrambled Brains 