Perhaps best known for having young Johnny Depp as a guitarist before he pursued a full time acting career, ROCK CITY ANGELS will forever remain one of the more interesting footnotes in the annals of rock and roll history.
Signed to major label Geffen Records in 1987, the band was a huge attraction during the mid-to-late 80s Los Angeles hard rock and metal scene. But by that time, Rock City Angels had very little to do with the glitz and glamour of the Sunset Strip, having traded their early ‘New York Dolls meets Aerosmith’ worship for a more soulful and bluesy sound.
Realizing this, Geffen sent the LA transplants to Memphis to record their debut album, ‘Young Man’s Blues’. Geffen hired renowned producer Jim Dickinson (Rolling Stones, Big Star, The Replacements) to engineer / mix the album and what resulted are the eleven tracks you have before you.
Geffen, in their typical shortsightedness, passed on the tracks due to them being too soulful and not at all what was happening on the Sunset Strip at the time, and fired Dickinson, much to the distaste of the band. Another producer was brought in, and the band re-recorded most of the songs, plus a few more, for what you would come to know as 1988 LP ‘Young Man’s Blues’.
Titled “Young Man’s Blues: The Original Jim Dickinson Mix“, now 2024 Noize In The Attic Records is releasing for the very first time ever these ROCK CITY ANGELS lost recordings with producer Jim Dickinson.
Comprising quality musicians ROCK CITY ANGELS should have been world stars, unfortunately, “Young Man’s Blues” was a commercial failure due to the nonexistent promotion the label exhibited. Geffen was much more interested in another LA based band that they had just signed called Guns ‘N Roses, and therefore, Rock City Angels were left to twist in the wind, and were eventually dropped by the label.
Since the release of ‘Young Man’s Blues’ in 1988, the album has taken on a cult classic status among hard rock music lovers and aficionados.
With the death of Dickinson in 2009, and lead singer Bobby Durango in 2012, talk began to resurface regarding the whereabouts of original mix of the album.
Tapes that were considered lost to time were rediscovered recently and as a tribute to Bobby’s original wishes, are finally being released for the public to hear.
Once thought to be gone forever, these tapes show a band at its peak power, despite what the label thought at the time. The Durango Kid rides again, here it is, Young Man’s Blues the way it was meant to be heard!
This is a must have for all fans of Rock City Angels, as well as all fans of timeless classic rock n’ roll music.
Highly Recommended
01 – Intro (Boy From Hell’s Kitchen)
02 – Our Little Secret
03 – Beyond Babylon
04 – Hush Child
05 – South Of The Border
06 – Deep Inside My Heart
07 – Wild Tiger
08 – Mary
09 – Rumblefish
10 – Liza Jo
11 – Tin Drum (Outro)
Vocals – Bobby Durango
Guitar – Doug Banx, Mike Barnes
Bass – Andy Panik
Drums – Jackie D. Jukes
ROCK CITY ANGELS – Young Man’s Blues: The Original Jim Dickinson Mix (2024), MP3+FLAC
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