''Choo Choo Hot Fish'' is an album by the American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

band

Stray Cats Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in t ...

, released in 1992. The first single was "Elvis on Velvet". The band supported the album with a North American tour. The album was named for a

soul food Soul food is an ethnic cuisine traditionally prepared and eaten by African Americans, originating in the Southern United States.Soul Food originated with the foods that were given to enslaved Black people by their white owners on Souther ...

fish restaurant, since demolished, at Market and Main streets in

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, near what is now the

Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel The Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel (formerly known as Terminal Station) in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a former railroad station once owned and operated by the Southern Railway. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the station is curre ...

Production

The album was produced by

Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with pub rock and new wave, having many hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has alwa ...

. The band had started an album with

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and composer. The co-founder of Chic, Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million ...

, but returned to Edmunds to capture their usual sound. Stray Cats used electronic drums and bass on some tracks. "Jade Idol" is an instrumental. "Can't Go Back to Memphis" was written by

Randy Bachman Randolph Charles Bachman (; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Bachman recorded as a solo artist and was part of a num ...

. " Sleepwalk" is a cover of the

Santo & Johnny Santo & Johnny were an American rock and roll instrumental duo of Italian descent from Brooklyn, New York, composed of brothers Santo Farina (born October 24, 1937) and Johnny Farina (born April 30, 1941). They are known best for their instrum ...

song.

Critical reception

The ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'' wrote that "it's hard to figure out what exactly is being revived ... Are they trying to remind us of the traditional days of rock 'n' roll or just their own 14 1/2 minutes of fame?" The ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'' opined that "the band flies through tunes at hopped-up rockabilly speed with passion and style." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' concluded that Stray Cats' "trademark rockabilly is less derivative and static, and to it they add some eerie 'Blue Velvet'-styled rock ballads, a smart dash of swing and a touch of lively country rock." ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print si ...

'' determined that the guitars "spit and howl with unabated intensity."

Track listing

# "Elvis on Velvet" (Monty Byrom, Tom Kimmel) - 4:25 # "Cry Baby" (Michael Lanning, Rick Bell) - 3:51 # " Please Don't Touch" (Heath, Robinson) - 3:06 # " Sleepwalk" ( John Farina, Santo Farina) - 3:32 # "Lust 'n' Love" (Bill Carter,

Brian Setzer Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with ...

, Ruth Ellen Ellsworth) - 3:47 # "Beautiful Blues" (Setzer, Larson Paine) - 3:03 # "Cross of Love" (Setzer, Paine) - 4:15 # "Can't Go Back to Memphis" (

) - 4:54 # "Jade Idol" (Setzer,

Lee Rocker Lee Rocker (born Leon Drucker, August 3, 1961) is an American musician. He is a member of the rockabilly revival band Stray Cats. He is the son of the classical clarinetists Stanley Drucker, the late former principal clarinetist of the New Yor ...

Slim Jim Phantom James McDonnell (born March 21, 1961), known by the stage name Slim Jim Phantom, is the drummer for Stray Cats. Alongside bandmates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker, he spearheaded the neo-rockabilly movement of the early 1980s. Phantom currently ...

) - 3:18 # "My Heart Is a Liar" (Setzer, Rocker, Phantom) - 3:49 # "

Mystery Train "Mystery Train" is a song written and recorded by American blues musician Junior Parker in 1953. Originally performed in the style of a Memphis blues or rhythm and blues tune, it was inspired by earlier songs and later became a popular rockabil ...

" (

Junior Parker Herman "Junior" Parker (March 27, 1932November 18, 1971) Li ...

) - 5:06

Personnel

- guitar, lap steel, vocals *

- upright bass, vocals *

- drums, vocals *

- guitar, vocals on "Cry Baby"

References

{{Authority control Stray Cats albums 1992 albums Albums produced by Dave Edmunds