''The Axeman's Jazz'' is the debut album by Australian blues rock band

Beasts of Bourbon Beasts of Bourbon were an Australian blues rock band formed in August 1983, with James Baker on drums (ex-Hoodoo Gurus, The Scientists), Spencer P. Jones on guitar (The Johnnys), Tex Perkins on vocals (Dum Dums), Kim Salmon on guitar and Boris ...

which was recorded in October 1983 and originally released in 1984 on the Green/Big Time label.

Reception

In the review on

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Kathleen C. Fennessy said "Considering how little time was actually spent on recording it, ''The Axeman's Jazz'' is a surprisingly accomplished debut. If not quite as successful as 1988's follow-up, ''Sour Mash'', it remains an energetic collection of grungy swamp rock with a side of countrified blues". In 1991, Perkins said, "We stretched doing "Pycho" out for as long as possible because we knew people liked hearing it, but we won't be doing it anymore. Every show we hear the familiar cry of 'Ten Wheels for fucking Jesus.... ya cunt!' We haven't done it in fuckin' five years but someone will always ask for it. It's a really dumb fuckin' thrashed out piece of hillbilly idiocy."

Track listing

All songs by Spencer P. Jones and Tex Perkins except where noted # "Evil Ruby" – 3:33 # "Love and Death" – 4:04 # "Graveyard Train" (

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American mu ...

) – 7:15 # "Psycho" (

Leon Payne Leon Roger Payne (June 15, 1917 – September 11, 1969), "the Blind Balladeer", was an American country music singer and songwriter. Life He was born in Alba, Texas, United States. He was blind in one eye at birth, and lost the sight in the other ...

) – 3:57 # "Drop Out" (James Baker, Kim Salmon) – 3:04 # "Save Me a Place" (Salmon, Perkins) – 5:38 # "Lonesome Bones" (Perkins) – 4:33 # "The Day Marty Robbins Died" – 3:20 # "Ten Wheels for Jesus" (Perkins) – 5:24

Personnel

;Beasts of Bourbon *

Tex Perkins Gregory Stephen Perkins (born 28 December 1964), better known by his stage name Tex Perkins, is an Australian singer-songwriter who fronted the Australian rock band The Cruel Sea, but has also performed with the Beasts of Bourbon, Thug, James B ...

– vocals *

Spencer P. Jones Spencer Patrick Jones (28 October 1956 – 21 August 2018) was a New Zealand guitar player and singer-songwriter from Te Awamutu. From 1976 he worked in Australia and was a member of various groups including The Johnnys, Beasts of Bourbon, Paul K ...

– guitar *

Kim Salmon Kim Leith Salmon (born 24 January 1957) is an Australian rock musician and songwriter from Perth. He has worked in various groups including The Scientists, Beasts of Bourbon, Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, Kim Salmon and the Business, and Dar ...

– guitar *Boris Sudjovic – bass *

James Baker James Addison Baker III (born April 28, 1930) is an American attorney, diplomat and statesman. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House Chief of Staff and 67th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President ...

– drums

Production

Tony Cohen Anthony Lawrence Cohen (4 June 19572 August 2017) was an Australian music record producer and sound engineer. He worked with Nick Cave's groups the Birthday Party, and then the Bad Seeds from 1979 to 2001. In mid-1986 he had followed Cave t ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

*Roger Greirson – executive producer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Axeman's Jazz, The Beasts of Bourbon albums 1984 debut albums Big Time Records albums