It's only right that
Bob Luman had his biggest hit with the jaunty jolt of postivity called
"Let's Think About Living" -- the swaggering, smiley
Elvis homage, where
Bob lamented the rash of doom-obsessed melodramatic singles popping up everywhere in the late '50s -- it perfectly suited
Luman's big, hammy talents.
Luman was more of a showman than a rocker, a quality that served him well when he slowly shifted over into the country charts after a stint in the army in the early '60s, but
Bear Family's gargantuan 36-track, single-disc 2008 compilation
Bob Rocks doesn't concentrate on those tunes: as the title makes plain, this focuses entirely on
Bob's rocking sides, plucking singles and unreleased songs that have shown up on
Bear Family's two previous comprehensive
Luman box sets, two boxes that span a total of nine discs.
Bob Rocks whittles down this material to the cream of the crop, slightly emphasizing his earliest recordings from the late '50s because this is, after all, when he rocked the hardest, including some sides where he was supported by a group that was later poached by
Imperial Records labelmate
Ricky Nelson to be his own backing band. Certainly, there is no impeaching the quality of
Bob's backing bands here: he always sang with top players, the kind who could run through
Chuck Berry and covers of
Sun singles -- and there are a lot here, from
Elvis'
"Mystery Train" and
"That's Alright" to
Billy Lee Riley's
"Red Hot" and
Warren Smith's
"Red Cadillac and a Black Mustache" -- without sounding tired. And
Luman never sounds tired, either. If anything, he sounds too animated, revving up his performances with a crowd-pleasing glee that can be as off-putting as it is engaging. This natural theatricality winds up being underscored by the number of styles and covers he tries here, as he does a lot of
Elvis, a little
Everlys, a bit of
Buddy Holly, some
Chuck Berry, and a healthy dose of
Jerry Lee, a sampling that emphasizes he's an adept entertainer, not a stylist. And that's why
Bob Rocks winds up being a little tiring after such a long haul: he only wanted to bring a smile to your face and once it was there, he didn't know what to do next. It's a quality that makes for a good live show but not a terrific recording artist. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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