The Wild Man

After Billy and Miriam Linna (the husband-and-wife team behind the garage rock label Norton) released an archival collection of Hasil Adkins' self-recordings in 1986, the next logical step was to bring the 50-year-old rocker into a real studio. Where most of the '50s rockers had lost their spark with the onset of middle age, Hasil’s patented hillbilly rock was as fresh as ever. “Big Red Satellite,” “Everybody Loves Somebody," and “Haunted House” are a few of the performances that put all of his garage rock imitators to shame. He proves that his talent wasn't just a matter of grimy recording but the result of a well-crafted groove. Adkins was still full of fire, but the revelation of The Wild Man is “Turning off a Memory,” a country weeper that reveals soul beneath the shrieks. The set closes with a reading of Jimmie Rodgers’ “California Blues”/“T for Texas.” Although Hasil’s guitar technique was anything but precise, there's an authenticity to the reading that cuts right to the core of a song that's been retold thousands of times.