New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ MondoTunes) Billy Rawlett, an American classic rock and country/western performer from Arlington, Texas, has released his groundbreaking first LP "You Can't Get Your Money Back" to complete his re-release collection. "You Can't Get Your Money Back" is part of Rawlett's 2012 series which includes 1999's "You Can't Get Your Money Back," 2000's "What's a Poor Boy to Do," 2002's "Latent Treasures," 2004's "Time Stood Still," and 2006's "In the Blink of an Eye." With his breakaway western rock n' roll record "You Can't Get Your Money Back," Billy Rawlett stepped into the spotlight and began a career that would take him from performing the hardest style of southern rock to the most superbly genuine, acoustic Americana - and to many brilliant places in-between.
Rawlett's first album, "You Can't Get Your Money Back," is the most rocking of his collection, and perhaps, ironically, the most akin to his last album in terms of raw power. Where "In the Blink of an Eye" derives its effect from pure, honest, heart and soul, "You Can't Get Your Money Back" is an album that comes out blazing, with songs like the title track and "Good Luck Trailer Park" to build momentum, and songs like "Only Going Solo" and the bluesy "Gettin' in Your Bones" to carry the groove. It has tracks that herald Rawlett's sound to come, also, such as the bluegrass-steeped "Sleepin' Around," and tracks that hint at his growing folk influence, such as "
In Your Dreams" and the album's closing track, "When I See That
Train a Comin'."
While Billy Rawlett would record more than forty songs following this, his impetuous first record, there's a fine chance that many true Rawlett fans still enjoy this earliest collection of his music most of all. This is perhaps because they fondly remember being introduced to these songs when he first began, and perhaps because there's something about the rough brashness of "You Can't Get Your Money Back" that appeals to the listener who likes their boots a little scuffed. In its own right and by all means, "You Can't Get Your Money Back" is an outstanding album.
Billy Rawlett's influences stem from every geographic extreme of classic rock, reaching the Ventures and the
Doors on the west coast,
Johnny Cash and Stevie Ray Vaughan in the midwest, and Jimmy Paige and the
Rolling Stones in the UK. His blend of rock and country/western is reminiscent of such American bands as CSNY, the Band, or the
Doobie Brothers - but only at their most jamming, energetic moments. Rawlett's own raw sound is arresting, striking, and full of verve even at his mellowest. It was said of Tammy Wynette that she had "a tear in every word;" the opposite is doubly true of Billy Rawlett, who performs even his saddest song in a way you'll always be in the mood to hear.
The LP "You Can't Get Your Money Back" is distributed globally by MondoTunes (www.MondoTunes.com) and is available at iTunes for convenient purchase and download
