Rebound For Glory!

Well, I went away for a while, but now I'm back. As you might have noticed, my last blog entry corresponded with the beginning of the Fall Semester at UC. But now summer's here and the time is right for bloggin' on the web. Summer is also the time when I try to get caught up on all of last year's films. To that end, I recently purchased An Education on DVD and was blown away by the instrumental piano track that opens the film. As the film is set in England in the early 1960s, I figured the song had to be by some obscure British jazz pianist who had previously escaped my attention. To my surprise, when the end credits rolled, I discovered the opening track was "On the Rebound" by the legendary, Louisiana-born "country" piano player, Floyd Cramer.

Back in 1961, Cramer took "On the Rebound" to the Number 4 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and to the Number 16 spot on the R&B Singles chart. Ironically, the song never made it to the Country charts. Too pop? Too jazzy? Anyway, the song made me want to treat Floyd Cramer with a little more respect. In truth, I had always written him off as the Roger Williams of country piano. I thought of him as a musician who was more in tune with Lawrence Welk than Vince Guaraldi. As usual, I stand corrected! Rediscovering "On the Rebound" and the rest of Cramer's greatest hits, including "Last Date" and "Lovesick Blues" has been an ear-opening experience.

I have always been a sucker for the great instrumental tracks of the 1960s. Is there a greater track in the world than Mason Williams' "Classical Gas?" And thanks to director Lone Scherfig's wonderful film, I now count "On the Rebound" in my top ten instrumental favorites! What an education! Click here to listen!