It’s High Time

Melbourne’s Jet look like the Faces and sound like everybody else from the ’70s, but whether or not that’s a good thing depends on your perspective, and your record collection. As all of the Spaceland crowd seemed to know, Jet opened for the Rolling Stones down under on the last tour, but that’s not where their link to the Glimmer Twins ends — their upcoming Elektra release will feature none other than Billy Preston guesting on the keys. Impressive classic-rock cred for ya. Still, their bell-bottomed bops are mostly irresistible because they lift faves of yore: “Dirty Deeds” here, “Lust for Life” there, Led Zep’s “Rock & Roll” everywhere. Derivative, yes, but these youthful denim warriors channel their idols with such a reverent fervency onstage (they did a mean T-Rex-meets-Elvis jam on “That’s Alright, Mama”) that you can’t help but hop along for their retro-rock ride. (Lina Lecaro)

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DEWEY TERRY, R.I.P.Dewey Terry, the guitarist-singer of the renowned duo Don and Dewey, died Sunday, May 11, after a lengthy struggle with cancer. Terry was born in Los Angeles on July 17, 1937, and by the mid-’50s he and lifelong buddy Don “Sugarcane” Harris had cooked up a supercharged brand of rock & roll that presented the still-blossoming form at its most extreme. What gave their sound such voltage was the fact that unlike Chuck Berry and Little Richard, who had toiled for years as R&B performers before launching into straight rock & roll, Don and Dewey were still kids who relied solely on instinct.

“R&B was too slow, too methodical,” Terry said in 1999. “We felt like, ‘C’mon, baby, we don’t want to hear that!’ At that time, most people found what we did quite harsh. They said the music was too loud, always told us to cut our amplifiers down — they did not want you to wiggle and jiggle. But I think that contributed to our success, because — well, the kids were doin’ it anyway: rock & roll.” Signed to Specialty Records in 1957, Don and Dewey cut a stack of frantic classics: “Justine” remains a record of tremendous, screaming impact; the fledgling Righteous Brothers hijacked the pair’s repertoire and stage moves, charting with two Don and Dewey covers. Many of Terry’s songs enjoyed significant reincarnations (“Farmer John” by East Los Angeles’ Premiers, the Olympics’ “Big Boy Pete”), and his “I’m Leaving It All Up to You” became BMI’s most-played song of 1974, via Dale & Grace, Freddy Fender and Donny & Marie Osmond.

Terry never got rich (he and Little Richard picketed Specialty’s offices at one point), but, as he said, “It was just about gettin’ the music across. I’m for the art — and if you can see the art in it, that’s my payment.”

—Jonny Whiteside