The ease with which Dave Edmunds melds his rockabilly, country and rock & roll into a seamless and immediate album makes Get It one of the most interesting and thoroughly enjoyable releases of the year. With Edmunds' rich and assured production, his instrumental prowess, rhythmic and emotionally assured voice, and his strong original tunes and selected covers, Get It fully realizes this veteran British rocker's great potential.

Though hardly bombastic, Edmunds' production recalls Phil Spector in its even mix: voices and instruments create an even, rhythmic flow through their interaction rather than their juxtaposition. Nothing calls attention to itself, but, similarly, there are no loose ends or weak links. This smoothly economic approach works equally well on Bob Seger's hard-rocking "Get Out of Denver" and on the Everly Brothers-like "Here Comes the Weekend," which was written by Edmunds with Nick Lowe, whose tenure with Brinsley Schwarz and production of Graham Parker reflect this album's pure sense of style. Their other collaboration, "Little Darlin'," is a thick coat of melody and rhythm, with acoustic guitars and Edmunds' harmonies creating a seductive wall of sound. Rodgers and Hart's "Where or When" features a similarly rich mixture of guitars and voices, and effortlessly snares you into the dreamy but aware romanticism that informs the whole album.

Rockabilly is a pivotal Edmunds style, and his version of Graham Parker's "Back to Schooldays" is much truer to its stylistic roots than Parker's original. The scatting drums are perfect, as is Edmunds' treatment of Crudup-cum-Presley's "My Baby Left Me," which captures the Sun sound from its string bass to its reverbed rhythm guitar. Edmunds' economical guitar is the meat of the music, and the music is in the songs. Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'" percolates out of Get It just as easily as the Seger song, and Edmunds' own "Worn Out Suits, Brand New Pockets" rocks with an authoritative Western Swing. It's this assured grace that enlivens all of Get It, giving Edmunds' stylistic forays both an air of authenticity and originality. Given his thorough digestion of influences, Edmunds' music reverberates with both the twang of history and the creative combustion of the present. His talent lies in the stylistic ambitions of his music, and the ease with which he realizes them Edmunds has got it. (RS 242)

JOHN MILWARD