Impeccable - Live on The Rox (1979) + Bonus Single

(U.S 1976 - 1979)

US band Impeccable was formed in late 1976, although they were known as 'Live Wire' and then 'Axxe' before calling themselves Impeccable. Early on, they had the intention of being an original music outfit, so they started creating their own material almost from their inception. Most of the raw musical compositions were written by Darren Welch, and then vocalist Don Allison would put together the lyrics, and they'd all get together to construct and finalize the tunes.

There was also input from drummer Morris Payne & bassist Richard Rico. They were influenced by groups such as Led Zeppelin, Rush, The Beatles, Wiggy Bits, Moxy, Hendrix, Trapeze & Black Sabbath.

Axxe (aka Impeccable)

At the time, they found themselves opening many shows in Lubbock (a major city in northwestern Texas, USA) for all different kinds of artists, such as Talking Heads, Pat benetar, Black Oak Arkansas, Montrose, Budgie, Humble Pie, Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, Pat Travers, Eric Johnson, to name but a few. They were one of the goto opening rock bands in Lubbock.

Sometime in 1978, they met Rusty Zavitson, who said he'd like to record the band. So, they ended up recording their debut single in Rusty's living room on a 4 track reel to reel and it was at this time they were known as Axxe.

Axxe's Debut Single 1978

They pressed 1,000 copies of their first single ("Rock Away The City"/"Through The Night"), issued with a picture sleeve featuring a group photo on front. These were distributed locally and sold at shows. They toured around Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma shortly thereafter to support the release.

The band also did numerous shows at a club in Lubbock called 'The Rox', owned by Carlo Campanelli. It was then that they decided to record a live show that would become their debut album. Rusty was once again chosen to record the show for the release.

Impeccable Gig Shots

After finding out about some other bands calling themselves 'Axxe', they renamed the band 'Impeccable', after the classic Budgie album. They also happened to do several shows with Budgie and ended up becoming friends. They pressed up 1,000 copies of the 'Live on the Rox' album under the GBC label. GBC wasn't a real label of any sort, it was just a fictional creation of Carlo, who loaned them the money for the pressing, he said it stood for 'Great Big Con'.

Not long after, Don Allison began to tire of pushing his vocals every night and became more interested in the emerging New Wave sounds. Darren Welch believes that their last shows were held in 1979 and the band finally disbanded. There were later re-incarnations of 'Impeccable' that recorded singles on the Abbey Road 1 & 2 compilation albums, of which Welch was not part of. Instead, he continued on playing around Texas with the Darren Welch Group and more recently with Azlan (Wallney, Welch, Tate, Hopkins) [For more details, see Darren Welch's Facebook]

This highly anticipated 2016 reissue of the rare Texas hard rock private press record (originally released in 1979) is Loud & Ferocious. With its untamed guitar work courtesy of Darren Welch, it dominates this Lubbock, Texas band's hard to find debut album. Impeccable deliver a massive dose of raw in-your-face rock and roll energy here, captured live in 1979 at a popular night club in Lubbock called The Rox.

As a bonus, there are two tracks from the band's ultra-rare debut single from 1978 when they were still known as Axxe. This single is on a lot of collector want lists and is nearly impossible to find these days, even in Texas. Included are liner notes and photos from the Impeccable archives.

Debut Single Reissue [2021]

Note: This rare debut single has been recently remastered and reissued in 2021 by 'On The Dole' records, however this release comes with reversed sides. (A-Side: "Through The Night" / B-Side "Rock Away The City"). Not sure if this was on purpose or a mistake by the record company [maybe the later based on their name !]

This post consists of MP's (320kps) ripped from CD (thanks to ChrisGoesRock) and includes full album artwork for both vinyl and CD formats.  Their debut single from 1978 (see left) is also included as bonus tracks.

One thing that caught my attention with this recording is how much Don Allison voice sounds like Geddy Lee from Rush and it is a shame that this band was short lived and under recorded.

Track Listing:

01. Call of the Wild  03:51  

02. Traces of Time  04:07  

03. Seashore  05:34  

04. Lizzy  04:44  

05. Live Wire  03:49  

06. No Other Way  07:07  

07. Johnny B Goode  03:39

Bonus Tracks (1978 Single)  

08. Axxe - Rock Away the City  03:09  

09. Axxe - Through the Night  05:55

Axxe/Impeccable were:

Don Allison - Vocals

Darren Welch - Guitars

Richard Rico - Bass

Morris Payne - Drums

Impeccable Link (99Mb)