Area Code 615: A Trip In The Country - 1970

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Area Code 615 were a sort of country, mainly instrumental session musician supergroup. Several of their eleven members had backed Bob Dylan on both Blonde On Blonde and Nashville Skyline. 

They only released two albums and this was their second, a largely instrumental piece of work that tapped in to the whole laid-back but also lively country rock thing that was so popular in the 1968-1972 period. The sound is wonderful as is the virtuosity on display, the album is a pleasure from beginning to end. It is not a completely country album, either, far from it - with just as many rock sounds in there - fuzzy guitar, strong bass and drums and bluesy harmonica. 

Scotland is a great, lively opener, combining bluegrass-ish finger-pickin' with Caledonian airs. It could be music from a Celtic ceilidh or from a Tennessee hoe-down. Get a load of the guitar/drum interplay half way through. The short Russian Red has a sort of foreboding Russian sound to it and a bit of a James Bond theme vibe in its guitar sound while the beautiful, tinkling piano of Judy is classically-influenced.

Stone Fox Chase needs no introduction for aficionados of BBC TV’s The Old Grey Whistle Test, as it was the theme song, played over those hippyish kicking man graphics. It is full of infectious harmonica and percussion, although the little-heard bass-xylophone?-drum interplay bit is just as good as the instantly recognisable main part. It is simply one of rock’s great instrumentals. Great memories for anyone of a certain age. 

Gray Suit Men rocks out wonderfully, enhanced by some crazy violin (fiddle). Check the guitar solo too. Great stuff. Sausalito is a gentle instrumental piece featuring some romantic strings. Similarly beautiful is Always The Same, with its delicately-plucked strings. Just lovely. Katy Hill is more finger-pickin' country but with a great bassline and some almost funky breaks. The vocals on this album, when they arrive, are gritty and bluesy.

You would think that Sligo would be a winsome Celtic air, wouldn't you, but it is a muscular country rock instrumental workout with a bit of a funky riff. This album is full of surprises. Welephant Walk mixes country and hippy psychedelia, briefly. Devil Weed And Me ends the album with its heaviest cut. It's another really good one, moving as it effortlessly does between freakout and chillout.

This is a really enjoyable trip into classic early seventies country rock sounds. If you like the music of that era you will love this. I have to reiterate again that the sound is truly outstanding on the album, and is such a pleasure to listen to. The sound quality is of a really high standard too. It is one of those unmined little gems one comes across every now and again. 

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