The Marshall Tucker Band: Long Hard Ride - 1976

Many say that 1975's Searchin' For A Rainbow was The Marshall Tucker Band's most country album but you can add this one in there too, for sure. Get an earful of Charlie Daniels joining the band on fiddle for the superb country rock of Long Hard Ride followed by Property Ride. Country or what? Yee-haw indeed. Lots of pickin'. Lots of fiddle. The cover backs the sound up as well. 

Material like this was enormously successful in the US in the mid-seventies, but in the UK it did not appeal at all at that time. There was definitely not a market for it. There was The Eagles and not much else for us here. Certainly not anything like this to be found alongside David Bowie, 10cc, Steve Harley and Ian Hunter, not for me, anyway.

Back to the songs. Am I The Kind Of Man is a really good ballad, featuring superb instrumentation and a country-soulful vocal. Walkin' The Streets alone is a really good song too, with a fetching melody, great guitar and great saxophone. There's even some bongoes in there too. AOR drivin' country rock at its best.

Windy City Blues contains some seriously searing guitar in its intro - listen as it pierces your left-hand speaker like a knife through butter. The song is a country one and a blues one too. That's always a good thing in my book. I am just so much more amenable to this sort of thing these days as I would have been in 1975. It would have left me cold then, now it warms my soul. As does the sumptuous country ballad Holding On To You. I reckon The Rolling Stones would have loved this. I can imagine Mick Jagger singing it in that cod-country voice of his. I love the flute break in this song once more too, unsurprisingly.

You Say You Love Me is more rock than country, but there is still an easy-going vibe to it. We then get a copper-bottomed bottleneck blues in You Don't Live Forever. It is the album's most authentic blues cut. The album's final cut, as on the previous two, is a live cut, this time If I Could See You One More Time, with its Dire Straits-sounding guitar parts (maybe Mark Knopfler was listening to this?).

I like this and Searchin' For A Rainbow a lot, but of the two, I'll probably plump for this one. Just.

Popular posts from this blog

Augustus Pablo: Classic Rockers

Image
One of dub reggae's outstanding producers was Augustus Pablo - the man who introduced the distinctive melodica sound that went on to feature on so many dub recordings. He loved echo too, along with a far-Eastern influenced vibe and you get plenty of that here. He was also jointly responsible, along with King Tubby, for a cut that many claim launched dub genre in King Tubby's Meet the Rockers Uptown (I disagree on that claim, actually, many dub cuts were around from the early seventies before that track's 1976 release). Anyway, that's splitting hairs. There is no doubt of Pablo's dub pre-eminence.  As with so much dub material, albums credited to Augustus Pablo, or King Tubby, or many others contain tracks played and sung by others but produced or contributed to by the titular artist. Musicians involved include reggae luminaries such as Carlton Barrett, Aston Barrett, Leroy Sibbles, Robbie Shakespeare and Earl Chinna Smith. So, with that in mind, here is what we get
View Full Post »

Trojan Presents: Classic Reggae

Image
There are certainly some fine collections in this series from the legendary Jamaican Trojan label but this is arguably the best, functioning as a sort of compressed, bite-size history of reggae itself. It also has remastered its many classic cuts outstandingly well.  Let's look at what's on offer - Disc One The collection kicks off by including an original ska number in Byron Lee & The Dragonaires' joyful Jamaica Ska. Ska was where it all began, of course, before the rock steady rude boys came along.... Desmond Dekker & The Aces' 007 (Shanty Town) is  Rude Boy Heaven. The song became a hit in the UK. Its James Bond/007 message is unclear, he is only mentioned in one line, but the rest of the song would seem to be another anti-Rude Boy condemnation. "Rude Boy him a weep and a-wail". Continuing the rude boy theme, Dandy recorded the original of A Message To You Rudy, memorably covered by The Specials. Rico Rodriguez, who played on The Specials' versi
View Full Post »

Billy Joel: River Of Dreams - 1993

Image
  In 1993 Billy Joel suddenly called a halt on his recording-songwriting career.  He still occasionally tours, singing his material from 1972-1993, but since 1993 he has not released an album.  He seemed to suddenly lose interest and also his muse. Fair enough, if he felt he hadn't got it in him, or hadn't got the desire then that was a fine, honest decision on his part.  This was an album that subsequently didn't get much of my attention, which is probably a bit of a shame, as it is not a bad album at all and a fair swan-song.   No Man's Land  is a crashing rock number to open with, with a bit of an  Elvis Costello & The Attractions  keyboard-drum sound, particularly at the beginning. It is a lyrically cynical song about big business and high-level corruption.  The Great Wall Of China  is a shuffling, powerful number, pretty typical of Joel's later material, full of power and purpose and appealing vocal delivery. Once again, the lyrics are realist and questioni
View Full Post »

Johnny Clarke: Authorised Version - 1976

Image
Johnny Clarke  made his name in 1974, with  Bunny Lee & The Aggrovators  as his backing band on the now iconic, and much-sampled roots cut  None Shall Escape The Judgement  (not included on this collection).   This Virgin Front Line compilation features material from 1975-1976, including all of   Authorised Version (1976)   and   Rockers Time Now (1976) .  In 1975 and 1976 he became one of Jamaica's most popular singers and he mixed deep roots material and lovers-style romantic material. His light, lilting voice was suited to both reggae sub-genres.   He was very much a "conscious" Rasta-themed artist, however, as tracks like the rootsy  African Roots ,  Let's Give Jah Jah Praises  and  Ites Green And Gold  exemplify. He could also introduce a pop sensibility to his roots material, though, such as on the incredibly catchy  Rockers Time Now .  There was always a melodic rhythm to his output, despite the often devout Rasta roots messages contained in the lyrics. Che
View Full Post »

Joan Armatrading: Walk Under Ladders - 1981

Image
  Following on from the success of  Me Myself I , this  Steve Lillywhite -produced album employed, at times, a somewhat stripped back, synthesiser-backed sound. It was quite a different product to, say, 1976's  Joan Armatrading  album, barely an acoustic guitar around this time.  It is probably Joan's rockiest album and she uses a host of well-known musicians scattered around on various tracks such as Robbie Shakespeare (bass), Mel Collins (saxophone), Thomas Dolby (synthesiser), Andy Partridge (guitar), Ray Cooper (percussion), Sly Dunbar (drums) and Rico Rodriguez (horn). Unsurprisingly, the instrumental quality is high throughout the album.  I'm Lucky , the opener, is a stark, sparsely delivered synthesiser-backed song with a plaintive vocal and atmosphere. It works, though. There is a quiet power to the song.  When I Get It Right  has a laid-back reggae backing to the verses gives way to a crashing, saxophone dominated belter of a chorus. A good start with these two tha
View Full Post »

Van Morrison: Live At The Grand Opera House Belfast - 1984

Image
Many reviews I have read of this Van Morrison live album share the same opinions - firstly, that Van's performance is slurred and perfunctory, secondly, the sound is muffled and poor quality and thirdly, that the song selection is underwhelming. I disagree heartily with all of that.  Van is returning to Ireland after many years in the USA and is playing his hometown. Sure, he is uncommunicative, but isn't he always? He, as usual, lets the music speak for him. The musicianship is top notch, mining a Celtic soul seam with strident female backing singers to the fore. Personally, I have never had a problem with the sound - it is warm, bassy and subtle, particularly on the remastered version. Nothing wrong with it. Play it through and good system and it sounds great. The song choices reflect the period of the concert - a lot from the excellent Beautiful Vision album (six tracks, in fact) and a couple from Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart too, including the excellent Rave On John Don
View Full Post »

Genesis: From Genesis To Revelation - 1969

Image
  Look,  I think most readers will realise by now that Genesis weren't really my thing and there is no real way that this will get too many airings but I am certainly not blind to some of its good points, however. It is like a movie that I may watch once, think is ok, acknowledge its credibility, but not watch again. Among all the many artists whose work I have reviewed remains the hulking spectre of Genesis - a group who had two distinct phases, neither of whom I really liked at all. For whatever reasons, I never got it going with these ex-public schoolboys and what I always viewed as a particularly pretentious form of prog rock. I didn't go for their Phil Collins-led poppier phase much either.  As far as prog rock goes, I prefer Jethro Tull, East Of Eden, Atomic Rooster, Wishbone Ash - all artists at the rockier or folkier end of the genre. Although Genesis were rockier than, say the keyboard-dominated giants ELP or Yes, there was just something about their lyrical oddness an
View Full Post »

Soft Cell: Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret - 1981

Image
This was  Soft Cell ’s debut and best known album, from late 1981. Dismissed by many as the work of a posturing, effeminate  New Romantic  throwaway band, it actually is an impressive piece of work that functions as a biting criticism of the music industry and the seedy demi-monde of urban clubland. Rather than a “new romantic” record, it is more of a post-punk electronic type of thing.  Frustration  has singer  Marc Almond  ranting frenetically over an electronic beat about all sorts of things - mortgages, kids, going bald and people - John Wayne, Elvis, Bo Derek. It is wry and amusing but sets the tone of dissatisfaction that pervades this underrated album.   Tainted Love  was obviously a cover of  Gloria Jones ’  Northern Soul  “handclap” classic, but it suits the ambience and theme of the album perfectly. It is remastered excellently here - great pumping bass sound. Considering it was recored on an apparently low budget, the sound is rally impressive.  Seedy Films  is just great. O
View Full Post »

Lou Reed: New York - 1989

Image
After a career so intertwined with New York City, quintessential wry New Yorker  Lou Reed  finally put out an album dedicated to the city.  It was a wonderful album, possibly the best of his solo career, and yes, that includes the ever-so slightly overrated  Transformer . It is full of muscular guitar riffs, strong, confident vocals and an ear, as always, for a killer melody. All manner of subjects are covered - ecology, the environment, corrupt politicians, AIDS, parenthood, urban street life, abusive relationships and many more. It was as if after years in the comparative wilderness, Reed had undergone a renaissance. Personally, I hadn't bought a Lou Reed album since  Berlin , but I bought this, and loved it.   It was a solid, powerful rock album dealing with serious matters. Remember this was 1989, this was no throwaway vacuous pop album, and, thankfully, there was no synthesiser to be heard. Things started to change with the release of this album.  Romeo Had Juliette  begins wi
View Full Post »

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Street Survivors - 1977

Image
Tragically, three days after this album’s release, three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd and several members of their management and road crew were killed in a plane crash.   It would mark the end of the classic first Lynyrd Skynyrd line-up. It is an improvement on the previous album, both sonically and compositionally. However, it has a bit of a change in style and by the end it has gone decidedly country rock.  What’s Your Name  is a brassy rocker with a bit of a loose, easy edge to it.  That Smell , horrible in its prescience, is a broody, bluesy number that tells that  “the smell of death’s around you” . Check out the great guitar solo on it, however, despite its eerie coincidence it is a corker of a track. It was probably the first incarnation of the group’s last classic song.   One More Time  is a typical Skynyrd slow pace but powerful rock ballad. They specialised in this sort of thing and did it so well,  making these sort of songs very much their trademark.  I Know A Little  is a di
View Full Post »