Stillwater "Stillwater" 1977***

I got this LP from the €1 basket, mostly on the strength of the record label Capricorn Records, home to the Allman Brothers and other Southern rock bands. The band name also sounded very familiar, but that was misleading: Stillwater were the fictional 70's rockers in Cameron Crowe's film Almost Famous. No relation to these guys, who seem to have used Lynyrd Skynyrd as their role model, down to the 7-member, 3-guitar line-up. Now, I know there are 8 people posing on the back cover, but one of them apparently isn't a band member: he's Hank Hasler, "owner of Hank Hasler's Tavern and close personal friend". Which one? Well, my money's on the bearded guy with the black T-shirt with Hank Hasler's Tavern printed on it. The sign on the wall advertises "Topless" and I sincerely hope it's not Hank serving you topless. I'd much rather imagine Daisy Duke, thank you very much. That's what shaped my idea of the South from a young age, anyway: Daisy Duke in tiny shorts, General Lee (the car, not the historical person), and uncle Jesse's moonshine. And Lynyrd Skynyrd, since I discovered them. Not that Stillwater are Skynyrd's twins, mind you.

The guitars rock hard enough, but the sound is less bluesy and there's no equivalent of Van Zant's gritty baritone vocal. Theirs is a more polished AOR sound, closer to Skynyrd offshoot Rossington Collins Band. My personal favourite here is "Out on a Limb", an excellent AOR number featuring blazing guitars, jazzy piano, funky bass and intricate vocal harmonies reminiscent of Jefferson Starship. The album also contained a Top 50 hit in "Mindbender", which has a crazy lyric about a talking guitar. A voice box is used to successfully simulate the talking guitar effect, while the music sounds like a combination of Frank Zappa and the Allman Brothers. "Sam's Jam" is a long Southern rock jam that gives the players some room to stretch."Sunshine Blues" sports some nice boogie woogie piano and country guitar, while "Universal Fool" with its proggy keyboards flirts with Asia/Journey-like AOR, and "April Love" is an acoustic folk ballad with CS&N-like harmonies. "Fantasy Park" and "Roll-n-Roll Loser" are typical, unexceptional, southern rockers. The band would release one more album before breaking up (though there have been sporadic reunions) partly because their label ran into financial trouble and couldn't support them properly. The 2 albums they made in the 70's will fit well in any Southern/Classic Rock collection. Contrary to the general belief that "Stillwater" has never been re-released, discogs mentions a 2013 CD version - though the original vinyl is more readily available, cheaper, and sonically preferable when it comes to this kind of music. Not to mention the album cover with the raindrops and double ouroboros snakes, which looks great on the 12' format.

**** for Out on a Limb, Mindbender 

*** for Sam's Jam, April Love, Fantasy Park

** for Roll-n-Roll Loser, Sunshine Blues, Universal Fool