Being a big fan of album cover art, I have a wall space in my living room (one of the few which isn't taken up by LP and CD shelves) dedicated to an everchanging (well, currently renewed monthly) display of album covers united by a common theme (or, sometimes, a common esthetic). Looking forward to my vacations in the Greek islands, I chose a suitably marine theme for August: Dick Dale surfing the waves, The Go Go's water-skiing, and a Neptune-like creature called Kingfish riding a flying catfish.
Now with
that cover, one would expect it to be a prog concept album of sorts: about the mythological war between Gods and Titans, maybe, or a warning cry about ocean pollution. I didn't expect anything of the sort, though, as I knew the band to be a Grateful Dead offshoot, so I took a leap of faith based on that info and bought the LP. It's all just
good ole roots music: Rock and Roll, Country, and R&B with a bit of New Orleans spice. This being a compilation, the line-up isn't stable, but half the tracks feature Grateful Dead's co-singer and rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, next to his friend and Kingfish leader Matt Kelly who plays great guitar and harmonica throughout. The other band mainstay was Dave Torbert (from
NRPS, on bass and vocals) up until his death in '82. Both were also frequent guests at various Dead albums. This LP is split between a studio and a live side, of which I think the latter is probably more representative of the band, showing them to be a barnstromin' bar band guaranteed to give listeners a good time. There are a couple of Chuck Berry covers ("School Days", "Promised Land"), vintage R&B (Jr. Walker's "Roadrunner", The Coasters' "Youngblood", Willie Dixon's
"Hidden Charms") and the classic blues "Key to the Highway", all played with gusto: imagine, if you will, a Southern Rock version of The Blues Brothers. The studio side is a bit more diverse stylistically, ranging from blues (Little Walters' instrumental "Juke" and boogie "Put Your Hand on Me" featuring John Lee Hooker on vocals and Mike Bloomfield on guitar), pure country ("Fox on the Run"), R&B (Ray Charles' "Mess Around") commercial pop/soul ("My Pledge On Love") and just two originals: 50's pastiche "Feels So Good" and "Taste of the Devil" (a bluesy mid-tempo piano piece: does Supertramp-meet-Dr.John make sense?). On the whole this is a quite enjoyable album with nice playing and a pleasant party vibe. Inessential, except maybe for Grateful Dead completists, but once you get it you'll be surprised with how often it finds its way to your tuntable.
**** for Taste of the Devil, Road Runner, Young Blood
*** for Mess Around, Put Your Hand on Me, My Pledge of Love, Fox on the Run, Feels So Good, Juke, Hidden Charms, School Days, Promised Land, Key to the Highway
No comments:
Post a Comment