I knew this band as The Count Bishops, but on the album cover they're credited plainly as The Bishops. And then, this live recording begins with them being introduced to their audience as The Count Bishops again. Apparently, what happened here was that the record company thought that the old name wasn't punk enough and took it upon themselves to shorten it, creating confusion to the record buying and concert going public. Now, the Count Bishops slightly predated punk, as they formed in 1975, playing the pub circuit alongside other pub rock bands like Eddie & The Hot Rods and The 101ers (who featured a pre-Clash Joe Strummer on vocals). Despite being sometimes refered to as such, pub rock wasn't a genre in itself: some bands leaned towards country, others towards reggae, funk, blues, or garage rock. Bands like Dire Straits and (Nick Lowe's) Brinsley Schwarz also came out of that scene, but The Count Bishops' sound was different, and arguably more representative of what we think of as "pub rock" today. They played loud and energetic no-nonsense R&B and 60's beat covers, of the kind that justifies their repute as precursors to punk. This live album is especially loud and aggressive - I'm not sure whether they sounded like this from the beginning or they took it further in order to fit in with the punk crowd which had by that time stormed the music industry and raised its flag upon the ruins of mainstream rock. Of course, around the time of this recording, they were playing support slots to another new group called Motörhead - and those guys, as I'm sure you know, were pretty loud, too. While researching The Count Bishops' history for this blog, I realized we've met some of them in this blog before: singer David Tice and drummer Paul Balbi used to play in antipodean Black Sabbath soundalikes Buffalo. Just what they are doing half the world away and playing in a completely different (albeit just as loud) style, I have no idea. The rest of the band (for this album) are guitarists Johnny Guitar and Zenon DeFleur, and bassist Pat McMullan. Incidentally, the original Count Bishops singer Mike Spenser is also an old aquaintance: I presented his other band The Cannibals on this blog, some 7 years ago (time flies, doesn't it?) These recordings come from London's Roundhouse venue. Initially they were supposed to use just one song for a live sampler by their label Chiswick Records, but when that plan fell out, they realized they had enough material for a mini LP, which initially came out on 10'' vinyl, featuring 10 tracks and clocking at only 26 minutes. My version is of the more common 12'' size, while there's a German version (also on 12'' LP) featuring 12 tracks. Lastly, there's an ultra-rare 30-year old Japanese CD reissue out there (also with 12 tracks), but otherwise the album has been forgotten and out of print for decades. As I previously mentioned, the performances are raw, fast, and loud. There's some fierce guitar playing, though the solos are very short as dictated by punk orthodoxy, while Tice's vocal is gruff and harsh but on the money. The material is equally divided among covers and originals. Covers include blues classic "Don't Start Me Talking", garage nuggets "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White" (of The Standells) and "I Want Candy" (Strangeloves), The Kinks' "Till The End Of The Day", and bullyish rockabilly "Someone's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight" (an early Fleetwood Mac B-side). The band's original compositions are arguably better, opener "Too Much Too Soon" is a proto-punk rocker a la New York Dolls/Dictators, "Taking It Easy" is rockabilly, while "Train Train" and "I Don't Like It" are more blues-based. "Baby You're Wrong"'s catchy chorus distinguishes it as the (relatively) most melodic part of this collection. I, for my part, enjoyed the band's energy and choice of material, although I wouldn't mind them polishing the rough edges a bit. The punk crowd, though, loved it exactly as it was, and this live album gave them momentum. They quickly released another album, and got to appear on Top Of The Pops. Everything pointed to them being on their way to fame, but DeFleur's death in a car accident put an end to their career - and added a new member to the ranks of the "27 club". So they didn't leave much of a legacy behind, but they carried the flag for pure rock'n'roll proudly. If you'd fancy a rougher, punkier, Dr. Feelgood, you'll love this record.
**** for Too Much Too Soon, Train Train, Baby You're Wrong
*** for Till The End Of The Day, Taking It Easy,Someone's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight, Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White, Don't Start Me Talking, I Don't Like It, I Want Candy
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