Jerry Williams "Sweet Little Rock'n'Roller" 1974**

Hi again. I'm still on holiday in Antiparos, and posting from my drafts folder. Just relaxing, taking in the sun, swimming and tasting the local delicacies. If you find yourself in Greece remember that every region has its own dishes based on local products. Don't play it safe and go for pizza or burgers, and don't waste your time with gyros and moussaka which you can get at any Greek restaurant in your city. Order instead one of the local specialties, like this beauty from the Paros region: "Gouna" is a way of cooking rather than a specific fish, though mostly they'll use mackerel. The fish is sliced in half and hang to dry for a few days on the summer sun and sea breeze, then grilled and lightly sprinkled with an oil and lemon sauce. An ancient recipe meant to preserve fish for a longer period (as opposed to salting or smoking it), you won't believe how good it tastes. Try it with ice-cold ouzo or raki to watch all your worries evaporating into thin air. 
This is another album I only bought because it was cheap and had an inadvertently funny cover. I just thought the guy on it wasa hilariously clueless pseudo rocker. Everything from the red leather jacket (over a see-through shirt) to the gleaming razor blade in his hand and his even more shiny motorcycle tries to emulate "dangerous teddyboy gangbanger" and does so less convincingly than if he had dressed for a 50's themed costume party. And why exactly is the chick next to him dressed like a showgirl in an Al Capone movie? Anyway, I purchased this LP hoping it'd either be some wild rockabilly or incompetent enough to laugh at. Unfortunately neither case is true - it's just an unremarkable retro pop album. It's telling that the title song isn't a cover of the same-named Chuck Berry tune but of a contemporary Joe Dolan pop hit. Catchy maybe, but not rock'n'roll. Country oriented "Sittin' And Thinkin'" and "Lazy Mornin'" sound more heart-felt but the retro ballads "Love Me" and "Three Steps To Heaven" are just perfunctory. Still they're not as bad as the album's low point, disco-like "Tower Of Strength".

On the Southern soul-influenced "Prisen" the singer tries to sound like Elvis covering Tony Joe White but he just manages to sound like a Johnny Hallyday imitator. After some more Elvis pastiche (the tame rockabilly of "Lonely Weekends" and "It's Worth Believin'") the record closes with the only song worth hearing twice, a rootsy soul rock cover of The Righteous Brothers's "Little Latin Lupe Lu". The album has never been re-released either on LP or CD, so it has some period value, but it's otherwise of little interest. Given how mediocre it is, I was surprised to learn Jerry Williams is considered a bona fide rock legend in his native Sweden. I hope this was just a misstep in his discography, otherwise that's kind of sad for Swedish rock.

*** for Sittin' And Thinkin', Lonely Weekends, Lazy Mornin', Little Latin Lupe Lu

** for Sweet Little Rock'n Roller, Love Me, It's Worth Believin', Three Steps To Heaven, Prisen (colinensinainciusol)