Blues Rock - Cream,Peter Green,Carlos Santana,Mountain,Janis Joplin,Miscellaneous Performers Album Review

Album Review

Presented by Classic Rock magazine, this outstanding two CD set is about to set rock fans into air-guitar frenzy. The mouth-watering 37 vintage tracks over 2 ½ hours, not only includes the usual bona fide hits, but lesser well known and equally impressive archive cuts. Appropriately leading the onslaught is rock’s first ‘Super Group’ Cream (Clapton-Bruce-Baker), with the power-blues of their third single from the summer of ’67, Strange Brew. Staying in the 60’s, track 2, disc 1 is one of the greatest ballads of the genre, with Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green doing a masterclass on the spine-tingling Man Of The World. Another guitar great, Carlos Santana, covers Green’s Black Magic Woman, full of Latin rhythms and dazzling solos lifted from Santana’s Abraxas album. Then comes the master – Paul Kossoff with the short-lived Free, on another album track I’m A Mover. This sexy-rocker cemented their reputation, with Kossoff doing some mind-blowing solos, which I witnessed at first hand in 1971 at Liverpool’s Boxing Arena. Elsewhere, underrated Glasgow axeman Frankie Miller does a rasping rendition of Be Good To Yourself, proving he was one of the most distinctive singers ever. A big fan of Little Richard’s flamboyant aggression, Miller says on his website, “The music was alive, exciting, I loved it. I realised later that I could get my own aggression out through music…” French born Alexis Korner’s cover of the Stones’ Get Off My Cloud, is a refreshing interpretation, more bluesy than the original ever was.

Canadian/American power rockers Mountain, led by raw vocalist Lesley West hit the scene with the legendary Nantucket Sleighride in 1971: here we get Mississippi Queen, equally as impressive. Original ‘Queen of the Blues’, Pearl aka Janis Joplin, fronts her band (which is still going strong) Big Brother,covering the standard Piece Of My Heart. Her blues shouter style, perfectly showcased here, made her the darling of the press and fans alike. Seventies classic Radar Love by Dutch band Golden Earring, who are still recording, is one of the few hit singles to explore the full dynamics of blues at the commercial edge : the mid-section drum solo is as primitive as you get, supplemented by horn blasts, and the resulting wiry guitar solo made it a real classic. Alternative blues rockers The Groundhogs, whose album Split made them a fearsome outfit, was fronted by guitar maestro Tony ‘T.S’.McPhee.

Groundhog Blues is a brilliant (live) example of their pioneering repertoire.

There’s also a scintillating full-length version of Black Betty.

CD 2 goes straight for trio ZZ Top, famous for twin beards and low - slung guitars, ensuring they would be the last act in record racks by using ZZ. La Grange wasn’t a single, but a superb album track that showed they were equal to their peers. Chord wonders Status Quo reveal another side of their head-banging hits on Roadhouse Blues, without losing the Quo fever.

Amongst the sweat and thunder are some quieter gems. Thin Lizzy turn down the decibels for the sublime ballad Still In Love With You.

Back on familiar territory, Dr.Feelgood provide their signature tune Milk And Alcohol a Top Ten from ’79.Three years earlier, Steve Miller lit up the charts with his anthemic Rock ’n Me. Amongst other memorable hits, Out Of Time, I’d Rather Go Blind, there’s one of my all time favourites – Taj Mahal, who I saw perform Statesboro Blues last year in Manchester.

No collection of this type would be complete without Joe Walsh’s stellar bottle-neck rocker Rocky Mountain Way and the seismic B..B..B..B..B…Bad to The Bone, by guitar –busting George Thorogood. Closing an impressive roster of its exponents, on a mellower note, The Band from ’68, signs off with their hippyfied masterpiece The Weight.

Phew!

Elly Roberts