Short Rounds: Buzzcocks, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Charlie Daniels & Friends, Will Hoge, The Pretty Things & Walter Trout (October 2022)

New album releases in 200 words or less…

Buzzcocks – Sonics In the Soul (Cherry Red Records U.K.)
British punk/new wave legends Buzzcocks built their reputation on Pete Shelley’s caustic, insightful lyrics; Steve Diggle’s livewire fretwork; and an overall melodic, high-octane pop-punk sound that became influential far beyond the band’s modest record sales. Since reuniting in 1989 after an eight-year hiatus, Buzzcocks has been firing on all cylinders, Shelley and Diggle ensuring that they remained a vital creative outfit and not a ‘nostalgia’ act. With Shelley’s death in 2018, the band’s first album without its charismatic frontman had to be a daunting challenge to record. Diggle proves with Sonics In the Soul that there’s still gas left in the Buzzcocks’ tank. Flanked by longtime bassist Chris Remington and drummer Danny Farrant, Sonics In the Soul is essentially a Diggle solo album, but one sporting the crucial ‘fast ‘n’ loud’ Buzzcocks sonic ethos. Diggle’s voice takes getting used to, and his attack-dog guitarplay pales somewhat by the loss of Shelley’s counterpoint. But songs like the locomotive “Manchester Rain” or the riff-littered “Bad Dreams” display a fierce creativity and musical deftness matching or surpassing the band’s previous post-millennial albums. Extra credit awarded for “Don’t Mess With My Brain”, a rifftastic stomped that blends typical Buzzcocks’ lyrical wit with stunning instrumentation. Grade: A-   BUY!

Creedence Clearwater Revival – At The Royal Albert Hall (Craft Recordings)
Just as CCR’s enormous success as a “singles band” (nine Top 10 singles in four years) often overshadowed their album-making prowess, so too did it obscure their strength as a live outfit. As proven by 2019’s long-overdue release of Live At Woodstock, and this recent At The Royal Albert Hall, Creedence was a white-hot live band, each performance bristling with fire and brimstone. This is the first release of the April 1970 show*, which straddles Willie & the Poor Boys and the upcoming Cosmo’s Factory, but the setlist is well-balanced across albums and includes all the “classic rock” radio hits – “Fortunate Son”, “Born On the Bayou”, “Proud Mary”, and “Travelin’ Band” – as well as gems like “Midnight Special” and an extended “Keep On Chooglin’” jam among its dozen tiki-torches. A few deep cuts stand out, notably their bluesy cover of “The Night Time Is the Right Time”, which is closer in spirit to Ray Charles’ version than to Nappy Brown’s original; the riotous, punk-fierce B-side “Commotion”; and the swamp-blues fever of “Tombstone Shadow”.  It’s a shame that no CCR live LPs were released during their heyday (Live In Europe was a posthumous release) as Creedence was a helluva performing outfit. Grade: A+   BUY!  

* The Royal Albert Hall Concert album was released by Fantasy Records in 1980 to cash in on the band’s lingering reputation, but mistakes were made and the tapes used were actually from a January 1970 show at the Oakland Coliseum. Fantasy recalled the album and reissued it months later as The Concert – same cover, same concert, different title…  

Charlie Daniels & Friends – Volunteer Jam 1, 1974: The Legend Begins (Blue Hat Records)
Southern Rock had been around for a half-decade by the time that Charlie Daniels held the first ‘Volunteer Jam’ at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville. It could be argued, however, that October 4th, 1974 was the day that Southern Rock burst into the mainstream, the first of 21 total Volunteer Jams held over the next 47 years, the event eventually outliving its creator. That entire 1974 show has never been released commercially (two live songs from the concert were included on the band’s 1974 Fire On the Mountain LP). Aside from Daniels’ crackerjack band, the performance includes “friends” like the Marshall Tucker Band’s Toy Caldwell and Paul Riddle and the Allman Brothers Band’s Dickey Betts and Jamie Nichol. The twelve-song tracklist skews heavily towards CDB’s upcoming Fire album, including the Top 30 hit “The South’s Gonna Do It”, and is fairly indicative of the talented band’s set at the time. Daniels was a skilled multi-instrumentalist, keyboardist/singer “Taz” DiGregorio could have fronted his own band, and guitarist Barry Barnes was the CDB’s secret weapon. Honestly, you either love Southern Rock and the 1970s-era CBD or you don’t; but for fans, this set is long-overdue document of a talented, hot-shit band. Grade: A   BUY!

Note: With this new CD, six of the first seven Volunteer Jams have been released on vinyl/CD, with 1976’s self-titled Volunteer Jam album comprised of a handful of performances from the 1975 Murfreesboro TN event. Jams III (1977) and IV (1978) were condensed onto a single double-LP set, while VI (1980) and VII (1981) received single-disc releases. The landmark 1979 (V) jam has never been released, although the show featured the reunion of Lynyrd Skynyrd for the first time since the 1977 plane crash that killed several band members; the event also included guests like Toy Caldwell and George McCorkle from the Marshall Tucker Band, John Prine, Link Wray, and the Winter Brothers Band, among many others. I was there and it was a pretty explosive moment when the surviving Skynyrd members hit the stage … so when will we see the show on CD?

Will Hoge – Wings On My Shoes (Edlo Records)
Nashville’s Will Hoge has long drawn inspiration as a lyricist from the late, great John Prine but, with the album-opening “John Prine’s Cadillac”, he picks up the songwriting legend’s mantle with an exquisitely-drawn story-song that offers up brilliant lyrical imagery while also serving as a reverent tribute to the fallen troubadour. It’s just the first of an album’s worth of fine material on Hoge’s Wings On My Shoes, and if the singer/songwriter has moved slightly away from his earlier power-pop, jangle-rock sound to a rootsier, Americana sound, it hasn’t lessened his poetic acumen or energetic delivery. Gorgeous love songs like “It’s Just You” and “The Last One To Go” are brimming over with romantic yearning while story-songs like “Dead Man’s Hand” and “Queenie” draw from the Prine/Guy Clark school of penmanship. The wonderful, nostalgic “Ain’t Like It Used To Be” is about my former hometown, contrasting the old, rural town with the new, upscale city while “Whose God It This?” is wickedly satirical, its humorous narrative hitting the MAGA bullseye. Each performance is infused with soulful vocals, ringing guitars, and a big drumbeat; if this is the sound of “new country,” then I’m all in… Grade: A   BUY!     

The Pretty Things – Live At the BBC (Repertoire Records U.K.)
Even if relatively obscure stateside, the Pretty Things were one of the better bands from the British Invasion and they enjoyed a lengthy career that spanned six decades and a couple dozen albums, right up to the tragic passing of longtime band frontman Phil May. The material included on this six-disc box set was originally broadcast by BBC radio and although a lot of it has been previously-released on a handful of collections, this compilation is the last word on the British rocker’s hometown performances. Live At the BBC packs a lot of energy and vitality into its six discs, which offer performances from as early as an October 1964 appearance on the ‘Saturday Club’ show through a July 1975 performance for legendary British DJ John Peel. There are a lot of stops in-between over the decade-plus documented here, capturing the band in its various guises, from R&B shouters to psychedelic pioneers to hard rockers. Sure, there’s a lot of duplication of songs from various shows, but where else are you going to hear turbo-charged live takes on great tunes like “SF Sorrow Is Born”, “Religion’s Dead”, “Belfast Cowboys”, “Defecting Grey”, “Rosalyn”, and “Singapore Silk Torpedo”, among many others? Grade: A+   BUY!

Walter Trout – Ride (Provogue Records)
At 70 years old, Walter Trout still performs with the energy and creative vitality of an artist half his age. The life-scarred blues veteran has been treading the bricks for nearly 50 years at this point and with Ride, his 30th album, Trout proves that there’s a lot of life left in the old road dog. The guitarist is always looking for ways to challenge himself musically, so Ride showcases Trout’s songwriting and instrumental skills in a variety of blues-based styles. Album-opening “Ghosts” is a hauntingly-brilliant (pun intended) blues-rock flamethrower while the biographical title track echoes the jazz-flecked, guitar-happy Southern rock vibe of the Marshall Tucker Band. Trout’s underrated skill at balladry is on display with the lush “Follow You Back Home” and the emotional “Waiting For the Dawn”, which offers up some of Trout’s most evocative six-string solos. Blues-rock fare like “High Is Low” (featuring Trout’s overlooked harmonica skills) and “Better Days Ahead” feature the guitarist at his incendiary, guitar-slinging finest while “Leave It All Behind” is a classic rock-styled raver complete with raging hornplay and heavy guitar. Altogether, Walter Trout’s Ride continues a string of excellence that began with 2008’s The Outsider and continues unabated to this day. Grade: A   BUY!
    
Previously on That Devil Music.com:
Short Rounds, July 2022: Shemekia Copeland, Jade Warrior, Gwil Owen, Prince & the Revolution, Sour Ops, Supersonic Blues Machine & ‘Heroes and Villains’

Short Rounds, December 2021: Calidoscopio, Deep Purple, Tom Guerra, The Specials, The Wildhearts, Sami Yaffa & ‘I'm A Freak Baby 3’

Short Rounds, September 2021: Marshall Crenshaw, Crack The Sky, Donna Frost, Mark Harrison & the Happy Tramps, Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, the Rubinoos, and Jon Savage’s 1972-1976

Short Rounds, June 2021: The Black Keys, the Bummers, Michael Nesmith, Greg “Stackhouse” Prevost, Quinn Sullivan, and the Vejtables

Short Rounds: Dave Alvin, Blue Öyster Cult, Shemekia Copeland, Coyote Motel, The Fleshtones, Little Richard, Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets, Midnight Oil, The Pretty Things, Walter Trout & Brown Acid

New album releases in 200 words or less…

Dave Alvin – From An Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings (Yep Roc Records)
This “odds ‘n’ sods” collection of rare, unreleased, and barely-released songs by Americana pioneer Dave Alvin stands with any of the artist’s albums due to his talent and passion. Offering the listener every shade of American music, from acoustic and electric blues to country, folk, and rock ‘n’ roll, Alvin mixes original songs with those written by friends like Peter Case and Chris Smithers as well as tunes by musical idols like Doug Sahm, Bob Dylan, and Willie Dixon. There’s really no ‘hard sell’ needed here – if you’re already a fan of Alvin’s charms as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist then you’re going to pick up From An Old Guitar no matter what I write. But whether it’s the energy provided a spry reading of “Highway 61,” the heartbreaking cover of Waylon Jennings’ “Amanda,” or the exciting, electrifying guitar-play of “Variations on Earl Hooker’s Guitar Rumba,” Alvin knows his way around a song. Originals like the swinging, bluesy romp “Albuquerque” or the country blues-flavored instrumental “Krazy and Ignatz” display other facets of Alvin’s immense skills. A true legend of American music, the performances documented by From An Old Guitar are a welcome addition to an often-varied, always-impressive Dave Alvin catalog. Grade: A   BUY!

Blue Öyster Cult – The Symbol Remains (Frontiers Records)
BOC’s first studio album since 2001’s Curse of the Hidden Mirror was pronounced ‘D.O.A.’ has been hailed by many critics as a “return to form,” but is it really? The 1970s/’80s-era Blue Öyster Cult is long gone, although the (arguably) two most important old guys remain – guitarist Buck Dharma and singer Eric Bloom – backed by a longtime touring band with chops honed to a razor edge by a thousand nights on the road. So, The Symbol Remains offers a new sort of BOC sound, the guitar-driven slab o’ granite released by Italian hard rock specialists Frontiers Records. Whether there’s a market for this sort of rock ‘n’ roll two decades into the new millennium is beside the point, as aging fans will eat up the jagged power-pop of “Box In My Head” or the haunting Goth-metal palace intrigue of “The Alchemist.” All 14 tunes here are originals, written, co-written, sliced & diced with collaborators like musician/cyberpunk author John Shirley and rockcrit legend Richard Meltzer. The results are a crazy-quilt of ‘70s-inspired classic rock with a contemporary sheen. Dharma’s guitar cuts like a knife, the vocals-by-committee approach works, and the album rocks. Hard. What more could a po’ boy ask for? Grade: B   BUY!

Shemekia Copeland – Uncivil War (Alligator Records)
Returning to Nashville to record a follow-up to her award-winning 2018 album America’s Child, blues singer Shemekia Copeland is working again with producer, songwriter, and musician Will Kimbrough, who collaborates with Copeland’s longtime creative foil, John Hahn, to put together a helluva slate of songs for the talented singer. Musicians like guitarists Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jason Isbell, Steve Cropper, Duane Eddy, Webb Wilder, and Kimbrough himself as well as steel-guitar maestro Jerry Douglas and mandolin wizard Sam Bush add to the bluesy gumbo that is Uncivil War. Make no mistake, though – this is Copeland’s show, and her confident, inspired vocals make for transcendent performances. The blues-gospel title track is a gem with heavenly vocals grounded by Douglas’s dobro and Bush’s mandolin while “Walk Until I Ride” is a gospel-tinged treasure with Copeland’s soulful vocals displaying a powerful defiance in the face of discrimination. The wonderful “Dirty Saint” displays a nuanced New Orleans mojo in tribute to the late Dr. John and “Apple Pie and A .45” is a devastatingly powerful blues-rock dirge. Copeland doesn’t ignore straight blues here, as the smoky “In the Dark” will attest, Copeland proving once again that she’s among the best the blues has to offer. Grade: A+   BUY!

Coyote Motel – Still Among the Living (Dolly Sez Woof Records)
I’ve heard enough of ‘em over the past 50 years that it’s a rare live disc that really makes me wish that I’d been at a particular show. As for actually going to shows anymore, I’ve paid my dues several hundred times over in clubs with bad air, muddy sound, and overpriced beer. After listening to Coyote Motel’s Still Among the Living, documenting a February 2020 performance at The 5 Spot in Nashville, damn if I don’t wish that I’d been there that night. Pursuing what he calls “cosmic roots music,” musician and scribe Ted Drozdowski leads Coyote Motel through songs from their self-titled 2019 debut, offering a unique hybrid of blues, rock, and roots music. The guitarist imbues opener “Still Among the Living” with otherworldly fretwork and haunting vocals while Luella Melissa Mathes’ ethereal vocals offer a nice counterpoint to Drozdowski’s wiry vox, taking a song like the devastating “The River” into a higher dimension. An appearance by jazz legend Stan Lassiter on the classic “Tin Pan Alley” compliments Drozdowski’s scorched-earth approach to the song. Overall, Still Among the Living captures a truly electrifying performance by a talented band as scary as the wrong end of a .44 revolver. Grade: A   BUY!  

The Fleshtones – Face of the Screaming Werewolf (Yep Roc Records)
Although I found the band’s previous album (2016’s The Band Drinks For Free) somewhat tepid (by the Fleshtones’ lofty standards), I’m happy to say that your fave “super rock” garage band is back in the groove with the rowdy Face of the Screaming Werewolf. Released on CD and vinyl for this year’s third Record Store Day “drop” in October, the album is the rock ‘n’ roll tonic we need for 2020. Featuring Keith Streng’s stellar fretwork, Peter Zaremba’s haunted vocals, and lusty, deep-throated bass drums, the title track will have you hiding under the bed from monsters, but tapping your toes nonetheless. The tribute “Alex Trebeck” takes on a new look with the beloved TV host’s recent death, pairing erudite lyrics with a throwback ‘60s rock vibe (trembling guitars and jangly rhythms) for a respectful homage. Much of the rest of Werewolf offers different shades of guitar-happy, reckless rhythm rawk, from the harmonies of “Child of the Moon,” which reminds of the Stones’ “We Love You,” to the Kinks-styled buzz and hum of “You Gotta Love, Love,” the Fleshtones leave no tasty musical stone unturned, putting their own signature on nearly 60 years of rock ‘n’ roll cheap thrills. Grade: A   BUY!

Little Richard – Southern Child (Omnivore Recordings)
Signed to Reprise Records in 1970, Little Richard decided that his third effort for the label would be a country album. After all, if Ray Charles could pull it off, so could the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer. The result – 1972’s Southern Child – was produced by longtime friend Robert “Bumps” Blackwell and featured a brace of original songs…and it was promptly shelved by Reprise until finally appearing as part of a 2005 box set. Hindsight is 20/20, but I think that if the label had released the album, it may have gotten some traction. As shown by Omnivore’s CD reissue of this lost gem, Mr. Penniman sings country as effortlessly and with the same charisma as he does rock, soul, and gospel. Some of the material – notably “Burning Up With Love” or “California (I’m Comin’)” – are really just rockin’ soul tunes with a bit of added twang. But others, like the slow-rolling “Ain’t No Tellin’” or the raucous title track certainly could have found a home on country radio in the pre-playlist days of the early ‘70s. Altogether, Southern Child is a successful experiment in style, Little Richard proving (again) that he was the best at whatever he chose to do. Grade: B+   BUY!  

Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets – Live At the Roundhouse (Legacy Recordings)
I had my doubts about Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason reliving his glory days with live performances of the band’s classic psych-era tunes, but my fears were erased soon after slapping this sucker on the turntable. Mason does his old mate Syd justice with Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets and their Live At the Roundhouse album and concert film. Documenting performances from two nights in May 2019 at the historic Roundhouse in London, England, Mason’s talented band rip and roar through almost two-dozen tracks that pre-date Floyd’s commercial ‘monsterpiece’, Dark Side of the Moon. Mason’s band includes former Floyd touring bassist Guy Pratt, guitarists Gary Kemp and Lee Harris, keyboardist Dom Beken, and Mason himself on the cans; they honed these songs with theatre dates across North America, Europe, and the U.K. The musical chemistry shows, gems like “See Emily Play,” “Arnold Layne,” and “Saucerful of Secrets” hewing close enough to the originals to please the hardcore faithful but offering enough originality to entertain any classic rock fan. FYI, the vinyl packaging is gorgeous, a cardboard slipcase with a cut-out revealing the colorful gatefold double-LP cover beneath, the two albums sheathed in full-color paper sleeves and thick slabs o’ vinyl. Also available as a double-CD set with concert DVD…buy ‘em both! Grade: A-   BUY!

Midnight Oil – The Makarrata Project (Sony Music Australia)
The first full-length studio album from Australian rock legends Midnight Oil since 2002’s Capricornia, The Makarrata Project is a special collaboration, a meeting of minds whose ponderous description may scare off the casual listener (and even a few hardcore fans). Don’t buy into the ignorance – The Makarrata Project is every bit a Midnight Oil album, from Peter Garrett’s stunning vocals and Jim Moginie’s razor-sharp fretwork to the thunderous rhythms of bassist Bones Hillman and drummer Rob Hirst. Where it differs from the usual politically-charged Midnight Oil joint is its worthy cause and inclusion of indigenous voices from ‘First Nation’ artists like Jessica Mauboy, Alice Skye, Tasman Keith, Sammy Butcher, Frank Yamma, and others. So, you get some spoken word passages, tribal chants, and other singers, all united in service of the ‘Uluru Statement of the Heart’ which, basically, calls for Constitutional power and protection for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. It’s a powerful use of rock ‘n’ roll for social change, and the band is donating its royalties (matched by Sony) from the album to organizations seeking to elevate the Uluru Statement. Midnight Oil has always “walked the walk;” with The Makarrata Project, they’ve upped the stakes. (Bones Hillman, R.I.P. November 2020) Grade: A   BUY!     

The Pretty Things – Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood (Madfish Music)
The final recording from these British rock legends is pretty much a collaboration between Pretty Things founders Phil May and Dick Taylor, with occasional instrumental contributions from friends and fellow bandmates. An acoustic collection of blues, rock, and folk music that places an emphasis on May’s expressive, soulful vocals and Taylor’s deft fretwork, Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood masterfully blends songs like the PT’s George Woosey’s haunting title track or Will Varley’s “To Build A Wall,” which features May’s gorgeous, fragile vocals with traditional blues tunes by Robert Johnson (“Come Into My Kitchen”) and Willie Dixon (“I’m Ready”), the likes of which the PTs cut their teeth on five decades ago. A cover of folk songwriter Gillian Welch’s hillbilly dirge “The Devil Had A Hold of Me” displays another facet of May’s immense talent while Sheryl Crow’s “Redemption Song” benefits from May’s nuanced vocals and Taylor’s elegant guitar playing. Tragically, May’s death earlier this year ends the 55-year musical partnership between the singer and guitarist but, as swan songs go, Bare As Bone is a hell of a note to go out on. Grade: A+   BUY!

Walter Trout – Ordinary Madness (Provogue Records)
The blues-rock maestro returns with Ordinary Madness, a quick follow-up to 2019’s critically-acclaimed Survivor Blues. There are no signs of rush recording here or a drop-off in song quality, though – the guitarist’s tone, tenor, and tenacity have never been fiercer. The title track is a smoldering jam with gorgeous guitar and lyrics that barely hide their menace. The production on “Wanna Dance” (by longtime Trout collaborator Eric Corne) is spectacular, lush tones and power chords pumping up the instrumentation, underlining Trout’s mournful vocals; forty years ago, this would have been a chart-topper. Much of Ordinary Madness follows the same blueprint – electrifying blues-rock with scorching guitar, soulful vox, and a stout backing band. Trout’s guitar talents often overshadow his vocals, which are displayed nicely on the ballad “My Foolish Pride,” Walter capable of expressing great emotion. “The Sun Is Going Down” may be the best performance of Trout’s lengthy career, Robert Johnson’s hellhounds picking up the scent again, the guitarist facing the passage of time with unflinching defiance. Since his near-death experience six years ago, Walter Trout has been making the best music of his life, Ordinary Madness an album so good that I bought it twice (on CD and vinyl!). Grade: A+   BUY! 

Various Artists – Brown Acid: The Eleventh Trip (Riding Easy Records)
The folks at RidingEasy Records scour the back rooms, under-the-shelf crates, and other dark record store crevasses to find the most far-out psychedelic garage-rock cheap thrills possible and slap ‘em on vinyl as part of their “Brown Acid” series of rock ‘n’ roll obscurities. One would think this well-trodden turf to be mined out, what with all those Nuggets, Pebbles, and Back From the Grave compilations clogging up the shelves, but here’s Brown Acid: The Eleventh Trip with ten more roller-coaster time machine trips circa 1969-1977. Like every LP of this kind, there are hits and misses – some 7” wax should remain lost– so I’ll only mention the winners. Adam Wind’s “Something Else” is a cool psych-blues jam with flanged guitars while Grump’s “I’ll Give You Love” is a raucous R&B rave-up with swirling instrumentation. Larry Lynn’s “Diamond Lady” is a slab o’ guitary blues-rock with prog tendencies, old faves Zendik deliver a shimmering bit of chaotic hard rock, and West Minist’r offer a red-hot, Brit-sounding rocker. Kudos also to Debb Johnson for a brassy, soul-blues romp. Since six outta ten ain’t too shabby a batting average, I’ll happily recommend The Eleventh Trip for any fan of old school-dropout psych-cum-garage-rock. Grade: B   BUY!

Previously on That Devil Music.com:

Short Rounds, October 2020: Elvin Bishop & Charlie Musselwhite, The Hangfires, Kursaal Flyers, Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Toots & the Maytals, Crawling Up A Hill

Short Rounds, May 2020: The Burrito Brothers, Richie Owens & the Farm Bureau, Webb Wilder, Lucinda Williams & X

Short Rounds, April 2020: Datura4, Dream Syndicate, Drivin’ N’ Cryin, Bryan Ferry, Game Theory & Supersuckers

Short Rounds, March 2020: The Bluefields, Dave Clark Five, Marshall Crenshaw, Gwil Owen, Gary Moore & Watermelon Slim

CD Preview: The Pretty Things’ Greatest Hits

The Pretty Things are undeniably one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll outfits of the 1960s and ‘70s…though they weren’t always considered so. After scoring hits out of the box with timeless tracks like “Roslyn” and “Don’t Bring Me Down,” the PTs suffered through an extended streak that saw a largely indifferent response from the record-buying public after the mid-‘60s. But as the band evolved beyond its early British R&B roots into a psychedelic and subsequent hard rock sound, the Pretty Things released great albums like S.F. Sorrow (1968), Silk Torpedo (1974), and Savage Eye (1976) before breaking up in the late ‘70s.

The original PTs – singer Phil May and guitarist Dick Taylor – put the band back together in the early ‘80s and have been plugging away in the trenches more or less ever since (with a few hiatuses here and there). The latter-day band has released a few gems as well, including 2007’s Balboa Island and 2015’s critically-acclaimed The Sweet Pretty Things (Are In Bed Now, of Course…). The year 2015 also saw the release of Bouquets From A Cloudy Sky, a career-spanning box set honoring the band that influenced artists as diverse as David Bowie, the Clash, and the Libertines, among many others.

On October 13th, 2017 Madfish Records will release the Pretty Things’ Greatest Hits, a two-disc collection of (their hyperbole, not mine) “25 of the very best tracks from the dirtiest, loudest, most controversial and influential band the world has seen.” The first disc includes the band’s initial 1960s-era U.K. chart hits “Roslyn,” “Don’t Bring Me Down,” “Honey, I Need,” “Cry To Me,” and “Midnight to Six Man” as well as latter tracks like “S.F. Sorrow Is Born,” “Defecting Grey,” and “L.S.D.” It looks like Greatest Hits only covers the period of the band’s first four album releases (1965-1968) and eschews any of their fine ‘70s work (a second volume, maybe?) but it does include a 2016 recording of “Mr. Tambourine Man,” which was originally offered to the band to record but they passed on it.

The Pretty Things’ Greatest Hits also includes a bonus CD of an exclusive recorded performance of the band’s self-titled 1965 album form the legendary 100 Club in London. The album will be available in CD, vinyl, and digital download formats and includes comments on individual tracks from May and Taylor as well as liner notes from longtime band manager Mark St. John.

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: The Pretty Things’ Greatest Hits

Grapefruit Records’ Looking At the Pictures In the Sky celebrates 1968!

Everybody is just so jazzed up because this year is the 50th anniversary of 1967, the vaunted “summer of love.” Well, kiddies, the year is officially 75% over and done with and while that still leaves roughly three months to celebrate the hedonistic excesses of ’67, a new year is right around the corner. The good folks at U.K. archival specialists Grapefruit Records must agree, ‘cause they already have their eyes on the semicentennial of 1968...

On September 29th, 2017 here in the USA, Grapefruit will release Looking At the Pictures In the Sky, a three-disc anthology of British psychedelic rock that features 77 tracks and rocks an almost four-hour running time. The set is packaged in a cool clambox and includes a 44-page booklet brimming over with biographical information and rare photographs of the artists featured. Best of all, the set is budget-priced – selling on Amazon.com for $19.99 as of this writing – a bargain considering the tonnage of music included.

And just what, exactly, will you hear on Looking At the Pictures In the Sky? Well, among the 77 tracks here, you’ll find a number of the ‘usual suspects’ like the Move (“Omnibus”), the Crazy World of Arthur Brown (“Spontaneous Apple Creation”), the Pretty Things (“Talking About the Good Times”), and Procol Harum (“In the Wee Small Hours of Sixpence”) offering lesser-known, lysergic-drenched tunes released in 1968.

The set also includes songs from a number of cult bands whose early singles demand platinum-prices from collectors, bands like the Fire (“Father’s Name Is Dad”), Tuesday’s Children (“She”), the Spectrum (“Music Soothes the Savage Breast”), the Alan Bown (“For Your Thoughts”), Andy Ellison (“Cornflake Zoo”), Blonde On Blonde (“Country Life”), and Skip Bifferty (“Round and Round”).

Grapefruit Records has also dug up some truly hard-to-find, bona fide psych-rock classics for Looking At the Pictures In the Sky, rare 45s by bands like Fleur de Lys, the Barrier, the Factory, the Glass Menagerie, Rupert’s People, and Mike Stuart Span that are virtually unknown outside of the rabid psych collectors’ community. Throw in a handful of singles by unlikely candidates like the Spencer Davis Group (“Time Seller”), Status Quo (“Technicolor Dreams”), Graham Gouldman (“Upstairs Downstairs”), and the Marmalade (“Mr. Lion”) as well as the rarity “Aeroplane,” the flip-side of the debut single by Jethro Tull (credited incorrectly to ‘Jethro Toe’) and what you have is a mind-blowing collection of cult classics, obscure B-sides, and unreleased treasures of British psychedelia circa ’68!

Looking At the Pictures In the Sky is a sequel, of sorts, to Grapefruit’s critically-acclaimed 2016 box set I’m A Freak, Baby: A Journey Through the British Heavy Psych and Hard Rock Underground Scene 1968-72 (check out the Rev’s review). The label’s efforts in preserving this creative era of rock ‘n’ roll history is a godsend for those of us who can’t spend $1,000 on a rare single. Check out the full tracklist of Looking At the Pictures In the Sky on the Grapefruit Records website and use the link below to order your copy from Amazon.com…your ears will thank me later.

Buy the box set from Amazon.com: Various Artists - Looking At the Pictures In the Sky 

Rare Pretty Things LP reissued!

Back in the stone age of rock ‘n’ roll – the year 1969, to be exact – Phil May (vocals) and Wally Waller (bass) of British rock legends the Pretty Things were approached with an unusual offer. Flown to St. Tropez by rich French playboy Philippe DeBarge, the bandmates met with the young millionaire at the DeBarge family estate. DeBarge had long harbored dreams of rock ‘n’ roll stardom, and he wanted to record an album with the Pretty Things as his backing band.

In December 1968, the Pretty Things released S.F. Sorrow, the album that has since become known as the band’s psychedelic-era masterpiece. By the following August, however, the album was selling slowly, founding guitarist Dick Taylor had left the band, and the PTs’ future was uncertain. So May and Waller took DeBarge up on his offer, writing songs for and recording DeBarge’s album at Nova Studios in London during September 1969 with DeBarge singing lead vocals, May on backing vocals, and the band – including Waller, keyboardist Jon Povey, drummer ‘Twink’, and new guitarist Vic Unitt (from the Edgar Broughton Band) providing the music.

When S.F. Sorrow sales picked up months after its release, EMI wanted to follow up with a new album from the band, who subsequently put the DeBarge project on the back burner in order to work on what would become their 1970 album, Parachute. The album remained lost for almost 40 years when it was discovered by musician and Ugly Things zine publisher Mike Stax, who had found two acetates of the album and had it mixed and mastered, releasing it in 2009 on his own Ugly Things label. Stax even enlisted the classic Pretty Things line-up – including guitarist Dick Taylor – to record a new song titled “Monsieur Rock (Ballad of Philippe)” as a bonus track for The Pretty Things/Phillip DeBarge CD.

On September 1st, 2017 Madfish Records will reissue this obscure album as Rock St. Trop, billed to Phillipe DeBarge with the Pretty Things. Remastered for CD and featuring rare photos and new liner notes by Waller, the album features a 16-page booklet and bonus songs, including “Monsieur Rock.” Influential far beyond their often meager album sales, the Pretty Things seldom made a musical mistake during the 1960s and ‘70s and aside from being chummy with superstars like Led Zeppelin and David Bowie, the PT’s influenced bands as diverse as the Clash and the Libertines, among others, and this long-lost album is a welcome addition to the band’s catalog.
  
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Phillipe DeBarge & the Pretty Things’ Rock St. Trop

Phillipe DeBarge & the Pretty Things’ Rock St. Trop tracklisting:

1. Hello, How Do You Do?
2. You Might Even Say
3. Alexander
4. Send You With Loving
5. You`re Running You and Me
6. Peace
7. Eagle`s Son
8. Graves of Grey
9. New Day
10. It`ll Never Be Me
11. I`m Checking Out
12. All Gone Now
13. Monsieur Rock (Ballad of Philippe)
14. Lover
15. Silver Stars

The Reverend's Favorite CDs of 2015

Real rock ‘n’ roll music may have been on the ropes in 2015, but many blues and blues-rock musicians continue to thrive and survive, with some veteran artists releasing the best work of (often) lengthy careers. Looking at the Billboard “Hot 100” singles, there’s not a single legit rocker among songs by Adele, Justin Bieber, and Drake; over on the trade magazine’s Top 200 albums list, you won’t find but one rock band in the first 20 spots, a Beatles’ CD reissue…

Yes, ‘tis a dire time commercially for rock ‘n’ roll, although there is still a great amount of it being recorded and released these days, usually by smaller indie labels. Blues music and its related sub-genres is growing in popularity but, like Rodney Dangerfield, it gets no respect in spite of the fact that the blues is the root influence of rock and country music alike. No matter, ‘cause around That Devil Music World HQ, we don’t care about labels or vintage – witness our list of the Rev’s fave reissue and archive albums for 2015 – we just want to listen to great music! 

The Reverend’s list below of favorite CDs for the year isn’t necessarily a roll call of “the best” of 2015 – although several of these titles would certainly qualify on their merit – but rather those discs that spent the most time bouncing off your humble critic’s eardrums over the past few months. Forget about those other publications’ lists and their predictable choices…you can’t go wrong cueing up any of these fine albums when you need to satisfy your rock ‘n’ blues fix… 

Gary Clark Jr. – The Story of Sonny Boy Slim
Gary Clark Jr. once again defied expectations with his sophomore effort, the album’s throwback musical vibe owing a debt of gratitude to Jimi Hendrix, Arthur Lee, and Sly Stone as Clark gets his soul groove on in a big way. The Story of Sonny Boy Slim isn’t, strictly speaking, a blues album – at least not as your grand-pappy would recognize it. Instead, it’s an entertaining, masterful, fluid collection of blues, soul, and funk guaranteed to send traditionalists into an apoplectic frenzy while the rest of us dance to the music. (Warner Brothers Records)

Shemekia Copeland – Outskirts of Love
Shemekia Copeland is one of the best singers performing today, regardless of musical genre. That the daughter of legendary Texas guitarslinger Johnny Copeland could sing the blues was pre-ordained; that Copeland’s so damn good singing in other styles is pure joy. Copeland’s Outskirts of Love marks her return to Alligator Records, but she’s not singing the same old song, the album featuring a rich blend of blues, soul, and roots-rock that will astound the casual listener while rewarding Copeland’s long-time fans. (Alligator Records)

Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen – Love & Life
Guitarist Ted Drozdowski fronts the Scissormen, one of the leanest, meanest, bad-ass gang of juke-joint blues noisemakers to roll down the highway on four fiery, alcohol-fueled wheels in as long as the Rev can remember. Ted’s gruff, soulful vocals, erudite songwriting chops, and greasy six-string pyrotechnics, combined with the band’s percussive din, make the Scissormen natural heirs to the Delta and Hill Country blues traditions. Love & Life is the second Scissormen studio album, each song featuring an aggressive, primal sound that straddles the fence between traditional country-blues and highly-amped blues-rock. You won’t find a tastier slab o’ off-highway juke-joint blues than Love & Life anywhere these days… (Dolly Sez Woof Recordings)
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Steve Earle & the Dukes – Terraplane
Blues music is the father to the entirety of American music, and in few places is this tradition stronger than in the state of Texas. Steve Earle’s Terraplane represents the latest fraternization between blues and country, a long and respected tradition that began, perhaps, with Blind Lemon Jefferson and runs in a line through Sam Hopkins to Bill Neely to Townes Van Zandt and beyond to Earle and even his son Justin. Terraplane offers up all that the singer’s fans have come to expect – whipsmart lyrics and storytelling; the singer’s immense charisma; and well-constructed, skillfully-performed, often adventuresome music. Earle has always drawn from the whole spice rack of Americana in creating his own unique musical gumbo; this time around he just throws a bit more blues flavor into the pot. No matter what you want to call it, Terraplane is one damn fine collection of roots ‘n’ blues music. (New West Records)
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Billy Gibbons – Perfectamundo
ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons’ first-ever solo LP grows on you, kind of like kudzu – on first listen, my impressions were along the line of “what the hell was he thinking?” Two, three spins down the road and my interest was piqued, and by the fifth or sixth time putting Perfectamundo on the box, I found myself grinning in spite of myself. Gibbons expands his musical palette here, allowing his guitar greater freedom to soar into new territory while exploring different tones and textures with his lyrics and singing. Perfectamundo is an engaging, and entertaining – if surprising – solo debut from one of rock music’s legendary guitarists. (Concord Records)
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Graveyard – Innocence & Decadence
Sweden’s Graveyard began life in 2006 as a loud, sludge-rock doom metal outfit, but during the ensuing years the band’s musical inspiration has swerved more towards Cream and Peter Green’s original Fleetwood Mack and away from Sabbath. The new direction looks good on them, as Innocence & Decadence – Graveyard’s third album for Nuclear Blast Records (and fourth LP overall) – offers up a breakneck mix of hard rock and metallic blues that makes full use of leather-lunged frontman Joakim Nilsson’s Robert Plant-styled vox and guitarist’s Jonatan Larocca Ramm’s seemingly bottomless trick bag of tasty licks, leaden riffs, and screaming notes. Innocence & Decadence belongs in this year’s Top Ten, if only for the breathtaking “The Apple & The Tree,” which offers Nilsson’s vocals dancing on the razor blade of Ramm’s Mark Knopfler-influenced fretwork. (Nuclear Blast Records)

The Pretty Things – The Sweet Pretty Things (Are In Bed By Now, of Course…)
Although a stalwart Pretty Things fan, the Reverend’s expectations for The Sweet Pretty Things (Are In Bed By Now, of Course…) were not such that I was looking for the ‘Second Coming’. Still, the band’s first studio LP since 2007’s Balboa Island (not too shabby itself, in retrospect) features the core members in original singer Phil May and guitarist Dick Taylor, along with long-time guitarist Frank Holland (on board since 1999’s ...Rage Before Beauty). The result is an entertaining, energetic mix of guitar-driven garage-rock, psychedelic-rock, and blues-rock that blows away bands half the aggregate age of the Pretties. May’s old-school British R&B croon still has plenty of punch, and Taylor’s reckless fretwork cuts deep through the imaginative, musically-rich arrangements here. The new songs are instrumentally impressive, while a cover of the Byrds’ “Renaissance Fair” will have you reaching for the bong like it’s 1968 all over again. The Pretty Things are proof that rock ‘n’ roll is the fountain of youth, The Sweet Pretty Things… a tonic for what ails ya! (Repertoire Records)

Keith Richards – Crosseyed Heart
More than a decade since the last Rolling Stones studio album (2005’s A Bigger Bang) and nearly a quarter-century since his previous solo effort (1992’s Main Offender), guitarist Keith Richards managed to leave listeners gob-smacked with Crosseyed Heart. The performances sound spontaneous – not like an unformed, meandering jam – but rather like a well-seasoned veteran band stumbling into the studio, laying down the session, and then heading out to the local watering hole for some liquid refreshment. Richards scratches the various musical itches that have plagued him for years now, experimenting with reggae (a brilliant cover of Gregory Isaacs’ “Love Overdue” mixing Island rhythms and doo-wop sentimentality), folk-blues (a spirited cover of Leadbelly’s “Goodnight Irene”), boogie-blues (the original “Blues In The Morning”) and, of course, rock ‘n’ roll. Although an altogether more laid-back effort than previous solo albums, Crosseyed Heart nevertheless lives up to Richards’ legend, displaying why Keef is rock music’s most notorious – and revered – guitarist. (Republic Records)      

Walter Trout – Battle Scars
Beloved blues-rock guitarist Walter Trout almost died in 2014 and, after receiving a liver transplant, he spent much of 2015 recuperating from his dance with the Reaper. At some point, Trout entered the studio with a brace of new songs, resulting in Battle Scars. The album is Trout’s Inferno, a tale of redemption and rebirth that doesn’t shy away from reality but rings loudly with hope…it’s also the best album, in all facets, that Walter Trout has ever recorded, full of emotion and insight. (Provogue Records)

Webb Wilder – Mississippi Mōderne
I don’t believe that Webb Wilder has every made a bad record – only good and great – and the Rev has heard every single one of ‘em! Still, Mississippi Mōderne is, perhaps, the best album Wilder’s made since It Came From Nashville. In the hands of a lesser artist, this ramshackle mix of garage-rock, blues, and old-school country music would sink like an over-inflated soufflé, and the album’s often over-the-top lyrics would lack in sincerity coming from a singer without Wilder’s charismatic personality. Backed by the grizzled veterans that comprise the Beatnecks, though, Wilder delivers a powerful and entertaining collection in Mississippi Mōderne. (Landslide Records)
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Honorable Mention: I received a copy of Dan Baird & Homemade Sin’s Get Loud album late in the year or else it probably would have squeezed its way onto the list above. Nashville bands Snakehips and the Great Affairs both released rockin’ LPs this past year. They’re doing some fine work over at Alive Natural Sound Recordings, and both Datura4’s Demon Blues and Dirty Streets’ White Horse are worthy of inclusion here…plus, you can buy Alive’s releases through the Bomp Records store and often get vinyl/CD bundles for a price that won’t cripple you financially.

Other good stuff you may want to check out – albums by Barrence Whitfield & the Savages, British blues-rock band King King, the always eerie metallic Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, and the debut album by the Arcs.