‘Patchy’ would be a fitting one word review for
the band known as Juicy Lucy’s second album. During their three year,
four album, two hit single, and hundreds of concert appearance career,
the band had enough lineup changes to make Spinal Tap seem like the
model of stability.
‘Juicy Lucy’ was formed in 1969 by ace steel
guitarist Glen ‘Ross’ Campbell out of the ashes of ‘The
Misunderstood’. During its lifespan Juicy Lucy had two saxophonists,
two keyboard players, three guitarists, two vocalists, and four bass
players going through the ranks. By the time of the fourth album
‘Pieces’, there was not one founder member left. Even Glen
‘Ross’ Campbell had left in despair.
Regardless of all these musical chairs, on release
this album went into the charts on the crest of a wave as Juicy Lucy had
just had a hit single with ‘Who Do You Love’. (George Thorogood and
the Destroyers also had a hit with this song on the other side of the
Atlantic, turning it into one of the highlights of their live set.) The
single reached #14 in the British Top Thirty and stayed there for three
months. Then ‘Lie Back And Enjoy It’ (their next album was called
‘Get A Whiff Of This’, wonderfully funny titles, nearly as good as
my favorite album title of all time - Spooky Tooth’s ‘You Broke My
Heart So I Busted Your Jaw’ - who says romance is dead?) was released
on the progressive rock label Vertigo.
Vertigo had the marvelously hypnotic record label
that when it whizzed round on your turntable, would send you dizzy.
Vertigo was the home record label for most of the bands that were
considered underground or cult at the time such as ‘Black Sabbath’,
‘Uriah Heep’, ‘The Sensational Alex Harvey Band’, ‘Gentle
Giant’, and ‘Status Quo’ to name but a few. Unfortunately
Repertoire Records have released this CD version of ‘Lie Back and
Enjoy It’ and a very good job of it they have done, too. They gave the
buying public a very good deal with a full reproduction of the foldout
cover and two extra bonus tracks to add onto the original nine tracks.
But for those of you who miss the hypnotic record label, try your hand
at the double CD ‘Still Dizzy After All These Years’, a fine
collection of the Vertigo years featuring many bands that went onto
bigger and better things, and some that for reasons only known by the
masters of rock ‘n’ roll didn’t. With the CDs and cover printed
with the correct squiggles, ‘Lie Back and Enjoy It’ went straight
into the British charts at #53 in November 1970.
The passage of time has not been kind to some of the
songs on this album. Standard blues material with plenty of
embellishments from the musicians currently find a home within the
ranks. Hereby lays the most pressing problem. With such a liquid lineup
it was hard for ‘Juicy Lucy’ to actually sound like a band, not just
a group of musicians thrown together in the recording studio. Half the
band plays as if they were worried that they would soon be booted out of
the band (they were), whilst the other half play as if they had the
knowledge that after this recording they were going to move onto new
fresh pastures (which they did - notably Micky Moody to
‘WhiteSnake’, Rod Coombes to ‘Stealers Wheel’ & then the
‘Strawbs’ and Keith Ellis to ‘Spooky Tooth’).
Yet, there are some astounding performances from the
guitar works of Micky Moody, the steel guitar works of Glenn ‘Ross’
Campbell, the occasional saxophone break from Chris Mercer, and the ever
impressive vocals of Paul Williams (one of the most underrated blues
singers to ever tread the boards and bend a microphone).
The first seven tracks are fair compositions
including a cover of the old Willie Dixon Blues Classic ‘Built for
Comfort’. The band aimlessly stumbles through many genres of the rock
‘n’ roll spectrum, from blues to country, and heavy rock to pop.
However, it’s not until they crack open the Frank Zappa jewel from Hot
Rats ‘Willie the Pimp’ that the band really jell, let their hair
down, giving it a go with the confidence that these superior musicians
should have. The results are startling with Paul Williams singing at his
most Beefheartesque (I do not know if that’s a word or not, but if it
isn’t, it should be) and Micky Moody laying down two smokin’ slide
guitar solos, while the whole band joins in the fun with a truly
rumbustious display.
All in all a pretty average display (apart from the
magnificent ‘Willie The Pimp’), but worth the while if you fancy
some of that early seventies feel.
Just a brief tag onto the end of the review. The
question this Dog is constantly being asked is where can you get the
music that is reviewed in this humble little column for people who like
their music hot and sweaty from twenty years or more ago. Well, to be
honest, not really anywhere in Pattaya or Chang Mai. The last time I
checked out the area’s leading CD shop, it did not even stock any
‘Led Zeppelin’ or ‘Black Sabbath’. So you have got absolutely no
chance with something like ‘Juicy Lucy’. Your best bet is Amazon at
www.amazon.com They have a fantastic range of music and their service is
very reasonably priced, and usually very quick and easy to order. If
anything goes missing in the mail, Amazon, with its customer friendly
policy, is always very good about replacing it for you. The only other
option is to go into your nearest music shop and keep on asking for your
favorite artist. Maybe one day they will get the message.
“A
Tour de Force” claims the reviewer from The Times, on the front cover of
The Gate. This book, written by Frenchman Francois Bizot, and translated
from the French by Euan Cameron (ISBN 0-099-44919-6, published by Vintage
this year) is the tale of a young French academic who was caught and
tortured by the Khmer Rouge and his subsequent dealings with the feared
regime when they took over Phnom Penh.
Mott’s CD review: Juicy Lucy
