Ah, the early seventies. The peak of the era we all
lovingly called progressive-rock. During that time there were the
releases of some classic albums, which have all stood the test of time.
‘Doremi Fasol Latido’ by Hawkwind, ‘In the Wake of Poseidon’ by
King Crimson, ‘Tarkus’ by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, ‘The Debut
Album’ by Flash and countless others, still sounding as fresh and
relevant as they did over thirty years ago.
Some, on the other hand, have rather fallen from
their illustrious heights. Greenslade’s debut album is a point in
case. This ‘teenage’ Dog can recall clearly nodding along sagely in
an attempt to look very knowledgeable when this was first thrust upon
his ears. He was taken in by a rather smashing Roger Dean Cover (the
artist, who became famous for his artwork for ‘Yes’ amongst others),
the fact that here there was a band that was a little bit unique (dual
keyboards and no lead guitar), and that they indeed had a fine pedigree.
Dave Greenslade (who humbly gave his name to the band) on one set of
keyboards had plied his trade for the previous three years with the
magnificent Colosseum. On the other keyboards was Dave Lawson, who had
been in ‘Samurai’ (never heard of them, but they sounded
impressive). Bassist Tony Reeves had been in ‘Curved Air’. And
drummer Andrew McCulloch had been in ‘Arthur Brown’s Kingdom
Come’, ‘Manfred Mann’, and ‘King Crimson’. However, his
presence in each band was only a short one, which perhaps should have
given us some form of clue.
While we were all with great pretentiousness
listening away in our bedsits, I think actually we were all pretending
to be listening to the next big thing, not wanting to seem uncool by
blurting out that it was actually very ordinary and a second division
‘Yes’ or ‘E.L.P.’ Second division (just above the relegation
zone) was where they stayed throughout their career.
Most of the songs are very mid-paced with very little
to differentiate one from the other. Sure, the keyboards intermingle
very nicely, but if truth be told they sound like a very average lounge
act with an over ambitious, dominating keyboard player stuck with a bad
singer. Although there can be no doubt that Dave Lawson was great foil
for Dave Greenslade’s keyboard playing, a singer he was not, nor could
he write lyrics, his other primary job within the band. Try this little
sonnet from ‘What are you doing to me’:
‘’You murdered the love that I once had for you,
When you put in the boot cos the shoe wouldn’t do,
Well if that’s how you feel, woman, I love you,
too.”
I think it would perhaps have been a good idea to not
have written the lyrics on the inside sleeve of this album as there are
many more just as cringe worthy moments. Worst of all is his impression
of the Lord’s Prayer on ‘Drowning Man’. It is so awful that it
wants to make you snicker. There is a time and place for everything and
that was neither the time nor the place. I believe Dave Lawson is no
longer in the music business. I cannot say that I am totally surprised.
Tony Reeves plays bass guitar with great enthusiasm
throughout, if a little bit repetitively. However, at no point on these
songs does he seem to be playing the same song as the other members of
the band. His most embarrassing moment comes during ‘Melange’, where
the bass is very dominant. That’s surprising for a dual keyboard band.
Reeves gets by definition a bass solo, but it actually sounds as if the
rest of the band gives up playing for a minute and without realizing it,
Reeves just carries on in his own sweet way.
Andrew McCulloch drums are thankfully mixed way down
in the production, which I think is a kindness to the skins man, same as
saying he had rudimentary skills would be a kindness. How he managed to
stay in King Crimson under the critical eye of Robert Fripp for three
months before being booted out will always remain a mystery.
The staple of any Greenslade concert was always the
final song on this album, and throughout their career the last song of
their live set, ‘Sundance’. Now this is not actually a bad piece of
music and at over eight minutes (longer on stage), it represents a fair
portion of the album. But I’m afraid it is too little too late. The
first thing that you notice is that the song is an instrumental, so
already the song is ahead on points as there is none of Lawson’s
yodeling in it. And for the first time the band actually seems to gel
together and play with some fire in their bellies. The interplay between
Lawson and Greenslade fair sparkles at times with the great controlled
violence, mingled with light and shade only a rock keyboard player can
bring to his music. A bit more of this and less of the lyrics and the
vocals and they might of had something.
All I can say is that if you have fond memories of
Greenslade, leave them in the past. You may be very disappointed if you
try and listen to your past memories today. These days Dave Greenslade
writes scores for television and movies. He also released a solo album
of songs inspired by the disc world based on the Terry Pratchet books,
which was rather good and plays with the reformed Colosseum. I don’t
know what the other three are doing and don’t care, as long as Dave
Lawson is not singing.
Author
Ian Quartermaine must be having many sleepless nights. After his update of
Sleepless in Bangkok, we had For King and Country only a few weeks ago and
this has been smartly followed by From Other Worlds (ISBN 974-8303-74-8)
in the same package as another book entitled Cybernaut. The accompanying
letter suggested that From Other Worlds be read before Cybernaut, so as a
dutiful reviewer I have done just that.
Mott’s CD review: Greenslade – Greenslade
2
Stars **