ROCK-A-RAMA
The CREEM Archive presents the magazine as originally created. Digital text has been scanned from its original print format and may contain formatting quirks and inconsistencies.
THE ESSO TRINIDAD STEEL BAND -(Warner Brothers) 1917::: Warner Brothers seems to be dead sure that next year�s top stars are gonna be Stoneground, Deep Purple, and this bunch of West Indian bizarros. I disagree a hundred percent, but it doesn�t keep me from digging the hell out of the odd sonorities produced by this metal orchestra. They take on everything from �Apeman� to an excerpt from Saint-Saens� Carnival of the Animals, and it seems as natural as breathing. They show up on the new Moby Grape and John Sebastian albums, and their conductor is a priest. Any other questions??
NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE -(Columbia)::: I heard these guys on the radio during the closing of the Fillmore West, and they sounded like the Band mixed with Commander Cody. Their record is one of the most expendable pieces of product so far this year. See, there�s this genre I call Marin County Livingroom Music. It�s fun to play, it�s fun to be in the same room with when it�s being played, it�s played on acoustic instruments for the most part, and sometimes you get into a good groove that makes you feel great inside, but the next day you aren�t likely to remember just what it was, and it doesn�t matter. It�s a kind of private affair, and fer chrissakes if you don�t charge admission to your livingroom you shouldn�t expect others to pay money to hear it. That�s what�s wrong with this album.
BIRD ON A WIRE - TIM HARDIN - (Columbia)::: A good one - sensitive, soulful -but he�ll never match Suite For Susan Moore and Damion.
SMILING MEN WITH BAD REPUTATIONS
MIKE HERON - (Elektra)::: If you�ve always felt, like 1 have, that the Incredibles were a bunch of incompetent pseudoOrientalia, but that there must have been some reason why all those otherwise intelligent friends of yours were so fanatical about them, then this is the album for you. I mean, Mike Heron, John Cale, and (on one cut) the Who? Yup. Fine stuff.
DOUBLE-BACK - HAPPY & ARTIE TRAUM - (Capitol)::: Their first lp was a model of well-controlled folk/rock type stuff
— you know, the acoustic stuff with a beat — but it was sadly ignored. Double-Back is getting a big push, and it�s awful. Clumsy, self-conscious, all the things that�re wrong with James Taylor-imitations.^�Mister Movie Man� and �Brother Thomas� (except for the latter�s lyrics) are okay, but you�d be better off seeing them live - they�re incredible or buying the.first album. Sorry, guys.
EARTHQUAKE - (A&M)::: I can�t believe that there�s a Bay Area band (that is what these guys are supposed to be) that not one Bay Area rock critic has ever heard of. I mean, if there was something happening, surely somebody would be talking about it. . .
THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF KERSKIN�S ESP - (SSS International)::: Don�t laugh, it works. Look for it soon in your local bargain bin, take it home, get good and stoned and try.it!
JAMES BURTON —(A&M)::: James Burton, for the few of you who don�t know, was that fantastic lead guitarist that made all those records by Elvis, Ricky Nelson, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings so exciting. Singlehandedly, he invented rockabilly lead guitar. You�d never know it from this Muzak collection of top hits of the year, complete with doot-doot girls, horns and strings. Boo.
LIVING BY THE DAYS - DON NIX -(Elektra)::: The press release with this record would have you believe that Don built Memphis in six days, and on the seventh he discovered Furry Lewis, l urry�s an easy-goin� type, and it�s well-known around Memphis that he�ll be glad to sing for a bottle and some good conversation, which is even cheaper than non-union studio musicians, and probably why Don has him on all his albums. Oh, the music is pale imitation Leon Russel, but I like the spray-felt cover idea . . .
INDIAN RESERVATION RAIDERS -(Columbia)::: A killer single led to this fab LP by old faves with new faces. We knew they always had it in thejn; any group that had the nerve to look the British Invasioh in the whites of its eyes and call themselves Paul Revere and the Raiders to boot had to have something going for them.
HOT PANTS - JAMES BROWN - (Polydor)::: This is the only dude who could�ve pulled it off: stretching a 2-chord, million selling single into an almost nine minute album cut. Shockingly self-indulgent, but the musicians shine when they�re given the opportunity. Brown is bringing jazz into his sound, educating his massive audience about the New Music without them suspecting it. Wonder if he knows?
UNDISPUTED TRUTH (Gordy)::: Worth the effort for �Smiling Faces Sometimes,� the summer�s best lush Motown soul, and �Like A. Rolling Stone,� the crushing Tamla version as good as it should be. It�s almost as good as it Levi Stubbs had sung it. The rest of it wavers and falters and never quite gets there, though some of it is listenable.
BRITISH ARCHIVES SERIES - (RCA)::: Featuring Mayall, Clapton, Beck, Savoy Brown, Page, Hopkins, Stewart, Spencer and the fabulous unknowns Earl Vince and the Valiants with their famous �Somebody�s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight.� This ain�t the real, honest-god-blooze but then again, what is these days?
