ROCK.A.RAMA
HELEN REDDY — Free And Easy (Capitol):: Although she’s had stiff competition recently from Olivia Newton-John, Helen Reddy remains the biggest selling lady on wax and she has finally come up with an album worthy of her talents. Producer Joe Wissert gets extra points for delivering seven out of ten entries in surefire top ten form.
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ROCK.A.RAMA
HELEN REDDY — Free And Easy (Capitol):: Although she’s had stiff competition recently from Olivia Newton-John, Helen Reddy remains the biggest selling lady on wax and she has finally come up with an album worthy of her talents. Producer Joe Wissert gets extra points for delivering seven out of ten entries in surefire top ten form. Included is the genuinely eerie “Angie Baby,” that magically lets your imagination go full tilt; a slick and danceable (!) interp of “Raised On Rock”; the most commercial version of Veronique Sanson’s “Emotion” to date (eat your heart out, Kiki Dee); a delightful nostalgic distillation called “Showbiz” and six others from the pens of Jeff Barry, Tom Jans, Paul Williams and the like. If you never buy another Helen Reddy album, you MUST have this one.
J.A.
GENE REDDING - Blood Brother (Haven):: Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, the producing-composing team that worked wonders for The Righteous Brothers and The Four Tops, broke Gene Redding into the Big Time with “This Heart,” a pleasant enough rehash of Al Wilson’s “Show And Tell.” That song is here, along with seven other indistinguishables and the title tune, an integration ditty about a black-white friendship. Great production, catchy melodies but when push comes to shove - a stone snore. Better luck next time?
J.A.
SANTANA - Borboletta (Columbia):: Carlos is still sorting himself out, trying to merge jazz and enlightenment with his old style. Unfortunately, Jules Broussard is neither ‘Trane nor Gato and Leon Patillo’s limp vocals don’t do mush for the sincerely dumb lyrics. A couple of hot percussion-guitar workouts make pew-sitting through the woodshedding a little easier, but..
M.D.
THE CHUCK WAGON GANG - Camp Meetin’ Time (Columbia):: Just the thing to flesh out any closet Christians in your crowd. It’s good for what ails you — Tony & Susan Alaimo, George Harrison, whatever. Every so often, it’s good to hear from people who got religion instead of vice versa.
M.D.
PORTSMOUTH SINFONIA - Plays the Popular Classics (Columbia):: I’ve played in amateur orchestras - millions of them*and so has just about everyone in the course of their career in. school or the Scouts. But nobody has ever played in one quite like this one. I give them credit for getting as close as they do to the original without a prayer of ever really doing it. All you need is hear.
E.H.
UFO — Phenomenon (Chrysalis):: A promising quartet from Limeyland which contains echoes of a number of my favorite bands v most noticeably melodic echoes of Mott - in their still-emerging styles. E.W.
MARY McCREARY - Jezebel (Shelter):: Didn’t she do those great soulful backup vocals for the Stones at one time? Or was that Claudia Lennear? Mary was the lead vocalist on “O Happy Day,” right? Or maybe that was Leon’s old lady, who used to sing with Elvin Bishop, and then went solo and married Booker T. Anyway, this Mary sings like she could make good barbeque sauce.
M.K.
TODD RUNDGREN — Utopia (Bearsville):: First Bebe makes Playmate Of The Month, ' and now this. You soldiers of the mind will ' have to look for in depth analyses elsewhere, and then decide for yourself. Me, I’d rather listen to 2:57 of the Wombles than the entirety of this album. Utopia, my eye.
M.K.
JACKSON BROWNE - Late For The Sky (Asylum):: It’s gotten to the point where you find yourself listening to the lyrics. They’re good. But the kid still hasn’t learned any new chords. “The Road and the Sky” sounds like “China Grove” and “Wild Night.” Don’t want to discuss it. Think it’s time for a change.
G.S.
SPLINTER - The Place I Love (Dark Horse):: Two tunesmiths from England, discovered by G. Harrison for his new label, and sporting the best session men in history. Add a few handclaps recorded in a toilet, and what have you got? A vaguely pleasant album doomed to obscurity. Well, at least they’re not trying to start their own government.
M.K.
DUKE WILLIAMS AND THE EXTREMES -Fantastic Fedora (Capricorn):: I can’t help it — I love the band’s name, I love their outrageous image, and I thought the title of their first album was great, but I just can’t listen to them because they’re boring. E.W.
