Review Rudown: Canned Heat, Average White Band, Paul Rodgers, Rockpile
This Review Rundown features looks at a number of classic
sets from the vaunted Montreux festival, including reviews of releases from
Canned Heat, Average White Band, Paul Rodgers and Friends and Rockpile, as well
as a look at the latest from Andy Timmons.
Canned Heat - Live
in Montreux 1973 (Eagle): Though Canned Heat get lost in the shuffle of
their blues-rock contemporaries from the 60’s and 70’s (I.E. the Doobie
Brothers, Allman Brothers, Free), but for those that might know or have
forgotten, this band has some skill, and for an example of such, pop in their Live in Montreux 1973. They get some
help from legendary bluesman Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown on four of the albums first
five tracks (“Please Mr. Nixon,” “Worried Life Blues,” “About My Ooh Poo Pa
Doo,” “Funky”), though the opening “On the Road Again,” sans Brown, isn’t to be
missed. Brown’s presence is nothing short of spectacular as the timeless
multi-instrumentalist lends his flair to live set, and as for the rest of Live in Montreux 1973, the band fare
pretty well all by their lonesome. The 14-minute epic “Shake ‘N’ Boogie” that
closes Live in Montreux 1973 is
perhaps the album’s brightest spot, proof that Canned Heat was truly one of the
best of their time. While they may have been overlooked decades ago, they don’t
have to do now. Live in Montreux 1973
is a gem of a record. (www.cannedheatmusic.com)
Grade: B
Go Download: “On the Road Again”
Average White Band - Live
at Montreux 1977 (Eagle): Though it may be an arguable point, the Average
White Band was at the top of their game in 1977, both commercially and
artistically. When they took the stage at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977,
it’s doubtful that any fan in the audience that day would disagree. Live at Montreux 1977 is a documentation
and attestation of the bands heightened skill, and though the CD version
features three less songs than its DVD counterpart, these eight songs occupy
the better part of an hour. Live at
Montreux 1977 gets right to business with the bands 1974 No. 1 hit “Pick Up
the Pieces” and from there on in, the album only gets better, with a couple of
cover tunes (“Work to Do” (Isley Brothers), “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
(Marvin Gaye)) and some moments of sweet funk and jazz (“Person to Person,”
“Sweet and Sour”). The penultimate “Cut the Cake” steals the show here, a
14-minute clip that clocks in at nearly four times the length of the studio
version. It would have been nice to see the inclusion of the remaining three
tracks from the DVD version of Live at
Montreux 1977, but it’s still great to hear and to remember just how good
the Average White Band once were. (www.averagewhiteband.com)
Grade: B+
Go Download: “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
Rockpile - Live at
Montreux 1980 (Eagle): Rockpile’s Live
at Montreux 1980 is like opening a time capsule, shedding light on the
short-lived career of British rock and rollers Rockpile, who formed in 1976 and
only released one album in 1980, Seconds
of Pleasure, only to break up shortly thereafter due to rising tension
between band members Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe. Though they didn’t leave us
with much, they did leave us with Live at
Montreux 1980, recorded during the bands tour in support of Seconds of Pleasure. It’s hard to argue
with Live at Montreux 1980 as a
Rockpile release since it’s only the second official release from the band and
first official live release, but the set list here is a bit lacking. Only one
track from Seconds of Pleasure made
its way into the set (“Teacher Teacher”), which is a damn shame due to how
tremendous that record is. The majority of Live
at Montreux 1980 is made up of solo material from Edmunds and Lowe, and
while it’s not actually Rockpile songs, some of them still warrant a listen
(“Switchboard Susan,” “Girls Talk,” “Queen of Hearts”). While Live at Montreux 1980 is not as good as
it could have been, it just falls right in line with the history of this band,
because Rockpile was never as good as they could have been either.
Grade: C+
Go Download: “Teacher Teacher”
Paul Rodgers and Friends – Live at Montreux 1994 (Eagle): From Free and Bad Company to Queen,
vocalist Paul Rodgers has been a part fronting many a band that hold a place in
our hearts, and in 1994, when Rodgers took to the stage of the Montreux Jazz
Festival, he went to work as a solo act, though he didn’t exactly come alone,
hence the album title, Paul Rodgers and Friends Live at Montreux 1994. He called in many a favor his high powered
list of friends on Live at Montreux 1994,
as his backing band consisted of Neal Schon, Jason Bonham, Ian Hatton and Jason
Smithson, while his set features performances from the likes of Brian May,
Steve Lukather, Eddie Kirkland, Sherman Robertson, Luther Allison, Robert Lucas
and Kenny Neal. Yeah, star power to say the least. Rodgers calls upon bodies of
work from bands past, including a number of tracks culled from his time spent
in Free (“Wishing Well,” “All Right Now”) and Bad Company (“Can’t Get Enough,”
“Feel Like Making Love”). Rodgers take on Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” and
Muddy Water’s “Hoochie Coochie Man” round out Live at Montreux 1994 with trumped up aplomb, making for two of the
albums strongest moments. Live at
Montreux 1994 is a reliable release that should feel more comfortable than
anything else. (www.paulrodgers.com)
Grade: B-
Go Download: “Feel Like Making Love”
Andy
Timmons Band - Andy Timmons Plays Sgt
Pepper (Eagle): First and
foremost, Andy Timmons Band plays Sgt. Pepper is an instrumental album, which
is good because there is no singer to mess up such iconic work as the Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club
Band. This is a release that should
have even the most stringent of Beatles fans singing along. Timmons takes care
of these Beatles classic tracks, which is something that really comes through in
his guitar playing throughout. Some songs have a harder feel, which some have a
nearly rockabilly feel, though perhaps the most interesting song
that is “Strawberry Fields Forever,” which was originally intended to be
released on Sgt. Pepper’s
Lonely Hearts Club Band, but was later released as a single, and
then on the Magical
Mystery Tour EP. Andy Timmons Plays Sgt Pepper is an excellent listen, and
might just the year’s best instrumental release. (www.andytimmons.com)
Grade:
A-
Go
Download: “When I’m Sixty Four”
Comments