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“THE OTHER CPRESS

Wednesday April 11th ,1984

 

Don’t Forget My Forgotten Greats

CLASSIC ALBUMS OF FORGOTTEN BANDS : PART 7-

This is it. This is the semester’s
last issue of the Other Press. And
this is the last in my long series of
articles on Rock and Roll’s forgotten

 

by JOEL HAGEN'

 

classics. To commemorate this awe-
some historical event, | will be
writing on three (count ‘em, three!)
forgotten greats at once.

STACKED DECK

ti

AMAZING RHTHYM ACES

I’m no fan of country music, but
this gem is one of my all-time
favorites. Although it included a
mildlysuccessful single, Third Rate
Romance, Stacked Deck now sits.
forlornly in 8-track cassette decks
across the American mid-west. That
is not where it deserves to be, for
this is vintage country. From the
gospel of Life’s Railway To Heaven
to the inspiring ballad King of the
Cowboys, this record is head and
shoulders above most of the gar-
_ ‘bage coming out of Nashville today.

Songs about harmless themes
have never been so enjoyable. The
Ella B., the story of a steamship, is
marvellous, and Emma Jean is a
perfect ‘‘next-door — neighbour’’
song: ‘‘Emma Jean/ Won’t You
unlock your backdoor screen/And

invite me in for some gin and
lemonade/I’d really love to love
you, you little handsome tropical
maid.’’ Stacked Deck is a good-
time, knee slapping, foot-stomping,
shit-kicking album, and y’all get
yerself a copy, y’hear!

AMERICAN BEAUTY
GRATEFUL DEAD

The Grateful Dead is THE Ameri-
can Hippie band, and American
Beauty is their definitive album.It’s
amazing that each song even made
it past the studio, because the band
members were obviously barely a-
live when this was recorded. How-
ever, the effect of this drug-induced
phenomena is great. American
Beauty is so laid back that if you are
not careful, it will lay you out.

American Beauty contains the
Greatful Dead’s only hit ever,
Truckin’. This is the anthem of a
generation, from a time when you
could live ‘‘on reds, vitamin C, and
cocaine.’’ The song is clever be-
cause it contains a prophetic retro-
spective that makes it timeless.
Anyone listening anytime will hear
these eerie words as the record

fades: ‘‘What a long strange trip its |

been...”’
My second favorite Greatful Dead

 

 

 

 

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song of all time is also on this
record. Ripple is a ‘back-to-basics
fusion of jazz and folk, and if it can’t
turn you into a hippie, nothing will.

AVERAGE WHITE BAND
AVERAGE WHITE BAND

With. the exception of this master-
piece, the Average White Band has
illustrated on its other albums that it
is extremely average. How they
manage to pull off this funk miracle.
is beyond my comprehension.

You Got It gets things rolling,
with tight crisp vocals and ensemble
playing. Such quality typifies the
album, especially on Pick Up The

 

PS des is
Somany Suestions?

 

 

 

Pieces. This instrumental made it to
number one on the charts, and
deserved it. The sax duo is a
high-energy portrait of what can be
done with a reed and mouthpiece, a
piece of finely crafted metal, and a
good set of chops.

Work To Doand Nothing You Can
Do gauge the Average White
Band’s other great strength; the
vocals of Alan Gorrie. When Gorrie
reaches up for high passages, white”
soul singing takes on new dimen-
sions.

Fans of black funk groups, like
Tower of Power and Earth Wind
& Fire, will find the Average White
Band a tasty appetizer to supple-
ment their musical diets.

 
      
   
  
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
  
  

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