Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy & the Poor Boys - Review

Creedence Clearwater Revival Willy and the Poor Boys (1969)  

Songs:  Down on the Corner, It Came out of the Sky, Cotton Fields, Poorboy Shuffle, Feelin´ Blue, Fortunate Son, Don´t Look Now, The Midnight Special, Side o´ the Road, Effigy.

Type of Music: Late Sixties Blues (Swamp) Rock.

Comments: 

CCR´s fourth album was released at the end of 1969 and was another huge commercial success. It tells the story of the imaginary blues/rock band Willy and the Poor Boys, four guys from California showing the world they can play Southern Music as well as anybody else.

And indeed, they took two American originals (Cotton Fields and Midnight Special) and made them sound as if they were written for CCR in the first place. And that says something about their qualities. Nevertheless, I never liked Cotton Fields as a song despite the nice harmony vocals and I assure you that I´ve heard a lot of versions through the years from artists ranging between Udo Jürgens and the Beach Boys.

No, I prefer the rockers on the Album. For sure Fortunate Son is one of the great Anti Vietnam-War Songs and John sounds really upset here. And let´s not forget It came out of the Sky, for me the best song on the album. It´s a great rocker in Chuck Berry style. Try it out in your car with the speakers as loud as you can stand!

Everybody of course knows Down on the Corner. You probably heard it on the radio today and yesterday and the day before yesterday and…..

Less known is the instrumental Side o´ the Road. In fact it´s John´s guitar solo set on a Booker T & the MG´s kind of groove.

The Blues shuffle Feelin´ Blue is a nice enough song but I took away half a point as it´s just a tiny bit too long. And if you´re curious if CCR could come up with their version of Jimi´s Hey Joe, listen carefully to Effigy.

Some filler here as well. I fail to see the relevance of the Poorboy Shuffle and Don´t look Now is an inferior re-write of Bad Moon Rising.

So what do I tell you. It´s not a bad album but it does not quite convince me. I consider it to be a step back when compared to Green River.      

Rating: ******* (7 out of 10)

Black = Good Songs

Green = Great Songs

Red = Could Be Better

Who should buy this Record:  It´s not the first CCR Album you would want to buy. But Give it a Chance if you find it remastered and cheap!

Bruce Springsteen - The Wild The Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle Review

Bruce Springsteen  : The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (1973)                  

Songs: The E Street Shuffle, 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy), Kitty´s Back, Wild Billy´s Circus Story, Incident on 57th Street, Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), New York City Serenade.   

Type of Music: Early Seventies Rock/ R&B Influences.

Comments:

Bruce´s second album is his own West Side Story, telling us Dylan like tales about the big city street life. With lots of Latin American influences both in words and in music. Living in a big city is like living in a great big Melting Pot. Lots of different cultures and influences. The same goes for the music on this Album.

Sometimes you will recognise bits and pieces of Dylan, Lou Reed, James Brown, Mink Deville or even Tom Waits. But all the songs have two common denominators: Balls and Soul!!

It is inevitable that one day all of this energy will lead to Born to Run.

It´s a very coherent album as well. Not really a bad song in sight although some songs are a bit overlong. I´m not too enthusiastic about the sound quality. Sounds a bit muddy.

The rhythms seem very odd from time to time during the songs but in the end it always just seem to work out fine. And that says something about the quality of the band although the drummer Vini Lopez is not always convincing.

On the other hand I really admire the organ and piano parts played by David Sancious. What a pity he left the band to start a career in jazz music. Absolute high point for me is his playing in Kitty´s Back, my choice for best song here. His playing reminds me of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Also very good is his piano part on New York City Serenade.

Like Greetings from Asbury Park NJ, I find it difficult to listen to the whole album in one time without losing interest after about 25 minutes. I suppose it is because of Bruce´s somewhat monotonous voice. However, on an individual basis the songs are all okay.  

It´s a pity that Bruce would abandon these story like songs later in his career and would concentrate on short and to the point musical statements. But I´m looking in the future. Let´s end this little story by concluding that The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle certainly is one of the best efforts by The Boss.        

Rating: ******** (8 out of 10)

Black = Good Songs

Green = Great Songs

Red = Could Be Better

Peat Smoke and Spirit

Today I would like to draw your attention to a book that I received as a Christmas gift. The book is called Peat Smoke and Spirit and was written in 2004 by Andrew Jefford. Its about Islay, Scotland's most important whisky island. It tells the story of the island, its inhabitants and, of course, its distilleries. But the book also deals with the landscape, the wildlife and the weather. A very handy guide if you really want to explore Islay. And it reads like a novel. 


Jan 

William Lawson's Blended Scotch Review

Country: Scotland
Brand: William Lawson’s
Type: Blended Whisky
Age: Unspecified but probably between 3 and 8 Years

ABV: 40%

Colour: Light Gold

Nose: Very similar to the Cutty Sark Blended Scotch that I’ve tasted recently. There is a hint of apple-pie with raisins but it disappears quickly. Other than that the same Breakfast Cereals, though maybe slightly less sugared, Young Oak, Alcohol, Citrus and Malt. And even the Morning Sickness is revived in my mind. Pity that!

Palate: Sweet, Toasted Grains, Toffee, Young Oak, slightly bitter Almonds, A Bit of Nutmeg.

Finish: The Sugar sticks to the palate for a while. Bit of oak and almonds.

I would not add water to this blend. Sure ,it kills down the sugar a bit but on the palate you get a plate of lightly sugared corn flakes mixed with water instead of milk.

Rating: 75,5

Nose : 19 – Taste: 19 – Finish: 18,5 – Overall: 19

General Remarks: William Lawson first created This Blend in 1849. The Glen Deveron Single Malt lies at the heart of this blend together with another 30 or so Malt – and Grain Whiskies. The Glen Deveron is produced at the MacDuff Distillery close to Banff. Current owner is the Bacardi Group.

Drinking Experience Neat: Average/Good

Conclusion: It’s not really a bad whisky and it’s drinkable but why would you spend money on blends like this? They are basically plates of sugar-coated cornflakes with a bit of nuts thrown in for flavor. It might work for mixing which would explain its popularity in Southern Europe. But to drink a dram of good whisky should give you pleasure and satisfaction. This is just plain boring!

Jan van den Ende                                                                 January 21, 2012

To Blend or not To Blend

To Blend or not To Blend, that's the question as Shakespeare might have put it if he would have been an enthusiastic whisky drinker, which, I believe, he was not. But the question popped up yesterday evening when I tasted the William Lawson's Blend for the first time. Lately I have been testing a large number of the so called Bottom Shelf Blends and they all end up at the bottom of my Whisky League Table. It's not that you can't drink them but they don't give you any pleasure when you drink them. They all more or less taste like plates of sugared breakfast cereals with a bit of salt and some added oak/spice flavouring. So their only advantage is that they are relatively cheap. Now I know that more or less 90% of all whiskies sold world wide belong to the above mentioned category. I also believe that in the majority of cases these whiskies are not devoured straight but either on the rocks or in Long Drinks or mixed with cola or other soft - or energy drinks. I have tried to do that as well but I believe that other spirits such as Rum or Bourbon are more suited for this purpose because of their inherent sweetness. 
Based on the above it's easy to see the economic advantages for the industry as they are selling huge quantities of standardised product all around the world. Much cheaper to concentrate your marketing efforts on a couple of well known Brand names. But from the point of view of somebody who loves to taste and enjoy well made whiskies, either blends or Single Malts and either produced in Scotland or elsewhere around the globe, it's difficult to appreciate the fact that 40 or more Malt - and Grain Whiskies are blended and married only to result in an indifferent end product with no real own identity.
Of course it's possible to create good blends as well. And they are available in the market. But with the exception of Johnnie Walker Black they are quite expensive and can be compared price wise to a large number of Single Malts. And although I can understand that there will be people who will drink say JW Green or Gold or Ballantine's 17 Years for all their lives as it gives them the comfort of a well made dram, I personally prefer to spend my money on good whiskies from around the globe. It's tasting the differences between regions and distilleries and wood that makes drinking whisky a real pleasure.
Now I also realise that Single Malt whisky in general is getting really expensive these days because of the growing world demand. It's clear therefore that the vast majority of whisky consumers will keep buying affordable blends. So I can only wish that at some point in time the industry will succeed in offering (at a reasonable price) blended whiskies where the sweet taste will remind me of fruit or Sherry  instead of sugar, where Malt instead of Grain rules and where some Oak at least will remind me of quality casks. Or am I dreaming here!


Jan