"...Coming On Again..."
Arising out of the ashes of Decca's late 60ts
Psychedelia band THE END - the delightfully-named TUCKY BUZZARD took their
feathery moniker from a character in from one of the Uncle Remus books where
one of the Br'er Rabbit runners was called 'Br'er Tucky Buzzard'. They managed
a whopping five albums across three countries and with three different labels
(without too many people noticing either) - Hispavox in Spain for the debut
released in late 1971 as well as Capitol in the USA and Deep Purple's 'Purple
Records' in the UK for the remaining four released between 1971 and 1973.
As well as that these funky British Rockers
received the high profile patronage and hands-on help of Rolling Stone Bassist
BILL WYMAN who produced three of their albums (see 2, 3 and 5 below) - one of
which also featured the guitar chops of Rolling Stone ace axeman MICK TAYLOR
and well as their top session players Bobby Keys and Jim Price on the Horns
(Disc 2).
To the matter in hand...
I've been digging Edsel Box Sets for years
(some actually let the side down slightly - the T.Rex one jumps to mind) - but
like the fabulous Average White Band, Chairmen Of The Board and their recent effort
for 60ts cult band The End (see separate reviews) - this one is a goodie if you
like your Rock hard and heavy one minute whilst being funky the next. Superbly
put together and clearly with Bill Wyman's involvement (a man known to take
care of the Stones musical legacy) - this 5CD Box Set offers the very best
presentation of Tucky Buzzard's short but productive career and allows
Seventies Rock lovers (and the curious) access to much that is impossibly hard
to find on original vinyl. There's a wad of info to get through - so if you'll
forgive the inflight pun - onwards and upwards...
UK released 15 July 2016 (22 July 2016 in the
USA) - "The Complete Tucky Buzzard" by TUCKY BUZZARD on Edsel EDSB
4033 (Barcode 740155403331) is a 5CD Mini Box Set containing their 'complete'
recorded output between 1970 and 1973. The American-only album "Tucky Buzzard" from 1971 is Disc 2 and plays out as follows:
Disc 2 "Tucky Buzzard" (39:39
minutes):
1. Time Will Be Your Doctor
2. Stainless Steel Lady
3. Sally Shotgun
4. Gu Gu Gu
5. My Friend
6. Pieces Apple Lady [Side 2]
7. She's Meat
8. Ace The Face
9. Whisky Eyes
10. Rolling Cloud
Tracks 1 to 10 are the second studio album
"Tucky Buzzard" - released June 1971 in the USA (only) on Capitol
ST-787. Produced by BILL WYMAN at London's Olympia Studios and featuring
Rolling Stones players MICK TAYLOR (Guitar on "My Friend") as well as
BOBBY KEYS and JIM PRICE (Horns on "Whisky Eyes" and "Rolling
Cloud") - it was not released in the UK at the time and saw its first CD
release in 2002 on Ripple Records (the master is licensed from them).
The massively in-depth 32-page booklet inside
the glossy 5" clamshell mini box set is an impressive affair- new liner
notes by noted music writer ALAN ROBINSON featuring new interviews with
Guitarist Terry Taylor and Drummer Dave Brown - there's artwork for all five
LPs with each CD placed inside a singular 5" card sleeve. The project was
overseen by the vastly experienced VAL JENNINGS and PHIL KINRADE did the
Remasters at Alchemy Mastering using licensed tapes. I found the sound varied
across the albums - good to great. Mostly I'm just impressed with the
musicianship and the Funkiness of the Rock - my kind of poison for sure...
Coming at you like England's answer to
Steppenwolf meets Three Dog Night - probably because of the Deep Purple Records
label tie-in Tucky Buzzard were perceived as 'hard rockers' - but in fact they
were far funkier than that. There was a swing and chug to their guitars that
made them FUNK like say American Gypsy or After The Fire. At other times they
were soulful like Free and Humble Pie could be - while still churning out those riffs and funky grooves.
Never is this more obvious than on the
"Tucky Buzzard" album from late 1971 with 9 of the 10 tracks being
self-penned originals. Both "There Will Be A Doctor" and
"Stainless Steel Lady" give it some ants-in-your-pants Funk-Rock with
the best of them. But there's horrible hiss levels on "Sally Shotgun"
that put a damper on this rather lovely ballad - sweet Peter Green guitar licks
from Terry Taylor with Jimmy Henderson's vocals sounding like Pink Floyd circa
"Meddle". Things improve hugely with the fabulous "Gu Gu
Gu" - a Funky-As-Coffee-Beans groover that I used to put on 70ts CD-Rs whenever
I got the chance. Think Spirit's "Mr. Skin" and you're there - a
chunky Nick Graham keyboard groove acts as the backdrop to Taylor's guitar and
the 'make a mark in the sky' lyrics about existence and not working. I love
this track and it sounds wickedly good here.
Other winners on the "Tucky Buzzard"
album include their cover of Leon Russell’s "Pisces Apple Lady" where
the boys are encouraged by their American friend to get themselves together in
the English countryside (they sound so Three Dog Night on this). "She's Meat"
and "Ace The Face" feel like groovy Immediate label Small Faces while
the two finishers lay down heavy Paul Francis drum beats before going all Brass
Funk Rock with Jim Price and Bobby Keys of The Rolling Stones entourage on
"Whisky Eyes" and "Rolling Cloud". I love the gritty guitar
sound Taylor gets while Graham's keyboards remind me Snafu on WWA Records in
1973 and 1974. An edit of the 5:18 minutes "Rolling Cloud" could
easily have been a great 45...
David Bowie apparently saw them live in 1971
and was duly impressed (took some of their stage act with him) - but neither
his nor Wyman’s peripheral superstardom seem to rub off and the band disbanded
in mid 1974 after poor record sales and missed opportunities (they should have
been on the 6 April 1974 'California Jam' bill in front of 250,000 fans where
Deep Purple set the record for the 'loudest' band in the world - 50,000 record sales from that gig alone would have saved them). Guitarist
Terry Taylor ending up on RAK Records with photogenic heartthrobs The Arrows
(released his first solo album in 2014 called "Taylor Made") and Nick
Graham later penned winning hits in the 90ts for the Goss Brothers in Bros.
So much to discover and thankfully some of it
you can actually like - and even though its far from being undiluted genius
from top to bottom - Edsel are to be praised for getting the five-disc
"Complete Tucky Buzzard" Box Set out there in such style. Fans should
not hesitate...
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