This Review and 424 Others are available in my e-Book:
"...Glitter Queen..."
Forever the support band and
never the mainliner, Southern Rockers HYDRA were more Allman Brothers meets
Montrose than the ludicrously inept Prog Rock-looking Hipgnosis artwork of
their Debut Album suggested.
Issued in mid September 1974
in the USA on all things good-ole-boys-boogie 'Capricorn Records' – neither the
band Hydra nor their debut barely registered in the UK – their third album from
1977 on Polydor Records not even issued in Blighty. And unfortunately, apart
from some great moments of Foghat-like Slide Boogie on the overlooked
self-titled debut album – it's easy to hear why.
After the initial excitement
and flurry, records two and three here are sort of poor man’s Bad Company circa
1979 when the English Band didn't care. Both Hydra albums huff and puff and try
hard but there are no real tunes or decent hooks. If you put say the stunning
"Second Helping" album by Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1974 alongside Hydra's
1974 debut effort – the Sweet Home Alabama boys wipe the floor with Hydra.
Hell, even Skynyrd's half-assed "Nuthin' Fancy" album of 1975 had
more genuine Southern Rock charm than the dreadfully dated "Land Of
Money" LP from the same year. As a Vocalist Wayne Bruce is good, but never
great, Guitarist Spencer Kirkpatrick can slash those strings but the finished
studio albums never go on fire – you get
the picture.
That brings us to this April
2020 '3LPs-onto-2CDs' reissue from England's Beat Goes On Records – the first
time to my knowledge that their three albums have been brought together in the
one place for a proper digital dust off. And BGO has excelled here. These
albums now really Rock! ANDREW THOMPSON, BGO's resident Audio Engineer has
delivered on the Audio front, even if the material (especially on those last
two records) doesn't quite come up to snuff. Let's get seven-headed…
UK released Friday, 10 April
2020 - "Hydra/Land Of Money/Rock The World" by HYDRA on Beat Goes On
BGOCD 1408 (Barcode 5017261214089) offers 3LPs from 1974, 1975 and 1977
Remastered onto 2CDs (no Bonus material) and plays out as follows:
CD1 (46:41 minutes):
1. Glitter Queen [Side 1]
2. Keep You Around
3. It's So Hard
4. Going Down
5. Feel A Pain
6. Good Time Man [Side 2]
7. Let Me Down Easy
8. Warp 16
9. If You Care To Survive
10. Miriam
Tracks 1 to 10 are their
debut album "Hydra" – released September 1974 in the USA on Capricorn
Records CP 0130 and November 1974 in the UK on Capricorn Records 2429 120.
Produced by DAN TURBEVILLE – it didn't chart in either country
CD2 (70:22 minutes):
1. Little Miss Rock 'N Roll
[Side 1]
2. The Pistol
3. Makin' Plans
4. Land Of Money
5. Get Back To The City
[Side 2]
6. Don't Let Time Pass You
By
7. Let The Show Go On
8. Slow And Easy
9. Take Me For My Music
Tracks 1 to 9 are their 2nd
studio album "Land Of Money" - released August 1975 in the USA on
Capricorn CP 0157 and November 1975 in the UK on Capricorn Records 2429 130.
Produced by JOHNNY SANDLIN - it didn't chart in either country
10. Rock The World [Side 1]
11. Wasting Time
12. Can You Believe
13. You Love Gets Around
14. Shame [Side 2]
15. To The Willowed
16. Feel Like Running
17. You're The One
18. Diamond In The Rough
Tracks 10 to 18 are their
third and final studio album "Rock The Nation" - released April 1977
in the USA on Polydor PD-1-6096 (no UK release). Produced by MICHAEL STEWART -
it didn't chart
HYDRA was:
WAYNCE BRUCE – All Vocals
and Guitar
SPENCER KIRKPATRICK – Lead
Guitar, Slide and Acoustic
ORVILLE DAVIS – Bass
STEVE PACE – Drums
Guests (Debut Album):
Dan Turbeville on Keyboards
Randall Bramblett on Alto
Sax with Oscar Jackson on Tenor Sax
Earl Ford on Trombones with
Todd Logan on Trumpets
Guests (Land Of Money album)
Chuck Leavall (of The Allman
Brothers Band and later The Rolling Stones) – Keyboards and Synths on all
tracks
Will Boulware – Organ on
“Take Me For My Music”
Bill Stewart and Johnny
Sandlin – Percussion
As always with these BGO
reissues, the outer card slipcase lends the 2CD set a classy feel while the
16-page booklet with liner notes features new liner notes from NEIL DANIELS.
You get most of the original artwork and recording credits alongside the
reissue details. But the big news as already mentioned is the 2020 ANDREW
THOMPSON Remasters giving everything here real muscle.
As you can see from the
details listed above, the debut album in particular had a four-piece Brass
Section added on to two key tracks - "Glitter Queen" and "Good
Time Man". This was done without the band's knowledge or even permission
and Hydra were none too pleased. But their loss is our gain because I suspect
Producer Dan Turbeville had maybe been listening to what horns did to the
"Call Me The Breeze" J.J. Cale cover that ended Side 2 of Skynyrd's
"Second Helping" (lifted it into the boogie stratosphere) and
probably though the same would work here (especially on the great "Glitter
Queen") - and for my money, the man right.
A bit more about that
Spencer Kirkpatrick-written track which I suspect is most people's entry into
the band Hydra. "Glitter Queen" opened the debut in real Rock Boogie
style and was featured on the "Peaches – Pick Of The Crop" Capricorn
Records label sampler in the UK in the same month as the LP was released –
November 1974 on Capricorn 2476 105 (you could pick up the sampler for 97p).
"Peaches" came as a promo-only double-album sampler compilation in
the USA on Capricorn PRO 588 as part of their 'Loss Leaders' series (it was on
Side 4). Such was the punch in this song that Capricorn Records used it on both
sides of the pond as a lead off single for the album. While the October 1974
British 45 on Capricorn 2089 008 had the lesser album-track "It's So
Hard" on the flipside (perhaps killing its potential in Blighty), the US
variant (also issued October 1974) has the far better "Going Down" (a
Don Nix cover version) on its B-side for Capricorn CPS 0216. That US 45 feels
like a bit of a forgotten Rocking classic to me. Other goodies on the Debut Album
included "Good Time Man" – a tune that shows off Spencer Kirkpatrick
as a hot Slide Guitarist (he had been part of The Atlanta Vibrations who
managed one 1966 privately-pressed US 45 on Sim-Cor 101).
The final two albums have
their moments – the frantic guitar chug of "Little Miss Rock 'N Roll"
and the funky keyboard-driven "The Pistol" clearly considered by
Capricorn Records as a potential 45 but it went to only Promo stage (no stock
copies). But stuff like "Land Of Money" and "Let The Show Go
On" are trying too hard and Boulware's lone song contribution "Take
Me For My Music" is as cringing as its title sounds. By the time we reach
1977 "Rock The World" is hardly Lizzy in their prime and "Your
Love Gets Around" feels like Foghat in second gear and going down further.
This is a five-star reissue
of three-star material. But for fans of the band and lovers of Southern Rock
(best exampled on the debut) - given the audio and quality presentation - this
will be a must own...
