Various Artists – Rattlesnake Guitar The Music Of Peter Green (Viceroy Music/Lightyear Entertainment).
This 2CD set is a celebration of the music written by and covered by the genius that is Peter Green. Some of the planets best guitarists gather here to pay homage and offer their versions of some of the best known Green tracks. Black Magic Woman is performed by Larry McCray with scorching guitar and smooth voice and much different from both the original and Santana’s most famous version. Dave Peverett & Rod Price produce a soulful rendition of Love That Burns with free-flowing guitar and a big horn compliment. They also contribute If You Be My Baby, which stays relatively faithful to the original and has stinging guitar from Price. Savoy Brown gives Stop Messin’ Around a jazzy, acoustic feel and Snowy White changes Looking For Somebody completely. Luther Grosvenor, Ariel Bender in his Mott The Hoople days, chips in with Cryin’ Won’t Bring You Back and turns in a slinky blues with grungy lead guitar. The only downside is the extended, repetitive ending. He also plays Merry Go Round in a sultry, ragged manner. Peter Green’s writing allied to Rory Gallagher’s class conjures up a classic in Leaving Town Blues – the addition of mandolin is more than justified. Gallagher is also included with his archetypal style on Showbiz Blues. Harvey Mandell & Wilbur Boscomb play Ramblin’ Pony at breakneck speed and create a great version of one of Green’s best songs. They also contribute Long Grey Mare and funk it up big time – top performance from Bascomb on bass. The task of re-creating The Green Manalishi falls to Arthur Brown and he provides an anarchic performance, as you would expect, that oozes with energy. It’s not all Peter Green originals here as it is meant to be a representation of the music played by him. So, the inclusion of Ken Hensley on Hellhounds On My Trail is not too much of a surprise. This Robert Johnson song is essentially turned into a piano blues with a little acoustic slide guitar thrown in for good measure. A cranked up I Loved Another Woman is from Larry Mitchell & Jay Aston and keeps up the high standard. This is turning out to be a fine collection. Mick Abrahams keeps faithful to the original on The Same Way and Top Topham & Jim McCarty turn in a relaxed version of Drifting. Clas Yngstrom churns out a storming version of The Supernatural and Ian Anderson gives us his obligatory flute on Man Of The World, which is almost Oriental in its execution.
The second CD begins in barnstorming style with Billy Sheehan’s version of Oh Well. This is a fantastic 7 minutes of guitar playing, both electric and acoustic. Vince Converse’s Rattlesnake Shake is competent enough and the guitar pyrotechnics at the end are well worth waiting for. There’s a whirlwind performance of Fleetwood Mac from Stu Harman and his blazing fingers produce a heavy rock blues that Green would be proud of. Zoot Money & Bobby Trench give us a soulful rendition of Watcha Gonna Do. Perhaps Green’s most famous song is Albatross and it is a little strange that it is Paul Jones’ harmonica that is chosen to take the place of the guitar. It is pretty unique although I can’t say that I’m impressed too much and I feel that it loses too much of its impact. I’ve never heard of Naked Blue, who gives us Closing My Eyes. The female vocal is different but I think that overall it is another strange inclusion. Ray Gomez contributes a raunchy Evil Woman Blues and Troy Turner revs up the pace with neat guitar work and a solid vocal on Lazy Poker Blues. Harvey Mandel features again, this time with Jon Paris on Watch Out, a shuffling blues that drifts into cabaret at times. Kim Lembo plays A Fool No More and his smokey voice makes this sultry blues. Although a slow song, this is a powerful performance and Mark Doyle’s guitar playing is as good as anywhere else on this double set. Southside Johnny closes out the album with Baby When The Sun Goes Down, an appropriate track to finish with. This has a big brass backing from The Uptown Horns and the overall feel is one of a Springsteen song – great finish. The excellent sleeve notes from Jim Kozlowski (Viceroy Music) and Pete Brown are a good addition and gives us an insight into how the album was put together.
http://www.lightyear.com/
David Blue.
This 2CD set is a celebration of the music written by and covered by the genius that is Peter Green. Some of the planets best guitarists gather here to pay homage and offer their versions of some of the best known Green tracks. Black Magic Woman is performed by Larry McCray with scorching guitar and smooth voice and much different from both the original and Santana’s most famous version. Dave Peverett & Rod Price produce a soulful rendition of Love That Burns with free-flowing guitar and a big horn compliment. They also contribute If You Be My Baby, which stays relatively faithful to the original and has stinging guitar from Price. Savoy Brown gives Stop Messin’ Around a jazzy, acoustic feel and Snowy White changes Looking For Somebody completely. Luther Grosvenor, Ariel Bender in his Mott The Hoople days, chips in with Cryin’ Won’t Bring You Back and turns in a slinky blues with grungy lead guitar. The only downside is the extended, repetitive ending. He also plays Merry Go Round in a sultry, ragged manner. Peter Green’s writing allied to Rory Gallagher’s class conjures up a classic in Leaving Town Blues – the addition of mandolin is more than justified. Gallagher is also included with his archetypal style on Showbiz Blues. Harvey Mandell & Wilbur Boscomb play Ramblin’ Pony at breakneck speed and create a great version of one of Green’s best songs. They also contribute Long Grey Mare and funk it up big time – top performance from Bascomb on bass. The task of re-creating The Green Manalishi falls to Arthur Brown and he provides an anarchic performance, as you would expect, that oozes with energy. It’s not all Peter Green originals here as it is meant to be a representation of the music played by him. So, the inclusion of Ken Hensley on Hellhounds On My Trail is not too much of a surprise. This Robert Johnson song is essentially turned into a piano blues with a little acoustic slide guitar thrown in for good measure. A cranked up I Loved Another Woman is from Larry Mitchell & Jay Aston and keeps up the high standard. This is turning out to be a fine collection. Mick Abrahams keeps faithful to the original on The Same Way and Top Topham & Jim McCarty turn in a relaxed version of Drifting. Clas Yngstrom churns out a storming version of The Supernatural and Ian Anderson gives us his obligatory flute on Man Of The World, which is almost Oriental in its execution.
The second CD begins in barnstorming style with Billy Sheehan’s version of Oh Well. This is a fantastic 7 minutes of guitar playing, both electric and acoustic. Vince Converse’s Rattlesnake Shake is competent enough and the guitar pyrotechnics at the end are well worth waiting for. There’s a whirlwind performance of Fleetwood Mac from Stu Harman and his blazing fingers produce a heavy rock blues that Green would be proud of. Zoot Money & Bobby Trench give us a soulful rendition of Watcha Gonna Do. Perhaps Green’s most famous song is Albatross and it is a little strange that it is Paul Jones’ harmonica that is chosen to take the place of the guitar. It is pretty unique although I can’t say that I’m impressed too much and I feel that it loses too much of its impact. I’ve never heard of Naked Blue, who gives us Closing My Eyes. The female vocal is different but I think that overall it is another strange inclusion. Ray Gomez contributes a raunchy Evil Woman Blues and Troy Turner revs up the pace with neat guitar work and a solid vocal on Lazy Poker Blues. Harvey Mandel features again, this time with Jon Paris on Watch Out, a shuffling blues that drifts into cabaret at times. Kim Lembo plays A Fool No More and his smokey voice makes this sultry blues. Although a slow song, this is a powerful performance and Mark Doyle’s guitar playing is as good as anywhere else on this double set. Southside Johnny closes out the album with Baby When The Sun Goes Down, an appropriate track to finish with. This has a big brass backing from The Uptown Horns and the overall feel is one of a Springsteen song – great finish. The excellent sleeve notes from Jim Kozlowski (Viceroy Music) and Pete Brown are a good addition and gives us an insight into how the album was put together.
http://www.lightyear.com/
David Blue.
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