Cochise - Swallow Tales LP 1971

Liberty LBS 83428

GER 1971

Englantilainen bändi

levy Vg+ -pitkä pintanaarmu joka ei ainakaan omassa laitteessani kuulu, mutta ota huomioon

kannet Vg++

netistä: Great songs played well, especially the imaginative pedal steel of BJ Cole. Really much better than their other two albums.

Cochise is one of those talented, early-1970s English bands that simply couldn't catch a break in the United States (not to imply they were commercial gangbusters in their native UK).   The band was largely the brainchild of former Plastic Penny lead guitarist Mick Grabham. When Plastic Penny folded Grabham started recruiting for a new band, Formed in 1969 the original Cochise lineup featured the talents of former Bluesology singer Stewart Brown, pedal steel guitarist BJ Cole, ex-Taste drummer John 'Willie' Wilson, and former Jokers Wild bassist Ricky Wills Having played the college and club circuit, they found a backer in the form of Andrew Lauder who helped get them a contract with United Artists.

Following a personnel shakeup that saw original vocalist Steven Brown replaced by former Might Joe Young singer John Gilbert (Brown decided to retire from music and head off for a life in the Mediterranean), the band returned with their sophomore release - 1971's "Swallow Tales". Self-produced the album found B.J. Cole and Mick Grabham picking up all of the writing duties which meant the band's overall sound remained largely unaltered with another heavy country-rock feel to the bulk of these eleven tracks. If you were into early 1970's country-rock/Americana groups like The Band, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, etc., then tracks like 'Jed Collder' and 'Another Day' were probably going to be right up your aural alley. I certainly didn't have a problem with those efforts, but I'll readily admit that I was partial to the group's more commercial (read rock) oriented songs like 'Home Again' and 'Why I Sing the Blues'. That said, even on their best efforts these guys lacked a certain originality that would have served to segregate them from the tidal wave of competitors.