Melko tuntemattomaksi jääneen Navasota-yhtyeen tuhtia southern rockia ennen Lynyrd Skynyrdiä ja muita alan bändejä.

Hyväkuntoinen vinyyli, cuto out-merkkinä kannessa reikä. Originaali Jenkki-painos vuodelta 1972.

Navasota - Rootin'

ABC Records – ABCX 757

1972

Southern Rock

A1 Western Boots

A2 $2 Bill

A3 Ballad Of A Young Man

A4 That's How It Is (Playing In A Rock & Roll Band)

A5 Canyon Ladies

B1 Ole Slew-Foot

B2 I'm Leavin'

B3 P. Farm

B4 Heat Of The Night

B5 Spring Creek

Tanakka levy kuulostaa tältä: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Charlie%20And%20The%20Pep%20Boys%20Daddy%27s%20Girl

In spite of the Steely Dan connection, there's precious little biographical info to be found about this outfit. From the liner notes I know the band line up consisted of guitarists Steve Long and Ray Pawlik, drummer Lindsey Minter, bass player Paul Minter. I don't know why he's not listed anywhere, but the singer was Richard "Dicky" Sony (see the email below). Formed in 1969, they were apparently from Texas (I assume they lifted their name from the Texas City).

By 1972 Navasota had attracted the attention of ABC-Dunhill Records which signed them to a contract. Recorded at Los Angeles' Village Recorders with Dennis Collin and Gary Kannon producing, most of 1972's "Rootin'" was best described as pedestrian blues and boogie-rock. Powered by Sony's growling vocals, group-penned tracks such as 'Western Boots', '$2 Bill' and 'That's How It Is (Playin' In a Rock & Roll Band)' were tight and fairly commercial, though they didn't exhibit a great deal of originality. Far less impressive were the bands' stabs at country-rock. Complete with pedal steel and whistling solo, 'Ballad of a Young Man' and 'Old Slew Foot' were outright awful - the kind of tunes '70s bands seemed to think was a funny take on what country music sounded like. Blues-rockers like 'I'm Leaving' were marginally better, but again not particularly original impressive. As for the Fagen-Becker number, well it was okay though the lyrics were largely indecipherable. I've always wondered if they recorded the tune themselves. I'm sure there's a Dan fanatic out there who will know. This one album and a promotional single appear to be Navasota's entire catalog.

"Rootin'" track listing:

(side 1)

1.) Western Boots (Richard Sony - Lindsey Minter - G. Minter - Ray Pawlick - Steve Long) - 2:46 rating: ** stars

'Western Boots' started the set off with a rather pedestrian boogie blues number. Sony was certainly an enthusiastic singer, but the song itself sounded like thousands of other blues rockers. Nothing to get excited about.

2.) $2 Bill (Richard Sony - Lindsey Minter - G. Minter - Ray Pawlick - Steve Long) - 2:20 rating: *** stars

You could have been forgiven for mistaking this for a Black Oak Arkansa performance. The song had a similar Southern rock-boogie rock vibe and Sony sure sounded a lot like Jim Dandy this time around.

3.) Ballad of a Young Man (Richard Sony - Lindsey Minter - G. Minter - Ray Pawlick - Steve Long) - 3:30 rating: * star

I'm guessing it was meant to be funny, but 'Ballad of a Young Man' was simply a dreadful performance with one of the fake country arrangements, complete with fiddle, pedal steel and whistling. I don't care how drunk you got, this one still sucked.

4.) That's How It Is (Playin' In a Rock & Roll Band) (Richard Sony - Lindsey Minter - G. Minter - Ray Pawlick - Steve Long) - 4:17 rating: *** stars

Given how bad the previous track was, anything would have been redeeming. In spite of the bland lyric, 'That's How It Is (Playin' In a Rock & Roll Band)' at least found the band returning to a rock mode. Not the most original song you've ever heard, but the guitar solos were nice enough and it was way better than anything up to that point. ABC tapped the song as a promotional single:

- 1972's 'That's How It Is (Playin' In a Rock & Roll Band)' b/w 'That's How It Is (Playin' In a Rock & Roll Band)' (ABC catalog number ABC-11332).

5.) Canyon Ladies (Donald Fagen - Walter Becker) - 4:01 rating: *** stars

At least to my ears, given it was written by Becker and Fagen, the rocker 'Canyon Ladies' was the album's most interesting performance. Again, Navasota performance stripped out any of Steely Dan's typical weirdness, but the tune still sported the album's strongest melody and had a fairly high "hum" quotient. Wonder if Becker and Fagen ever recorded the tune ...

1.) Old Slew Foot (H. Hausey) - 2:56 rating: * star

Geez, back to faux country and just as bad as the earlier 'Ballad of a Young Man'. I think it's a remake of the tune Johnny Horton enjoyed some success with.

2.) I'm Leavin' (C. Burnett) - 3:28 rating: ** stars

Bland blues-rock and by this time Sony's screeching is starting to irritate me. If I wanted to hear something like this I'd go with Delbert McClinton, or an English blues-rock band like Savoy Brown.

3.) P. Farm (Richard Sony - Lindsey Minter - G. Minter - Ray Pawlick - Steve Long) - 3:42 rating: ** stars

Geez, enough of the country flavored tunes ...

4.) Heat of the Night (Richard Sony - Lindsey Minter - G. Minter - Ray Pawlick - Steve Long) - 3:40 rating: ** stars

With a couple of cold beers, 'Heat of the Night' might have been half decent. The twin guitar call and response section was marginally nice. Again, my initial thoughts were along the lines of who put on the Black Oak Arkansas LP ....

5.) Spring Creek (instrumental) (Richard Sony - Lindsey Minter - G. Minter - Ray Pawlick - Steve Long) - 3:25

Easily the album's standout performance, the instrumental 'Spring Creek' sported the nice melody and the prettiest arrangement. The twin guitars actually reminded me briefly of an Allman Brothers tune and not to sound mean-spirited, but it was nice to get a break from Sony's strained vocals.

ABC-Dunhill sent the band out on the road where they were teamed with the likes of Boston and Lynyrd Skynyrd, but sales didn't amount to much outside of their Texas fan base. ABC subsequently dropped the band, though they seem to have stuck it out through the late 1970s.