IN BRIEF

Rip It Up, Issue 32, 1 March 1980, Page 12

IN BRIEF

Peter Green, In The Skies (Creole) Green founded Fleetwood Mac and his guitar playing made it one of the few credible British blues bands. He made some classic rock sounds ("Albatross”, “Black Magic Woman”) before vanishing, a victim of crippling self-doubt (Scorpio, y’know). This is his first record in nearly 10 years and, not surprisingly, it develops musical themes sketched by Green a decade ago in his “Man of the World”, a cult single minor moods, hurt vocals, delicately layered guitars. Peter Green opted out of the rock mainstream long ago. He seems content to remain a talented outsider, not unlike J.J. Cale, another individual voice. KW David Bowie, Twenty Bowie Classics (Decca) This is another re-issue of Bowie’s soft mod beginnings on Decca 1966-70. Sounding like a public school Anthony Newley most of the songs are too formative and immature to endure a 1980 perspective. But, occasionally, as on “London Boys” and “Silly Boy Blue” he hints at the command of style that was to make him man of the seventies. GK The Very Best of Fats Domino (UA) Fats Domino had a string of hits stretching back even before the words "rock and roll” were coined. He was no flamboyant personification of teen rebellion like Presley or Jerry Lee Lewis, but he had a lot of Deep South style. That style scarcely changed in 30 years good-humoured New Orleans rock, friendly like home-cooking and lots of fun. The 16 tracks here include such rock collection essentials as "Blue Monday”, “I’m Ready” and "Ain’t That a Shame”. KW Eddie Cochran, The Very Best Of (United Artists) He may have lacked the cytting edge of the top-flight fifties rockers but Eddie Cochran made several excellent singles between 1956 and his death in 1960. Notable are the great “Twenty Flight Rock”, and several songs more recently revived by others "Summertime

Blues”, “C’mon Everybody” and “Something Else”. They’re all here, along with a number of his less memorable moments. AD Mick Taylor, (CBS) This album has been on the horizon since 1974 when Taylor quit the Stones and, as expected, it displays his skills as a guitarist and his shortcomings as a songwriter. On “Slow Blues” and “Giddy Up”, both instrumentals, he shows why he’s one of the best white blues guitarists, but vocally and in a song format he’s never more than pleasantly adequate. An undemanding album and not nearly as bad as it could have been. GK Best of the J. Geils Band (Atlantic) The Geils band were and, to an extent, continue to be dedicated to the values of goodtiming rhythm-and-blues. Never really fashionable, but not forgotten either. They are now with another label, but singer Peter Wolf has assembled nine tracks from six of their Atlantic albums. He has chosen well. The record hangs together as an album and in this regard is probably better than any single Geils album before or since. KW Sly and the Family Stone, Back On the Right Track (Warner Bros) Back On the Right Track it's called and back is right, for it shows Sly reverting to old styles both in subject matter and musical style. Still, it was a great style and even if nothing here attains the standards of his past, it all grooves past pleasantly enough. AD Hall and Oates, X-Static (RCA) Hall and Oates paid their dues years ago with Abandoned Luncheonette and since then they have successfully worked on the smoother fringes of rock keeping one eye on the musical climate and the other on radio playlists. X-Static is further evidence that they can write standard FM music with consummate ease. Glossy and safe, but if that’s your thing then here it is. GK Bonnie Pointer (Motown) Since their split the Pointer sisters have gone distinctly separate ways the other three into a more mainstream rock approach under the guiding hand of producer Richard Perry and Bonnie into what was once called soul. Bonnie’s direction may prove to be the more interesting. She has an excellent voice with an emotional range wider than most. Sadly the disco overtones may cause her to be overlooked. A shame because she is considerably more than an accompanist to a rhythm machine. KW Jimmy and the Boys, Not Like Everybody Else (Interfusion) Another gross over-the-top Aussie collective, Jimmy and the Boys merge the Tubes with Alice Cooper in an effort to be controversial and original. They miss on both counts, but their version of Ray Davies' “I’m Not Like Everybody Else” has some theatrical impact, something their own material strives for but fails ludicrously. And you wonder why New Zealand bands do so well in Oz. GK Kevin Borich Express, Live! (Interfusion) The former Aucklander lays down a solid, straightforward R&B workout before enthusiastic audiences in Melbourne and Wollongong. On a good night Borich can kick up a storm, and there are some good moments here, but in the final analysis they are moments only. It’s boozy boogie and maybe you had to be there; audience involvement riffs don’t come across too well on record, and I for one certainly didn’t need yet another song about playing rock and roll on the road (“K.B.’s Boogie”). Although not worth the price of the album, his “Little Red Rooster” (dedicated to Brian Jones) is a nice exercise in grease. KW Thin Lizzy, The Continuing Sage of the Ageing Orphans (Decca) Not new material but a compilation from Lizzy’s first three albums recorded on Decca. Lynott's approach has changed little since those early days and it’s no surprise this album contains a number of excellent vintage Lizzy songs, “Things Ain’t Working Out Down At the Farm", “Slow Blues”, “Dublin" and "Brought Down”, especially the latter, that could rub shoulders with Lynott’s recent best. Recommended. GK Bob James and Earl Klugh, One on One (CBS) The masters of easy-listening mock-jazz join forces to make music that is immaculately crafted but empty. The line-up of top session players doesn’t do anything to alter the impression of talents lying dormant. To be fair, it must be noted that One on One has topped jazz charts in America. But as any rock fan can attest chart success doesn’t rule out quality nor is it any guarantee. KW