Crow: Crow Music Album Review!
Music Review:
My late Dad was one of the original British Hells Angels of the late ’60s and early ’70s. He remained a biker until his death, and he used to say that Motorhead was the ultimate bikers band. He had a point, but considering that whilst Lemmy was still warming up his bass strings as part of Hawkwind, who existed to tickle the ears of bikers far and wide? The Rolling Stones? Deep Purple? Steppenwolf? Maybe. Or perhaps those bands who kind of flashed briefly only to fade into obscurity. Some of these bands created a soundtrack to the sleaziest and dirtiest Hells Angels movie in your mind as their records spun.
Perhaps Minneapolis rockers, Crow, claimed some of that honour. Sludgy and dirty blues rock with brilliantly delivered vocals — and a clearly advertised kind of direction for their sounds with the cover of the LP — really gives you a feel of the late 1960s. That’s why this album, and Sudden Death appear on Severed Cinema. No horror content like Comus and Coven but they are desirable for anyone who has an ear for old trashy exploitation cinema.
Beginning with a song later covered by Black Sabbath, the up-tempo keyboarding horn ‘n trumpet laden, Evil Woman, is apparently their most famous release. But to my ears, it’s light weight because track two, White Eyes, riffing a bit like Foxy Lady for a moment, is a galloping and head-nodding funky feeling monster. “White eyes watching over you!” the vocals almost threaten before some awesome keyboard skills kick in, taking a fair bit of influence from The Doors in their early years. Singer, David Wagner, howls and growls his way through this one, and then along comes the mellowed down, Thoughts. Doing a bit of Stairway to Heaven years before that one arrived – aha… indeed, Led borrowing a few notes perhaps.... this changes the pace so much from previous sounds and shows that Crow were varied in their delivery. “I see the vast and changing man, turning into grains of sand – what does this mean? My eyes he took with face turned white, and screamed into the sky with fright – why must we fight?” Okay, so Crow didn’t have the sharpest of lyrical tools on show but, oh my, when the drums and keyboards kick in it’s like a gluey fluid enveloping your head and I began to think of all the wonderful exploitation movie soundtracks from the ’70s – suddenly what sounds like a church bell chimes and, Thoughts instantly becomes my cherry pick of this album.
What a shame, for me personally, it is followed by Da Da Song. The verses are great, but the chorus hook is so childish and pathetic, only enlightened by a crispy bass turn. Things improve towards the end but it was too late for me. Busy Day saves the vinyl from death with lovely keyboard work, plus a cool reverse moment midway. This one captures the nomad ’60s to a tee in its words of a man observing the busy people and wanting to get away.
Time to Make a Turn wouldn’t sound out of place if Jack Black starred in School of Rock 2, it has that sort of eternal rock feel and makes you wanna get up and dance. Full of sass and horns almost oozing James Brown. Listen to the Bop which is ‘dedicated to Chuck Berry’ sends the album on a spiral to another place. I found it toe curling and embarrassing like they reckoned it was a funny idea whilst smoking and planning, but, Jesus, it’s sad. Unfortunately I discovered it was hard for me to find anything in the following song due to that Bop crap. It soured me after a handful of enjoyable tunes prior.
The finale, is a bit over-long but worth chilling out to. Sleepy Woman is centrally an instrumental piece as the guys jam for eternity. Some members of Crow still jam to this day on the live circuit around the USA after disbanding and reforming a few times. Dave Wagner is a linchpin though, having been in the changing line-ups throughout.
Additional note: I’m just finishing up the review, adding a few bits here and there. It’s the next morning, and Da Da Song‘s chorus is still belting away in my head. I hate my life right now! In fact, let’s listen to the awesome Thoughts instead. Follow the link below…
Album Info:
Band: Crow
Album: Crow Music
Members: David Wagner (Vocals) Dick Wiegand (Guitars) Larry Wiegand (Bass) Denny Crasswell (Drums) Kink Middlemist (Keyboards) Bob Schiff (Horns) Skeet Bushor (Horns)
Year: 1969
Country: USA
Recorded: Universal Recording Studio & Great Lake Studios
Produced by: Bob Monaco, Dave Kalmbach, Stu Walder
Mastering: Stu Walder
Artwork: Pattern Studios
Runtime: 42min
Label: Amaret
Official Website: TheCrowBand.com
Track Listing:
1. Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games With Me)
2. White Eyes
3.Thoughts
4. Da Da Song
5. Busy Day
6. Time To Make A Turn
7. Rollin’
8. Listen To The Bop (Dedicated To Chuck Berry)
9. Gonna Leave A Mark
10. Sleepy Woman