<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It has been much too long since we presented a good old fashioned album review in this space so this would seem to be just as good a time as any to do just that. \u00a0With that said, let me warn readers that this won\u2019t be a one album review. \u00a0No, we are going to take a look at six albums, two of which are remastered original recordings from 1973 and 1974 and the rest are of a little newer vintage. \u00a0Just to make sure the hook is set, let me point out that the six discs in question come from two artists who have been in the musical trenches for a long, long time.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In our last FTV for 2017 (December 27, 2017: \u00a0Little Steven), we mentioned that Little Steven Van Zant\u2019s new album with his Disciples of Soul band would be on the air just as soon as we could get it ordered. \u00a0It took a little longer to arrive than expected so we began airing it immediately. \u00a0It was well worth the wait. \u00a0\u201cA little longer to arrive than expected\u201d has a double meaning here: \u00a0it took some time to get <\/span>Soulfire<\/span><\/i> into our hands, but it also took Little Steven eighteen years to cycle back to his Disciples of Soul project to make a new record. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The title track of <\/span>Soulfire<\/span><\/i> starts with a funky guitar rhythm that would not have been out of place on an early Jackson 5 album. \u00a0Little Steven is known for several things as a music producer and arranger, all of which are evident on this opening track. \u00a0There are horns aplenty, a lilting string background in the chorus and layered background vocals that make this opening track a real piece of ear candy. \u00a0A savvy producer like Little Steven knows that if one harbors any illusions that people will listen to a whole album, the opening track has to smack them in the forehead. \u00a0<\/span>Soulfire <\/span><\/i>certainly does that, but like an artist who begins a live performance with several great tunes played one after the other, Little Steven is just getting warmed up.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0Track 2 (<\/span>I\u2019m Coming Back<\/span><\/i>) is a real treat because I first heard it on Southside Johnny\u2019s <\/span>Better Days<\/span><\/i> album many years ago. \u00a0The arrangement is the same as Southside\u2019s and the vocal delivery leaves little doubt why Southside Johnny and Little Steven formed such a solid unit fronting the Asbury Jukes. \u00a0There isn\u2019t a finer example of the Jersey Sound pioneered by the Jukes than <\/span>I\u2019m Coming Back<\/span><\/i>. \u00a0The biggest departure is the wah-wah laden solo on this version. \u00a0Back then it made a big enough impression that we incorporated the music bed from several of that album\u2019s tracks for a few of our station promos we have now used for more than twenty years. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Blues is my Business <\/span><\/i>evokes Blood, Sweat, and Tears with the punchy horn intro. \u00a0The organ takes front stage in the first solo break and Little Steven\u2019s guitar takes the second break. \u00a0He arranges songs for the full effect and not just as vehicles to show off his guitar chops. \u00a0Three tracks into <\/span>Soulfire<\/span><\/i> and Little Steven has laid out three tracks that would get plenty of air play on any AOR (Album Oriented Rock) radio station. \u00a0More superb background vocals round out <\/span>Blues.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The cowbell that kicks off <\/span>I Saw the Light<\/span><\/i> seques into more tasty horn that supports this jumping tune featuring what one could almost call \u2018Little Gospel Steven\u2019. \u00a0The closest Little Steven comes to a ballad is Track 5, <\/span>Some Things Just Don\u2019t Change. \u00a0<\/span><\/i>More horns, of course, but now the guitar figure is taken over by what sounds like a phase shifted leslie rotating speaker normally employed with a Hammond B-3 organ. \u00a0I have heard guitar players overuse this effect in live concerts, but here Little Steven uses it to support the song, not to overwhelm it.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Love on the Wrong Side of Town<\/span><\/i> is the first track that sounds like a Bruce Springsteen tune both in the introduction and the vocals. \u00a0The E-Street Band, however, \u00a0never used horns quite as densely as The Disciples of Soul. \u00a0<\/span>The City Weeps Tonight<\/span><\/i> is a real throwback. \u00a0The intro and vocals are as close to Doo Wop music as I have heard in a long time. \u00a0<\/span>Down and out in New York City<\/span><\/i> kicks off with bongos, syncopated guitar, and flute that are reminiscent of Isaac Hayes in full <\/span>Shaft <\/span><\/i>mode. \u00a0The intro stretches to the point where one might think this will be an instrumental, but once the vocal kicks in, it tells a compelling street story of the Fat Cats and diehards in NYC. \u00a0Give Little Steven credit – he knows how to use his voice to color a story.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The marching snare drum beat at the beginning of <\/span>Standing in the Line of Fire<\/span><\/i> gives way to a sinewy guitar line that would sound great in a Sergio Leone move (think <\/span>The Good, The Bad, The Ugly<\/span><\/i>). \u00a0The organ – vocal interplay (yes, with Sergio Leone trumpet in the background) makes this an ear worm kind of chorus that will stick with you. \u00a0Driving drums and pounding piano sets the tone in <\/span>St. Valentine\u2019s Day<\/span><\/i>. \u00a0Here Little Steven works the lower registers of his voice. \u00a0On certain phases, he comes off sounding a bit like Mark Knopfler’s phrasing on <\/span>Sultans of Swing<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I Don\u2019t Want to go Home <\/span><\/i>slows things down one more time with an opening horn arrangement \u00a0(again) right out of the BST catalog. \u00a0\u00a0When the guitar strum picks up the pace, it morphs into a light pop rocker with Little Steven sounding like Southside Johnny Lyon more than ever. \u00a0Perhaps this is the set up intended because the last track is another recycled arrangement from Lyon\u2019s <\/span>Better Days<\/span><\/i> album. \u00a0<\/span>Ride the Night Away<\/span><\/i> is Little Steven reminding one and all that the New Jersey sound he and Southside invented is still with us. \u00a0Another humable chorus filled with dynamite background vocals. \u00a0Okay, that covers disk review #1. \u00a0Now on to disks 2 through 6.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our second artist is the late Ronnie Montrose whom we also talked about in an FTV segment back in the late summer (FTV: \u00a0Montrose 8-9-17). \u00a0Outside of the guitar playing fraternity, Ronnie Montrose doesn\u2019t get the recognition he should, but I am willing to be you have heard his work. How about <\/span>Wild Nights<\/span><\/i> by Van Morrison? \u00a0Edgar Winter Group\u2019s mega hits <\/span>Frankenstein <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Free Ride?<\/span><\/i> \u00a0Yep, all three of those tracks feature Ronnie on guitar. \u00a0As we pointed out in our last article about Montrose, he was a tortured talent who was not driven by record chart success. \u00a0He had a penchant for not getting along with band leaders and when he became one himself, he had a knack for alienating his own band. \u00a0Drummer Denny Carmassi had the longer tenure playing with Montrose than anyone and even he is at a loss to explain what Ronnie was thinking during his ever shifting career. \u00a0Carmassi puts it bluntly when he says, \u201cAnytime Ronnie became successful, he ran the other way.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the early years of the new millennium, Montrose fronted a power trio with bassist Ricky Phillips (Styx, The Babys, Bad English) and drummer Eric Singer (Kiss, Alice Cooper). \u00a0This puts Phillips a perfect perch to describe why Montrose followed a straight musical path from one thing to the next thing without circling back on his past work: \u00a0\u201cPeople who truly want to break ground and not repeat themselves leave themselves open to not reaping the obvious successes of a repetitive performance, \u00a0In many ways, Ronnie reminds me of Jeff Beck.\u201d \u00a0Montrose first conceived of the <\/span>10 X 10<\/span><\/i> album during those power trio days, and after a decade of planning, he was finally getting around to putting the final pieces together when he tragically took his own life in March of 2012. \u00a0He had explained his personal philosophy for dealing with the crushing bouts of depression he cycled through to his wife Leighsa Montrose: \u00a0\u201cListen – I don\u2019t want to live my life like this (as he held out his hand flat), I want to live my highest highs and I want to live my lowest lows, \u00a0I want to be in both, and savor both.\u201d \u00a0In the end of his two year battle with prostate cancer, he had finally picked up the guitar again but the \u2018lowest low\u2019 apparently overwhelmed him. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Had he finished making <\/span>10 X 10 <\/span><\/i>before he died, Montrose would have been able to remind the music world that his early 1970s work inspired generations of guitar junkies with his crunching chords and tone. \u00a0He wasn\u2019t as technically proficient as some of those who followed his lead, but he created a sound with his hands that they all wanted to duplicate. \u00a0When he passed away, his wife gave Phillips the green light to finish the album. \u00a0It took five years, but <\/span>10 X 10 <\/span><\/i>has now been released and it features a who\u2019s-who of rock singers and guitarist enlisted by Phillips to finish the project. \u00a0Vocalist Eric Martin (Mr. Big) guests on the opening track (<\/span>Heavy Traffic<\/span><\/i>) which begins with what sounds suspiciously like a battle cry: \u201cROONNNNNNNIIIIIEEEEEEEE!\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Ten different guitar soloists grace the ten cuts including Rick Derringer (who also spent a good deal of time with Edgar Winter), Joe Bonamassa, Brad Whitford (Aerosmith). \u00a0Besides Martin\u2019s contribution, there are also nine other vocalists on the album ranging from his old Montrose singer Sammy Hagar (Van Halen and more solo albums than you can shake a stick at), Tommy Shaw (who is Phillips bandmate in Styx), Davey Pattison (Gamma, Robin Trower), and Glenn Hughes (Trapeze, Deep Purple, Black Country Communion). \u00a0It is an all-star affair to be sure. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Technically, this isn\u2019t an album review as much a preview of its\u2019 arrival. \u00a0As soon as we have it in hand, it will be on the air. \u00a0If you are counting, we have only accounted for two of the six disks mentioned in the opening paragraph. \u00a0The other four arrived just after Christmas and we have already been giving them air time. \u00a0Among these four disks are the remastered first and second albums by the band Montrose (<\/span>Montrose <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Paper Money<\/span><\/i>). \u00a0Included with the <\/span>Montrose <\/span><\/i>reissue is a CD of demos and live tracks. \u00a0The live tracks were recorded at the Record Plant in Sausalito, CA when they had been rushed into the studio as a replacement for Van Morrison who didn\u2019t feel his band was ready for the live broadcast yet . \u00a0The DJ emceeing the event mentions \u201cI don\u2019t even think they have a name yet.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Paper Money<\/span><\/i> reissue contains a bonus disk of another live event from the same studio recorded in December of 1974. \u00a0In both cases, these bonus disks show a band that is just beginning to feel their power. \u00a0Rhino Records could not have found a more fitting way to reignite interest in Ronnie Montrose becaused both of these early 1970s albums are classic Ronnie Montrose. \u00a0The bonus material, particularly the live tracks, show that what Ronnie Montrose did was no trick of the studio. \u00a0Keep your dial set on 88.5 as <\/span>10 X 10<\/span><\/i> will soon join the first two Montrose reissues on our playlist. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece Video – Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul cover Little Steven and Southside Johnny –\u00a0I’m Coming Back<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>