The Radio Sessions 1969-1972 [CD]

Two discs 60 and 50 minutes each approximately. The sound is good if slightly flat,but is still warm and immediate. These are tracks recorded by the BBC for radio broadcast. They feature three versions of STONE THE CROWS. The first disc is Maggie Bell-vocals (that's putting it mildly-wow!),the late Les Harvey-guitar,Jim Dewar-bass and vocals (who played in LULU AND THE LUVVERS and later with Robin Trower), Colin Allen-drums (who played with John Mayall),and John McGuinness-keyboards (MCGUINNESS/FLINT-?). Disc two tracks 3-7 include Ronnie Leahy-keyboards,and Steve Thompson-bass (also with John Mayall),replacing McGuinness and Dewar. Tracks 8-10 (after the death of Harvey) have the underrated Jimmy (THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN) McCulloch-guitar,and Leahy and Thompson.
This is another one of those bands (like FAMILY) that have a small but rabid group of listeners. Its no secret that for a few years Maggie Bell was considered one of the best vocalists in Britain. And for good reason. She was capable of belting out blues,rock,or any combination thereof. If listeners are familiar with Lydia Pense (COLD BLOOD) or Tracy Nelson (MOTHER EARTH),Bell's voice is similar. When she and Dewar sang together it was quite something. Les Harvey was a fairly ferocious guitarist,whether filling in behind Bell or playing lead out front. The rhythm section was tight and powerful. All of this added up to a true powerhouse band that never let up,especially live. No less than the late legendary Peter Grant (LED ZEPPELIN,BAD COMPANY) managed the band and renamed them from their original name-POWER. While Grant was known in the music industry as a bit of a bully when it came to his groups interests-he certainly knew talent when he heard it.STONE THE CROWS certainly deserved his managerial talents.

The first disc has a bit of a "prog-rock" sound with a blues/rock arrangement underpinning,while the second disc has a bit more of a bluesy feel. However,don't think that prog means YES (who I like) music-far from it. Bell's voice and Harvey's slightly dirty guitar are front and center. The musicianship is always top level no matter what the tempo of the songs might be. For Dewar fans,two great tracks are disc one tracks two and five. The first is a slow tune with both Dewar and Bell trading vocals,along with some heartfelt guitar sounding a bit like Peter Green of the original FLEETWOOD MAC,while the second track has both their voices in a call-and-response thing which is very effective. The arrangements on several of this first (1969-70) era of the band (listen to "Freedom Road") is where the prog title comes into play. The songs are mostly originals by various band members,with a Dylan tune ("Hollis Brown") and a couple of well known ("Goin" Down",and "Penicillin Blues") blues songs.

With this level of musicianship and Bell's vocals,its still a mystery as to why this group never broke into the big-time. The notes (by Colin Allen) give a short but effective insight into the band at this time. No doubt Les Harvey's death had a lot to do with the band never reaching the level they so richly deserved. Thankfully we have this collection of tracks from BBC Radio to remind us of what we missed from an era of incredible music.

You could certainly place Scottish group Stone The Crows in that could have, should have category of bands that seemingly had all the ingredients in place to be so much more than just a cult outfit. They possessed an inventive, killer young guitar player in Les Harvey (his older brother Alex fronted The Sensational Alex Harvey Band), a female vocalist, Maggie Bell with Joplin-like soul, and future Robin Trower bassist / vocalist Jimmy Dewar. Not to mention they also had Led Zeppelin's heavyweight Peter Grant for a manager. Over the course of their five years together they recorded four studio albums which combined a love of blues and progressive rock, and were a big hit on the British college circuit. Tragically Harvey was killed when he was electrocuted onstage in the spring of 1972 and his death effectively ended the band less than a year later.

While this fantastic two disc collection Radio Sessions 1969-72 contains no previously unreleased material it does bring all their recorded radio sessions together in one place. Right from the onset one gets to marvel at the brilliant & tender vocal duets between Bell and Dewar on tracks like "Raining In Your Heart" and "Touch Of your Loving Hand". The latter features Harvey's slow, melancholic, bluesy solo smack dab in the middle. The band wasn't' afraid to cut loose and jam as well, which is evident on tracks like "Freedom Road" and the terrific thirteen minute romp through Bob Dylan's "Hollis Brown" which was always a live favorite for the band. After hearing Harvey rip off searing solos on "Friend" and the thick wah-wah drenched riffs of "Love 74", it's not hard to see why the band wasn't able to sustain the momentum they'd built for very long after his death, because he was such a huge part of the band's sound. Disc two also contains plenty of musical fireworks as well with the pure, dripping blues of "Faces", which finds Maggie Bell's delivering one of her most heartfelt vocal performances. Other highlights include a barnstorming version of "Going Down", the chugging, driving beat of "Mr. Wizard" and the traditional country blues of "Penicillin Blues", which features Harvey's replacement Jimmy McCulloch, who would later go on to become a member of Paul McCartney's Wings..

There isn't one once of filler to be found anywhere on these two discs, although I'm partial to the earlier material on disc one which features Dewar. If you've never heard Stone The Crows you owe it to yourself to not only check out any of their studio albums, but any of their documented live shows as well because this is definitely where they thrived. Long live the Crows!

-Ryan Sparks