March 4, 1972: Debut record review

 

And here’s that first record review from March 4, 1972: 

RECORDS: ROCK ‘n POP

Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’ a Reaper;

New Discs Receive Critic’s Rating 

        NEIL YOUNG’S long-awaited “Harvest” (Reprise MS-2032) was expected to be a super significant album long before it finally came out. An album that would get right inside and let us feel how things are. It is, but not the way we figured.

        How deceptive it is at first, how much like the old Neil Young. The bare and deliberate rhythmic guitar solo which opens into the catchy first cut, “Out on the Weekend,” could have slipped out of any of his other three albums.

        His melodies (find myself humming every one of them) keep on being simple and totally infectious, perhaps more than ever. Even in the two full production numbers, which sound like the background for a heavily emotional movie scene. On this level alone, it’s a great album.

        But beyond that, what the cover promises is the reaping after a season of growth. What it delivers is a bouquet of failed, friends who fell away, heartbreak and loneliness.

        It’s an intensely sad and personal thing – a stark portrait of someone who hurts too much to put himself back together yet, but somehow carries on.

        Moving in a daze, unable to touch other people (“A Man Needs a Maid”), he worries that his time has passed (“Old man, take a look at my life/ I’m a lot like you.”).

        And the songs cut a second harvest in the listener. Of our own expectations, of the promises of the ‘60s which have tangled in a thick crop of despair.

* * *

DESPAIR COMES sweeter in Harry Chapin’s slickly-produced first album “Heads & Tales” (Elektra EKS 75023). It’s softened by the full-blown arrangements and the distance Harry puts between himself and the pain.

        He’s a storyteller, basically, with a Livingston Taylor voice.

        What hangs Harry up are the complexities of his songs, pretty as they are, and his literary restraint. He’s easy to comprehend, but he’s not so easy to feel.

* * *

DESPITE ALL this anguish, there’s still some joyous satisfaction to be found these days and a bunch of it falls somewhere between Leon Russell’s gospel and the blues and velvet of Boz Scaggs.

        These next three records have been around for a couple months and haven’t particularly taken off. It’s downright unfair because they’re as good for the mind and body as honey is. There isn’t a lackluster cut on any of them.

        Starting with the least funky, there’s Marc Benno’s “Minnows” (A&M SP 4303). Benno, a Leon Russell Asylum Choir associate, has come up with an answer to Boz Scaggs’ fine first album. He gets a beautiful silky-smooth L.A. production job too, not too much, not too little.

* * *

ON TO NASHVILLE, where city bluesman J. J. Cale has put together a floating bouncing thing called “Naturally” (Shelter SW 8908) that has just a sneaky little touch of evil in it. Remember Eric Clapton’s “After Midnight?” Cale wrote it and he lays it back to get out all of its forbidden fruits.

        Final stop: Muscle Shoals, home of the Stax-Volt downhome rhythm and an unknown named Ben Atkins. His “Patchoulie” (Enterprise EMS 1021) has a sinewy gospel-blues revival feel that just won’t let you be unhappy. “On the Brighter Side of It All” would raise a smile on Ebenezer Scrooge. I love this album.

        Want a good deal on Christian atmosphere? Try “Rock Mass for Love” (Decca DL 7-5328). A rock group, a jazz band, a congregation of 6,000 and an Angelican Dean join for a sincere and musically satisfying religious service, complete with Communion. P.S.: Avoid such dogs as “Divine Hair: Mass in F” and David Axelrod’s rock interpretation of Handel’s “Messiah.”

* * *

OTHER VOICES and brief replies:

        Donny Hathaway, “Live” (Atco SD-33-386). Rating: A. – Like a box of crème-filled candy. Hathaway hits such a head-bobbing groove you never want it to quit. Good sound quality, great audience.

        Dionne Warwicke, “Dionne” (Warner Bros. BS 2585). Rating: C. – A wonderful voice gone lazy. Except for that lullaby of suburbia, “Hasbrook Heights,” the best stuff here is non-Bacharach.

        Dave Mason, “Headkeeper” (Blue Thumb BTS-34). Rating: C. – Half-studio, half-live, half-old, half-new, half-nice, half-flawed (A dull “Pearly Queen,” for example).

        Jimi Hendrix, “In the West” (Reprise MS 2049). Rating: B. – Takes and out-takes of live shows at Berkeley, San Diego and Britain’s Isle of Wight. Long on Hendrix’s exquisite style, short on his giant creative power. Get his other albums first.

        The Osmonds, “Phase III” (MGM-4796). Rating: D. – The rip-off of “Yo Yo” multiplied by 10. They’re saved only by stolen energy and two top hits. Someday they’ll be a pop curiosity like Frankie Avalon. I hope it’s soon.

        Black Oak Arkansas, “Keep the Faith” (Atco SD 33-381). Rating: B. Loved it first time around but got bored with it, especially side two. Enjoyment depends on how much sandpaper vocals and chooglin’ your consciousness is up for.

        Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together” (Hi SHL-3270). Rating: A. – Didn’t dig his first album, mostly because of the material. This time the songs are passably strong, Green’s singing is an everloving joy and that Memphis backup band will wipe you out.

        Cass Elliott, “Cass Elliott” (RCA LSP-4619). Rating: F. – Avoid this one if you recognize the song titles or if you have to restrict your intake of sweets.

        David Cassidy, “Cherish” (Bell 6070). Rating: B. – Beyond the pretty pin-up photos, the Partridge Family’s prodigal son shows fair dewy-eyed talent in this super-lush production. Likeable songs help. Check out “My First Night Alone Without You.”

        Various Artists, “Jamming With Edward” (Rolling Stones COC 39100). Rating: C. – The sum of Nicky Hopkins, Ry Cooder, Mike Jagger, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts is a whole lot less than the individual parts. Dedicated fans may dig Cooder here or Mick’s super lowdown “It Hurts Me Too,” but the general feel is third-rate.

        Staple Singers, “Be Altitude: Respect Yourself” (Stax STS 3002). Rating: C. – The Staples sing great but they’re so preachy it sours their gig. For the righteous only.

        Letterman, “Lettermen I” (Capitol SW-11010). Rating: B. Old commercialized folkies in a hip new bag, bring out the beauty of the words in 10 recent rock hits. Conservative, violinny productions, but they don’t get in the way. Check out John Lennon’s “Oh My Love.”

        Richard Harris, “My Boy” (Dunhill DSX 50110). Rating: F. – So schmaltzy I wanted to smash it.

* * * * *

IN RETROSPECT: “Jamming With Edward” was recorded during the Rolling Stones’ “Let It Bleed” sessions in 1969, Wikipedia tells us, while the band was waiting for Keith Richards to check in. Mike Jagger described it as “a nice piece of bullshit …” My record reviewing idol, Robert Christgau, in his consumer guide to albums of the 1970s, found its only virtue to be its discount list price, but nonetheless gave it a C.  

        I may have missed the boat on the Staples Singers. Or not. Although that release included the hits “I’ll Take You There” and “Respect Yourself,” even  Christgau thought it was a B minus effort.

        I could never convince anyone else to love the Ben Atkins “Patchouli” album, even though it’s packed with songs written by the legendary Dan Penn and backed by a cadre of great Muscle Shoals and Stax players. The appeal of its blue-eyed soul may have been enhanced by the fact that its gatefold album jacket was marinated in patchouli oil, a scent I was particularly fond of at the time.