Groundhogs - Solid (1974)

Groundhogs - Solid (1974)

rock, blues | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 315MB

Talking Elephant 2001

Allmusic:
On the surface, the Groundhogs could easily have become one of the dozens of British "blooze and boogie" bands that cropped up in the late '60s and early '70s in the manner of Savoy Brown or Foghat, but Tony (T.S.) McPhee's ideas and ambitions were just eccentric enough to push the band into directions too challenging for most mainstream listeners, and as with much of their catalog it's McPhee's sense of invention that makes 1974's Solid memorable. Recorded in McPhee's home studio with Clive Brooks on drums and Peter Cruickshank on bass, most of Solid's nine numbers are anchored by the sonic overdrive of McPhee's guitar playing, which twists blues figures through psych and progressive frameworks, while the doomy poetics of his lyrics don't so much establish the mood of the songs as reinforce the tone of the music. While Brooks and Cruickshank are a fine rhythm section, giving these songs the muscle and backbone to make the most of their hard rock leanings, this is obviously McPhee's show, and an impressive show it is. Not too many guys would think to lay a Mellotron or a fuzzy synthesizer over a heavy blues jam, or run his recordings through such a remarkable maze of phase shifting and ping-pong panning, but in his own small way McPhee's music is in the grand tradition of the great eccentrics of British rock, and that windmill-tilting spirit is what Solid is all about -- it's not a freak masterpiece like Thank Christ for the Bomb or Who Will Save the World?, but if you dug the twists and turns of those albums you owe it to yourself to give this a listen.

Tracks
-1. "Light My Light" - McPhee - 6:23
-2. "Free from All Alarm" - McPhee - 5:14
-3. "Sins of the Father" - McPhee - 5:29
-4. "Sad Go Round" - McPhee - 2:55
-5. "Corn Cob" - McPhee - 4:46
-6. "Plea Sing, Plea Song" - McPhee - 3:43
-7. "Snow Storm" - McPhee - 3:28
-8. "Joker's Grave" - McPhee - 8:41
-9 "Over Blue" (Bonus Track) - McPhee - 2:48

sample & buy: Solid

Groundhogs - Blues Obituary (1969)

Groundhogs - Blues Obituary (1969)

rock, blues | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 220MB

Akarma/EMI | 2004 remaster

Allmusic:
Recorded during June of 1969 at Marquee Studios in London with Gary Collins and Colin Caldwell engineering, the trio of Groundhogs put the blues to rest on Blues Obituary in front of a castle on the Hogart-designed cover while six black and whites from photographer Zorin Matic grace the back in morbid Creepy or Eerie Magazine comic book fashion. Composed, written, and arranged by Tony "T.S." McPhee, there are seven tracks hovering from the around four- to seven-minute mark. The traditional "Natchez Burning," arranged by McPhee, fits in nicely with his originals while the longest track, the six-minute-and-50-second "Light Is the Day," features the most innovation -- a Ginger Baker-style tribal rant by drummer Ken Pustelnik allowing McPhee to lay down some muted slide work. As the tempo on the final track elevates along with manic guitar runs by McPhee, the jamming creates a color separate from the rest of the disc while still in the same style. Vocals across the board are kept to a minimum. It is all about the sound, Cream without the flash, bandleader McPhee vocally emulating Alvin Lee (by way of Canned Heat's Alan Wilson) on the four-minute conclusion to side one that is "Mistreated." While Americans like Grand Funk's Mark Farner turned the format up a commercial notch, Funk's "Mean Mistreater" sporting the same sentiment while reaching a wider audience, the Groundhogs on this late-'60s album keep the blues purely in the underground. The pumping beat on "Mistreated" embraces the lead guitarist's vocal, which poses that eternal blues question: "what have I done that's wrong?" Blistering guitar on the opening track, "B.D.D.," sets the pace for this deep excursion into the musical depths further down than Canned Heat ever dared go. While "Daze of the Weak" starts off sludgy enough, it quickly moves like a train out of control, laying back only to explode again. "Times" get things back to more traditional roots on an album that breaks little new ground, and is as consistent as Savoy Brown when they got into their primo groove.

Tracks
-1. "B.D.D." - McPhee - 3:50
-2. "Daze of the Weak" - McPhee - 5:16
-3. "Times" - McPhee - 5:19
-4. "Mistreated" - McPhee - 4:04
-5. "Express Man" - McPhee - 3:59
-6. "Natchez Burning" - McPhee, Traditional - 4:38
-7. "Light Was the Day" - McPhee - 6:53

Personnel
* Tony T.S. McPhee (vocals, guitar)
* Pete Cruickshank (bass)
* Ken Pustelnik (drums)

sample & buy: Blues Obituary