Rock and Roll Music in Bloomington, MN

The Frost
's second album on
Vanguard
,
Rock and Roll Music
, has the 1969
Dick Wagner
four years before he would tour as part of the
Lou Reed
Rock & Roll Animal Band
. The title track, recorded live at
the Grande Ballroom
in Detroit by engineer
Ed Friedner
, has an incessant chant over a bellowing guitar foundation. It is a good, raw picture of early
Wagner
music, a vital document of a Michigan band that helped shape that scene.
"Sweet Lady Love"
is the group in the recording studio with a tune that rocks like latter day
Guess Who
around the time of their
Live at the Paramount
LP. Producer
Sam Charters
balances the live tracks with the studio ones, a la
John Simon
's vision for
Janis Joplin
's
Cheap Thrills
. An acoustic ballad,
"Linda,"
is placed in between that hard rock and is a far cry from the nice madness of side two's live tracks. In fact, the delicacy of
's voice and guitar playing might've found some chart action if it wasn't put in the context of a near
metal
album.
sounds more like a British
folky
, say solo
Paul McCartney
, than American contemporary
songwriters/singers
James Taylor
and
Jonathan Edwards
.
"Linda"
also sounds more like the type of music one would expect to hear on
. The parallels between
Frost
cannot be ignored.
Reed
's signature tunes during
RR Animal
were
"Sweet Jane,"
"Lady Day,"
"Rock & Roll."
's titles,
"Rock and Roll Music"
"Sweet Lady Love,"
are side by side here -- just an eerie premonition of the shape of things to come.
"Black Train"
on this album has the same vibe as
the Velvet Underground
"Train Coming Round the Bend"
off of
Loaded
, though the style and melody are different.
"Help Me Baby,"
on the other hand, has a throbbing
Blue Cheer
bassline from co-singer and bassist
Gordy Garris
and rhythm guitarist
Don Hartman
, as well as a
Grand Funk
style blitz.
"Donny's Blues"
opens side two, almost eight minutes of the band vamping with
Hartman
on vocals and harmonica. It melts into the song
the Animals
made famous for
Barry Mann
Cynthia Weil
"We Gotta Get Out of This Place."
should go through the vaults and expand the live segments of this recording. One can feel the framework which would benefit
Alice Cooper
when the
moved on to back that rock star. And
played a big role in writing some of
Alice
's biggest hits when they collaborated.
has glimpses of the sound that would be so instrumental in defining '70s
hard rock
. ~ Joe Viglione