R
SAILOR
CAPITO L , 1968
TheMillerBand’s
secondrelease,the
lasttofeatureBoz
Scaggs,wasthe
perfectamalgamoftheirleader’s
long-heldloveoftraditionalblues
andmorepsychedelichues.The
formeris representedbya lusty
takeonJimmyReed’s“You’reSo
Fine”,thelatterbythetrippy“Song
OfOurAncestors”,whileJohnny
“Guitar”Watson’s“GangsterOf
Love”becamea signature tune
of sorts.8/10
THEJOKER
CAPITO L , 1973
Eightalbumsin,and
Millerconfirmshis
placeatAOR’stop
table,courtesyof
thebreezyandlaconictitletrack.
Hisbluesrootscontinuetoshow,
however,ona liveversionofRobert
Johnson’s“ComeOnIn MyKitchen”
andChuckCalhoun’s“YourCash
Ain’tNothin’ButTrash”,whilethe
frothy“SugarBabe”pointedly
embracesthepopsensibilities
thatwouldservehimwellforthe
remainder of the decade.7/10
F LY L I K E
ANEAGLE
CAPITO L , 1976
Thetitletrack
flirtedwithjazzand
hippyphilosophy
butnonethelessstrucka chordwith
Top 40 radio.Forrockclassicism
thereis theCreedence-friendly
“Rock‘nMe”andtheoutlawfable
“TakeTheMoneyAndRun”,
whileMiller’smulti-tracked
harmoniesonSamCooke’s
“YouSendMe”revealeda
nuancedandengaging crooner.
9/10TE R RY STAU NTO N
HOWTOBUY...
THE STEVE MILLER BAND
The space cowboy’s career hi-ho’s
46 • UNCUT • OCTOBER 2019
LINDAMcCARTNEY
WIDEPRAIRIE
MPL/CAPITOL/UME
6/10
PaulMcCartney’sbetterhalf’s
half-cookedrecordingscollected
It’sgenerallyagreed
LindaMcCartney’s
principalweakness
wasthathertalent
asa singerwas– put
politely– mediocre.
Hadshenotkeptthecompanyshedid,
however,perhapsshemighthavebeen
judgedlessharshly.Certainly,entire
careershavebeenbuiltonworsevoices,
notleasttheheirstotheC86sound
ofbandslikeTalullahGosh,whose
AmeliaFletcherturneda notentirely
dissimilardeliverytoheradvantage.
Indeed,on“NewOrleans”,recorded
during 1975 sessionsforWings’Venus
AndMars, McCartneyperformswith
gusto,and“Appaloosa”,recordedwith
herhusbandweeksbeforeherdeathin
1998,is undeniablyendearing.“Cook
OfTheHouse”,theB-sideto1976’s“Silly
LoveSongs”,is alsoanentertaining,
albeitlyricallyretrogressive,slice
ofboogie-woogie,while“Oriental
Nightfish”and“B-SideToSeaside”
benefitfromherdecisiontotreatthem
asspoken-wordtracks.Nonetheless,
the presence of Lee “Scratch” Perry-
producedreggae– amongit,bizarrely,
a coverof“MisterSandman”–
underlinetheincoherentnatureofa
collectioncompilinga quarter-century
ofrecordings.
Extras:None.WYNDHAMWALLACE
STEVEMILLERBAND
WelcomeTo The Vault
UMC/VIRGIN
7/10
Hits,highlightsanda handful
of unheard gems
Witha career
stretchingbackover
halfa century,it’s
safetoassumethe
52 tracksacrossthese
threediscsrepresent
onlya coupleofshelvesofMiller’s
expansivevaults.Nearlyhalfofthe
selectionsdatefromthemid-’70s,when
hewasa familiarnameat thehigh
endofthecharts,thecreamof“The
Joker”,“FlyLikeAnEagle”and“Book
OfDreams”(well-knownversions
sprinkledwithalternates,demosand
outtakes),althoughthepreviously
unreleasedcutsfromhispurerblues
late-’60sbeginningsarearguablymore
interesting.Thatlifelongloveofthe
bluesrearsitsheadinanintriguing
wayneartheendoftheset,withT-Bone
Walker playing “Lollie Lou” in the
Millerfamilyhomein 1951 (committed
totapebySteve’saudiophilefather,
George),followedbyMillerJunior’s
ownversionofthesongfroma 2016
tributeshow.CoversofRoyAcuff
andJimmyReedfurtheremphasise
hisbluescredentials,asdoesthe
12-minutefree-formwork-in-progress
takeof“FlyLikeAnEagle”,before
it wasradicallypareddownfor
AOR-friendlyradioplay.Overall,
a persuasiveinsightintothemind
ofaneloquentguitarvirtuoso.
Extras:7/10 .DVDcontaining 21 promo
clips,TVslotsandlive performances.
TE R RYSTAU NTO N
OHSUSANNA
Johnstown CONTINENTAL SONG CITY
8/10
20th-anniversaryreissueof
alt.Canadianaclassic
Itis nothingbut
a complimentto
Johnstowntosuggest
thatit sounds,in
everyrespectbut
production,a century
olderthanthe 20 yearselapsedsince
itsrelease.OhSusanna,a vehiclefor
Canadiansinger-songwriterSuzie
Ungerleider,wasalwaysanidearooted
inthenoirishmurkofcountrymusicat
itsmostsinisterandvindictive:murder
balladry,Appalachiangospeland
otheriterationsofthreechordsand
brutaltruth.Johnstownis noperiod
pastiche,however.Likeitsapproximate
contemporaryandspiritual
companion,KristinHersh’sMurder,
MiseryAndThenGoodnight, it revives
a glorioustraditionfora newera.Both
Ungerleider’ssingingandsongwriting
arerichanddramaticcommodities,
andwhilethere’sbeenlittlewrong
withtherecordingsshehasreleased
asOhSusannasince,it’sremarkable
howbracingandstartlingJohnstown
isalloveragain.Theplace,anda song
aboutthefloodtherein,arereferred
toon“HighwayPatrolman”onBruce
Springsteen’sNebraska; it’sanother
usefulreferencepointforthisrecord,
whichis notuntowardlyflatteredby
the comparison: the likes of “Old Kate”,
“Alabaster”and“BlackDirtRoad”are
allsparse,wretchedandperfect.
Extras:7/10 .Fiveacousticversions,
originallyonlyavailableona cassette
soldat gigs.ANDREWMUELLER
PREFABSPROUT
Swoon/FromLangley
ParkToMemphis/Jordan:
TheComeback/ALife Of
SurprisesSONYLEGACY
7/10,8/10,9/10,9/10
FourmorevinylreissuesofPaddy
McAloon’s questsforpopperfection
ThesefourLPs
comprisethenext
phaseinanoverdue
reissuecampaign
thatbeganwiththe
2016 vinyleditionof
SteveMcQueenandcontinuedwith
lastyear’smoreexperimental 2003
curio,I TrawlTheMegahertz. Together,
thequartetcapturesPrefabSproutat
theirmostprolificandpopular,even
if theband’ssoleUKTopTenentryhit
from 1988 – “TheKingOfRock’n’Roll”
- remainscringe-worthytofanswho
deemthatcoupletabouthotdogsand
jumpingfrogsa shadetoocheeky
evenbyMcAloonianstandards.But
whatwithPaddyandbrotherMartin
overseeingtheremasteringjobsand
spiffed-uppackaging,themusichere
seemssosumptuousthatnoteven
themostpreciousmomentsofthe
sometimesoverwrought 1984 debut,
Swoon, and1988’shigh-sheenFrom
LangleyParkToMemphisdetractfrom
itsglory.Releasedasa doubleLPfor
thefirsttimeinternationally,1990’s
Jordan:TheComebackremainsthe
high-watermarkwhenit comesto
McAloon’squesttofuseElvis,Michael
Jackson,ABBAandBurtBacharach
intoonealmightycelestialbeing.The
band’shighest-chartingalbum(aNo
3 in1992),thecompilationA LifeOf
Surprises, embellishesanimpeccable
primeronSprout’simperialphasewith
theexquisitelyacidic“TheSoundOf
Crying”andglam-discotriumph “If
YouDon’tLoveMe”.
Extras:5/10.Newartwork.
JASON ANDERSON
Linda
McCartney:
flyingwithout
Wings
MPL COMMUNICATIONS, GIJSBERT HANEKROOT/REDFERNS
Steve
Millerin
1972
