Cochise - Cochise (1970 uk, fine country folk rock with BJ Cole, Rick Wills pre-Foreigner and Mick Grabham from Procol Harum, Kissing Spell edition)

There was a lot of talent involved in the making of Cochise's debut album. Guitarist Mick Grabham went on to play in Procol Harum; bassist Rick Wills would later join Foreigner; B.J. Cole would be an in-demand pedal steel player on many sessions over the next few decades; drummer Willie Wilson would play with Pink Floyd; Dick Taylor, who'd just left the Pretty Things, produced; and Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis (famous for working on Pink Floyd LP covers) designed a striking and, for the period, daring cover of a woman's unadorned breasts. 

The credits on a resume don't always guarantee an outstanding album, however, and Cochise is one of those '60s-turning-into-'70s records that treads an uneasy line between eclectic diversity and a lack of direction. It's so-so period 1970 British rock, distinguished just slightly by a more country-ish flavor than the norm, courtesy of Cole's pedal steel. It's not country-rock, however, and some of the songs in fact owe little or nothing to the form. 

Numbers like "Painted Lady" and "Moment and the End" are tense, meandering hard rock tunes; the latter cut, in fact (as well as sections of some others, like "Velvet Mountain") sounds kind of like late-'60s/early-'70s Guess Who LP filler. There's a wistful rural feel to parts of the material that suggests some promise, but that mood's shattered by an unnecessary, pedestrian heavy rock cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "59th Street Bridge Song." 

by Richie Unterberger

Tracks
1. Velvet Mountain (Mick Grabham) - 3:26
2. China (Grabham)-3:55
3. Trafalgar Day (B. J. Cole) - 5:08
4. Moment And The End (Cole) - 5:58
5. Watch This Space (Stewart Brown) - 3:56
6. 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) (Paul Simon) - 3:39
7. Past Loves (Brown) - 3:38
8. Painted Lady (Grabham) - 7:03
9. Black Is The Colour (Traditional) - 0:56

Cochise
*Stewart Brown - Guitar, Vocals
*B.J. Cole - Dobro, Guitar, Pedal Steel, Cello, Steel Guitar
*Mick Grabham - Organ, Guitar, Piano, Keyboards, Vocals
*Rick Wills - Bass, Vocals
*John Sly Wilson - Percussion, Drums, Vocals

1970-72  Cochise – Velvet Mountain An Anthology (2013 remaster)

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