Plain and Fancy: 02/09/17

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Riff Raff - Riff Raff (1973 uk, fantastic prog rock, 2016 korean remaster)

Riff Raff's self-titled effort from 1973 was the band's first album proper. Alan Marshall was not replaced when he left, with Tommy Eyre, Roger Sutton, and Pete Kirtley all taking turns on the vocal chores. The jazz -rock sound that Eyre and Sutton had explored with Mark-Almond was the springboard for the exploratory rock music made by Riff Raff. Here deep groove -- à la Brian Auger's Oblivion Express -- and tough rock choruses and dynamics were married to the jazz sense of structure and composition.

Far more "progressive" sounding than their early demos, this music nonetheless has little to do with the excesses of the Canterbury Scene. From the opener, with the glorious Fender Rhodes and electric guitar interplay in which the blues and jazz commingle in a rock picture frame, through the improvisational melodic and modal work on "Dreaming" to the glorious theatricality and drama of "La Même Chose" that closes the album, Riff Raff comes off as one of the most original, innovative, and brilliant bands of the early '70s. It's too bad they never got to America; they would have been as huge as their former bosses in Mark-Almond.

by Thom Jurek

Tracks
1. Your World (Roger Sutton) - 7:39
2. For Every Dog (Peter Kirtley) - 3:46
3. Little Miss Drag (Thorpe, Richardson) - 3:12
4. Dreaming (Peter Kirtley) - 4:32
5. Times Lost (Tommy Eyre) - 4:15
6. You Must Be Joking (Peter Kirtley) - 7:29
7. La Même Chose (Roger Sutton, Tommy Eyre) - 12:12

Riff Raff
*Tommy Eyre - Hammond Organ, Piano, Acoustic Guitars, Concert, Bass Flute, Vocals
*Peter Kirtley - Guitar, Vocals
*Roger Sutton - Basses, Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
*Aureo De Souza - Drums, Percussion
Guest Musicians
*Bud Beadle - Saxophones

1974 Riff Raff - Original Man (2017 korean remaster)