One of the greatest bands no ones heard of who are hereby rescued from slipping into the ether, despite once being on the verge of a deal with Transatlantic and garnering a massive live following in their native Newcastle Upon Tyne area during the early to mid seventies its only now that they have their lp debut. A hard working live band that played alongside the greats, its unbelievable they didnt have at least 3 lps released. starting as an underground folk singer then going the progressive route, Steve Brown formed this outfit in 71 and they quickly developed a tight style of cool but potent jazz rock, characterised by lengthy powerful instrumental breaks and sax, and infectious beats.
This lp pieces together what should have been a debut LP on Transatlantic from remaining studio tapes and acetate sources and has good audio quality, the six tracks are pure killer, opening with the masterpiece ‘Hitman’ which is sung first person from the point of view of an assassin for hire, stone cold cool with a fantastic bassline and rhythm it conjurs up early seventies nihilistic film and tv imagery such as The Sweeney, Dirty Harry and Michael Caine...the side then ends with a genuine lost anthem in ‘Shine A Light’ which is epic and melancholic and should have had stadiums of people lifting up their lighters.
The lyrics are fab, and have a worldly wise quality about them, another song is a paean to an english Pint (quite probably Newcastle Brown Ale), but utterly, obscurely poetic, evoking the sense of peace and pleasure gained when sitting finally alone in a tranquil environment and gazing in silent anticipation at a drink in front of ones person, it evokes the pleasure that only comes with experience of hardship before that moment. This is a completely pro band, with brilliant songs, and a unique style. Hitman and Shine A Light could easily achieve staple late night radio play, and indeed thats when you want to hear this album, late night, in contemplative serious mood.
In 73 the band hit a bad patch, burnt out by extensive gigging, they crashed their Transit Tour Van on a motorway, miraculously surviving with the Van straddling central crash barriers and written off, police then took away their jamaican keyboard player and imprisoned him on suspected illegal immigration reasons. management then tried to push the band toward a mainstream direction and a single was issued of their worst ever tracks, we have enough material restored for two lps, this is the first and its highly recommended. the LP is a genuine lost classic and all 6 tracks are fab.
Roughtr
Tracks
1. Hitman (Steve Brown, John Farmer, Jeff Barak, Gowan Turnbull, Charlie Gordon) - 7:21
2. Night Flight (Steve Brown, Charlie Gordon) - 7:16
3. Shine A Light - 5:29
4. Marija (John Farmer, Charlie Gordon) - 6:15
5. City (The Lights Of Love) - 4:37
6. Soul Full Of Sin - 7:03
The Steve Brown Band
*Steve Brown - Guitar, Lead Vocal
*John Farmer - Bass, Vocal
*Jeff Barak - Drums, Vocal
*Gowan Turnbull - Saxophone, Vocal
*Charlie Gordon - Electric Piano, Keyboards, Vocal
