Great Rock Albums of 1981: Molly Hatchet- Take No Prisoners

No longer will I trust another person's account of any album in influencing me whether or not to buy an album. Back in 1981, I was interested in buying the "Take No Prisoners" album from Molly Hatchet but a couple of my marine buddies had gotten it and they all said that the album sucked. As a result I was put off ever buying it and I never listened to it until a couple of days ago and let me tell you, those guys were wrong, very wrong. "Take No Prisoners" might not be as good as "Flirtin' With Disaster" or their first self titled album or even "Beatin' the Odds" but it doesn't suck, no way.
For many years now, Jimmy Farrar has been given the blame for the lack of success of this album and probably for "Beatin' the Odds" as well. I now think this is rather unfair to the man because as I said when I visited the previous album, if he was with any other band, his vocal ability would have been more praiseworthy. Unfortunately, he was in the shadow of Danny Joe Brown and that is the problem. I have to admit myself, when hearing a couple of songs on this album, I was thinking to myself that Brown would have made a particular bit sound better.

Enough of the negative though because this album really boogies. In every song, the guitar magic of the trio of Roland, Hlubeck and Holland shine through with those special riffs that made me love Molly Hatchet in the first place. "Power Play" is the stand out track for me but the others are right up there as well, "Bloody Reunion" especially. Then they play a perfect blinder with "Respect Me In The Morning." Most tend to think that because the song is a duet between a man and a woman, in this case Jimmy Farrar and Baby Jean Kennedy of Mother's Finest that the song will immediately be a ballad. It certainly is not. This song rocks in the way that Molly Hatchet are known for and Kennedy's vocals only make it that much better. Truly this album deserves more respect that what I give and I immediately and sincerely apologise to the band for my ignorance over the past three decades.

Track Listing:

1. Bloody Reunion

2. Respect Me In The Morning

3. Long Tall Sally

4. Loss of Control

5. All Mine

6. Lady Luck

7. Power Play

8. Don't Mess Around

9. Don't Leave Me Lonely

10. Dead Giveaway

[caption id="attachment_1703" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Molly Hatchet[/caption]

Jimmy Farrar- vocals

Dave Hlubeck- guitar, slide guitar

Duane Roland- guitar, slide guitar

Steve Holland- guitar

Banner Thomas- bass

Bruce Crump- drums

I realise now that I have actually committed a double faux pas. Not only have I ignored a cool album on account of here say, I have neglected another band whose albums I should be visiting here. I remember Mother's Finest back in the day and did listen to some of their stuff. They shouldn't be pushed into obscurity, there are many pop acts deserving of that. Therefore, I will be featuring them in one of my upcoming posts.

Next post: Danny Joe Brown and the Danny Joe Brown Band

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