Great Rock Albums of 1979: REO Speedwagon- Nine Lives

Nowadays, when REO Speedwagon is mentioned, the first thing that pops into most people's heads are love rock ballads such as "Can't Fight This Feeling" and "Keep On Loving You." Yes, unfortunately REO Speedwagon is an example of what happened to a lot of great bands who managed to get a song in the top ten back in the early 80s. After that, they try to make all their songs sound like that hit single and abandoned the hard rock that got them there in the first place. They weren't the only band this happened to either.

"Nine Lives" was the first ever album by REO Speedwagon I listened to and my total reaction to it was "This album really rocks!" From the heavy riffs of the opening track "Heavy On Your Love" through to the crunching guitars of "Only the Strong Survive" and the great hard rock musicianship that made "Easy Money" and their own rocking spin on the classic Beach Boys hit "Rock and Roll Music," that finally culminates in the pure heavy finale of "Back On the Road Again," I can say this album is a true rocker. The music is a far cry from some of their later stuff. It's even heavier that their 1978 smash "You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish." Even the album cover suggests heavy metal. If they didn't do it in 1979, some heavy metal band in the 80s would have definitely used a cover photo like this on their album. I will go on a limb and speculate that maybe Motley Crue got some of their image ideas from this.

Track Listing:

1. Heavy On Your Love

2. Drop It (An Old Disguise)

3. Only the Strong Survive

4. Easy Money

5. Rock and Roll Music

6. Take Me

7. I Need You Tonight

8. Meet Me On the Mountain

9. Back On the Road Again

REO Speedwagon

Kevin Cronin- lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar

Gary Richrath- lead guitar, B52 guitar

Neil Doughty- keyboards

Bruce Hall- bass, backing vocals, lead vocal on "Back On the Road Again"

Alan Gratzer- drums, percussion, backing vocals

For those who are only familiar with REO Speedwagon's more pop oriented 80's sound, then you must go back and listen to "Nine Lives." The hard rock sound on this album will leave you asking yourself, "Is this the same band?" For this album is a true hard rocking classic and yes I will mention again what an underrated guitarist Gary Richrath has been. For he totally smashes it here!

Next Post: Hawkwind- PXR5

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1979: Charlie Daniels Band- Million Mile Reflections

Of the Southern Rock bands I have featured for the past few posts, there is one who was the most successful in making the country- rock crossover, The Charlie Daniels Band. It definitely helps when you have a top ten hit in both the country and rock singles charts like they did with the famous "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." When I first heard this classic hit, I was in North Carolina so I thought that it was just a good song that was popular in the South. Then I had my first 96 hour pass where I got to go home to New Jersey and found that the song was just as popular there. Charlie Daniels had definitely brought a bit of country to the rockers in the North and they liked it. However, there is one point I would like to bring up for debate; quite a few people believe that the Devil actually was the better in the fiddle duel.

"Million Mile Reflections" was not a one trick wonder. There are some other great tracks on it that help it complete the crossover. "Reflections" is a slow but fitting tribute to Elvis, Janis Joplin and Ronnie Van Zant. Other tracks for me are a more melodic rock sound with some good displays of keyboards and guitar musicianship. One track, I'm pretty sure it's "Blind Man" although I must remember to make notes when I'm listening to an album I'm reviewing, has the extended guitar solo that had become a characteristic of Southern Rock.

Track Listing:

1. Passing Lane

2. Blue Star

3. Jitterbug

4. Behind Your Eyes

5. Reflections

6. The Devil Went Down to Georgia

7. Mississippi

8. Blind Man

9. Rainbow Ride

Charlie Daniels Band

Charlie Daniels- guitar, fiddle, vocals

Tom Crain- guitar, vocals

Taz DiGregorio- keyboards, vocals

Fred Edwards- drums,percussion

James W Marshall- drums, percussion

Charles Hayward- bass

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is probably the one song that focused people up north's attention to Southern Rock. It could be said that it paved the way for the likes of Molly Hatchet and others and that it wasn't just a bunch of hicks playing washboards and jugs. I learned in 1979, that there is true rock down south.

Next post: REO Speedwagon- Nine Lives

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1980: The Outlaws- In the Eye of the Storm

Throughout the 1970s, while Yankees like me were reveling in the Southern delights of Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers, there was another band down in the Deep South playing some fine rock and roll to their fans down there. They were The Outlaws. They had a more of a Southern Boogie rock sound, not as hard as Molly Hatchet or Blackfoot nor were they progressive like Nantucket. The Outlaws, in my view, laid somewhere in between the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. What they did have, like all the bands I just mentioned, were guitarists who could dazzle you with long guitar solos.

My indoctrination to them was through their 1980 album, "Ghost Riders," an album I will definitely be visiting it when I get to 1980. Therefore, I am visiting the 1979 album "In the Eye of the Storm" kind of regressive and thanks to the wonders of You Tube, I was able to have a listen and see what I've been missing for all these years. "In the Eye of the Storm" for me reminds me of all the good things about The Outlaws. There's the Southern Boogie sound in all of their tracks, I noticed that from track one. They bring a harder edge to it with songs like, "Miracle Man" and "Long Gone" and then there's those cool guitar solos in "Blueswater." This album gave us a good view of all the good things to come with the later Outlaws material and is a great album in its own right.

Track Listing:

1. Lights Are On But Nobody's Home

2. Miracle Man

3. Blueswater

4. Comin' Home

5. I'll Be Leaving Soon

6. Too Long Without Her

7. It's All Right

8. (Com'on) Dance With Me

9. Long Gone

The Outlaws

Harvey Dalton Arnold- bass, vocals

David Dix- drums, percussion

Billy Jones- guitars, vocals

Freddie Salem- guitars, vocals

Hughie Thomasson- guitars, vocals

Monte Yoho- drums

The Outlaws were to finally get noticed north of the Mason-Dixon Line with their next album, but they still thrilled many of their fans south of the line with this one. This album is yet another fine classic rough diamond in the collection of Southern Rock.

Next post: Charlie Daniels Band- Million Mile Reflections

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London