Great Rock Albums of 1981: Mother's Finest- Iron Age

Back in 1981, I remember hearing of the band Mother's Finest. I remember listening to some of their music and I remember liking it but that's all I can remember. Like quite a lot of things with me, the band Mother's Finest was filed away into some dark cabinet inside my mind only to be pulled out thanks to Laina Dawes in her book "What Are You Doing Here?" The band gets quite a lot of mention in the book and rightly so because they were a brilliant hard rocking band. Why did they slip my mind? Well, I will say that it would not have been intentional nor would it have anything to do with the fact that several members of the band were African American. However, for some reason, I didn't listen to them like I should have and that was a major loss for me.

After listening to "Iron Age" I have refamiliarised myself on the hard rock yet funky and melodic band Mother's Finest are. The guitars groove in a very unique way but are no less harder. "Movin' On" is as good an album opener as any opening songs on what history has considered the more classic albums. "Rock And Roll 2 Nite," "Time" and "Evolution" are all great memorable tracks and former the foundation on which this album is built and you can't fault any of the other tracks either. But what makes "Iron Age" or Mother's Finest themselves for that matter stand out for me is the vocals of Joyce 'Baby Jean' Kennedy. Her vocals mixed with the music sound just like Aretha Franklin goes metal and that's a wonderful thing. Her vocals are right up there with the Queen of Soul in power and tune. I can't think of any other way to describe them, I'm at a loss here.

[caption id="attachment_1731" align="aligncenter" width="276"] Blues Brothers with Aretha Franklin[/caption]

Track Listing:

1. Movin' On

2. Luv Drug

3. Rock And Roll 2 Nite

4. U Turn Me On

5. All The Way

6. Evolution

7. Illusion (C'Mon Over to My House)

8. Time

9. There Goes Th' Rain

10. Earthling

[caption id="attachment_2169" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mother's Finest[/caption]

Joyce 'Baby Jean' Kennedy- vocals

Glenn Murdock- vocals, guitar

Wizzard- bass

Moses- guitar

B.B.- drums

Note: I know there are seven people in the photo but the album on lists these five

 My theory (and that's all it is) as to why Mother's Finest didn't get the recognition they so richly deserved was down to the attitudes of the time. Even in 1981, I began seeing music dividing up along several lines and unfortunately one of those lines was racial. I remember both black and white marines referring to music as ours and yours. The problem was that because of the mixed racial make up of Mother's Finest, some people didn't know where to put them and consequently they got pushed out. Damn shame because people need to hear what a great band they are. On a happier note, one of my objectives for this blog and for writing "Rock And Roll Children" in the first place was for people to get out their old music and listen to it all over again. It gives me great delight to discover that like me, many of you have never stopped. Saying that, I think we should all give Mother's Finest a good listen.

Next Post: Johnny Van Zant- Round Two

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 1981: Danny Joe Brown and the Danny Joe Brown Band

Every Saturday night, the local FM radio station in Jacksonville, North Carolina had a feature starting at midnight called the Saturday Night Six Pack. They would play six albums, both classic and new in their entirety. One Saturday night in July of 1981, while I was doing the midnight to 4AM barracks security watch and before my company gunnery sergeant banned the listening of music whilst on duty, they played a brand new album from The Danny Joe Brown Band. I remember it well because it was played straight after Billy Joel's "Glass Houses" album. I also remember that it was a very good album and listening to it again, only confirmed the earlier belief. You are probably wondering why I never bought the album, it was due to being strapped for cash. Crap military pay and car troubles are not a good combination.

What strikes me about this album is that while you can definitely feel that Southern boogie rock vibe throughout the entire album, it is not a clone of any Molly Hatchet album. On the album, Brown certainly does diversify somewhat from the sound of his then former band. The piano intro on "The Edge of Sundown" reminds me a little of Billy Powell from Lynyrd Skynyrd before it breaks off into some great pounding guitars. In fact, some of the guitar work on the album, "The Alamo" to name one, reminded me of The Dreggs and I half expected to see Steve Morse on the personnel list for the album. Like with Molly Hatchet, the three guitarists who Brown recruited for the album definitely know how to play. The entire album bears witness to that fact as there is some impressive playing on every song. Speaking of the piano, the fact that he uses keyboards on this album does not make it all go synth but compliments it perfectly and shows that Danny Joe Brown can be a bit versatile in his song writing. As for Brown's vocals, I can't say any different than what you would expect from him, whether it be a Molly Hatchet album or this one.

Track Listing:

1. Sundance

2. Nobody Walks On Me

3. The Alamo

4. Two Days Home

5. Edge of Sundown

6. Beggar Man

7. Run For Your Life

8. Hear My Song

9. Gambler's Dream

10. Hit the Road

[caption id="attachment_2165" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Danny Joe Brown Band[/caption]

Danny Joe Brown- vocals

Bobby Ingram- lead and slide guitars, backing vocals

Steve Wheeler- lead and slide guitars

Kenny McVay- guitar

John Galvin- keyboards, keyboards

Buzzy Meekin- bass, backing vocals

Johnny Glenn- drums

This would be the only solo album from Danny Joe Brown. He would re-join Molly Hatchet after this one. Maybe the members of Hatchet realised what they lost when they let Brown go in the first place. When Brown did return, he would bring keyboardist John Galvin with him and that would influence their sound. But that's all in the later years. If like many, you missed this album first time around, it's not too late to have a listen to it now, definitely worth it.

Next post: Mother's Finest- Iron Age

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 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

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 1981: Blackfoot- Marauder

Many people in the music world agree that Blackfoot's golden era was from 1979-81 when they put out their three best albums, "Strikes," "Tomcattin'" and "Marauder." Having already visited the first two albums in the appropriate year, I now go to the 1981 classic. Many people are of the opinion that "Marauder" is the best of the three and the best Blackfoot album of all time. I won't enter into a debate on that because I can definitely see why many make that claim in regards to this album, although for me personally, my heart has always been swayed by "Strikes." Saying that, it is a close run contest because "Marauder" definitely does rock the house down.

"Marauder" opens with a great the heavy grab you by the balls "Good Morning," which even with Rick Medlocke's crazy laugh during the intro, sets the pace for the rest of the album. "Good Morning" is one of those tracks you have to put the stereo up to full volume and just go nuts. The second track, "Paying For It," does nothing to lessen the adrenaline brought on by the opener. The ballad-like "Diary of a Working Man" just lets you catch your breath before the album bombards you with more great hard rockers. For me, I have always liked both "Dry County" and "Fly Away" and they are my two favourite songs on the album. The second song may start with an acoustic guitar on the album but it isn't long before you're banging away to the hard guitars once again. I must say that  I do like "Rattlesnake Rock and Roller" where Medlocke's grandfather Shorty plays harmonica. Another demonstration that while Blackfoot can hit you in the face with great hard Southern rock, they can be versatile too. And like many a great album, it has a great closing song. "Searchin'" ends with the lead guitar reminiscent of "Highway Song" from "Strikes" or even "Freebird." This seems a must for any great Southern Rock album.

Track Listing:

1. Good Morning

2. Paying For It

3. Diary of a Working Man

4. Too Hard to Handle

5. Fly Away

6. Dry County

7. Fire In the Dragon

8. Rattlesnake Rock And Roller

9. Searchin'

[caption id="attachment_1316" align="aligncenter" width="128"] Blackfoot[/caption]

Rick Medlocke- lead vocals, guitar

Charlie Hargrett- guitar

Greg T Walker- bass, keyboards, backing vocals

Jakson Spires- drums, percussion, backing vocals

While the studio version of "Fly Away" might started acoustically, the version played on Blackfoot's 1982 live album definitely blows people away and I will be visiting that album, I promise. "Marauder" is said to be the last great Blackfoot album. Well, it's for sure the last hard rock album they would put out because they would start using synthesisers on later albums. So for a good Southern rock out, that will have you jumping off furniture, "Marauder" is the album to listen to.

Next post: Molly Hatchet- Take No Prisoners

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