Ode to John Law (Remastered) Stone The Crows

• 1 Sad Mary 06:51
• 2 Friend 06:24
• 3 Love 74 06:32
• 4 Mad Dogs & Englishmen 03:30
• 5 Things Are Getting Better 06:08
• 6 Ode to John Law 05:43
• 7 Danger Zone 06:18
• Total Runtime 41:26

Info for Ode to John Law (Remastered)

"In a way, you have to feel sorry for Stone the Crows. All the elements were there for them to have been one of the major bands, up there with Zeppelin -- they even had the same management. But even on this, their second and best album, they could never quite put everything together. Live, they were an incendiary act, with singer Maggie Bell and guitarist Les Harvey true stars. Somehow, though, once they entered a recording studio, the magic seemed to come off with the overcoats. That's not to say this isn't a good album. "Sad Mary," "Friend," and "Love 74" are all showcases for Harvey's excellent guitar skills, while "Things Are Getting Better" and a cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Danger Zone" let Maggie Bell shine in her best Janis Joplin style (although it's a shame bassist Jim Dewar has his considerable vocal talents muffled). The good time, neo folk-rock of "Mad Dogs And Englishmen" offers some light relief. The biggest problem, really, was the songs -- the original material simply wasn't strong enough to establish them as anything more than a cult act working the British college circuit. A hit single, or even a huge album track, would have lifted them out of the more. On this disc, "Love 74" was as close as they came, but instrumentals in 7/4 time were never usually commercial blockbusters. The reissue on Repertoire appends the shorter single version of "Things Are Getting Better." (Chris Nickson, AMG)

Maggie Bell, vocals
Jim Dewar, bass, vocals
Les Harvey, guitar
John McGinnis, organ, piano
Colin Allen, percussion

Produced by Mark London

Digitally remastered

Stone the Crows
was a tough-luck, working class, progressive soul band that came out of the pubs of Scotland in the early '70s. They had everything going for them at the start: not one, but two gritty singers, a talented guitarist, a rhythm section that had played with John Mayall, and the name recognition of having Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant as their producer. Despite favorable reviews by the critics, however, they never managed to sell their hybridized soul music to a large audience. In addition, they lost two of their key members early on, one of whom was tragically electrocuted, and the group broke up after four albums.

Their biggest contribution to rock was the immense vocal talent of one Maggie Bell. Winner of several Top Girl Singer awards in Britain, Bell had a raunchy, gutbucket voice that, although it fell short of the naked emotion and range of Janis Joplin's, came probably closer to her style than any other female singer. She first attracted notice when she jumped up on stage at a show in Glasgow to wail with Alex Harvey of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. Impressed by her talent (and audacity), Harvey hooked her up with his guitar-playing younger brother Les, then fronting a local band called the Kinning Park Ramblers. After playing army bases in Europe for several years as Power, Bell, Harvey, bassist Jim Dewar, keyboardist Jon McGinnis, and drummer Colin Allen (who had played with future bass player Steve Thompson in John Mayall's band), came to the attention of Peter Grant and they changed their name to Stone the Crows, which supposedly is a Scottish variation of "the hell with it."

Both of their first two albums received good reviews upon release, but sold very meagerly. Then bassist/vocalist Jim Dewar quit the band to join Robin Trower's fledgling group, to be replaced by the non-singing Steve Thompson. Shortly after releasing Teenage Licks, guitarist Les Harvey was electrocuted onstage during a gig at Swansea University. This appeared to end the band, but they carried on, recruiting young Jimmy McCulloch from Thunderclap Newman and released "'Ontinuous Performance." Although the rock press lauded the singing of Bell, her group couldn't seem to emerge from the shadows and they broke up after this last album, with McCulloch flying away to join Paul McCartney in Wings. (Peter Kurtz, AMG)

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