KEEPING UP

Jonesy is one of the most overlooked and underrated progressive rock bands to come out of the early 70s. Eclectic is the best word to describe this band's style. This CD features a lot of upfront Mellotron ala King Crimson, as well as clever pop passages backed by a string quartet in a Beatles style. Add to that some bluesy hippie funk that recalls Buddy Miles and Edgar Winter, as well as some Miles Davis influenced psychedelic jazz and lots of high speed rock guitar solos played without effects that recall Wishbone Ash or early Yes.

As usual the weak point with Jonsey is the vocals. They're not particularly bad, but not great which is a dissapointment because their instrumental passages rate them up there with the greats of early 70s rock. To their credit their lyrics seem to be very urgent and extremely heartfelt. Unfortunately this CD did not come with a lyric sheet, but it sounds like the lyrics deal with the pain of war or violent social unrest. One is left with the feeling that the members of this band are not speaking in an abstract sense, but instead are dealing with these issues on a very personal level.

I don't think that the members of Jonesy ever attended art school, instead they come across as unpretentious working class types who probably didn't take a fancy to some of progressive rock's more excessive displays.

The CD I own contains some very nice bonus tracks. The song Can You Get that Together starts off as a high speed jazz fusion romp with great trumpet and guitar solos and then abruptly merges into Waltz for Yesterday, a well-written Beatles style ballad with a long repeating chorus and nice string arrangements. Know Who Your Friends Are is a Wishbone Ash style rocker with an odd middle section that could have come from a 60s exotic lounge record.

I always get the impression that things were never easy for the members of Jonesy, maybe some day they will get the recognition they deserve.