HOODOO MAN

"Hoodah Man" was BC's third, their most famous and best-selling album not only due to its daring funny artwork. They've been accused those days by UK magazine Melody Maker being No. 1 copyists but we all know well that progressive rock music coming from Germany hadn't been taken really serious by British press and had been tagged with the disdainfully meant label Krautrock (not exactly what we understand nowadays by this). Certainly it might be true that they were using elements of famous hard and psyche rock bands from late 60's/early 70's but one has well to admit that they combined all those influences quite well with some other more progressive ones. Thus we get offered here some music based on harder-edged blues rock with plenty of organ sound, some jazzy pads (as in "Suicide") and a couple of synthesizer sections like in "Buy!", "Kaulstoss" and their ever lasting staple hit "Gamma Ray". But to be honest though containing actually a highly entertaining and enjoyable mixture this album cannot be considered as relevant in terms of Prog as their later jazzier album "Backdoor Possibilities" but for those ones preferring a slightly heavier sound it was certainly more exciting than "Plastic People". In many parts, especially in the church-organ enclosure in the title track the music here sounds however admittedly rather dated and not really suitable for repeated listens rather just good enough for a very occasional spin.

Nevertheless I'm proud to own the original edition on vinyl with the famous gatefold cover and though I wouldn't recommend this album to any Prog fan as an essential one I still consider it a nice show-piece for collector's of early 70's hard-edged progressive music in particular.