JEFF BECK GROUP: ‎ROUGH AND READY

After leaving the Yardbirds, JEFF BECK launched a promising solo career, first with his debut release 'Truth' and then by launching THE JEFF BECK GROUP on his second release 'Beck-Ola,' but just as things were starting to take off, the rug slipped out from under his feet and his entire reality imploded. Due to tensions and musician ego issues between BECK and his band mates, lead singer Rod Stewart and bassist Ron Wood jumped shipped to form the successful band Faces. Likewise pianist Nicky Hopkins resented the fact the group was scheduled to play at Woodstock and in order to make it happen quit the band, joined Jefferson AIrplane (who did play Woodstock) and never looked back. BECK was starting a new project with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice but that would having to wait because adding insult to injury the following December, BECK suffered a fractured skull in a car accident. Bogert and Appice formed Cactus. The three would finally get together as a power trio and release one album titled 'Beck, Bogert & Appice' in 1973.

His musical career was put on hold for a couple years but after the dust settled BECK reformed THE JEFF BECK GROUP with a whole new cast of players. He recruited bassist Clive Chaman who had played with London Blues and on Jesus Christ Superstar, newbie keyboardist Max Middleton, drummer Cozy Powell of many bands including Youngblood and The Sorcerers and new lead vocalist Bobby Tench of the UK funk and soul rock band Gass. The result of this new lineup naturally swayed in the direction of Tench's vocal style which offered a new R&B and funk rock flavor to BECK's usual blues rock. Noticeably less heavy and less bluesy BECK's third album ROUGH AND READY was his first hint of the jazz-rock direction he would become famous for with albums like 'Blow By Blow' and 'Wired.' Sounding more like Traffic than Faces, the new JEFF BECK GROUP alienated a lot of followers who had long moved on given the early 1970s was a fertile playing field with countless new hybrids of rock music coming of age.

ROUGH AND READY is an odd mix of styles that hadn't quite gelled yet. Not knowing if the album should be a hard rock, jazz-rock or funk fueled soul rock creation, the album flails about trying through ideas out and seeing what will stick. The opening 'Got The Feeling' showcases a vocal led R&B funk style that sounds a bit like what you would imagine if Sly & The Family Stone would sound like had they gone in a more jazz-rock direction. The soul rock reminds a bit of Edgar Winter's White Trash however Bobby Tench lacked the vocal style of Edgar Winter or even Rod Stewart for that matter. He got the job done and nothing more. The strangest tune is probably the 8 minute plus 'Max's Tune' which offers some forays into jazz-rock instrumentation but stays pretty much out of rock territory leaving the heavier passages to exist solely in the context of lyric based compositions. This was the first BECK release to feature all originals with the all but one writer by BECK himself. The track 'Max's Tune' was predictable crafted by Max Middleton which explains it feeling like a fish out of water.

Overall this is a decent album although sounding a bit generic for the age. If you ask me it sounds like it could be a Free album as Tench often sounds like Paul Rodgers and the rock musical style is very much in line with Free, Bad Company, Humble Pie, Traffic and a gazillion other bands of the era. In many ways this type of album seems like the primary inspiration for more modern bands like The Black Crowes. Any way you slice it this is an OK album but hardly showcasing BECK at his peak. As a guitarist BECK plays the subordinate role here with some cool guitar licks emerging now and again but nothing outstanding that showcase the originality that was still a few years away. The album received mixed reviews with many missing the Rod Stewart days but then again they were getting their fill with Faces who scored a top 10 hit with the third album 'A Nod Is As Good As A Wink' To A Blind Horse' which came out the same year as this one. In the end ROUGH AND READY is a good listen but ultimately forgettable.