Click to play a clip of You're All Alone
TIME WILL BE YOUR DOCTOR: RARE RECORDINGS 1971-1972
REVIEW (Record Collector) by John Sturdy
I've often wondered how musicians must feel about the apparently arbitrary nature of critical revisionism and after-the-fact collectability. The End, for example, are widely acknowledged now as one of the finest late-60s UK psychedelic pop bands, with a posthumous reputation that has enabled no fewer than three albums of contemporaneous out-takes to appear over the last few years. But Tucky Buzzard, featuring the same pool of musicians a year or so further own the line, don't even register on the collecting radar, despite having been more widely-feted during their lifetime than had the largely anonymous The End.
Buy Tucky Buzzard - Time Will Be Your Doctor signed by former Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman
These three early-70s albums, now reissued through manager and former Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman's own label, show that Buzzard deserve a better deal from the history books tan they have received thus far.
Their eponymous debut set, recorded over a 15-month period that stretched back to 1969, is a genuinely impressive example of the type of record that the best British bands were making at the turn of the decade, with tracks like My Friend (featuring a cameo appearance from Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor) and Time Will Be Your Doctor pitched midway between the mature psychedelic sound of yore and the new, heavier prog-rock style.
Tucky Buzzard is chock-full of immaculate vocal harmonies, impeccable musicianship and engaging melodies, though a version of Leon Russell's Pisces Apple Lady is another indication of how the sands of time change our perception of what is cool. Back in 1970, Russell was rapidly becoming part of the new rock royalty, and covering one of his songs must have seemed a canny move; these days he's a largely forgotten figure.
Warm Slash, which appeared in November 1971, represents a stylistic step sideways, and clearly reflects he omnipotent influence of Led Zeppelin on British rock musicians of the period. Lead singer, Jimmy Henderson provides his best Robert Plant banshee wail on Burnin' and Fill You In and an atypical Goundhogs-style blues-rock shuffle, Need Your Love. Occasionally, Buzzard take their eye off the ball - notably on She's A Striker, which ends up in Row Z rather than the back of the net - but this is an album that will please a lot of people who regret the passing of the basic early-70s Brit hard rock sound.
Despite its relatively meagre running time, Coming On Again is arguably the most consistent of this particular Buzzard triumvirate. Recorded in Spain in 1972, it eschews the hard rock approach of Warm Slash to re-adopt the sound of the band's debut album, with lovely choral harmonies and a greater sense of melodic ambition allied to some superb baroque arrangements from Walter (now Wendy) De Los Rios.
Though the album peaks on the highly ambitious, side-long title track suite, Buzzard's lightness of touch can also be found on mature ballads like You're All Alone and Lady Fair, leaving Coming On Again as a clear and unexpected triumph for the band and producer Bill Wyman alike.
TIME WILL BE YOUR DOCTOR: RARE RECORDINGS 1971-1972
REVIEW (Record Collector) by John Sturdy
I've often wondered how musicians must feel about the apparently arbitrary nature of critical revisionism and after-the-fact collectability. The End, for example, are widely acknowledged now as one of the finest late-60s UK psychedelic pop bands, with a posthumous reputation that has enabled no fewer than three albums of contemporaneous out-takes to appear over the last few years. But Tucky Buzzard, featuring the same pool of musicians a year or so further own the line, don't even register on the collecting radar, despite having been more widely-feted during their lifetime than had the largely anonymous The End.
Buy Tucky Buzzard - Time Will Be Your Doctor signed by former Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman
These three early-70s albums, now reissued through manager and former Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman's own label, show that Buzzard deserve a better deal from the history books tan they have received thus far.
Their eponymous debut set, recorded over a 15-month period that stretched back to 1969, is a genuinely impressive example of the type of record that the best British bands were making at the turn of the decade, with tracks like My Friend (featuring a cameo appearance from Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor) and Time Will Be Your Doctor pitched midway between the mature psychedelic sound of yore and the new, heavier prog-rock style.
Tucky Buzzard is chock-full of immaculate vocal harmonies, impeccable musicianship and engaging melodies, though a version of Leon Russell's Pisces Apple Lady is another indication of how the sands of time change our perception of what is cool. Back in 1970, Russell was rapidly becoming part of the new rock royalty, and covering one of his songs must have seemed a canny move; these days he's a largely forgotten figure.
Warm Slash, which appeared in November 1971, represents a stylistic step sideways, and clearly reflects he omnipotent influence of Led Zeppelin on British rock musicians of the period. Lead singer, Jimmy Henderson provides his best Robert Plant banshee wail on Burnin' and Fill You In and an atypical Goundhogs-style blues-rock shuffle, Need Your Love. Occasionally, Buzzard take their eye off the ball - notably on She's A Striker, which ends up in Row Z rather than the back of the net - but this is an album that will please a lot of people who regret the passing of the basic early-70s Brit hard rock sound.
Despite its relatively meagre running time, Coming On Again is arguably the most consistent of this particular Buzzard triumvirate. Recorded in Spain in 1972, it eschews the hard rock approach of Warm Slash to re-adopt the sound of the band's debut album, with lovely choral harmonies and a greater sense of melodic ambition allied to some superb baroque arrangements from Walter (now Wendy) De Los Rios.
Though the album peaks on the highly ambitious, side-long title track suite, Buzzard's lightness of touch can also be found on mature ballads like You're All Alone and Lady Fair, leaving Coming On Again as a clear and unexpected triumph for the band and producer Bill Wyman alike.
