Ahh...
Southern Rock. Breathe deeply and you
can smell it. Well, not the music, but
you can sure fill your nostrils with the
heavy aroma of Jack Daniels. Southern
Rock comes in many different packages,
like Little Feat, very funky; the Outlaws,
country influence; Blackfoot, who veered
heavily towards hard rock; the Allman
Brothers, carrying the flag for the blues;
and of course Lynyrd Skynyrd, the ultimate
Southern rock band. Molly Hatchet are
the Stones and rhythm and blues influenced
Southern rock band. What all the bands
have in common is gruff vocals, a penchant
for guitar solos, and no regard to dress
sense as long as it’s blue jeans
and cowboy boots, topped off by a Stetson
hat. Also scant notice is taken of expanding
waistlines and certainly no regard is
wasted in keeping a stable line-up. Molly
Hatchet are true to form in all these
elements.
This album catches Molly Hatchet in fine
form with the great Danny Joe Brown out
in front with his hard living attitude
and great diction. He sang and lived the
Southern attitude to the maximum, a great
focal point, charisma just oozed from
this man, his vocals completely dominate
these recordings, which is no mean feat
considering what is behind him. Danny
Joe Brown can be heard at his absolute
best on Hatchet’s tribute to Lynyrd
Skynyrd, when they break into a eleven
minute version of ‘Freebird’
in the middle of this set. The song is
given an emotional introduction before
the band came crashing in. What a band,
too. By now and after six years on the
road, when this concert was recorded on
a home coming gig in Dallas, Texas and
a sultry night in Jacksonville, Florida,
the Hatchet had reduced to a twin lead
guitar attack (there had originally been
three) comprising of Dave Hlubek, who
turns in a fine display of slide playing,
and other original Hatchet man Duane Roland.
Backing them up are Bruce Crump on drums
and the marvelously monikered Riff West
on bass. Sitting quietly at the side of
the stage was the recently acquired John
Galvin on keyboards, but there really
isn’t much room in Southern Rock
for tinkling of the ivories with all the
guitar and vocal action going on.
All the classic Hatchet songs are featured
here in all their glory. (One glance at
the song titles will tell you what they
are about.) The band takes most songs
on the gallop and only occasionally swaggers
into a canter. Certainly do not bother
looking for any ballads here; not an album
to sit down to. Instead, turn up the volume
to eleven and do some grotesque gurning
down at the front of the stage. Every
song here would go down well at the front
in Tahitian Queens famous rock ’n’
roll Happy hour on Friday evening.
Molly Hatchet is now embarking on their
25-year anniversary tour. But, is it really
Molly Hatchet you may ask? After this
long life span all of the original members
of the band have left. Even this line-up,
which played together six years after
the band’s conception, only contained
three originals, and none of these guys
are presently with the band. Over the
years new guys arrived to fill the shoes
of those who left and Southern Rock is
an attitude, not a line-up. So what the
heck, if it sounds good and feels good,
love it. Deep Purple have only got the
drummer left from the original quintet,
and they make Spinal Tap look like a stable
animal.
So then, why only three Stars? Well,
two songs have been left off from the
original release to make it possible to
fit onto one C.D. When it comes to releases,
this dog wants it all. Then the transfer
over onto C.D. from the tapes is appalling,
losing an awful lot of the bottom end.
If ever a collection of songs needed the
double C.D. re-mastered, made over with
additional tracks, etc., this is it. Warner
Brothers have already done a marvelous
job of re-vamping Little Feats live album
"Waiting for Columbus". Com’on,
Epic Records, the Hatchet job’s
awaiting.
Scratched by Mott the Dog
Re-assembled by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
