09. Bloodrock Bloodrock 1969 (Capitol)
Hard Rock
A tasty slice of Texan hard rock.
Overview
A Texas based quintet that shared the same management as the better known Grand Funk Railroad and also initially benefitted from the production skills of Terry Knight, whose production touch at the time seemed to be a touch of commercial gold for the bands he worked with. The band had a great live show which again has been superbly captured on this album. As a band they were greatly inspired by the heavy organ driven sound of bands like Iron Butterfly, Deep Purple and especially the Doors, they also had a strong vocalist in drummer Jim Rutledge whose vocal style cries of Jim Morrison on numerous cuts throughout this album. Also Lee Pickens must've been one of the most underrated guitarists around at that time and he's certainly a guy that deserves more credit as this album proves. Throughout the album, an avid listener can often pick up the humour that abounds in the lyrics.
Jim Rutledge-Drums/Vocals
Lee Pickens-Guitar
Nick Taylor- Guitar
Ed Grundy- Bass
Steve Hill- Keyboards/Organ
Production- Terry Knight
Album
Gotta Find a Way- A great 6 min plus opener with a the band's full complement firing on all cylinders.
Castle of Thought- Now this is one of your typical second tracks on an album.
Fatback- Love this song, as the Door's influence is strong here and Jim Rutledge sounds like a gruffer Jim Morrison, and the lyrics are so Doors as well! The song is dominated by a throbbing beat combined with some great work by Steve Hill.
Double Cross- One of the best tracks on the album, pulverizing with some exquisite riffing from the underrated Lee Pickens on guitar, at times it sounds like a Deep Purple song.
Timepiece- A sombre sounding song that again relies on power and with a heavy Doors twinge. A song that the future Dio could've covered very well and thinking about it Eddie Vedder was made to sing this kind of song as well.
Wicked Truth- A nifty sounding song that ticks along with various musical changes throughout.
Gimme Your Head- Steady track that leads up to the two finale songs on the album.
Fantastic Piece of Architecture- A song that could've blessed any Doors album, accompanied by some superb funeral organ.
Melvin Laid an Egg- 7 plus minutes of driving riffs with a very heavy organ accomapaniment.
Verdict
I wouldn't necessarily call Bloodrock a one-trick pony, but from a creative aspect they were never able to match their debut album, despite having a reasonable amount of future commercial success and the rest of their discography often gave over to blander meat and potatoes type hard rock. Bloodrock also never had the longevity of the better known Grand Funk Railroad either. The band though, still seems to have a cult following and usually pop-up when the word "proto-metal" gets mentioned. Therefore making this a good album to check out for anybody interested in this time period, the rest of their discography though is strictly just for fans. After this album, the band actually went onto record their best known song "D.O.A" which features on their second album, which happens to be their best known album as well. I should mention that this is the first and only entry by Bloodrock in this journal, as competition gradually got hotter and hotter as the following years went by.