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Salient. Victoria University Students' Newspaper. Volume 39, Number 23. September 20, 1976

Rock

Rock

Record Review - Good King Bad

— Georqe Benson

Over the last 15-20 years Creed Taylor has established a reputation for himself as a producer of very high quality jazz, indeed his work has probably been unequalled in sophistication on the New Zealand market until quite recently. These days, the bulk of CTI recordings available here are of the big racy sounds of. Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard and the like. Full orchestral backing is common, and unfortunately polish often seems to be the predominant aim. (A widely known example, though slightly atypical in style, of his quality is found in the Esther Phillips recordings). The redeeming qualities of this style of jazz is in the excitement it generates; the pitfall is quite simply in overproduction. Guitarist George Benson's Good King Bad is the most unexciting and overproduced CTI record I have heard yet

The fault lies very largely in David Matthews' arrangement. The guitar is not the ideal instrument to lead a jazz combo of this size and style: to succeed it must be allowed near-virtuoso status, and this Matthews will not allow. Benson is a good player, but gentle, and has been provided with a full muted backing. Consequently the record borders on 'easy listening', and it shouldn't. On 'Siberian Workout', for example, Joe Farrell and Bobby Lyle contribute some very fine flute and keyboard work, but instead of preparing the way for some rousing guitar (which is what the track demands), they merely set a restrained tone from which Benson suffers for trying to match.

The line up is less impressive than usual on CTI, and doesn't always live up to what little promise it offers. Eric Gale plays some accomplished second guitar, but the brilliant Roland Hanna is disappointing on piano.

Farrell's flute, even though at its most unimaginative, and Lyle's keyboards come closest to making the record worth listening to. There are also a number of pop/rock/soul musicians (Lyle among them) who, according to Leonard Feather's liner notes, 'aspire to play serious things'. Perhaps they will some day. Their background ranges from Paul Simon to Sly Stone, and the transition thus far has not been all that difficult.

Vince Guaraldi's 1960 standard 'Cast Your Fate to the Wind' epitomizes this record. It's a harsh thing to say, but one wouldn't stop if they played it in the Cuba Mall. Benson calls the style 'sophisticated rhythm and blues'. That's a very good example of the kind of ridiculous type of jazz industry is into. He deserves a better chance.

—Simon Wilson

Fly Like an Eagle: Steve Miller Band

Once a group made it on the cunning guiles of a manager, depending on how many dolly types from bopper magazines could be wined and dined and fucked, depended on whether or not the groups next single or album got a mention in the mass gossip column.

Once this was the way in which these things were done don't you know.

Then along came a thing called taste and man made a fortune. These men called themselves arrangement & rythm or A & R as they become known - one of the biggest of them being Phil Spector.

A group would be signed to record and the first thing was too get the A & R men to see the group were playing the right chords. So the producer would only have to worry about getting the group to play the right chords in the right sequence. All this once sold records.

Ah, but our story does not stop there. Man being such an inventive being and technical innovations being what they are these days, he decided to give the job to machines. These machines exist in the form of sixteen track recording monsters which are giving birth to bigger monsters from the track engineers and master mixers.

These people have become the replacement of A & R men and teeny magazines and the like. Unfortunately a record album can now be made or broken in the studio, by the studio. Steve Miller is fully aware of this and hence he used the best studios, equipment and technical staff to present us with his latest album "Fly Like An Eagle".

Any awares, bouquets, or the like should go to the technical staff or the monster recording equipment and studios certainly not to Miller or his band.

The material is for the most part stodgy and boring:

"Gonna buy me a mercury
Gonna go down-town
Cruise up and down this road"

This is one example of brilliant poigant lyrics -they don't even rhyme.

The sound on disc is clear and beautifully balanced. But for all of this it has a tired bored feeling coming over. I could almost picture Mallaber and Turner (The other members of Miller's band) putting their track down all on the same afternoon and leaving Miller to slave over a hot mixer for the next six weeks. A very unmemorable album from the band that gave us 'The Joker" album.