We bandy about the term 'pub-rock' here a surprising amount considered how short-lived its life-span, how small-scale its success and how ill-defined the term really is. Last time I tried to define the term I said, "Pub rock was an umbrella term for dozens of mid-70s English groups, each playing their own amalgam country-r&b-rockabilly in gritty pubs rather than stadiums" but even that would probably miss out funkier bands like Roogaltor and many more I can't even name. There was also a clear break between the bands who were more interested in playing country-rock and those who really wanted to be the Rolling Stones circa 1965. This 1979 album, The London R & B Sessions (Live at the Hope & Anchor, as even a cursory glance will tell, is firmly in the latter category. It's a retro-rockin' revival and features some fine bands of the era like the Lew Lewis Reformation, Wilko Johnson's Solid Senders, The (Count) Bishops and, fitting our recent theme, The Little Roosters (more HERE).
Tracklist
A1 Lew Lewis Reformer – You'd Better Watch Yourself
A2 Lew Lewis Reformer – Shake And Finger Pop
A3 Bogey Boys – Madison Blues
A4 Red Beans And Rice – Finger In My Eye
A5 Wilko Johnson's Solid Senders – The Whammy
A6 Untouchables - I Can't Be Satisfied
A7 Bogey Boys - You Can't Catch Me
A8 Cannibals - Just For Fun
B1 Pirates - Tear It Up
B2 Hope & Anchor House Band – Just A Little Bit
B3 Red Beans And Rice – Pucker Up Buttercup
B4 American Blues Legends – Why Do Everything Happen To Me
B5 Little Roosters - Roostering With Intent
B6 Blues Band – Death Letter
B7 Bishops – Taste And Try
B8 Pirates – All In It Together
So what do you, dear reader, maker of the more Stones-y side of of pub-rock? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (where you'll find the The London R & B Sessions).
