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| RAVEN - JOHN CIPOLLINA (RAVEN) |
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| Extraordinary guitarist John Cipollina (now very sadly deceased) was at his inspirational best when he assembled this band, comprised of former players from Quicksilver Messenger Service, Terry & The Pirates, Copperhead and The Jones Boys. Throw in a couple of hot keyboardists with blues-rock sensibilities - Nicky Hopkins (Jeff Beck Group, The Rolling Stones) and Clay Cotton (Charlie Musselwhite) � �Maelstrom� guitarist Greg Douglass (Steve Miller Band, Country Weather, Hot Tuna) and former Fleetwood Mac/Savoy Brown singer Dave Walker, and the true meaning of �powerhouse� (one of the initial band names under consideration) emerges.
Before the end of his illustrious but relatively short life, Cipollina succeeded in gaining the respect of hordes of his musical peers, but his brilliance as both a guitarist and songwriter was somehow overlooked in the higher echelons of the music business itself. While this particular ambitious endeavour never really had the chance to get off the ground, Douglass opines that it was John�s perfectionism that sabotaged the group as a live performing entity. Where the band would have preferred to hone its collective chops on the road, John was adamant about rehearsing the new material until he was satisfied with the results. It probably wasn�t easy scoring live gigs for such a large ensemble of players, either, even one with such a wealth of talent, but at least its legacy remains intact with this recording, originally released on vinyl by Line Records in Germany, and now re-released (with additional tracks) by Evangeline Records in the U.K. There are numerous outstanding original tracks on this CD, such as �Unvicious Circle� (a beautiful instrumental), �Clouds� (which was initially composed by Boyd Albritton), �All Worth the Price You Pay� (whose mocking lyrics state: �I can�t sing you the lowdown blues; I got too much culture�), �Ride (Highway Song)�, �Burning Corte Madera� (an ode to John�s recording studio, written by Jim McPherson, who performs on keyboards and vocals), �Truth� (which sounds, incredibly, like a mixture of Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and Black Sabbath), �Bad News�, as well as Deke Leonard�s �Razor Blade and Rattlesnake� ( on his Iceberg and Wireless CDs). James Hutchinson adds yet another great layer of sound on synthesizer and vocals on the CD. Speaking of singers, drummer Andy Kirby (of King Kong) doubles as lead singer, in addition to those tracks where Dave Walker belts out his early Rod Stewart-like rasp. Rounding out the musical cast are second drummer, David Weber (Copperhead and Front Page Review), and lone bassist Skip Olson (who got fired from Quicksilver when he chose to gig with this offshoot band instead). It seems that Cipollina had a �Pied Piper� persona about him; whenever he left a band, other members tended to follow him. John Cipollina Raven renders rock�n�roll as I remember it to be - a helluva lot of fun and satisfyingly creative. How do you describe a band that simultaneously kicks the crap out of the best of �70s American rock (Aerosmith, James Gang, Bad Company, Styx, etc.), the country-rock of the Grateful Dead, Southern boogie-rockers like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers and even The Guess Who (on �Grass is Greener on the Other Side�)? F�n great, I would say! |
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