Customer Reviews

Live at Record Plant

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I was enthralled to finally find a LIVE Savoy Brown album which represented how Kim Simmond's guitar sounds onstage. This album recorded Live in the studio is from the Wire Fire band in 1975. It includes those songs and more-the best ever version of All I Can Do Is Cry-Lead Guitar Heaven!! If you like hot but tasteful blues guitar-this is a must have!

This gig was recorded live at The Record Plant Studio in NYC in late 1975 in front of a select crowd.It's line-up can boast of one original member,founder/guitarist Kim Simmonds and long-time keyboardist/vocalist Paul Raymond.Like Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash,between myself and fellow music fans,Savoy Brown has always been considered to be a fine underground band.Out of the seven tracks here,the Savoy really showcases plenty of somewhat brilliant playing on "Hellbound Train" and "Savoy Brown Boogie".Also dug "Tell Mama" and their cover of an old blues standard "You Don't Have To Go".Simmons was noted for wanting THIS version of the band to display more emphasis on his guitar playing.That mission was accomplished.

From time to time, I'll read a review about Savoy Brown, obviously written by a non-fan, which will state that not only is the Chris Youlden version the best edition of this band (hard to argue that one!), but that it's the ONLY edition that recorded anything worth considering!!! All I can say to that is brother, open your ears, because you're missing a LOT of great music, including this disc! Recorded live at the Record Plant (thus the name) in 1975 by the Wire Fire band, an edition of SB not usually considered one of the best, this band nevertheless rocks with fervor and jams with a passion so intense, that the result is one of the finest live albums of Kim and Co's forty years in the business. How could this be?? Well, let's start with excellent sound quality, notably lacking from most other SB live albums; it doesn't hurt that The Record Plant is a famous recording studio noted for excellent acoustics. Next, a solid bottom from bassist Andy Rae and drummer Tommy Farnell. Then two, not one, killer soloists: Founder/guitarist/guru Kim Simmonds (he of the fabulous chops!) and the gifted keyboardist and songwriter Paul Raymond. Most of the songs are jams, each about 5-9 minutes long (just long enough for a nice, juicy solo; not long enough to be BORING), with an excellent mix of time-honored SB classics ("Tell Mama," "All I Can Do," and an amazingly good "Hellbound Train") and newer material ("Hero to Zero," and one of the albums true highlights, "Born Into Pain", featuring a mesmerizing riff from Paul Raymond!) Through it all, Simmonds and Raymond repeatedly goad each other to new heights; each of these masters made some of their finest music together. Neither sing as well as Chris Youlden or Lonesome Dave, but both manage enough passion to deliver the goods. In any case, search and search again for this overlooked gem, and be sure to plant it in your collection right away!!

I saw this lineup twice at the Electric Ballroom in Dallas in '75/'76, and they were really tight. Probably at their peak, particularly since Paul Raymond was the key with great keyboards, and second guitar, and I think the best singer Savoy ever had (and I have all their best records with Chris Youlden, Lonesome Dave and Dave Walker singing). They played these songs and many more, Kim was engaging with the crowd, and the band really put out. This recording is OK, but why do a live album in a studio? The Electric Ballroom sound was much better, and the crowd was typical of Dallas: enthusiastic and appreciative. I still remember the shouts of "Savoy!" I understand why Paul left for bigger things with UFO, but I still wish he'd come back, since UFO seems to have tanked long ago. Or Kim, why not at least get another keyboard player? Anyway, I digress from the fact that aside from a slow start on vocal coordination on Tell Mama, and the fact that Kim's rythem notes during Paul's excellent solos are too loud, and Kim's singing is too much and Paul's too little for me, the album rocks and is a fun memory for Savoy fans, especially from their peak Hellbound, Street Corner, Lions Share and Wire Fire era.