Mallard / In a Different Climate [Import]

Mallard | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 22, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI Europe Generic
• ASIN: B000026LQ0
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,552 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Back On The Pavement

2. She's Long And She's Lean

3. Road To Morrocco

4. One Day Once

5. Yellow

6. Desperados Waiting For A Train

7. A Piece Of Me

8. Reign Of Pain

9. South Of The Valley

10. Winged Tuskadero

11. Peon

12. Green Coyote

13. Your Face On Someone Else

14. Harvest

15. Mama Squeeze

16. Heartstrings

17. Old Man Grey

18. Texas Weather

19. Big Foot

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars mallard magic, February 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mallard / In a Different Climate (Audio CD)

Mallard arrived and disappeared from the music scene in the mid 70's so fast that even some Captain Beefheart fans never knew they existed. But the Captains ex Magic Band members put down some fabulous music after their careers with Don Van Vliet ended. They recorded 2 albums, "Mallard" in 1975 and "In a Different Climate" in 1976, both of which are on this cd. The first album featured lots of instrumental ventures reminiscent of their work with Beefheart but more tuneful and listenable than the last couple of albums they made with the Captain. It also features the gravelly cowboy singing of Sam Galpin. In a Different Climate continues to explore western themes with songs that use all the genius of Bill Harkleroad on guitar and Mark Boston on bass. I was lucky enough to see this band live in London in 1976. Any band that could play with Beefheart for several years had to be wierd, but the musicianship and creative genius that poured out of these guys made for unique music that has not dated. I still play these albums. On a couple of songs you get the impression they were trying to sound like Little Feat and get some commercial recognition. Sorry guys, you were always too different for that. There was no way this band could ever have gotten mass commercial acceptance, there is just too much artistry going on here. Boston's bass just glides all over the place and Harkleroad always manages to find places to go with the guitar that no one else thought of. If you like Beefheart you will love this cd. And if you also like Little Feat, especially on their "Sailin' Shoes" album then Mallard is a guaranteed winner. Music like this never gets played on fm radio, and when you discover it you know you are one of the lucky few who are on to something special. Mallard has found its way onto my stereo regularly for 25 years and so it will continue.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best band I had completely forgotten about!, September 9, 2001

By 

Gavin Wilson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mallard / In a Different Climate (Audio CD)

I was staggered to find this album while browsing through an adjacent stack in a London record store. (I was actually looking for a Magma CD.) What shocked me was that I had utterly forgotten Mallard. Despite my listening to a tape of the first MALLARD album incessantly in 1977, I hadn't given the band a moment's thought during the 1980s or 1990s. Somehow in the 15-year dash to replace my LP collection with CDs, that Mallard tape got totally overlooked.

Listening to this CD has been a source of pure pleasure, in part because I never realised the band had made a second LP, IN A DIFFERENT CLIMATE, which is just as good as the first, although different. ...

Overall, the band sound like a mixture of Little Feat, Ry Cooder, JJ Cale and the Magic Band. The vocalist occasionally sounds like the Captain, but more often like Joe Cocker. The music is a mixture of Southern boogie, C&W, and even jazz-rock. (Track #16, 'Heartstrings' would sit very comfortably alongside Little Feat's 'Day at the Dog Races' from TIME LOVES A HERO.) There is a wonderful perversity about Mallard's musical arrangements, which never take the predictable course.

The sleevenotes are informative, but omit some of the fundamental details such as who did the re-mastering and who designed the album covers. (The second LP cover looks to me like a Hipgnosis job.) There was a tendency in the 1970s to allow the firm that did your album cover also to redesign your logo. This was a mistake but probably a minor factor behind Mallard's not finding major commercial success. As musicians, Mallard were outstanding; as composers, they wrote great tunes. For some unclear reason, they recorded both albums, which are essentially American music, in England. ...

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars wonderful music but a flawed re-issue, April 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mallard / In a Different Climate (Audio CD)

Apparently there is a lot of interest in this band, the nucleus of Capt'n Beefheart's Magic Band from the glory years. I still have (and cherish) the two albums (vinyl) released in 1975 and 1977, "Mallard", and "In a Different Climate."

I haven't found this CD yet, but I must say the track list is puzzling. It seems to contain all but the last two cuts from the first lp [Mallard],leaving off the instrumental "peon" and including what appears to be an ellision of "Winged Tuskadero" (from the first) and "Heartstrings" (from the second. What's going on here? The anthology leaves out the entire first side of "Different Climate," which is a shame since it includes "Green Coyote" and "Your Face on Someone Else," the latter being one of the most haunting songs about alienation and loss I've ever heard.

In essense, this collection represents their first album, with a smattering of material from their second. Why it uses the title of the second, I do not know. This is a flawed reissue, if the track list represented here is accurate.

So anyway, ditto on most comments by other writers regarding the music. Virgin (or maybe Rhino, who knows how to do these things) should re-issue these as a two-fer and include all the materials. It's worth it.

-ptw-