Customer Reviews

Rough & Ready

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

ROUGH AND READY announced the return of Jeff Beck after a near-fatal car accident, and who could've thought of a better way to do it? Mixing Memphis funk with heavy metal, he adds soulful vocals from Bob Tench, who is as unique in his own way as Rod Stewart was in his. This album is a must have for both R&B AND metal fans.

Somewhere after this album, Jeff realized that he would no longer need the obstructions of vocalists, nor would he need to pursue "that Motown sound" ever again. Yes, the vocals and the crunchy funk is still here, but you can detect a coolness and clarification beginning here, much thanks to Max Middleton's contributions. Fusion is around the corner.

One track that stands above all the rest is the haunting instrumental "Max's Tune", originally titled "Raines Park Blues". It is a wet, rainy gray afternoon of a suite that is certainly one of the greatest Jeff Beck moments ever recorded.
It is worth the album all by itself.

I originally bought this in 8-track format, then LP, cassette and now CD...it is a classic, where every song on the album is excellent. "Jody" and "Situation" are my favorites and I can't believe they didn't get included in the box set...in fact none of the album did!!

This is a fine early 70's effort from the second (or maybe third) incarnation of Jeff Beck and his merry sidemen, and has aged surprisingly well. One can sense Beck's slight turn toward the jazz leanings that would soon become his forte,although he is still hanging on to his rock/blues roots on this set. There is some interesting diversity on "Rough & Ready", everything from the heavy riff rock of "Train Train", the jazz-rock leanings on "Situation" and "Got The Feeling", to the beautiful and ethereal "Max's Tune".The album features fine drumming from the late Cozy Powell and outstanding playing overall from the musicians involved. I hope this CD is next in line for a proper remastering, a la "Truth" & "Beck-Ola" (July 2000 reissue versions)--it sorely needs it!

I just love this album, and I've heard many. "Jody" is my favorite cut, then "I've been used". It's a great group of musicians and a fantastic album. A gem!

Rough and Ready is indeed not only an "album" rather than a group of songs, but also a feeling, a feeling that starts with the very first song..... you'll likely soon realize it is the feeling you want .... a true music lover knows the unique quality of that feeling and how uplifting it can be.....I am here to suggest that this feeling is likely to be a constant while listening to this album, a soaring, epic expression of musical genius. This will be especially so once you get to know it as I do. Other than Sgt. Pepper, I don't know of any album that I listened to so frequently for so long - or with such relish! A teenager when I feel in love with Rough & Ready and the one of a kind intelligence of Jeff Beck as a guitarist ..... it has proven to well withstand the test of time - I may love it even more today! The eclectic chemistry of this band creates a sound that is essentially a compelling rock genre of it's own. I was between college and high school while I was quite addicted to listening to this album,at maximum volume, practically every day (for longer than I might care to admit) and on headphones if at all possible, but always LOUD.....because this album has punch, crunch, nuance and beauty that simply sounds better louder. Cozy Powell drove the tight rhythm section which Beck danced on and with - all like they had always been together. Though I agree that Bob Tench's singing doesn't quite electrify you (like Powell, Beck and Middleton do) but he was actually the perfect unexpected touch making this a blend of music that is, as I said, almost a genre of it's own.....one that is very easy to enjoy with most any other lover! It still sounds fresh and I SO wish my 25 year old son, who I am currently sharing much about music (and life) - since I've only known him since he was 18, had seen Beck's live San Diego show with me in 2007 when his playing and his band was so good that I often found myself just laughing because I simply had to emote and I was embarrassed to cry any more tears of joy in the presence my former pro musician bro' buddy who simply sat next to me - chin on chest. Afterward he said, "That's it. Music can't get better than that" It was a concert that had it all....as heavy as anything I've ever heard but as tasty and nuanced too, with a James Brown funk thing running through it all that just kept everybody happy. That's Jeff Beck today....and that is also Rough and Ready. Great lyrics for all but especially a young adult. The double-tracked guitar solo on "Situation" is so fat and meaty and has that most perfect rock tone that Beck "magically" gets with few effects....just listen as many times as you can....it really is better EVERY time. It's also the only way to know the ineffable - that which is truly not able to be said and understood simply because it is for listening, an experience which is too good for words!

With the exception of one record ("Flash"), Jeff Beck has released records only when he's satisfied he's found a departure he likes in his playing. "Rough and Ready" is a good example. Where it's predecessor, "Beckola", explored the juxtaposition of molton riffage and Motown-on-Mars rhythm guitars, this record runs through a haberdashery of styles. As one would expect, when taken as songcraft, the results are uneven. So what. Beck has often puzzled us with his choice of material.

The playing, however, is never in question and this record succeeds 30 years after it was made because nobody else melded this much melodic sense, dexterity, emotion and lead-footed, rammed-air moxie into one package. The principal style of the set is a stripped-down, trebbly approach, fingerpicked through the range of the fretboard. This is generally set against Beck's heavier stuff, which he's using a little more sparingly here - the band sound is so punched up that it buys him some room to lighten up - and he's not so apt to triple track himself as in "Beckola". In hindsight, much was made of the jazz in this record, which was mostly limited to Rains Park Blues (or whatever it was called) but really that stuff is non-essential as are the lyrics and Bob Tenche's merely adequate vocals. This is a guitar record and nobody - not even Brother Duane - -could do it like this.

This album features New Ways Train Train. Maybe once on every album does the Godfather of Flash Rock guitar put a penning out which includes vocals.
This has got to be his best effort as a song writer,although all of his original material is choice. It is still a fact that the best have never reached the mainstream. Beck is a perfect example ,The guitarist that shaped and basically molded the sound and approach of also rans,Jimi Hendrix,Jimmy Page,Edward Van Halen,Steve Vai,and anybody else who came along after 1965. Beck had already done it! This album will only intensify your hunger for quality musicianship! Warning not for posers.

This album sounds best played loud! Cozy Powell is excellent here and Beck is off the wall and at his wildest (he was deliriously suffering from headaches due to a recent car accident) yet his tone and playing is accurate.

This album show Jeff's migration from Rock to Jazz Rock/Fusion. Max Middleton works so beautifully with Jeff. Too bad Jeff let him go after Wired. You can hear Jeff's influence by Jan Hammer in the song "New Ways/Train Train". Word is Jeff changed his direction when he heard Jan on John Ambercrombie's "Timeless" album, specifically the cut "Red and Orange". Give it a listen and have bandaids ready for your ears. Jeff Beck...there is no substitute!