Customer Reviews

Short Cut Draw Blood [LP VINYL]

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

 

 

Why on earth is this album deleted?? The title track in particular is brilliant, and a great example of the high quality pop/rock that the mid-70s produced in such abundance (see also the best tracks by bands such as Ace and Stretch).

If you would just love to see this great Capaldi album made available again, please mark this review as helpful.

This CD is a must have for anyone who loves great music and wants to purchase something which your friends will ask you "hey just where did you get this CD and who is it by?" Mr. Capaldi a mainstay in the supergroup Traffic for many years offers up his first solo effort and it is simply outstanding. From his great cover of "Love Hurts" to the R & R boogie of the title tune to the somber and thoughtful "Goodbye Love" this CD is strong from beginning to end and would be a great addition to anyone's music collection as it is well produced, superbly composed and adroitly performed.

Traffic was one of the first bands I really dug - after Beatles and Rolling Stones, and Allman Brothers and... one or two others. Shortly after discovering Traffic I listened to this recording and was so impressed I made a recording of it. For many years I listened to this really crappy tape recording, but the music was good enough to shine through.

I've revisited Traffic in recent years, bought everything they've made and even a couple of Steve Winwood solo efforts, which I found disappointing. Jim Capaldi I remember as being better than that. I've been keeping an eye out for this CD in recent years. Though I can scarcely remember it - I'm talking an unbelievable 30 years ago now, I do remember it was absolutely first class. I bought a more recent Jim Capaldi recording recently to see if it compared, but it was nothing to how I remember SCDB.

Unless & until this album becomes widely available again this review won't matter much, but here it is...

SCDB is widely considered the "masterpiece" of Traffic drummer/lyricist Capaldi's prolific solo career. I've only heard a handful of his many albums, but SCDB may well qualify as the best overall (though there are a few stray Capaldi songs elsewhere that I think beat everything on it). It's certainly the only Capaldi album I've heard that I can stand to listen to all the way through... but that's a long way from "masterpiece."

The late Capaldi was known as a drummer, singer, and writer of words & music. For some reason he didn't seem to do much drumming on his own albums -- odd, because drumming was what he did best. Also odd is the fact that he's so well known as a lyricist, because that was usually his weakest area (especially on his solo albums). Song after song sounds like he didn't labor on the lyrics but just went with whatever came into his head on his first draft. The title track -- which, to Capaldi's credit, does have clever wordplay and a memorable melody on the chorus -- has verses where too many words are crammed into lines with little regard for meter. "Boy With A Problem" had potential to be a powerful song but lazy lyrics cripple it.

Overall, though, every song is good if not great, and things get better as the album progresses. The best piece is probably the lengthy "Keep On Trying" with its party atmosphere and spoken verses (something that often doesn't work when tried, but works great here). The best-known track, a cover of "Love Hurts," is actually one of the lesser tracks. The other cover, the reggae-tinged "Johnny Too Bad," is better.

Traffic fans should note that every post-1972 (and pre-1994) member of Traffic appears on here somewhere, usually multiple times. Chris Wood (who may have been the subject of "Boy With A Problem") shows up late to the party, playing very recognizably Wood-ish flute (and sounding as if it was difficult for him to make even that small contribution) on the pretty closer, "Seagull."

There may be a bit too much blatantly '70s production and some lyrics that could have been stronger, but overall this is a good place for Traffic fans to check out what Capaldi did outside the band -- or it would be if anyone could find it.