Customer Reviews

Slim Chance

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

 

 

The quality may drop just a notch from Anymore for Anymore, Ronnie Lane and Slim Chance's stunning debut, but this is still first-rate Ronnie Lane.

The album opens with "Little Piece of Nothing," a song about yearning for the quiet life punctuated with fiddle and accordian. This song--and, indeed, the entire album--reflects the quiet country life Ronnie retreated to after leaving the Faces two years earlier.

Ronnie then revisits "Stone," a song which first appeared on the Faces' debut First Step (and would return to again two years later on Pete Townshend's first solo album WHO CAME FIRST). The version here comes replete with banjo, mandolin and fiddle flourishes.

Other Lane originals include the rollicking instrumental "Street Gang" and the lovely "Anniversary" and "Give Me a Penny," which are perfect songs for Lane's achingly beautiful vocals.

Along with the Lane originals are some well chosen covers. The music hall treatment of "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" comes across as charming and endearing. The accordian bounce added to Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell" makes it a sheer delight. Lane's sheer enthusiasm pulls off the Fats Domino chestnut "Blue Monday."

While this version of Slim Chance no longer includes multi-instrumentalists Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle (who left to pursue a career as a duet), the current lineup picks up the slack nicely.

This CD reissue includes "Single Saddle" --a bonus track not on the original 1975 vinyl release--a mandolin-driven ditty, which is a nice addition to this collection. If you've already purchased Anymore for Anymore, this is your next stop. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

...and I yearn to be free from this social go-round." Creating outside of mainstream success, Ronnie Lane lived up to this line from "Little Piece of Nothing," which opens the album and shows his writing, along with that on "Tin and Tambourine," to be of the same caliber of Nick Drake and other chamber-folk-jazz-country poets of the early 70s. It's free of the excesses of his more popular British rock'n'roll contemporaries, his relaxed delivery less intent on aping American country and blues than giving the music an almost music hall spin, a distinctively English trait. I used to jokingly tell people that this, and Anymore For Anymore (his previous one with Slim Chance), were the best Dylan albums of the 70s, but that really sells Lane short -- there is a root common sense in his lyric-writing and tunesmithing that makes his songs instantly comfortable, the rough, good-humored warmth of his voice inviting people to listen. Unfortunately, not enough people did, at least while he was alive, but here's a fun party trick: put this on in a crowded room and EVERYONE will ask you who it is that's singing, he's just that good.

If you've read this far, trust me, Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance is a treasure of enjoyment that will last years. I could tell you how great each song was and expounded on the lifting joy this music gives me but I'll just say BUY IT NOW!

Ronnie Lane is no longer with us, and it is a crying shame. It is also a shame he never really got the recognition he deserved - especially for such fantastic albums as "Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance." This album has everything - intelligent lyrics, stirring music and smooth vocals. I am stingy with giving out 5 star ratings, but this album is very close. Ronnie has written some gems here - "Stone," for example, covers millions of years of evolution ary cause and effect, while "Give me a Penny" centers on the often poor life of a musician. The musical accompaniment is mostly acoustic here, with Ronnie playing guitars and other Slim Chance members playing mandolins, violins, harmonica, and horns (to name a few). They all seem to be having such a great time jamming. It is melodic without being stiff, funky without being repetitive. "You Never Can Tell," a Chuck Berry cover, is fun and groovy. And Ronnie's vocals are so optimisitic and smooth, it puts a smile on anyone's face to listen to him. I need more, more, more Ronnie Lane in my collection..

I've been a Ronnie Lane and Faces fan for some time and only recently discovered that Ronnie had the band Slim Chance. I got this album hoping that it would be full of laid back rockin' countryesque music that epitomizes Mahoney's Last Stand. It definetly lived up to my expectations. Fitting like an old sneaker in my musical life. If your a fan of Ronnie Lane and don't have Mahoney's Last Stand, get it!