McGuinness Flint (self-titled)
Here’s another roots rock classic in the same vein as The Band, only this slice of ‘Americana’ is from the UK! McGuinness Flint is sort of ‘The British Band’ and their debut album is a good, straightforward roots rock record worthy of your attention.
McGuinness Flint are Steve McGuinness, former Manfred Mann guitarist, and Hughie Flint, former John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers drummer. They only lasted from about 1970-1973 and thus were a bit ahead of the emerging Pub Rock scene in the UK, which might have provided them some more longevity, but it was well received in 1971. Two of these songs made the top 5 upon release in the UK: the upbeat go-to track, When I’m Dead And Gone(#2), and the polka-ish Malt And Barley Blues(#5). There are fun and strong tunes here like Bodang Buck, and Lazy Afternoon has a great mid-song transition. Mister Mister is brilliantly penned and infinitely catchy. Mainly, a good English folk/blues classic, and a pleasurable listen.
Faintly, the album teases some classic rock schmaltz; I don’t know how comfortable I’d be singing along to the lyrics “Rock on, rock on, everybody’s gonna rock on!” (unless it were a T-Rex song or something). And one time I dj’ed a track from this at a party and had to cut it short. But you can’t let missteps like these be judge. Fans of the Band are sure to be pleased with this quality record and will find the right time and place to let it ride.
The Capitol Years collection of Flint is your best bet, combining their first two albums on the same affordable CD. Their 3rd album, Lo and Behold, is a collection of Dylan covers!
“When I’m Dead And Gone”
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A really great blog. Very informative and fun to read.
I’ll be a regular visitor. Good Stuff!
Props
Wow! I had thought of McGuiness Flint in 30 years, I bet. I still have this lp and listened to it a lot when it came out. I originally came here for the Todd stuff a while ago and keep coming back. Thanks for the memory jog.
That’s why we’re here! Very pleased for the company and comments, both. Hope you give that LP another good spin.
Wow. This was a great discovery. Thanks!
Mr McGuinness’s first name was Tom, not Steve. Also in the band were Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle, redoubtable songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, whose best known effort is probably Breakaway which was a biggie cover for Art Garfunkel. After MF split, McGuinness and Flint grouped up with Tom’s old colleague from Manfred Mann, Paul Jones, to form The Blues Band, who remain extant to this day (saw them gig in Bath earlier this year). Gallagher and Lyle went on to some commercial success as a duo under that name, and their catalogue is worth exploring if you appreciate classy AOR material, eg. if Breakaway does it for you. My favourite MF song is Bodang Buck which bounces along nicely on autoharp in my own solo set.