Reg King (self-titled)
Reg King belonged to the Action, Mighty Baby, Blossom Toes, B.B. Blunder family tree, leaving the Action before they became Mighty Baby and performing with (ex-Blossom Toes) B.B. Blunder after releasing this acclaimed and rare solo record.
Members from the bands above would form the backbone for this project, recorded over three years and guesting Stevie Winwood on keys. The Action had cut their teeth covering Motown soul during the mid 60s and those influences had not gone amiss for this LP, albeit through distorted guitars and stoney jams. The leadoff track “Must Be Something Else Around” is a blistering slice of hard English rock that probably gave Led Zep a brief jolt of anxiety. “That Ain’t Living” has the explosive impatience of certain tracks I know from The Action, but add this album’s key ingredient: raw and relentless blue-eyed soul, propelled by Reg King’s voice – probably the best of the British hard-rock-soul singers.
It’s not a grand slam on the other hand. I’m not much of a blues-hound, so “Down The Drain,” or six-minutes of predictable blues doesn’t do it for me. But “That Ain’t Living” pushes hard through a fully worthwhile six of spirited rock. There are a couple less memorable tracks, but the good hooks make this record worth a spin. Perhaps a good introduction to the Action family tree .
“Must Be Something Else Around”
CD reissue | 2007 | Circle Records | Reg King
Original Issue | mega rare | search ebay ]
Spotify link | listen ]
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That first song is a fuckin’ jam! great stuff!!
I love this music! It is so good!
This is incredible, thanks so much
This is an amazing album/CD! I bought the LP when it first came out in ’71 and it quickly become one of my favorite albums of all time. “Little Boy” should have been a huge single, but I don’t think that the record company worked it all that hard.
Since then, I’ve snatched up a couple of CD re-releases (one of which contains lots of extra tracks). What a great voice!
Any fan of this might like The Action’s Rolled Gold CD. Demos for a 1967-68 album that was never made. Even in rough form a powerful group of songs,two of which were remade for Reg King (1971)