Classic Rock Album of the Day- Foghat- Night Shift (1976) ****
Today, I am going to offer homage to the first headlining band that I saw in concert back in 1976, Foghat. And what a great concert it was. It was a 3 band bill, starting with Head East, secondly, Styx, and finally Foghat. Yeah, what a night. Maybe the best $6.00 I ever spent on music.
I am kind of surprised it took 94 of these reviews for me to finally get to the great mainstays of the early to mid 1970's AOR circuit Foghat. Maybe because I was so torn between the two really good albums that marks their standing in rock history. I could have easily went with "Fool For the City". It had their two latter more well known hits, the title track and of course "Slow Ride". To me it is an equally excellent album with Nightshift, but Fool For the City got so much more airplay. I can think of at least two movies that used "Slow Ride" in their soundtracks as kind of a barometer of the times. Don't get me wrong, I love the LP, and wore the sucker out. But with Nightshift, you get something more adventerous, mysterious, and consistent with their roots. These guys were bad. ass blues rock and rollers for their time, and with this album they don't disappoint. There isn't a song on this album not to enjoy. The real early stuff of Fogaht is fantastic too, and contains a more hard core bash 'em blues in that dueling style I like. They were consistent, and the guys really didn't make a bad album, until after this one.
Foghat's brain trust is Lonesome Dave Peverett. He dominates the lyrical and songwriting chores with the band, and does a bang up job, showing us just who was the talent behind some of the early Savoy Brown. This album was probably looked at somewhat risk, with a huge lineup change at bass, but in essence, though Foghat encompasses the bass lines nicely in their repitoire, the band's sound still really focuses on it's signature ax grinding. Which leads me to that signature slide..... You can't underestimate the talent of their slide guitarist "The Bottle". Rod Price. Of course, Lonesome Dave got the solos, accolades and the spot light but without Price's sound, Foghat would have just have been another rock band in the crowd.
Fun Fact: With all of the hilarious Spinal Tap references around drummer turnover, .......... Foghat's Drummer Roger Earl is the only constant, and is present on every one of Foghat's works 1972-2018.
Side 1-
-----------
Driving Wheel- Blasting out the gates in a heavy heavt bluezy fashion. Very typical of your Fogat stuff of the era. Fantastic. 3
Don't Run Me Down- Da woman did me wrong contribution on the LP. No blues album is complete without one. Good one of course, and it morphs into a NOLA like boogey and back with ease and grace. No bad tunes on this one. 4
Burnin' the Midnight Oil- This one has that "Slow Ride" feel, and kind of borrows some of it's riff lines. Nothing to really say bad about the song. Maybe just a lesser one of an excellent album. 5
Side 2-
-------------
Night Shift- Not too often the title track is one of the weakest on the LP, but this is the case. Very competent musically, but way too mainstream, and the ax solos feel forced and formulaic. 6
Hot Shot Love- Like the title track, this seems like a Peverett songwriting lull. Would be a nice tune for another band, but this is a weaker one of an excellent album. 7
Take Me to the River- Boom!!!.... Now this is bad ass. By far the greatest cover of the Al Green R & B classic. Peverett took the standard, and remade it into a classic. At least classic in my corner of rock and roll. Remember my earlier comment about understated bass lines? Not here friends. Bass shreds that augment some fantastic and innovative guitar. This one went under the radar, that is for sure, and is sadly forgotten. 1
I'll Be Standing By- Talk about a closing strong. This is an absolutley beautiful bluesey ballad like tune that pulls from all aspects of Foghat's talented line up. So well written, so well delievered. This was a cool Power Ballad, way before they became fashionaable in rock and roll. 2
Today, I am going to offer homage to the first headlining band that I saw in concert back in 1976, Foghat. And what a great concert it was. It was a 3 band bill, starting with Head East, secondly, Styx, and finally Foghat. Yeah, what a night. Maybe the best $6.00 I ever spent on music.
I am kind of surprised it took 94 of these reviews for me to finally get to the great mainstays of the early to mid 1970's AOR circuit Foghat. Maybe because I was so torn between the two really good albums that marks their standing in rock history. I could have easily went with "Fool For the City". It had their two latter more well known hits, the title track and of course "Slow Ride". To me it is an equally excellent album with Nightshift, but Fool For the City got so much more airplay. I can think of at least two movies that used "Slow Ride" in their soundtracks as kind of a barometer of the times. Don't get me wrong, I love the LP, and wore the sucker out. But with Nightshift, you get something more adventerous, mysterious, and consistent with their roots. These guys were bad. ass blues rock and rollers for their time, and with this album they don't disappoint. There isn't a song on this album not to enjoy. The real early stuff of Fogaht is fantastic too, and contains a more hard core bash 'em blues in that dueling style I like. They were consistent, and the guys really didn't make a bad album, until after this one.
Foghat's brain trust is Lonesome Dave Peverett. He dominates the lyrical and songwriting chores with the band, and does a bang up job, showing us just who was the talent behind some of the early Savoy Brown. This album was probably looked at somewhat risk, with a huge lineup change at bass, but in essence, though Foghat encompasses the bass lines nicely in their repitoire, the band's sound still really focuses on it's signature ax grinding. Which leads me to that signature slide..... You can't underestimate the talent of their slide guitarist "The Bottle". Rod Price. Of course, Lonesome Dave got the solos, accolades and the spot light but without Price's sound, Foghat would have just have been another rock band in the crowd.
Fun Fact: With all of the hilarious Spinal Tap references around drummer turnover, .......... Foghat's Drummer Roger Earl is the only constant, and is present on every one of Foghat's works 1972-2018.
Side 1-
-----------
Driving Wheel- Blasting out the gates in a heavy heavt bluezy fashion. Very typical of your Fogat stuff of the era. Fantastic. 3
Don't Run Me Down- Da woman did me wrong contribution on the LP. No blues album is complete without one. Good one of course, and it morphs into a NOLA like boogey and back with ease and grace. No bad tunes on this one. 4
Burnin' the Midnight Oil- This one has that "Slow Ride" feel, and kind of borrows some of it's riff lines. Nothing to really say bad about the song. Maybe just a lesser one of an excellent album. 5
Side 2-
-------------
Night Shift- Not too often the title track is one of the weakest on the LP, but this is the case. Very competent musically, but way too mainstream, and the ax solos feel forced and formulaic. 6
Hot Shot Love- Like the title track, this seems like a Peverett songwriting lull. Would be a nice tune for another band, but this is a weaker one of an excellent album. 7
Take Me to the River- Boom!!!.... Now this is bad ass. By far the greatest cover of the Al Green R & B classic. Peverett took the standard, and remade it into a classic. At least classic in my corner of rock and roll. Remember my earlier comment about understated bass lines? Not here friends. Bass shreds that augment some fantastic and innovative guitar. This one went under the radar, that is for sure, and is sadly forgotten. 1
I'll Be Standing By- Talk about a closing strong. This is an absolutley beautiful bluesey ballad like tune that pulls from all aspects of Foghat's talented line up. So well written, so well delievered. This was a cool Power Ballad, way before they became fashionaable in rock and roll. 2
