Len Liechti, from the blog "TheRisingStorm.net", gives us his take on the Jam, and the album which contained it - 1970's "Death Walks Behind You", a stonking collection of oddities, which nevertheless invaded my deep consciousness by the constant playing of the vinyl LP in my mate John's bedroom back in the day. The track was released as a single the following year:
"Although it provided the background to my formative years as a musician, I'd be the first to admit that the late sixties/early seventies first wave of British progressive hard-rock veered wildly between creative sophistication and plodding self-indulgence. For every 'Led Zeppelin', there was a 'Black Sabbath'; for every 'Deep Purple', an 'Edgar Broughton Band'. (My apologies to adherents of those two combos.)
"Somewhere in the middle came the curiously-named 'Atomic Rooster', whose constantly changing line-up centred on keyboard wizard Vincent Crane released a series of undistinguished albums plus one genuine gem, the sophomore effort 'Death Walks Behind You'. Classically-trained organist and pianist Crane had been the instrumental cornerstone of wigged-out psych outfit 'The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown', as witness his Hammond histrionics on their eponymous long-player.
"The 'Rooster' should have satisfied Crane's search for his own direction but, bedevilled by impatience, musical perfectionism and manic depression, he changed his style and his fellow musicians almost from year to year in search of a constantly moving and unattainable target. The second, and best, line-up teamed Crane with guitarist/vocalist John Cann, aka Du Cann, and drummer Paul Hammond.
"Cann had seen through the psychedelic era with 'Five Day Week Straw People' and 'Andromeda' and offered crunching rhythms and flyaway 'bluesy' leads not unlike Ritchie Blackmore, whilst Hammond was a teenage tub-thumper with no real CV but just the sort of no-frills, aggressive style that Crane's prevailing riff-tastic compositions demanded.
"In the best Jimmy Smith tradition, Crane played the bass lines on his pedals and on the bass-boosted low keyboard register of his 'B3'. Between them they could sound as full as 'Deep Purple' with two musicians fewer, and usually did.
"At first sight slightly unnerving with its 'Dark Side' imagery, but actually surprisingly accessible and in places even commercial – 'Tomorrow Night' would become a Top 20 single in the UK – 'Death Walks' combines mostly straightforward but tightly-executed riff-based chord structures and bass lines with formulaic Gothic horror-inspired lyrics, overlaying these with energetic, optimistic soloing by the two frontmen.
"The net result is surprisingly 'up' if you don't take the words too seriously and aren't put off by the cover art featuring William Blake's 'Nebuchadnezzar' and clichéd shots of the band in a graveyard. Mostly eschewing the possibilities of overdubbing in the studio, the tracks are largely played 'live', as evinced by the BBC radio session versions of two of the same tunes offered on the CD reissue as bonus tracks.
"(I recall hearing that actual session back in the day, and it's clear that the trio was a hot live act.) The lightest moment is provided by 'Tomorrow Night' with its catchy riff, singalong refrain and brief, soaring solos, whilst the title track is the most ponderous, starting with eerie piano arpeggios and creaking into the most leaden of descending chromatic chord sequences."
Spending 11 weeks in the UK Top 40, the single made it to No. 11 on March 20th 1971. The only impact made by 'Atomic Rooster' in the USA was a No. 90 placing for the 1970 "DWBY" album in early 1971. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Walks_Behind_You
17 Comments (since 4 Aug 2015)
leejohnson
Len Liechti, from the blog "TheRisingStorm.net", gives us his take on the Jam, and the album which contained it - 1970's "Death Walks Behind You", a stonking collection of oddities, which nevertheless invaded my deep consciousness by the constant playing of the vinyl LP in my mate John's bedroom back in the day. The track was released as a single the following year:
leejohnson
"Although it provided the background to my formative years as a musician, I'd be the first to admit that the late sixties/early seventies first wave of British progressive hard-rock veered wildly between creative sophistication and plodding self-indulgence. For every 'Led Zeppelin', there was a 'Black Sabbath'; for every 'Deep Purple', an 'Edgar Broughton Band'. (My apologies to adherents of those two combos.)
leejohnson
"Somewhere in the middle came the curiously-named 'Atomic Rooster', whose constantly changing line-up centred on keyboard wizard Vincent Crane released a series of undistinguished albums plus one genuine gem, the sophomore effort 'Death Walks Behind You'. Classically-trained organist and pianist Crane had been the instrumental cornerstone of wigged-out psych outfit 'The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown', as witness his Hammond histrionics on their eponymous long-player.
leejohnson
"The 'Rooster' should have satisfied Crane's search for his own direction but, bedevilled by impatience, musical perfectionism and manic depression, he changed his style and his fellow musicians almost from year to year in search of a constantly moving and unattainable target. The second, and best, line-up teamed Crane with guitarist/vocalist John Cann, aka Du Cann, and drummer Paul Hammond.
leejohnson
"Cann had seen through the psychedelic era with 'Five Day Week Straw People' and 'Andromeda' and offered crunching rhythms and flyaway 'bluesy' leads not unlike Ritchie Blackmore, whilst Hammond was a teenage tub-thumper with no real CV but just the sort of no-frills, aggressive style that Crane's prevailing riff-tastic compositions demanded.
leejohnson
"In the best Jimmy Smith tradition, Crane played the bass lines on his pedals and on the bass-boosted low keyboard register of his 'B3'. Between them they could sound as full as 'Deep Purple' with two musicians fewer, and usually did.
leejohnson
"At first sight slightly unnerving with its 'Dark Side' imagery, but actually surprisingly accessible and in places even commercial – 'Tomorrow Night' would become a Top 20 single in the UK – 'Death Walks' combines mostly straightforward but tightly-executed riff-based chord structures and bass lines with formulaic Gothic horror-inspired lyrics, overlaying these with energetic, optimistic soloing by the two frontmen.
leejohnson
"The net result is surprisingly 'up' if you don't take the words too seriously and aren't put off by the cover art featuring William Blake's 'Nebuchadnezzar' and clichéd shots of the band in a graveyard. Mostly eschewing the possibilities of overdubbing in the studio, the tracks are largely played 'live', as evinced by the BBC radio session versions of two of the same tunes offered on the CD reissue as bonus tracks.
leejohnson
"(I recall hearing that actual session back in the day, and it's clear that the trio was a hot live act.) The lightest moment is provided by 'Tomorrow Night' with its catchy riff, singalong refrain and brief, soaring solos, whilst the title track is the most ponderous, starting with eerie piano arpeggios and creaking into the most leaden of descending chromatic chord sequences."
leejohnson
Spending 11 weeks in the UK Top 40, the single made it to No. 11 on March 20th 1971. The only impact made by 'Atomic Rooster' in the USA was a No. 90 placing for the 1970 "DWBY" album in early 1971. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Walks_Behind_You
DavidAnderson
Woohoo! Brilliant!
tpjdavies
Killer tune!
tpjdavies
Excellent info except it fails to mention John Du Cann's first significant band ,The Attack.Five Day Week Straw,People existed for about 3-5!hours!
ErnieBilko
Great stuff...
21schizoid
A corker! Only bought this album a few short years ago. Love it...
leejohnson
@21schizoid INVU playing catch-up. I've known it all my life.
21schizoid
Haha. I'm often like that when someone says they're playin' catch with a band I've known since I was a hairy legged boy...