Sean Trane
Annette’s discography is a pretty unusual and eclectic one, ranging from jazz to rock realms (or should I say Blues-rock) and this seminal 70’s release is one of the more extreme of her albums that I’m aware of. Despite some typical jazz names on the roster (hubby Bley and Stu Woods, just to name those), this album is definitely more of a blues affair, but the pictures in the reissued Cd’s booklet would indicate more of a rock attitude as some of these pics of her are very raw/baren and there is little doubt of Annette’s sensuality in her fairly undressed attires. If I speak of the rock idiom, it’s because there is a fair bit of electric guitar ((Tom Cosgrove) and some electric bass (Glenn Moore on Blood), but some electric keyboards as well (organ and synths) as well.
Certainly the album opening title track is one of the more challenging tracks and the least bluesiest of all, but if you listen behind the melodic bizarreries, you’ll definitely hear it. Most of the following tracks are also blues, sometimes a bit disguised (the excellent 6-mins+ Pony) and sometimes very traditional (the short Been & Gone). Nowhere is the hard-line more audible than on the 6-mins full electric One Way track, which could be on a Savoy Brown or Chicken Shack album. Unfortunately, the mood is directly broken with the extremely-weird (but not pleasantly so) Elvis Love Me Tender cover, which is sandwiched on the other side by the extreme Without Plot and its negligible afterthought Did You Hear Me Mommy?.
Despite Annette’s undeniable jazz affiliation, don’t look for much (or any) of it in the present album, but it’s also a fairly good hint of what kind of musical crea tions she would indulge in the following 10 years. Hardly essential, unless you lust after Annette’s then-generous features and voice.