Writer
Jeff Tamarkin
says "ex
Butterfield Band
guitarist
Mike Bloomfield
, drummer
Buddy Miles
, and others put this
soul-rock
band together in 1967. This debut is a testament to their ability to catch fire and keep on burnin'." That
The Electric Flag
do so well -- they appeared at
the Monterey International Pop Festival
with
the Blues Project
,
Paul Butterfield
, and
Janis Joplin
, and all these groups had some musical connection to each other beyond that pivotal festival.
A Long Time Comin'
is the "new
soul
" described appropriately enough by the late critic
Lillian Roxon
, and tunes like
"She Should Have Just"
and
"Over-Lovin' You"
lean more towards the
side than the
pop
so many radio listeners were attuned to back then.
Nick Gravenites
was too much of a purist to ride his
blues
on the Top 40 the way
Felix Cavaliere
gave us
"Groovin',"
so
's eventual replacement in
Big Brother & the Holding Company
Gravenites
, and this crew pour out
"Groovin' Is Easy"
on this disc. It's a classy production, intellectual ideas with lots of musical changes, a subdued version of what
Joplin
herself would give us on
I Got Dem Ole Kozmic Blues Again, Mama
two years later, with some of that album written by vocalist
. Though launched after
Al Kooper
's
itself influenced bands who would go on to sell more records. In the traditional
"Wine,"
it is proclaimed "you know Janis Joplin, she'll tell you all about that wine, baby." As good as the album is, though, the material is pretty much composed by
Barry Goldberg
, when they're not covering
Howlin' Wolf
"Killing Floor"
and adding
spoken-word
news broadcasts to the mix. More contributions by
in the songwriting department would have been welcome here. The extended CD version has four additional tracks,
Bobby Hebb
"Sunny"
"Mystery,"
both which appear on the self-titled
Electric Flag
outing which followed this LP, as well as other material which shows up on
Old Glory: The Best of Electric Flag
, released in 2000.
"Sittin' in Circles"
opens like
the Doors
'
"Riders on the Storm,"
the keyboards as well as the sound effects, and a hook of "hey little girl" which would resurface as the title of a
tune on the aforementioned follow-up disc, where
Miles
did pick up the songwriting slack,
Bloomfield
having wandered off to
Super Session
. Amazing stuff all in all, which could eventually comprise a boxed set of experimental
blues rock
from the mid- to late sixties. Either version of this recording, original vinyl or extended CD, is fun listening and a revelation. ~ Joe Viglione