One of the most puzzling moves in the history of
Southern rock
occurred when vocalist
Danny Joe Brown
left
Molly Hatchet
after the huge success of 1979's
Flirtin' with Disaster
, one of the genre's definitive albums. He released one solo album on
Epic
, 1981's
Danny Joe Brown and the Danny Joe Brown Band
. It only scraped the bottom of the charts, and he wisely rejoined
by 1982. This album is of interest to
fans because it should come as no surprise that it sounds like
. Like
,
Brown
's band also featured a three-guitar attack, courtesy of
Bobby Ingram
Steve Wheeler
, and
Kenny McVay
. A couple of extra musical touches support
's throaty growl: slide guitar riffing by
Ingram
and
Wheeler
, keyboard accents by
John Galvin
and harmony vocals that certainly must have been encouraged by producer/engineer
Glyn Johns
, a legend who'd worked with
the Rolling Stones
the Who
the Eagles
Eric Clapton
. The best tracks are
"Sundance,"
"Nobody Walks on Me,"
"The Alamo,"
"Run for Your Life,"
and, in particular,
"Edge of Sundown,"
a mythical guitar-driven epic springing directly from the loins of
Lynyrd Skynyrd
's
"Free Bird"
the Outlaws
'
"Green Grass & High Tides."
But that's not a bad thing.
"Edge of Sundown"
also plays an important role in
's convoluted history.
Galvin
would go on to join and lead
itself (keeping the band alive long after
retired due to poor health) and an acoustic version of
is featured on the underrated 2001 album
Kingdom of XII
.
doesn't contain any earthshaking surprises, but it will reliably please
fans. ~ Bret Adams