Reviewed by Tom Mott
Released: 1980 Terry & The Pirates The Doubtful Handshake Genre: That San Francisco Sound Rating: 3.7 out of 5 Highlights: Inlaws and Outlaws Into the Wind Montana Eyes DISCOVERABLE-ISH There are three reasons to listen to this album: John Cipollini, Inlaws and Outlaws, and John Cipollini. The astonishing Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist is in full form here, so if psychedelic San Francisco blues is your thing, this is a thoroughly engaging, top-notch set. If that's not your thing, at least give the song Inlaws and Outlaws a listen. It's the centerpiece of the album. If you made a Venn Diagram of All Along the Watchtower and the good parts of Stairway to Heaven, you'd have Inlaws and Outlaws. I'm astonished I've never heard this song before. The band features stellar musicians from the Bay Area scene--guys that were part of Hot Tuna, Country Joe, Starship, Steve Miller Band, Greg Kihn, etc. Nicky Hopkins shows up for at least one track which means at some point we've got half of QMS here. Half of one version of it anyways. The album starts with a syncopated, piano-driven rocker (think Little Feat or Allman Brothers post-Duane). And then Cipollini kicks in around 1:50 and tosses off a guitar solo so good, you wish the rest of the band was just a little more -- "integrated" with him. Don't get me wrong: The band is great. Locked in tight like Steve Miller Band at its peak or the Grateful Dead on a good night. But I always liked Duane better with Dickey. Wayne Kramer with Fred Sonic Smith. Peter Green with Danny Kirwan. A little bit of a push. Into the Wind sounds like a Touch of Gray-era Grateful Dead song. Montana Eyes has a lovely Ronnie Lane Slim Chance feel. I Put a Spell on You is a better-than-usual cover of that song. Someone on the interwebs wrote that any album John Cipollini appears on ends up being a John Cipollini album. Based on what I hear here, I can't argue.
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