Reviewed by Jim Coursey
Released: 1981 Bob Weston Studio Picks Genre: Blues Rock Rating: 3 out of 5 Highlights: Rue St. Denis Pieces Of Paper Ford 44 Bob Weston was a fleeting member of Fleetwood Mac, playing on their 1973 album “Penguin”, before being fired for reputedly having an affair with Mick Fleetwood’s wife. [1] Sleeping with your band leader’s wife is a pretty shitty thing to do, and one wonders what Bob thought of himself when he looked in the mirror every morning. While we don’t know what he was thinking, we can easily imagine this scene courtesy of the cheesy and strange album cover depicting two Bob Westons exchanging soulful stares with one another. I don’t know if it’s a bad attempt at a trompe l'oeil, a metaphor, or self-love, but the album cover doesn’t exactly breed confidence. Thankfully Weston comes out of the gate with some surprisingly good material, tastefully produced in spite of its era. Blues rock isn’t my bag, but the first two cuts are pretty enjoyable. “Rue St. Denis” has what I think of as a swamp blues feel (but what do I know?), chock full of sweet slide guitar playing and topped with a female chorus. The chord progression is a dead ripoff of “After Midnight”, but who cares – most blues is based on borrowed chord patterns as it is, and for all I know J.J. Cale lifted the progression from an earlier blues tune. From there we go to “Pieces of Paper”, which busts out the organ and slows things down with a lonely drunken 3AM vibe. The album is clearly a guitarist’s album, and I’d think it would appeal to anyone who likes blues guitar (although it doesn’t appear to have caught on with anyone, so what do I know?). Weston’s guitar playing, especially his slide work, is consistently engaging. On the other hand, there are the vocals – Weston’s got a fine enough voice, but lacking any the grit, character or spark to elevate it. The two covers on the album – Chuck Berry’s “Talking About You” and The Everly Brothers’ “When Will I Be Loved” – drive this point home. Both manage to simultaneously feature the worst 80s production of the lot, and feature the worst vocals. The Berry tune is just soulless, while the falsetto on the Everly Brothers cut is straight up gut-wrenching. I don’t know if these songs were foisted upon him by the label, but I guess it’s a good sign that the nadir of this thing are its covers. The rest of the album generally doesn’t live up to the first two tracks, but consistently improves on the covers on track 3 and 4. The other highlight here, “Ford ‘44”, is somewhat hypnotic and maybe reminiscent of “On the Road Again.” If the song doesn’t quite match the quality of the first two, it stands out for its cameo – Mick Fleetwood was somehow convinced to drum on it. Meanwhile, the self-reflective “If I Knew” is worth it just for the creative acoustic guitar solo towards the end. Like I said, “Studio Picks” is a guitarist’s album, even down to the terrible potential pun in the title. Weston may be no Clapton, but then again he never joined Van Morrison in railing against lockdowns. (To be fair, he didn’t live long enough.) I find the 2.5 it received on Discogs somewhat surprising – usually those ratings seem inflated either by fandom or to move used records – but I also don’t think Weston was deserving of solo stardom. It’s a shame he didn’t find the right lead guitar gig, if not in Fleetwood Mac then elsewhere. Maybe he didn’t find the right fit, or maybe his personal failings held him back? [2] I’m guessing “Penguin” is a better place to hear Weston at his best, but this one isn’t too shabby. ********** 1. I had no idea who Bob Weston was, but I chose this album on a whim, assuming it was some obscure release by a member of Mission of Burma. The only problem is that there was no Bob Weston in Mission of Burma – I was thinking of the bassist for Volcano Suns (Peter Prescott’s post-Mission of Burma band) and Shellac. But that wasn’t this Bob Weston. 2. Completely speculative, but Weston died of complications from cirrhosis in 2012, so maybe his career was wrecked by alcoholism, if not by philandering.
No comments:
Post a Comment