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Cherry Red [Release date : 24.11.23]
Few musicians can claim to have been part of one world straddling rock band, never mind two.
Mick Ralphs, guitarist and songwriter, recorded seven albums with Mott The Hoople, and six with Bad Company.
Lifted from Bad Company’s self titled debut album, his song, ‘Can’t Get Enough’ was the one that broke the US single charts for the band. The album went to sell over 5 million copies.
Few pedigrees can compare. You would have thought this Seventies Hard Rock template would have been the model for his subsequent solo career.
But no, the four solo albums that comprise this boxset, spanning the years from 1984 to 2013, see Ralphs clearly looking to plough his own distinct furrow.
CD1 : Take This (1984)
CD2 : It’s All Good (2001)
CD3 : That’s Life : Can’t Get Enough (2003)
CD4 : Should Know Better : Live At The Musician (2013)
There’s a sense of musical freedom to Take This. No longer did Ralphs have to maintain the hard nosed Arena Rock for which Bad Company became famous.
But too often it seems like a pale imitation of his successful past. He doesn’t have the vocal chops nor the production nous to give strong songs the bluesy rock sheen that tips the balance (‘On The Run’ is a notable exception).
In its favour, this CD includes ten bonus tracks (and these are genuine bonuses.. previously unreleased gems that make the album feel like more of a double).
Seventeen years later, Ralph released an all instrumental album, he certainly knew how to toy with fame and success.
It’s All Good confounded the critics, who were expecting a continuation of his solo debut. The material is very detailed, very musical, with Ralph’s deploying a much more descriptive musical style. His old bandmates, Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell help him find the groove in among an endless panorama of arching melody. ‘S.E.X.’, ‘Don’t Need Money’ and ‘Large’ are eminently classy tracks.
Once again his past got in the way. The public and press let the album drift on by.
Two years is a long time in the music business. 2003’s That’s Life : Can’t Get Enough revisits the bluesy, harder rocking style that most music fans know him for. Unlike his first two solo albums, this one got considerable music media acclaim: “packed with earthy, blues based tunes”. “in keeping with his blues rock roots”. “inspired guitar playing” and so on.
He reinforced the content by including ‘Budgie’, a previously unreleased Bad Company track, and a demo version of ‘Can’t Get Enough’, the song that started it all.
Almost ten years later, Ralphs formed the Mick Ralph’s Blues Band, primarily designed to perform “funk oriented” blues rock to live audiences. They released Should Know Better : Live At The Musician in 2013. His son, Maxwell proved to be a talented vocalist. He needed to be to find his way around classic blues’ songs like Booker T Jones’ ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’ and Jimmy Reed’s ‘Shame Shame Shame’, as well as father’s self penned material.
It’s a fine album, it sounds like Ralphs senior found his third home at last. ***1/2
Review by Brian McGowan
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