Genre: rock
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title: The Mick Cox Band
Company: Capital
Catalog: ST-11175
Year: 1972
Country/State: Gillingham, UK
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: small cut out hole top right corner
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5486
Price: $15.00
I was poking around in a junk shop when I came across a copy of this album. For some reason Mick Cox's name struck a chord with me, though it wasn't until I got home I realized he'd replaced Henry McCullough in Eire Apparent.
Produced by Shel Talmy, 1973's cleverly titled "The Mick Cox Band" was actually much better than the bland title would have you believe. Backed by a seasoned crew of musicians including singer former Arrival singer/keyboardist Tony O'Malley, ex-Herd drummer Andrew Steele, and keyboardist Mick Weaver the album featured a nice selection of Cox-penned blues-rockers that served to showcase Cox's tasteful guitar leads and O'Malley's nice voice (which bore more than a passing comparison to The Band's Levon Helm). One of the funny things about this LP is that while it lacked anything that was particularly original, taken as a whole the results were quite good. In fact it's one of those albums where my opinion has continued to rise the more I listen to it. 'Stuck On You' and 'White Lie' were taunt and memorable rockers that had plenty of commercial potential. 'This Time' and 'Redirecting Mary' were slower, bluesier offerings that reflected a similarly commercial potential. No the set wasn't perfect. 'Ranger' was a pedestrian blues-rocker, while 'Queen's Avenue' featured a MOR samba rhythm and the backing singers frequently threatened to drown out O'Malley.
Capitol tapped the album for a single in the form of:
- 'Stuck On You' b/w 'Ranger' (Capitol catalog number P-3675)
"The Mick
Cox Band" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Stuck On You (Mick Cox) - 7:22
2.) This Time (Mick Cox) - 6:19
3.) Ranger (Mick Cox) -
4.) Queen's Avenue (Mick Cox) - 3:41
(side
2)
1.) White Lie (Mick Cox)- 9:11
2.) Redirecting Mary (Mick Cox) - 4:48
3.) Ego Trap (Mick Cox) - 3:06
4.) Questions (Mick Cox) - 4:25
Although the album proved a modest commercial success, selling some 50,000 copies in the States, lead singer O'Malley subsequently decided to quit, reappearing as a member of Kokomo, followed by a stint in 10cc and a sporadic solo career.
In the 1980s Cox resumed his role as a member of Van Morrison's recording and touring band. Cox also has a small, but entertaining web presence at:
http://www.mickcox.net/index.html
O'Malley's still involved in music and has a website at:
http://www.tonyomalley.com/bio.html
Living in Alaska drummer Steele died in 2005.