Genre: rock
Rating: *** (3 stars)
Title: Out of Their Skulls
Company: Warner Brothers
Catalog: BSK-3155
Year: 1977
Country/State: UK
Grade (cover/record): VG/VG
Comments: minor ring and edge wear
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 4821
Price: $10.00
Cost: $1.00
With the exception of the hit 'Shakin' All Over', I'll readily admit to having little insight to the band's Johnny Kidd and the Pirates roots. About the only thing I know for sure is that Mick Green was a member of one of the post-'Shakin'' line-ups. That said, one of the things that's intriguing about this trio is their sheer persistence. Original front man Kidd died in a 1966 traffic accident and within a year the group had called it quits. Nearly a decade later Dr. Feelgood front man Wilko Johnson's longstanding affection for The Pirates led him to convince the band to reunite. In October 1976 Green, drummer Frank Farley and singer/bassist Johnny Spence played their first reunion concerts and within a matter of months they were in a recording studio.
Gawd only knows why Warner Brothers signed the group, though it may have had something to do with the company's misguided notion that with a name like 'The Pirates' they must have been English Clash-styled punks. Whatever the company's rationale, the trio's 1977 comeback "Out of Their Skulls" is nothing short of a minor overlooked classic. Musically the album's split between a side of killer live material (recorded at an April 1977 date at Nashville Rooms (???)) and a side of new studio material recorded at Dave Edmunds' Rockfield Studios. A mixture of their old hits and band favorites, the five live selections are simply stunning. They simply rip the guts out of Henry Mancini's 'Peter Gunn' (great track to hear Green's patented dual lead and rhythm moves) and after 25 years there's still no band that can match their energy on 'Shakin' All Over'. Simply one of my favorites live collections. My only complaint is that the live material's limited to one side. A mixture of covers and originals (largely penned by Green), the new material certainly isn't bad, but with the possible exceptions of '' and '' it doesn't match the live material in terms of enthusiasm.
'Out of Their
Skulls" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Please Don't Touch (Robinson) -
2.) I Can Tell (McDaniel - Smith) -
3.) Peter Gunn (instrumental) (Henry Mancini) -
4.) Lonesome Train (Subotsky) -
5.) Shakin' All Over (Johnny Kidd) -
(side
2)
1.) Milk Cow Blues (Arnold) -
2.) Drinkin' WIne, Spo-Dee-O-Dee (McGhee - Williams) -
3.) Do the Dog (Rufus Thomas) -
4.) Gibson Martin Fender (Mick Green) -
5.) D0n't Munchen It (Mick Green - Johnny Spence) -
6.) That's the Way You Are (Mick Green)
7.) You Don't Own Me (Mick Green - Lancaster) -