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While there's absolutely nothing original or mind altering to be found on 1970's "Wild Butter", this short-lived Akron, Ohio based quartet's debut is well worth tracking down.

Singer/keyboardist Jerry Buckner had apparently already been signed by United Artists and was under direction to quickly come up with a band. He wasted no time recruiting singer/drummer Rick Garen, bassist Steve Price, and lead guitarist Jon Senne. All had been playing in local bands, including The Collection. Within a month the band were in the studio.

Produced by Eric Stevens the resulting album was surprisingly accomplished given the four members hadn't played together very long. That may also explain why the collection occasionally sounded like it was recorded by a couple of different bands and then stitched together. As an example, the atypical lead off track 'Roxanne' sounded like an outtake from Kansas or some other pseudo-progressive collective, while their cover of The Moody Blues sound like ... The Moody Blues. With Bucker, Price and Senne all contributing material the set was also kind of interesting from the perspective of hearing the band attempt to find a balance between commerciality (the ballads 'From One Who Sang the Song' and a painful cover of The Bee Gees' 'New York Mining Disaster (1941)') and a more hip 'n happenin' sound. Too bad management didn't let them opt for the second path since they would have had a killer collection. Still, the good news included the fact Garen had a nice voice that was quite capable of handling the band's diverse repertoire. Similarly, judging by material such as the fuzz guitars on 'Oh Martha' and a killer cover of Neil Young's 'I've Been Waiting For You' Senne was an above par guitarist. Personal favorites included the raging rocker 'Terribly Blind', the psych-ish 'Oh Martha' and the country-rocker ''And We Loved It. All hyperbole aside, one or two more rockers and this one be a major collectable.

Released as a single 'Roxanne' b/w 'Terribly Blind' (United Artists catalog number UAS50688) generated considerable regional airplay, but the band wasn't able to break nationally and subsequently called it quits.

1.) Roxanna (Thank You for Getting Me High)   (Jon Senne) - 2:40
2.) Terribly Blind   (Jon Senne - Steve Price) - 3:30
3.) From One Who Sang the Song   (Jon Senne) - 2:32
4.) Come Fly With Me   (John Buckner) - 3:20
5.) Oh Martha   (Jon Senne - Steve Price) - !4:42

(side 2)
1.) Never Comes the Day   (Justin Hayward) - 4:40
2.) And We Loved It   (Jon Senne) - 3:33
3.) I've Been Waiting For You   (Neil Young) - 3:06
4.) Tommy the Cat   (R. Peters - Steve Price) - 1:52
5.) New York Mining Disaster (1941)   (Barry Gibb - Maurice Gibb - Robin Gibb) - 5:20

Buckner went on to have a major hit with the irritating 'Pac Man Fever'. Steve Price's brother Mark is known as a member of Akron's acclaimed Tin Huey.

I'll never know how he stumbled across my small write-up, but here are a couple of additional band factoids from Steve Price:

My brother Mark Price [is in the band Tin Huey]. He played the fuzz lead on my song, 'Terribly Blind'. Senne is good, but Mark had this lead from jamming
with me and it was brilliant so we used him. Mark had just turned 15 years old at the time we recorded the song. As bassist in Tin Huey I think he is fantastic... really an odd ball, but I can't play his stuff. The rest of the info is right on. Thanks for the nice review and listing 2 of mine as your personal favorites.

I also got an email from Jerry Buckner who was a little less thrilled with my comments:

I happened to read your review for my old group Wild Butter. You mentioned my ties to the "irritating" record Pac Man Fever. Apparently it didn't irritate some 1 1/2 million people since they took the time to walk into a store and purchased it. I am curious to know how many hits you have supplied the music industry with.

Well of course he's right with respect to my artistic contributions to the world and bless his soul for having the taken the time to exchange emails with me (I'll even admit I own a copy of the "Pac Man" LP.)

Scott:
You are certainly entitled to your opinion of PMF and I am not asking you to change it. I just know how hard it is to have success in the entertainment business and I was just offering a little balance to the review.

I thought the Wild Butter review was very good. It was unusually accurate and fair. I think your assessment of the band and the songs was right on. It was an album of good songs but no hits. A good first effort done in a short period of time. At the time we were working on some new songs that were rather good and I agree that a second album might have brought us some national attention. It was truly a talented group of musicians and song writers.

One thing you might find of interest ... Joe Walsh once said that he thought Jon Senne' was the greatest 12 string guitar player he ever heard. Not a bad endorsement.

I think you have a great looking site. Good luck and best wishes!

Jerry Buckner

June 2007