20 Hard-Edged Stompers From The British Beat Era!" proclaims the front cover artwork for this collection (assembled by Nick Saloman of the Bevis Frond) of rare U.K. single sides released between 1964 and 1966. Trouble is, previous little of the material on Nothing Comes Easy sounds all that hard-edged or stomping compared to what the Kinks, the Rolling Stones or the Yardbirds were doing at the time, not to mention any number of far raunchier American garage bands. Despite that, for fans of the lesser tributaries of the British pop scene in the mid-'60s there are some real treats on board. The Peasants bring some nasty guitar licks to "Got Some Lovin' for You Baby," the Rats deliver a hilarious hymn of praise to booze on "Gimme That Wine" ("I can't get well without muscatel!"), Swedish interlopers the Panthers groove hard with "I'll Be Pleased," the Luvvers sound a lot tougher without usual frontwoman Lulu on "Most Unlovely," Guy Darrell sings Solomon Burke's "Do the Stupidity" like he means it, and Tommy Bruce's "Over Suzanne" boasts a fuzz tone guitar the Electric Prunes would be proud to call their own. Not everything here is a classic -- the Mark Four's cover of Larry Williams' "Slow Down" has never been on a compilation before for the reason that it isn't very good, and the Pirates' "Can't Understand" is a second-rate track from a first-rate group. But amateur archivists of British pop will find that the good stuff here outweighs the bad by a good margin, and the lion's share of Nothing Comes Easy qualifies as either fab or gear, depending on your choice of phraseology. ~ Mark Deming
Psychic Circle label compilation of rare British beat and R&B featuring tracks by UK Bonds, Pirates, Dee Tees, Gamblers, Panthers, Times, Zephyrs, Cheatin' Hearts, Liverpool Five, Marauders, Mark Four, Tommy Bruce, and many more.
|
