Whole lotta shakin', slippin' and a-slidin' going on:
British veterans let their collective hair down.
British veterans let their collective hair down.
"Let's have a party!" could be a motto of this band whose music both defies their age and assserts that it takes an immense maturity to play so easy - and absorbing rock 'n' roll with your skin. Still, the mood HEROES create is surprising even with such a pedigree. Since Lennon, there hardly been any viable Buddy Holly cover but here are two, "Take Your Time" and "Rock Around With Ollie Vee", full of life and breathing fire.
Albert Lee sings unpretentiously but moving, and when he spills the licks as simple, there's pure fun oozing of every bar. That's finest pub rock you're likely to hear today, the choice of standards adding to the joyfulness, from ringing "Back In The USA" to Floyd Cramer's romantic "Last Date" and "On The Rebound" shuffle, a showcase for Pete Wingfield's boogie piano and Gerry Hogan's pedal steel, to the fervent rockabilly of Gram Parson's "Luxury Liner". The feeling gets emotionally deeper with Jim Webb's poignant ballad "If You See Me Getting Smaller" and Elton John's soothing "Country Comfort" for which drummer Peter Baron takes the lead.
The understanding between the five - bassist Brian Hodgson a co-writer of the only original song on the offer - is amazing, and them being "all freelance musicians who come together to work with Albert Lee," as Wingfield says. HEROES just tear it up (er, not their hair) and bring the house down.
*****
