COUNTRY ROCK - HOLY MACKEREL - Same - 1972

Pérola formada em Lancashire, norte da Inglaterra, no começo dos anos 70. A banda Holy Mackerel (não confundam com a americana de mesmo nome) contava com ex-membros de Jason Crest, Orang-Utan e Samuel Prody. Lançaram um único álbum em 1972, se desfazendo precocemente no ano seguinte, quando gravaram outro disco, mas que por problemas com a gravadora só veio à público vinte anos depois.
Posto aqui o debut homônimo de 1972, relançado este ano em CD. O álbum traz 8 faixas curtas, abrindo com o cover de "Going to the Country", da Steve Miller Band, mostrando a influência pesada de country rock dos caras, com doses acentuadas de hard, blues e algumas baladas. O som é típico da época, dominado por excelentes passagens das guitarras e poderoso vocal de Terry Clark, com alguns bons momentos de gaita e bateria. Destaque para "Going to the Country", "Spanish Attraction", "Oh!" e "The Boy And The Mekon".
Pérola altamente recomendada para fãs de country rock dos anos 70.
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British band Holy Mackerel evolved out of the spotty 1960s psychedelic outfit Jason Crest.
Lead vocalist Terry Clarke, lead guitarist Derek Smallcombe and drummer Roger Siggery from the original Jason Crest put Holy Mackerel together in 1971 and they added second lead guitarist Chris Ware and bass player Tony Wood to fill out the lineup. After spending quite a bit of time in the Lancashire countryside honing their rural/melodic/hard rock sound they started to play live getting a reputation as an excellent live act. CBS signed the group and in 1972 they released their brilliant self titled album. This would be followed by a test press/acetate only second album Closer To Heaven which although the liner notes tell you otherwise is nowhere near as good.
Holy Mackerel play with passion on their 1972 only official release. The harmonies are top class and Terry Clarke sounds like he's finally mastered his "heavy" vocals, sounding powerful and confident. The interplay between Ware and Smallcombe is amazing especially on the 3 long tracks "Spanish Attraction," "Oh!" and "The Boy And The Mekon." Two cover versions are included in the rocking harmonica and harmony lead opening track "Going To The Country" by Steve Miller/Ben Sidran and Cowboy's "Rock A Bye" both are excellent. Country rock is not a term that suits Holy Mackerel and the liner notes express this. Rural heavy hard rock with power, melody, and a clear sound are what they are. Like the Welsh Band Quicksand, Dog That Bit People, Northwind, Renia, Fable there are obvious leanings towards the laidback pastoral early 70s magic vibe, but Holy Mackerel are more of a hard rock band. A perfect example of this is the brilliant "Spanish Attraction" with very interesting well-written lyrics and strong vocals from its writer Terry Clarke. The guitars smoke, the Spanish vibe is great, and a crystal clear production job just makes it perfect. This track is amazing.
Text: Vinyl Antiquity

Derek Smallcombe (guitarra, violão, harmônica, vocal)
Terry Clark (vocal)
Roger Siggery (bateria)
Chris Ware (guitarra)
Tony Wood (baixo)

01 Going To The Country 3:02
02 Virginia Water 3:45
03 Spanish Attraction 7:34
04 Rock-A-Bye 2:34
05 Oh! 5:15
06 Were You At All 2:55
07 New Black Shoes 3:48
08 The Boy And The Mekon 5:46