Please Beware, Peter Green Fans!
H. Howorth | Chicagoland | 05/12/2004
(2 out of 5 stars)
"As an avid record (and cd) collector who suffers from that all too common mental disorder known as "completism," I decided to fill in a few holes in my Peter Green collection by seeking out those few stray tracks that he contributed to a pair of albums by the Brunning Hall Sunflower Blues Band back in the late sixties. Given that the albums are next to impossible to find in the USA, I decided to spring for this import disc which contains the band's first two albums, "Bullen Street Blues" and "Trackside Blues." Bob Brunning's liner notes reflect that the band was newly formed and barely had time to rehearse the material, all of which was original and hastily written, let alone hone their chops on the road before they entered the studio to record "Bullen Street Blues." And man does it show! I wish I could tell you that the album has some sort of youthful exuberance or understated charm that makes it worthwhile to hear but I can't. In a word, it's nothing short of dreadful and the kind of thing that gives British blues a bad name--lame lyrics, pedestrian musicianship, and singing that is so "white bread" as to make even John Mayall's singing sound great. I mean, I wasn't expecting Bobby "Blue" Bland or anything, but man is this stuff weak. (Please note that Green does NOT play on the first record.)By comparison, the second album on the disc is somewhat (though perhaps only marginally) better, if only due to the presence of Peter Green, who contributes guitar to five tracks (six if you include the bonus track) as well as lead vocals to three of those tracks. Even the Green God has trouble elevating this album above the simply pedestrian, but it has its moments and is worth owning if you too have that completist streak in you. Truthfully, Green's side projects with Eddie Boyd and Otis Spann are light years better than this stuff and are far more worthy of your hard-earned dollars, but the price is right for this import disc and you might still want to consider buying it. I just doubt you'll play it much. (I also bought the companion disc to this one, which contains the band's third and fourth albums. Green appears on only one track on the third album, but I must say that after one listen my impression is that both LP's are somewhat better than the first two.) Hope this was helpful to you."
Track Listings (23) - Disc #1
