Stone The Crows
Live Crows – CD & DVD
(Angel Air)
The CD has the band live at the Montreux Festival in 1972, playing Friends, Percy Mayfield’s Danger Zone, Dylan’s Hollis Brown, Love 74 and the Maggie Bell vocal showcase Penicillin Blues. Just a few weeks later we had lost guitar hotshot Les Harvey (Alex’ brother) to an onstage electrocution. As Ms Bell explained to me, things were never and could never be the same again for the group.
The DVD has Stone The Crows stepping out at a Beat Workshop TV concert session in Germany in 1973, with Jimmy McCullough on guitars and rocking up the crowd with such numbers as On The Highway, Don Nix’ Going Down (at that time popularised by Freddie King), the down and dirty Penicillin Blues and Palace Of The King, another regal nod.
The DVD also has interviews with Maggie and with drummer Colin Allen. A great blues/rock/soul outfit denied their rightful share of acclaim by events…for me there are echoes of BadFinger and their own tragic history. At least we can enjoy what both ensembles achieved.
Pete Sargeant
