Mar 5, 2009

TASTE - ON THE BOARDS (POLYDOR 1970) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve




Gallagher formed the first version of Taste in his native Ireland in 1966, with bassist Eric Kittringham and drummer Norman Damery. In May of 1968, he relocated to London and, still months shy of his 20th birthday, formed a new version of Taste with bassist Charlie McCracken (who had played bass with Spencer Davis, though not at the peak of Davis' hit-making days) and drummer John Wilson (who had been a drummer with Them, likewise not during one of their well-known incarnations). Two studio albums followed in 1969 and 1970, the second of which made the British Top 20. Taste was still virtually unknown in the States, when they broke up shortly afterwards...
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"On The Boards" the group's second LP was issued in 1970 and was a much more satisfying affair than their debut. The record opens with the Taste show stopper "What's Going On" a powerful electric blues raveup with some stinging Gallagher guitar work. "Railway and Gun" is a folkish blues not too far removed from early Thin Lizzy. "It Happened Before, It'll Happen Again" is a remarkable number that really stretches out, Rory plays some really thoughtful runs on guitar and even plays some useful Alto Sax in the mid section.
"If The Day Was Any Longer" is a pretty laid back song that's almost folk-rock, Rory plays some nice Mel Lyman style harp on this one. "Morning Sun" is a full out rocker again recalling fellow Irishmen Thin Lizzy.
Side two opens with another blistering raver called "Eat My Words" the group is really clicking on this one Richard McCracken's plays lead bass right in your face ala Andy Fraser, Rory plays some razor sharp bottleneck lines while John Wilson plays the Ginger Baker part on drums.
"If I Don't Sing I'll Cry" is a blues rock stomper in the Savoy Brown mold and may be seen as a throwaway but nothing too bad. "See Here" is a beautiful solo acoustic song by Rory, kinda like Danny Kirwan's contributions to Fleetwood Mac's classic "Then Play On" album.
"On The Boards" finishes with "I'll Remember" which is the best song on the album, the arrangement is great, the band are totally in sync and they rock like there is no tomorrow. "On The Boards" is a tight well played album that is filled with great songs with no frills just the way Rory liked it...[net]
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The title track "On The Boards" is a very interesting one that uses space to great effect, Rory's guitar sounds very San Francisco-ish like he just got done jamming with Barry Melton...
Here

7 comments:

harding said...

you have a wonderful blog, great records collected with great care, thanks for sharing, and thanks for all the pictures that go with each one....

GaragePunk66 said...

Thanks for this one, this will be my first time hearing Taste.

Anonymous said...

Wow... One of the best. The great Rory. Many, many thankx for this rip.

Georgie Hirezola said...

...love this album.
thanks guys!

Anonymous said...

Superb. Thankx a lot.

Anonymous said...

thank you for introducing me to this. i passed by it many times over the years, but my curiousity caught up with me (by way of your kind offering to share it for that express purpose). i look forward to finally hearing it.

hostafreund said...

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