Juicy Lucy - JUICY LUCY***

Mississippi Woman/Who Do You Love/She's Mine She's Yours/Just One Time/Chicago North Western/Train/ Nadine/Are You Satisfied

Debut album from the British blues-rock group Juicy Lucy, who had a UK top 20 hit with Who Do You Love, a lively cover of a Bo Diddley song. They would disband after a few years following numerous personnel changes. (UK:41)

“The album is mostly just a blues rock record with some very nice moments. However, the lack of absolute killer material makes it nothing more than just above average.”

“These guys quickly mutated into a commercial boogie blues band in much the same manner as Status Quo, though nowhere near as successful. Most of the material on this debut is pretty good, yet lacking in any particular quality which might have propelled it to a higher level.”

“Heavily blues based, the band expanded into hard rock, psychedelia and early prog, playing mostly original material with superb arrangements. The guitar work is simply stunning and miles above anything done at the time, and the throaty vocals are superbly expressive. All the band members play incredibly well, turning this album into a timeless masterpiece. In many respects this encapsulates everything that was great in music by the end of the 1960s: originality, innovation, guts and talent.”

“They came off as one of the more authentic sounding outfits, and were certainly gifted with some amazing players. Owen's effortlessly achieved that '70 year old black guy' sound that others like Eric Burdon could only long for. Check out his grizzled performance on the country-blues number Just One Time.”

“The music is primarily Southern rock with the occasional hint of psychedelia and is competently performed without ever becoming anything too special. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with a band using a musical style that grew in a culture not their own – the brilliance of the late sixties and early seventies musical underground was largely an outcome of borrowing, fusing and experimenting with different global styles within an overall rock context. Yet, despite the fact that Juicy Lucy were obviously talented musicians and able to deliver a collection of enjoyable tracks, I can't help thinking that the music on this album is somehow inauthentic. It sounds more like a tribute to this musical style rather than first hand experience of the culture from which it originates.”