Alamo (1971) Happiness is Free - LOST 70s GEMS

An exciting band with an exciting album, Alamo is a terrific collection of tunes, opening with soaring organ rock of Got to find another way; reminding me of El Chicano, though the ragged vocal doesn't work for me the grooving guitar parts, triumphant organ chords and the spacey Latin inflected guitar solo does work. Soft and Gentle is full of soft and gentle vocal melodies, including one section where a dreary organ and guitar harmonics illuminate the backing track distracting from the vocalist's shortcomings. The multi-tracked guitar harmonies add a spaced out lilt before a fiery solo, though the punchiness is soon lost as the song rambles on with a church organ solo and more inane verses. The minimalist solo of tension filled bends and shredding pullofffs in Questions Raised stands out amongst the organ hard rock sound that a lot of bands were mining post Deep Purple. Bensome Changes is a more heartfelt track with the strained vocals still apparent but the chorus lyrics stating "Lonely Day, Lonely Night, the kind I never wanted to see, Sunny Day, Sunny Side, it wasn't good enough for me" standing out despite the singer's generic blues growl. All New People has a funky organ part during the verses that makes it interesting as the track rolls along with a simple fuzz guitar line.
Get the Feelin with it's twin slide guitars wailing, staccato drum intro is intriguing while the smooth organ backed verses are also a delight. Best is when the cowbell comes in with a host of maracas and tambourines in shimmering backup, the drumming is fantastic as heard later in the song in a tabla oriented section. The closer Happiness is Free starts with some guitar and organ droning in tandem before some pretty arpeggios lines and another melodic organ vocal verse. The sitar sounding quality of the twangy fuzz guitar gives the solo some colour while the excellent organ continues to shine with it's malevolent drawls. The funky playing of the verses as they sing about trying to find the 'open G' is memorable as is the guitarist's sparse notes . Ultimately the band is lacking something, the organ, guitars and drums feel like a great instrumental backing for a more defined lead instrument; at the moment it's all rhytmm and needs a more diverse soloist, like another singer or guitarist.