Monday 20 May 2019

Paris (1976) Solitaire - LOST 70s GEMS

Paris was Bob Welch's new project after Fleetwood Mac, it was a trio with Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick and the drummer form the Nazz, Thom Mooney. From his slashing power chords, stop start dynamic and slightly huskier bluesier wail he is aping Led Zeppelin to the core. It's a money grab and his usual jazzy hypnotic pop balladry only comes to the fore occasionally, this is try to ride the coattails of Page, Plant and co. Religion reminds me of early Rush with the vocal distortion and the Zeppelinisms that group also took early on. Starcage is more along Welch's streamlined folky blues rock, while Narrow Gate (La Porte Etroite) is the glistening concoction of trippy blues that Welch perfected in the Mac, here the effect laden slide licks are stupendous. Beautiful Youth is almost a new version of The City from the Mystery to Me album of 1973 but with a more hard rock bent; after all in the Mac he got his fill of jazz and blues influences and wanted to cut loose form the pop image that band had slowly become. Solitaire features soaring guitar wails, overly wah wah-ed and distorted add a euphoric backing vocal texture to the track before the generic hard rock verses. What Paris continues is Welch's sleep eyed singing delivery and yet excited guitar arrangement, even if in Rock of Ages (before the musical) features a direct Plant imitation and lack of originality.


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