As you can guess from the title, Barefoot Jerry's 1975 album,You Can't Get Off With Your Shoes On, is a funky discofied release; yet it contains many strong moments, usually when they slow things down.
Sinkin' In The Sea is a 'by the numbers' dance floor number with a King Harvest vibe but the astonishing change of gears for the middle 8 is such a downturn as the singer sings about the mountains falling to the water with a sudden sombreness. You Can't Get Off With Your Shoes On starts off with placid ambient guitars before devolving into a simple funky hoedown with a choppy pace, back and forth beat, chunky guitars, bouncy bass and raspy vocals; it reminds me of Firefall's attempts at funky numbers, like Firefall's No Way Out, usually spearheaded by bassist Larry Burnett. West Side Of Mississippi is another old school funk track but with some drooping pedal steel licks and another fantastic bridge like Sinkin in the Sea; it's another slow sombre break in a seemingly superficial, cornball funk track. The lyrics in these achingly nostalgic breaks about the West Side of Mississippi, he sings "never knew that my childhood was soooo fine, I want to live it again!" The pedal steel solo that follows is so disco duck funky it is irresistible.
However aside from these dated, dance tracks there are some prog numbers, chiefly Hero Frodo, a strange Lord of the Rings themed number that surprisingly works. It is however totally out of place on this album and is a bit of a stretch by a Southern Rock though they clearly had Prog tastes too. The tune is full of mystical touches such as glistening tubular bells and sweet pedal steel licks curling in the background. The trademark deep barrelled lead vocal is crisp even if it's closer to Bing Crosby' White Christmas than say Peter Gabriel. There are Mellotrons, flutes and even an ARP at the end but check out the sting of scorching organ work at 1.34 and tell me they were an average Southern rock band.
Ali Baba is a funny track with its meandering Arabian intro but the song hard rock beat drives in with a rugged vocal as defiant as the rolling piano and syncopated guitars. It shows the band's variety and worldliness; it is the same conflict the world over as he talks of 'What on Earth were they fighting for?' they could be singing a treatise on any war.
But Ali Baba isn't the gem instead it's Slowin Down with its amiable descending acoustic Shuffle mixing joyful lyrics piano fills and an awesome non-plussed drawl of a lead vocal.
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