Back Street Crawler
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1975) - Tony Braunagel -- drums, percussion - Paul Kossoff (RIP 1976) -- lead guitar - Mike Montgomery -- keyboards - Terry Wilson -- bass - Terry Wilson-Slesser -- vocals
line up 2 (1975-76) - Tony Braunagel -- drums, percussion NEW - John Bundrick -- keyboards (replaced Mike Montgomery) - Paul Kossoff (RIP 1976) -- lead guitar - Terry Wilson -- bass - Terry Wilson-Slesser -- vocals
supporting musicians: - Snuffy Walden -- lead guitar
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- Beckett (Terry Wilson-Slesser) - Bloontz (Tony Braunagel, Mike Montgomery, and Terry Wilson) - John Bundrick (solo efforts) - Charlie (Terry Wilson-Slesser) - Crawler - Free (Paul Kossoff) - Freedom (Terry Wilson-Slesser) - Paul Kossoff (solo efforts) - Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu, Rabbit
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Genre: rock Rating: 3 stars *** Title: The Band Plays On Company: ATCO Catalog: SD
36-126 Country/State: US/UK Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: cut out notch on edge Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5615 Price: $9.00
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Paul Kossoff's post-Free solo career generated some critical notice, but little in the way of sales, so trying to clean up his addiction problems and reuniting him in a band environment seemed to make a great deal of sense. In this case, rather than forming a new band, Kossoff essentially appropriated the Houston-based band Bloontz. Taking their name from Kossoff's previous solo album, Back Street Crawler featured a line-up consisting of drummer Tony Braunagel, keyboardist Mike Montgomery, bassist Terry Wilson, and singer Terry Wilson-Slesser. Braunagel, Montgomery, and Terry Wilson had all been members of Bloontz. Wilson-Slesser had recorded an album with the band Beckett.
back cover photo
Based on Kossoff's credentials, the band was quickly signed by Atlantic's ATCO subsidiary, undertaking an extensive UK tour while working on their debut. Unfortunately, the chronically sick Kossoff was sidelined by a stomach ulcer. While recovering from the ulcer he suffered a heart attack, forcing the band to cancel a slew of concerts and slowing down work on their debut LP.
Self-produced (and sonically a bit muddy), 1975's cleverly-titled '"Back Street Crawler" may have been intended to showcase Kossoff, but the surprise star was keyboardist Montgomery who wrote, or co-wrote eight of the ten tunes and handled lead vocals on 'All the Girls Are Crazy' and 'Survivor'. Admittedly he didn't have a great voice (explaining why Wilson-Slesser handled most of the vocals), but he had a knack for crafting surprisingly catchy AOR material. So right off the bat, anyone looking for a set of highly original material probably wanted to turn away since this was standard mid-'70s AOR that wasn't particularly subtle in borrowing inspiration from a slew of better known blues-rock bands. You certainly didn't have to listen too hard to hear echoes of Free, Bad Company ('Stealing My Way'). Mott the Hoople ('Survivor'), and countless other competitors. On the other hand that shouldn't be taken as a major criticism since these guys exhibited good tastes when it came to inspiration and as a unit they were pretty tight. If you're a fan of '70s AOR and you're in the right mood, this is certainly worth checking out.
"The Band
Plays On" track listing: 1.) Hoo Doo Woman (Tony Braunagel - Paul Kossoff - Mike Montgomery) - 5:04 Opening up with some of Kossoff's distinctive guitar (I've always wondered how he could get such a clean sound), 'Hoo Doo Woman' then took an unexpected shift into a funky direction with Terry Wilson's bass taking over a leading role. Third rate Free and second rate Bad Company, but still mindless fun. rating: *** stars 2.) New York, New York (Mike Montgomery) - 4:37 Sure 'New York, New York' was a slice of mid-'70s corporate AOR, but with a great melody and some surprisingly tight harmony vocals, it was hard not to like this tune. rating: **** stars 3.) Stealing My Way (Paul Kossoff - Mike Montgomery) ) - 4:19 Shifting into a bluesier vibe, 'Stealing My Way' had a distinctive Paul Rogers and Bad Company vibe. The track didn't rate all that high on the originality scale, but I'm a big Bad Company fan so it didn't bother me much. rating: *** stars 4.) Survivor ( Mike Montgomery) - 3:34 Written and sung by Montgomery (easy to see why Wilson-Slesser handled most of the vocals), 'Survivor' found the band pushing into Mott the Hoople-styled rocker territory. Strange song in that Montgomery played a pretty keyboard riff which had a hard rock arrangement slapped on top of it. rating: *** stars 5.) It's a Along Way Down To the Top (Mike Montgomery) - 5:56 As lead singer Wilson-Slesser was no Paul Rogers, but on the molten blues-rocker 'It's a Along Way Down To the Top' it didn't matter. One of the band's best tunes, the highlight was the tug of war between Montgomery's keyboards and Kosoff's guitar. A classic FM rocker . rating: **** stars
(side
2) 'All the Girls Are Crazy' featured one of the album's better hooks and would have made a decent single. rating: *** stars 2.) Jason Blue (Mike Montgomery) - 4:56 Originally recorded for the Bloontz LP, here's how I described the song on that LP: "'Jason Blue' was unlike anything else on the album. Musically it was a bluesy rocker that to my ears sounded like a cross between David Clayton Thomas, Meatloaf, and early Steely Dan. Yeah, you'll simply have to hear this one to judge it yourself. It was one of those songs that grew on you after awhile." Interestingly, the remake wasn't all that different; a bit more rock-oriented, but quite unlike the rest of the album. rating: *** stars 3.) Train Song (Tony Braunagel - Terry Wilson) - 5:10 The combination of Kossoff's guitar, Montgomery's synthesizers, and Terry-Slesser's growling voice seldom sounded as good as on this rocker. If there was a song that showed signs of originality, this was it. Always loved Braunagel's locomotive paced drumming. rating: **** stars 4.) Rock & Roll Junkie (Mike Montgomery) - 3:15 Given Kossoff's well known addiction issues, I've always wondered about the decision to include 'Rock & Roll Junkie' on the album. Another track featuring Montgomery on vocals, this time out he sounded a lot better surrounded by the tougher arrangement. Maybe a result of Montgomery's rugged voice, this was another one that sounded a bit liken Ian Hunter and Mott the Hoople outtake. rating: *** stars 5.) The Band Plays On (Terry Wilson) - 5:04 Opening up with some great Kossoff lead guitar (this was one of his best performances on the album), the title track was probably the album's funkiest tune and one of the standout performances. Another one that's always reminded me a bit of Bad Company. rating: **** stars
Shortly after the album was completed and just as the band was scheduled to begin an American tour, keyboard player Montgomery quit. He was replaced by John Bundrick. Unfortunately bad luck struck again when Kossoff managed to break a couple of fingers resulting in the cancellation of numerous tour dates. Naturally things would get even worse for the band.
Street Tunes catalog SDLP 1002
It probably wouldn't have a great deal of interest for anyone outside of hardcore Kossoff fans, but in 1983 the British Street Tunes label released "Croydon June 15th, 1975". A double album concert set, the collection captured Back Street Crawler at the end of their debut UK tour playing material that would end up on the debut LP.
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