Blues Image
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1966-68) - Manuel "Manny" Bertematti -- drums, vocals - Emilio Garcia -- keyboards - Malcolm Jones -- bass - Joe Lala (RIP 2014) -- vocals, percussion - Mike Pinera -- lead guitar, vocals
line up 2 (1968-69) - Manuel "Manny" Bertematti -- drums vocals - Malcolm Jones -- bass - Frank Konte -- keyboards (replaced Emilio Garcia) - Joe Lala (RIP 2014) -- vocals, percussion - Mike Pinera -- lead guitar, vocals
line up 2 (1970-71) - Denny Correll (RIP 2002) -- vocals - Manuel "Manny" Bertematti -- drums, vocals - Kent Henry -- guitar - Malcolm Jones -- bass - Frank Konte -- keyboards (replaced Emilio Garcia) - Joe Lala (RIP 2014) -- vocals, percussion
line up 3 (1976-77) - Mike Pinera -- vocals, lead guitar
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- Classic Rock All Stars (Mike Pinera) - Danny Correll (solo efforts) - The Fanz (Mike Pinera) - Iron Butterfly (Mike Pinera) - Manassas (Joe Lala) - New Cactus Band (Manuel "Manny" Bertematti and Mike Pinera) - Mike Pinera (solo efforts) - Ramatam (Mike Pinera) - Steppenwolf Henry Kent) - Thee Image (Mike Pinera) - Three Dog Night (Frank Konte)
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Genre: pop Rating: 3 stars *** Title: Leavin' My Troubles Behind Company: Illusion Catalog: CM
2067 Country/State: US Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 1130 Price: $150.00
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In the mid-'70s singer guitarist Mike Pinera started his own Illusion label. He initially signed and recorded a bunch of Florida-based bands, but by 1976 was releasing material under The Blues Image label. Judging by the brief liner notes, 1976's optimistically titled "Leavin' My Troubles Behind" wasn't a true Blues Image reunion, rather served as a Pinera solo effort under the Blues Image imprint. Recorded at Pinera's Miami Beach Starlight Studio, the man was credited with producing, engineering, mixing, and writing all of the material, except of a cover of Mose Allison's 'Parchman Farm'.
I'm
not going to speculate as to why Pinera bothered recording this album of
Blues Image remakes. For anyone counting, there were three tracks off
the 1969 Blues Image debut ('Leavin' My Troubles Behind', 'Parchman Farm',
and 'Reality Does Not
Inspire'), one song off of 1970's
"Open" ('Pay My Dues') and two new tracks ('Drums of Reason' and
''Full Moon Blues). The five remakes were uniformly
pedestrian. Not one of them added anything to the originals. The
percussion heavy instrumental 'Drums of a Reason' was five minutes of
filler, while 'Full Moon Blues' was a bland blues number that actually
sounded like a continuation of Mose Allison's 'Parchment Farm'.
The end result was an album that reeked of financial need, more than
artistic merit. Like everything on the Illusion label, few
copies were pressed, making it a tough one to score. "Leavin'
My Troubles Behind" track listing: 1.) Leavin' My Troubles Behind (Mike Pinera) - 4:06 'Leavin' My Troubles Behind' originally appearing on the band's self-titled 1969 debut. While there wasn't anything wrote with the remake (other than some cheesy '70s synthesizers), it really didn't add a great deal to the song. Plus I always liked the late Joe Lala's raspy vocal on the original. rating: *** stars 2.) Pay My Dues (Mike Pinera) - 4:43 A remake off of 1970's "Open" ... The original was a killer blues rocker with a wonderful growling Joe Lela's vocal. The remake smoothed off the original's bluesy edges in favor of a smoothed-up, mildly Latin-tined sound. Pinera turned in a nice guitar solo, but ultimately you had to ask the question why bother ? rating: *** stars 3.) Parchman Farm (Mose Allison) - 6:41 'Parchman Farm' was another tune the band had recorded for their second album "Open" ... The original showcased Frank Konte's keyboards and was one of the best Allison covers I've ever heard. Lala and Konte were gone so the focus shifted to Pinera's okay voice and guitar. rating: *** stars
(side
2) The showpiece on their debut album, the original 'Reality Does Not Inspire' was a near perfect combination of West Coast psych and Latin influences. Great tune. In contrast, the synthesizer tinged remake came off like a bad slice of television theme music (though Pinera showcased some nice moves of acoustic and electric guitar). Interestingly Pinera handled the lead vocal on both versions of the song, but this time around he sounded fragile and thin. Check out the debut LP. rating: *** stars 2.) Drums of Reason (instrumental) (Mike Pinera) - 5:00 I'm not a hardcore Blues Image fan, but as far as I can tell, 'Drums of Reason' was not a remake. At least it didn't appear on the band's first three studio albums. That's not so say it was any good since the song consisted of five minutes of Latin-flavored percussion work. It certainly reminded me of the late Joe Lala, but seemed to go on and on and on ... rating: ** stars. 3.) Full Moon Blues (Mike Pinera) - 3:18 Seemingly another "new" tune ... 'Full Moon Blues' was credited as a Pinera original, but to my ears sounded suspiciously like a continuation of 'Parchman Farm'. rating: ** stars
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