line up 1 (1967-68)

- Paul Curtis (aka Paul Gurvitz) -- vocals, guitar, bass

- Louie Farrell -- drums, percussion

- Gerie Kenworthy -- bass

- Tim Mycroft -- keyboards

  line up 2 (1969-70)

NEW - Adrian Curtis aka Adrian Gurvitz) -- vocals, guitar

- Paul Curtis (aka Paul Gurvitz) -- vocals, guitar, bass

NEW - Pete Dunton -- drums, percussion (replaced Louis Farrell)

- Baker Gurvitz Army

- Adrian Gurvitz (solo efforts)

- Paul Gurvitz (solo efforts)

- Bulldog Breed (Louie Farrell)

- The Graeme Edge Band (Adrian Gurvitz)

- Louis Farrell (solo efforts)

- The Knack

- Sounds Nice

- T2 (Louis Farrell)

- Three Man Army (Adrian and Paul Gurvitz)

Genre: rock

Rating: 3 stars ***

Title:  Gun Sight

Company: Epic

Catalog: BN 26551
Year: 1969

Country/State: Ilford, Essex, UK

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: --

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 15

Price: $30.00

Normally I'll do a little bit of research on a band before I listen to one of their albums.  This time out I decided to try a slightly different approach - namely listening to the album, taking some guesses with respect to their background (the only thing I knew about this band is that Adrian and Paul Gurvitz were members), their inspirations, their sound, etc. and then doing the research to see whether my write-up bore any relationship to their actual history. ...  As I mentioned, I already knew these guys were British.  I knew this was their sophomore album and they'd enjoyed some commercial success with the track 'Run with the Devil.'  I'd never heard their debut collection - 1968's "Gun" or this 1969 follow-up.  That left me to approach the album with an open mind.

Produced by John Goodison, "Gun Sight" sure looked like a heavy metal album.  The Hipgnosis designed cover showing Adrian and Paul Curtis and drummer Louie Farrell scowling while surrounded by an arsenal of  heavy weapons didn't indicated this was going to be a set of gentle, pastoral English folk material.  Similarly, song titles like 'Dreams + Screams', 'Situation Vacant' and 'Long Hair Wildman' sounded like the might have a nasty edge.   Okay, 'Angeline' had to be a power ballad, while 'Oh Lady You', 'Lady Link Part One' and 'Lay Link Part Two' sounded like they might be in the sensitive songwriter vein.   'Course you can't judge a song by it's title ....  So my guess was that this was going to be a fairly heavy set with more than a little blues-rock influence.   In retrospect I'd say I managed to misjudge most of this one.  While there were a couple of hard rockers and occasional hint of Cream-styled blues-rock, the majority of the set was far more diverse than I suspected.  That diversity was both entertaining, but distracting in that it was hard to figure out what the band's real strength was.

"Gun Sight" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Head In Clouds   (Paul Gurvitz) -    rating: **** stars

'Head In Clouds' opened up with some fantastic squealing jangle lead guitar and a nice mixture of Cream styled rock and psychedelic moves.  Initially the song sounded very American to me, but Paul Gurvitz's vocals (which have always reminded me of Jack Bruce), clearly reminded me these guys were English.   And the secret weapon on this was Paul Gurvitz's melodic bass line.  Killer way to open up an album and one of the album highpoints..  

2.) Drown Yourself In the River   (Paul Gurvitz) -   rating: *** stars

I'm usually not a big acoustic blues fan, but will admit I found 'Drown Yourself In the River' surprisingly enjoyable.   There really wasn't anything particularly original on this one, but Louis Farrell's hyperactive drumming and Adrian Gurvitz's rollicking slide guitar were big parts of the song's appeal. 

3.) Angeline   (Paul Gurvitz) -   rating: ** stars

The elaborate opening string arrangement that opened the ballad 'Angeline' was completely unexpected,  The result was a pretty song with a surprisingly sensitive touch ... kind of a Donovan-goes-on-a-jazzy-tangent vibe.   While Gurvitz's raw guitar made the second half of the song interesting, the overall effect still sounded jarringly out-of-place along with the rest of side one.   

4.) Dreams + Screams   (Paul Gurvitz) -  rating: *** stars

Built on electronically treated lead vocals (that I alternately find fascinating and irritating) and feedback drenched lead guitar from Adrian and Paul,  'Dreams + Screams' found the band returning to hardcore rock trio format.  Very raw, this one would have made Ozzy Osbourne's ears bleed. \

(side 2)
1.) Situation Vacant   (Paul Gurvitz) -    rating: **** stars

For an "issue'' song (it was apparently tough finding a job when you were a hippie), 'Situation Vacant' was actually pretty good.  Built on a dense, lead fuzz guitar framework, it was one of the album's hardest rockin' numbers.   

2.) Hobo   (Paul Gurvitz) -    rating: ** stars

While it was tapped as the UK single, the country-tinged 'Hobo' wasn't particularly commercial, or appealing which may explain why it bombed.  Sonically the track sounded like it had been recorded in a bathroom stall; the vocals pushed way in the background.   Too country inflected for my tastes ...   The track was tapped as a UK and US single:

  UK release:

- 1969's 'Hobo' b/w 'Don't Look Back' (CBS catalog number 4443)

- 1969's 'Hobo' b/w 'Long Hair Wildman' (CBS catalog number 4443)

  US release:

- 1969's 'Hobo' b/w 'Don't Look Back' (Epic catalog number 5-10537)

3.) Lady Link Part One (instrumental)   (Paul Gurvitz) -    rating: ** stars

So I was totally wrong when it came to 'Lady Link Part One'.   Rather than sensitive singer/songwriter, this brief instrumental found the band taking an accomplished stab at Spanish-influenced Flamenco.   Strange, but enjoyable. 

4.) Oh Lady You   (Paul Gurvitz) -    rating: *** stars

I may have been wrong about the prior track, but I nailed 'Oh Lady You' which was in fact an overly sensitive ballad.   Very Donovan-esque though I liked Adrian's slide guitar touches !   rating: *** stars

5.) Lady Line Part Two (instrumental)   (Paul Gurvitz) -    rating: ** stars

''Lady Link Part Two' was a less interesting continuation of the earlier Flamenco number.   

6.) Long Hair Wildman   (Paul Gurvitz) -    rating: **** stars

'Long Hair Wildman' closed the collection with the most melodic and pop-oriented composition.   This one's always struck me as sounding like an earlier composition.  It's  actually always reminded me of a mid-1960s Who track - same aura.  This one was also released as a US single:

-1969's 'Long Hair Wildman' b/w 'Drown Yourself In the River' (Epic catalog number 5-10593)

For anyone interested, there's an interesting Gun website at: http://www.planetalien.co.uk/