Genre: rock
Rating: 2 stars **
Title: Thick Tongue Fool
Company: Guinness
Catalog: GNS
36080
Year: 1977
Country/State: US
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: cut lower right corner
Available: 2
GEMM catalog ID: 5891
Price: $30.00
One of the last Guinness Records releases, judging by some of the song selections, "Thick Tongue Fool" may have actually been recorded around 1977. That's in contrast to a large proportion of Guinness releases that featured old material repackaged as part of the 'tax scam' scheme. Like most Guinness releases, this one's a complete mystery with the liner notes providing nothing other than songwriting credits. It's also one of those Guinness releases that I've never seen reviewed. A quick scan of the track listing wouldn't give you much hope for the set - one original co-written by the mysterious Mr. Martin ('Love's Getting Sweeter'); the other nine tracks being popular covers, including two by J.R. Thames III (?), two Allen Toussaint covers, and a pair of Stevie Wonder covers. To some extent that initial feeling of low expectation was borne out by the performances. Martin wasn't a half bad singer and actually had a voice that was quite commercial and versatile - he turned in one of the better Stevie Wonder-styled performances I've heard on 'Higher Ground'. Unfortunately, the covers were pretty much rote affairs injecting little or no originality into the proceedings. The John Lennon and 'Southern Nights' cover were perfect examples - Martin might as well have simply done a voice over on the originals. Come to think of it, his versions sounded darned close to the originals. So was their anything worthwhile here? The title track was a nice rocker that actually had some commercial potential. The second Stevie Wonder cover 'You Haven't Done Nothing' was funny in a 'white-guy-trying-too-hard-to-be-funky way. Martin's 'Love's Getting Sweeter' would have made an okay top-40 single, though the lyrics were probably a little too cushy for rock fans.
So what to make of it all? Well, propelled by Martin's likeable voice it was certainly better than you'd expect. Had he been given an opportunity to pick a couple of better songs (ditching the hideous 'Cricket Song' among others), or perhaps showcase a couple of originals, this might have gone somewhere. Unfortunately there simply wasn't enough originality here to raise it above the norm. Not that it salvaged the collection, but the album sported one of my favorite Guinness covers ... Anyone know who the artist was? In fact anyone know who Mike Martin was?
"Thick
Tongue Fool" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Thick Tongue Fool (J.R. Thames III) -
2.) I'm Going Down (Norman Whitfield) -
3.) Southern Nights (Allen Toussaint) -
4.) Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder) -
5.) Love's Getting Sweeter (D. Houseman - Mike Martin) -
(side
2)
1.) Cricket Song (J.R. Thames III) -
2.) You Haven't Done Nothing (Stevie Wonder) -
3.) Play Something Sweet (Brick Yard Blues) (Allen Toussaint) -
4.) Stand By Me (Ben E. King - Glick) -
5.) Whatever Gets You Through the Night (John Lennon) -