line up 1

- Doug Gustavson -- bass, backing vocals

- David 'Diesel' Martin -- keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals

- Brad Strickland -- lead vocals, lead guitar

- Chris Wyles -- drums, percussion

  real band (Nutz) line up:

- Mick Davenport -- lead guitar, backing vocals

- Dave Lloyd -- lead vocals, rhythm guitar 

- Keith Mulholland -- bass, backing vocals 

- John Mylett (RIP 1984) -- drums 

- Steve Drake Band 

- Nutz

Genre: rock

Rating: 3 stars ***

Title:  Cool Me Down

Company: Western Hemisphere

Catalog: WH-1003
Year: 1977

Country/State: US

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: still in shrink wrap (opened)

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 5824

Price: $200.00

The history behind this obscurity is like a bad pulp novel, full of tangled plotlines and various human frailties.  

Rather than spend a lot of time going over the strange life of the late Steve Drake (aka Steve Kaczorowski), I'm going to give you a link to a fascinating piece of research on the man by rock historian and all around good guy Patrick Lundborg:

http://www.lysergia.com/LamaWorkshop/Kacz/lamaKacz.htm

So back to the story.  Back in the mid- 1970s there was a British hard rock band by the name of Nutz.  Based in Liverpool with a lineup featuring singer/rhythm guitarist Mick Davenport, lead guitarist Dave Lloyd, bass player Keith Mulholland, and drummer John Mylett, the quartet recorded a series of four albums for A&M, though none saw a US release.  Somewhere along the line Drake/Kaczorowski became aware of the band and apparently took a liking to their blues-rock sound.  We're talking a real liking to the point where he appropriated their second album "Nutz Too" (A&M catalog number 68306) for his own use, in the process re-titling some of the songs, reordering them, taking credit for writing all of the tunes, and giving himself production credits too boot. He also fabricated his own publishing company (C.A.B. Music, B.M.I.) and apparently invented a recording studio (Gooseberry Studios - London).  Unlike previous efforts where he wiped out the vocal tracks and substituted his own performances, this time around he left the vocals alone.  (Just my opinion, but for what it was worth, 1974's "Nutz", or 1976's "Hard Nutz" were actually better albums and would have been better sets to 'borrow'.)

It got even weirder.  At the same time there was another British band by the name of No Dice.  No Dice actually had an American distribution deal with Capitol Records.  As a result Drake/Kaczorowski may, or may not have been aware of the group, but nevertheless elected to credit his release to No Doubt.  At that point in time Drake had actually been working with a local Long Island band so why not credit those musicians even if they had nothing to do with the album?  So there you go - apparently unaware they were being 'used' bassist Doug Gustavson , keyboardist David 'Diesel' Martin, singer/lead guitarist Brad Strickland, and drummer Chris Wyles were given performance credits on the resulting No Dice LP. 

The album somehow came to the attention of Morris Levy's Roulette Records Western Hemisphere subsidiary.  Long thought of as a tax scam imprint, Western Hemisphere only released three albums (this was the last of the three), before calling it quits in 1976.  Levy went on to focus his tax scan attentions on the infamous Tiger Lily label.    

So what did this Nutz/No Dice set actually sound like?  Well, "Cool Me Down" was surprisingly impressive and in case you were interested, really didn't sound anything like the earlier Steve Drake/Kaczorowski material.  To make it even more confusing I'll paste in my original "Nutz Too ..." review but then try to align the song-by-song comments to match the "No Dice" track listing sequences.  Geez, I'm getting confused myself.

Originally released in 1975, the band's cleverly-titled sophomore album "Nutz Too" teamed the band with producer John Anthony.  Musically the set wasn't a major change from the debut; maybe a little heavier this time around.  With the majority of material penned by lead guitarist Davenport (Lloyd contributing three tracks), songs like ' I Want Never Gets', 'Change's Coming' and ' The Love You Lost' really didn't make much of an impression on me the first couple of times I listened to them.  As a result it was easy to see why these guys had been relegated to 'also ran' status.  As I normally do, before getting rid of it, I set the LP aside for a couple of months (well in this case it was more like a couple of years) in order to give it one last chance before saying adios.  Glad I gave it another shot.  True, there wasn't anything  particularly original here, but the band's efforts to merge conventional hard rock licks with an occasional progressive move made for more than it's share of interesting moments.  Lloyd may not have had the most distinctive voice, but he used his talents well, generating considerable energy on tracks like 'Cool Me Down' and the ballad ' The Love You Lost'. That said, the big surprise was Davenport.  A surprisingly versatile player, his playing added the highlights to most of the album.

- 'Cool Me Down' was a conventional mid-tempo rocker, but boasted one of the band's best melodies (thanks to Danvenport's multi-tracked lead guitar) and incorporated some of the band's surprisingly impressive group harmonies.  Always liked Mulholland's mega-fuzz bass on this one.   rating: *** stars

- 'Can't Take It' (aka  'R.S.D.' started out as a laidback acoustic blues number with Lloyd's vocals sounding like they were recorded over a long distance phone line.  About a minute in the song exploded into a full fledge electric arrangement showcasing some first-rate Davenport slide guitar.   Nice slinky rocker that actually deserved the comparison to something out of the Zeppelin catalog and it would have sounded great on American FM radio.  Easily one of the album highlights.   rating: **** stars

- 'Love You Lost' (aka -' The Love You Lost') was a pretty and relatively laidback keyboard-propelled ballad (Paul Carrack provided the keyboards).  Once again Lloyd was at his best when he stopped trying to push it so hard.  The album featured another memorable Davenport solo.   rating: *** stars

- 'Knew That They Would (aka -'Sinner')  Another full tilt rocker, 'Sinner' had a catchy chorus and lots of hyper-speed Davenport lead guitar, but not much more going for it.   rating: ** stars  

- 'In My Eyes' (aka 'Knife Edge')  'Knife Edge' was the closing song on the original album.  Funny, but originally this was one of the few tracks that I liked.  This time out it was the exact opposite - I found it kind of plodding and predictable.  Guess tastes change.   rating: ** stars  

- 'I Want More' (aka - 'I Want Never Gets') showcased the band's mix of hard rock and progressive moves, this time out with a far stronger melody and some nice Davenport lead guitar. Imagine an English version of Styx that could really rock and you'd be in the right aural neighborhood though the cheesy, burping synthesizer at the end wasn't really necessary.   rating: *** stars

- 'Take It From Me' (aka 'It It All for Real')  The first real disappointment, 'Is It All for Real' was a forgettable slice of numbing boogie-rock.  Again, imagine a bad Sweet song and you'll know what to expect on this one.   rating: ** stars

- Tapped as the UK single (there wasn't an American 45), 'Change's Coming' was the only non-original (the song was written and originally recorded by the band Gypsy).  Great melody, fantastic group harmonies, and a killer Davenport lead guitar made this one irresistible and the album's standout performance.  Could've been a massive hit in the US had someone been paying attention.   rating: ***** stars

- Another unexpected surprise, 'Dear Diary' was a largely acoustic ballad.  Lloyd's performance was the big surprise here, turning in one of his prettiest vocals.  For his part Davenport responded with his prettiest lead guitar.   rating: *** stars

One last factoid - some of you'll realize that the Nutz LP featured ten tracks, but the No Dice set only had nine selections.  Turns out that Drake/Kaczorowski had previously 'borrowed' the song 'Nature Intended' for his "Nature Intended" album on Tiger Lily.  

Tiger Lily catalog number TL-15054

So without the weird plotline this one would have been a good, but slightly anonymous set of mid-1970s English hard rock.  Taking into consideration the weird plotline this one was a good, but slightly anonymous set of mid-1970s English hard rock.

"Cool Me Down" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Cool Me Down   (Steve Drake) - 

2.) Can't Take It   (Steve Drake) - 

3.) Love You Lost   (Steve Drake) - 

4.) Knew That They Would   (Steve Drake) - 

5.) In My Eyes   (Steve Drake) - 

(side 2)
1.) I Want More   (Steve Drake) - 

2.) Take It From Me   (Steve Drake) - 

3.) Change Is Coming   (Steve Drake) - 

4.) Most Every Day   (Steve Drake) - 

SRB 11/2009