Snake In the Grass
Band members Related acts
|
line up 1 The Blackbirds - Werner Breining -- vocals, lead guitar - Heinz-Peter Koop -- bass - Hubert Koop -- keyboards NEW - Georg Klein -- drums, percussion, backing vocals (replaced Helmut Vigneron)
line up 1 The Rippers - Hans Enderle -- keyboards - Joachim Gottschalk -- lead guitar, vocals) - Peter Kempf -- drums), percussion - Fernando Rossell -- bass - Lutz Wolf-- rhythm guitar, vocals
|
- Werner Breining (solo efforts) - Die Blacks - Blackbirds 2000 - GÄA (Peter Bely) - Golgatha (Hans Enderle and Peter Kempf)
|
|
Genre: rock Rating: 3 stars *** Title: Hot und Sweet Mit Beat Company: Opp Catalog: OPP
5-5 Country/State: Germany Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 908 Price: 75.00
|
Does anyone really understand the maturations of record labels ? I certainly don't. Credited to the anonymous Snake in the Grass, 1969's "Hot und Sweet mit Beat' (translated from German as Hot and Sweet with Beat), was actually a compilation set pulling material from The Blackbirds and The Rippers. Six of the uncredited selections reflected material from The Blackbirds' 1968 album "No Destination". Four of the selections were by The Rippers, pulled from their 1968 album "Honesty." In terms of attribution, the title track was a mystery.
So
here's what I wrote about the original Blackbirds LP. Even
though they we
Taken from their 1968 album "Honesty" (Saga catalog number STFID-2142), the four Rippers songs were also pretty good. 'Honey' was a Doors-styled rocker. The actual song title was 'Honesty.' 'All the Jumping People' had a nice blues-rock base. The instrumental 'Big Ben' was actually one of the album's most interesting tunes. Finally, 'My Soul Is Wrong' was a nifty early-'60s styled rave-up. The anonymous title track was actually the album's weskest performance. Not a classic collection, but worth looking for though you'd be better off buying the two parent albums.
"Hot und Sweet mit Beat" track listing: (side 1) 1.) Snake In the Grass rating: ** stars Very strange way to open up an album - the bouncy flute propelled 'Snake In the Grass' sounded like some sort of mid-'70s commercial for laundry detergent with a female chorus moaning along in the background and Breining occasionally intoning the title track. 2.) Golden Sun (Werner Breining) - rating: *** stars The song was actually entitled 'Golden Summer' on The Blackbirds album (and if you listened closely, that was clearly what Breining sang). Kicked along by a tasty bass and organ pattern, 'Golden Sun' was a wonderful Merseybeat-styled ballad that would have made The Hollies, or The Searchers quite happy. 3.) Long Tall Dorthe (Werner Breining) - rating: ** stars Thanks to Breining's operatic shriek (he should not have tried to hit those high notes), 'Long Tall Dorthe' had the distinction of being the most irritating track on the set. That said, the cool keyboard sounds were intriguing. 4. Honey (Joachim Gottschalk) rating: **** stars The first of four tracks from The Rippers, 'Honey' was actually a re-titled version of the the title track from their 1968 debut album 'Honesty.' This one started out with some nice bass and organ moves that would have made Ray Manzarek and The Doors proud. Yeah, Lutz Wolf's attempt to highlight his street creds was funny, but this tune rocked out with some major energy. One of the album highlights. rating: **** stars 5.) All the Jumping People (Joachim Gottschalk) rating: **** stars The second Rippers performance, 'All the Jumping People' was a nice bluesy-rocker with the funny title track refrain adding to the enjoyment factor. 6.) That's My Love (Werner Breining) - rating: ** stars Perhaps because it was a rather pedestrian ballad and found Breining again stretching for the high notes, 'That's My Love' was a pedestrian ballad, though Koop turned in some nice Alan Price-styled organ moves.
(side
2) A fantastic dark and brooding rocker, 'Girl I'm Wondering' sounded like a Teutonic Zombies track, complete with Rod Argent-styled organ solo. Nice ! 2.) Something Different (instrumental) (Werner Breining) - rating: ** stars Bland MOR instrumental that sounded like the soundtrack for a laxative commercial - reminds me of something the T-Bones might have recorded with Alvin and the Chipmunks. 3.) She (Werner Breining) - rating: **** stars Redemption ... 'She' had it all; disillusionment, heartbreak, tasty jazzy guitar, killer organ ... perfect proto-punk. Easily the standout performance 4.) Big Ben (instrumental) (Joachim Gottschalk) - rating: **** stars The third Rippers song, the instrumental 'Big Ben' spotlighted Hans Enderle's organ and Joachim Gottschalk's lead guitar. The track offered up a bizarre mash-up of B movie sci-fi sound effects and Stax moves. Extremely weird and perhaps worth the price of admission on its own. 5.) My Soul Is Wrong (Joachim Gottschalk) rating: *** stars Easy to picture The Rippers playing this one in an early-'60s Hamburg dive nite club like the Star Club.
|
BACK TO BADCAT PAYMENT INFORMATION
ren't signed by a record company, in early 1968 the band were
given an opportunity to record some material at Horst Jankowski's
Stuttgart-based studio. The songs that would appear as 1968's "No
Destination" were recorded in a marathon one day
session; a feat made even more impressive by the fact about half of the
material was written the night before, or simply improvised on-the-spot in
the recording studio. Largely penned by
lead singer/guitarist Werner Breining,
the album made it clear these guys had been listening to more than their
share of British R&B groups like The Animals, The Artwoods, The Spencer
Davis Group, and maybe even a touch of Procol Harum. That also gave
the album a slightly dated feel - more 1966 than 1968. That wasn't
meant as a criticism since the writing and performances were uniformly strong.
Personally I would have selected a different mix of songs from the debut
album, but then I would not have released an anonymous and perhaps
illegitimate, un-credited album like this.