Crow - Best Of Crow album download

An eleven track compilation, 1972's "The Best of Crow" pulled together five out of the band's seven 1969-71 era singles. Missing in action were 1970's 'Slow Down' and 'Watching Can Waste Up Time'. Given the band's limited catalog (they'd only recorded three studio sets up to that point), a "best of" collection struck me as a bit premature, but with lead singer David Wagner having quit the previous year, I'm guessing Amaret wanted to capitalize on the band's audience while they still had a chance. And here's the really funny thing about this album - since the labelt got to "cherry pick" from the first three albums, on a song-for-song basis the results were surprisingly impressive. Yeah, Wagner's voice was an acquire taste (he frequently reminded me of a rock-oriented David Clayton-Thomas), and there wasn't a great deal of originality in these grooves, but looking back I find nine of the tracks score high with my ears (and that includes a couple with horn arrangements). - Off their debut LP "Crow Music", 'Evil Woman' was their biggest and best hit (really their only hit). Driven by Larry Wiegand's pounding bass and some very daring lyrics (remember this was 1969), the song probably deserved to be a bigger hit than it was. Interestingly, the horns were added without the band's knowledge, or approval, giving the tune a Blood, Sweat & Tears-edge. rating: **** stars- Their fifth single, 'Don't Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie On the (King of Rock and Roll)' was as horrendous as the title. A mindless slice of anonymous bar band moves, the song found lead singer Wagner trotting out his bluesiest voice to little effect. rating: ** stars- Off of their second album, 1970's "Crow By Crow", 'Colors' opening with some Kink Middlemist church organ before unexpectedly exploding into one of the band's better rockers. Dick Wiegand acquitted himself with honors on the track and even Wagner's David Clayton-Thomas wannabe vocals were enjoyable on this one. rating: **** stars- 'Gonna Leave a Mark' was another track off the debut LP. Driven by a crunching Dick Wiegand guitar riff, the song was actually pretty good and would have been even better had producer Bob Monaco restrained himself and dropped the needless horns which gave the song a dreaded BS&T feel. rating: *** stars- Showcasing one of their better melodies and some of Dick Wiegand's best playing, 'I Stand To Blame" was a likeable country-rocker with a nifty nod to Elvis Presley. The song was also interesting for showcasing the band's seldom displayed harmony vocal skills and for Wagner's breezy delivery. Shame he did sing like this more often. rating: **** stars- The band's debut single, 'Time To Make a Turn' has always reminded me of a Gary Puckett and the Union Gap song. Complete with punch horns, this one sounded like it had been penned for maximum radio play - hard to understand why it vanished without a trace. Elsewhere, Dick Wiegand turned in a tasty lead guitar solo. rating: **** stars- A strange choice for a single (gawd only knows how it hit the top-100 charts), 'Cottage Cheese' was apparently written to spotlight drummer Dennis Craswell. Musically the song was little more than a brief jam session with each member, including Craswell), given a crack at a short solo. The song title was basically a place holder, but the band never came up with a better title. rating: ** stars- Penned by bassist Larry Weigand, 'Busy Day' was built on a great rock riff (if I ever wanted to write a song, I'd steal it in a heartbeat). The only downside to this one was producer Monaco's needless studio effects. rating: **** stars- Lifted from the band's third studio set (1971's "Mosaic"), 'Satisfied' was a bit different from the bulk of the group's standard bar band repertoire. Opening up with some attractive orchestration, including Craswell pounding away on kettle drums, the track didn't drift all that far from hardrock, but sounded considerably more self-assured than much of their earlier work. rating: **** stars- Larry seemed to be the band's most commercial writer and that knack was aptly displayed on 'Keeps Me Runnin''. Nice pop-rock tune that again showcased the band's overlooked harmony vocals. rating: **** stars- Three things save 'Yellow Dawg' from oblivion: 1.) Dick Wiegand's fuzz guitar (he also turned in a blazing solo), 2.) the title track chorus, and 3.) Middlemist's jumpy keyboard pattern which Dick and Larry follow a couple of times throughout the song. rating: **** starsDamn, I guess I'm gonna have to go back and re-exam the studio albums."The Best of Crow" track listing:(side 1)1.) Evil Woman (Larry Wiegand - Richard Wiegand - David Waggoner) - 3:102.) Don't Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie On the (King of Rock and Roll) (Jeff Thomas) - 2:003.) Colors (Larry Wiegand) - 3:364.) Gonna Leave a Mark (Larry Wiegand) - 2:535.) I Stand To Blame (Richard Wiegand - David Waggoner) - 2:386.) Time To Make a Turn (Larry Wiegand) - 2:47(side 2)1.) Cottage Cheese (Richard Wiegand - David Waggoner - Dennis Craswell) - 3:202.) Busy Day (Larry Wiegand) - 3:033.) Satisfied (R Middlemist - Larry Wiegand) - 5:034.) Keeps Me Runnin' (Larry Wiegand) - 3:005.) Yellow Dawg (Larry Wiegand) - 3:01Under the Crow banner the Weigand brothers and Middlemist are still active in the Minneapolis area and have a web presence at: www.thecrowband.com03/2013 SRB