As original member
Peppy Thielhelm
and original producer
Bob Wyld
expanded
the Blues Magoos
' foray into
Latin
music meets mainstream
blues
, these May 1970 recordings take the previous years'
Never Going Back
a step further.
Gulf Coast Bound
is an improvement, retaining
John Liello
's vibes and percussion and pianist
Eric Justin Kas
, who is the major songwriting contributor here (strangely enough, he is listed as "
Kas
" on the album jacket and "Kaz" on the songwriting credits).
"Slow Down Sundown"
could be the band
Chicago
vamping without their horn section, some strange imitation monkey-sound vocals making their way onto the platter mixed in with
Daddy Ya Ya
's out-of-place tambourine as the song fades.
Erik Kas
does the lead vocal on the 12-minute-plus opus
"Can't Get Enough of You,"
which sounds like a strange marriage between
Steely Dan
and
Traffic
. The problem here is that the band is a notch or two below
, and despite the general improvement over the last disc and their initial dip into this musical bag, there is no
Walter Becker
or
Dave Mason
Steve Winwood
here, or, for that matter, a song as strong as
Malo
's
"Suavecito"
"Do It Again,"
which resembles
"Can't Get Enough of You."
To be fair to this new
Blues Magoos
, they came two full years before
Fagen
/
Becker
would all hit in 1972, so this album can be viewed as pioneering work. It's too bad
ABC
records didn't keep releasing this musical journey.
Liello
's vibes add a marvelous touch, and if they were given a few more chances, maybe they could have found another hit single. The seven-minute 54-second instrumental
"Magoos Blues"
is lightweight
John Barleycorn Must Die
-era
, and the new rhythm section of drummer
Jim Payne
and bassist
Cooker Lopresti
is nondescript enough to not get in the way. Of the
pyschedelic
garage rock
bands which changed over to another format --
the Electric Prunes
,
H.P. Lovecraft
, etc. -- in what seemed like gambles to become "respectable," this is the best of the lot.
Eric Kaz
takes
"Tonight the Sky's About to Cry"
and it, like the rest of this album, would make for good FM radio filler in the middle of the night.
"Sea Breeze Express"
follows suit, competent and pleasant music, but nothing outstanding, and, unfortunately, nothing as breathtaking as
'
"Get Me to the World on Time"
' own
"We Ain't Got Nothing Yet,"
and that is the bottom line. ~ Joe Viglione