Gary Farr - Strange Fruit

A little from column A; a little from columns B, C and D, too

Gary Farr had an interesting ride through the history of popular music, starting in the 60s beat boom, progressing through prog, folk-rock and roots-rock, before ending up in Muscle Shoals for a bit of soul-rock.

This CD is a reissue of his 1970 CBS record and, in many ways, is typical of the time. Just as his 60s band The T-Bones never quite broke out of being a great live act into a distinctive recording outfit, so Farr doesn’t quite plough a distinctive enough furrow here. Yes, it hangs together, it rocks and the musicianship is solid, but it always has a nagging touch of something else about it: a bit of the Moodies, a smattering of Barclay James Harvest, some swampy splashes of the Stones. Listen hard and you’ll even catch shades of Mighty Baby, for the very good reason that they are his backing band here. The received wisdom is also that Richard Thompson makes an early appearance on lead guitar.

It’s done with such earnest zeal that you can’t help but like lots of it, even though the songs are often too long, portentous and wordy, and the title track is one of the worst versions of Billie Holliday’s classic ever.

Esoteric | ECLEC 2029

Reviewed by Tim Holmes
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