60,000,000 Buffalo - Nevada Jukebox

Female-fronted rock from Colorado, 1972

Just as there was a queue to replace The Beatles in the public’s affections, Janis Joplin left a much-coveted throne when she departed this life in 1970. Judy Roderick was one of several females touted to replace the much-missed Miss J, and the clumsily-named 60,000,000 Buffalo were formed in Colorado to showcase her talents in a band setting. She’d already recorded solo folk for Vanguard and went on to perform jazz in the 20 years her that followed this release.

Nevada Jukebox is in the Firefall/Zephyr/James Gang vein and, like the last-named act, was produced by a pre-Eagles Bill Szymczyk. But while the band and Roderick makes a decent fist of it, the unmemorable songs she wrote with Bill Ashford don’t give her the best chance of taking off commercially. It’s all just a little mannered and polite. Doubtless live favourites, 60,000,000 Buffalo split the year after the album’s release and all bets were off.

Judy Roderick was the doppelganger of Linda Ronstadt, and one suspects she would have preferred the more sophisticated material Linda slipped into later on in her career. Sadly, diabetes complications mean that Judy’s no longer with us – a downbeat demise compared to Janis, and that fact reflects their respective careers.

2 stars 2 stars

Collectors’ Choice | CCM-954

Reviewed by Michael Heatley
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