As a HUGE fan of THE WHO, I can tell you there are very few groups that managed to get the same feeling and sound of The Who during the Quick One/Sell Out period…
But ELMER GANTRY’S VELVET OPERA sure does a great job!
The first time I heard the opening track “Mother Writes”, I was already awestruck at how much John Ford’s Bass Guitar playing sounded like John Entwistle of The Who. And everyone knows how much of a feat that is in itself!
Listening to this makes me wonder if John Ford was using "Rotosound Strings" like Entwistle, too!
Then the next song “Mary Jane” was equally as catchy, with more brilliant bass playing! Then onto “I Was Cool”, a song that had a real “After The Fox” feel to it…a real zany song.
Then “Air”, “Lookin’ For an Easy Life”..track after track…they were all so good! The song “Flames” features some snappin’ drums and killer guitar, and “Long Nights of Summer” is a winsome song, complete with a David Bowie-ish flair to it! “Now She’s Gone” is a heavy song with a very “Sparks”-ish backing track ! What a driving Bass line!
And if there was any doubt about the Who influence here, “Dream Starts” even features a VERY John Entwistle flavored FRENCH HORN solo a la “Pictures Of Lily”!
The arrangement and structure of these songs are what really hooked me, though…they are so darn catchy!!
The CD re-release features some very nice extra songs, faves include the really sweet “Dreamy”, The “Whipping Post” flavored “Salisbury Plains” and the rockers “Volcano” and “A Quick B” (a spoof of the WHO title a Quick One?), which features some San Francisco Jorma Kaukonen style guitar!!
