Al Anderson - Al Anderson (1972)

Tracklist

01. Be My Woman Tonight
02. We'Ll Make Love
03. Ain'T No Woman Finer Lookin'
04. You'Re Just Laughin' Inside
05. I Don'T Believe I'Ll Stay Here Anymore
06. Honky Tonkin'
07. Goin' On Back to Indiana
08. Don'T Hold the Line
09. I Just Want to Have You Back Again
10. I Haven'T Got the Strength to Carry On
11. C'mon If You'Re Comin'

The happy-go-lucky almost Mardi Gras feel of We'll Make Love, the second track on this 1972 solo disc from the man behind the North East's legendary Wildweeds and their phenomenal Boston-area hit No Good to Cry (unfortunately, not on this disc, but an acoustic version might be a perfect addition to a future re-release), carries that distinctive almost gravel voice of Al Andersen. Though he would later join N.R.B.Q., this earthy folk/blues/country platter was recorded between June and September of 1972 and is a wonderful snapshot of an underrated artist at that point in time. Ain't No Woman Finer has Jeff Potter's wailing harp that plays off of Andersen's vocal sustain and snappy guitar work. The colorful and uniquely distorted cover photo of Andersen is almost psychedelic country, but there's none of that here. His vocal on You're Just Laughing Inside is reminiscent of early Elton John, say the Amoreena or Burn Down the Mission period. Hank Williams' Honky Tonkin' is the shortest track, but one of the liveliest. Don't Hold the Line explodes toward the end, and it is one of the few tunes on here that gets really raucous. I Just Want to Have You Back Again is a simple two-and-a-half-minute tune -- if Jim Croce were more laid-back, he'd probably have sounded like this, melodically it reminds one almost of early Paul McCartney solo -- maybe the first McCartney meets Ringo on his Sentimental Journey. The closing title, I Haven't Got the Strength to Carry On with Tom Staley's drums and Al Lepak's bass, form a nice framework for Andersen's blues-driven guitar. Also released in Quadrophonic in the early '70s, it remains a sincere work by a veteran American artist.