AngelAirwaves
Release date: April 24, 2007
The Deal: ’70s Scottish blues/rock diva captured live at Montreaux circa 1981.
The Good: Stone the Crows singer Maggie Bell should have been famous for her ’73 album Queen of the Night. Bell put up a version of John Prine’s “Souvenirs” that hasn’t been touched since by anybody but Betty LaVette. She also turned in a rendition of Dan Penn’s “A Woman Left Lonely” that should have put her in the soul hall of fame. But Bell got labeled as a Junior Miss version of Janis Joplin, and soon faded from sight. Stone the Crows is now remembered for lead guitarist Les Harvey being electrocuted live on stage.
The Bad: Bell doesn’t do anything from Queen of the Night. What comes across here is just an average bar band singer having a so-so night. Her band, Midnight Flyer, outshines Bell, sounding like a punked-out version of Led Zep, their label mates at the time.
The Verdict: The four bonus cuts are what make this one a must-have. For some reason, Bell thought she could bring up Taj Mahal and Albert Collins as special guests and not get blown off the stage. Mahal burns his way through Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home to Me” and “Chain Gang.” Collins has fun playing with the kids in the band, daring them to stand up to his blazing licks during “Blues Jam.”
This article appears in Apr 25 – May 1, 2007.
