Steve Gibbons Band

Steve Gibbons Band - Caught In The Act - 1977 - Polydor

One of the great unsung live albums of the late '70s, cut contrarily by one of the most highly regarded live acts of the age. No matter that the Steve Gibbons Band entered the punk years as a distinct holdover from the pub days beforehand -- alongside fellow semi-veterans Graham Parker & the Rumour, they served up a live set that wed years of on-the-board experience with an enthusiasm and energy that made the day's young blades sound positively anemic by comparison. In other words, you thought the Clash and the Jam were hot? You ain't seen nothin' yet. Bedecked in a sleeve that reprints eight of the band's most memorable live reviews, from clubs and concert halls on both sides of the Atlantic, Caught in the Act blisters with all the fervor that the printed page suggests. Dylan's "Watching the River Flow" might seem a strange opener, all the more so since it was the band's then regular set closer, but it's a relentless barrel-boogie regardless, a duel between Gibbons' half-spoken growl and the sything guitars of Dave Carroll and Bob Wilson. It is also a calm before the storm to come, as the band heats up, the pace picks up...by the time you reach "Speed Kills," you couldn't argue even if you felt like it. With not a single footfall out of place, still Caught in the Act has highlights -- the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" zapped with unquenchable good-time fire, the possibly autobiographical chest-beater "Gave His Life to Rock'n'Roll," and, best of all, a charge through Chuck Berry's "Tulane" that celebrates the band's first (and, shame, only) hit single elsewhere in 1977. A huskily humorous "Clothes Line," meanwhile, pinpoints the sheer showmanship of the band in full flight -- it's easy to remember the Steve Gibbons Band as a balls-on-the-line rock & rolling R&B band, and truly, they were one of the best. But they were also one of the funkiest good times of the late '70s live scene, and Caught in the Act could not have been more accurately titled. © Dave Thompson © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/caught-in-the-act-r38852/review N.B: Was "Paperback Writer" on any issue of this album?

This album is also available as part of the double CD set "On the Loose/Caught in the Act: Double Live" with 5 bonus tracks on "Caught In The Act". The 2xLP vinyl release notes state that "This is the first & only British band to fool the critics into believing they were a Southern Rock band from the USA". Steve was definitely from Birmingham, England but if you didn't know better, he could have been from Birmingham, Alabama! A terrific rockin' album from the great and very underrated Steve Gibbons and his band. Check out "Rollin'" with two amazing guitar solos from Bob Wilson and Dave Carroll. The album is VHR by A.O.O.F.C. Buy Steve's "Down in the Bunker" album and listen to real Rock 'n' Roll. [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 109 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

SIDE 1

1.Watching the River Flow - Bob Dylan 4:37
2.Light Up Your Face - Steve Gibbons 3:23
3 Shopping For Clothes - Kent Harris,Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller 3:34 *
4.Git It - Bob Kelly 3:10
5.Gave His Life to Rock 'n' Roll - Steve Gibbons 4:10
6.And the Music Plays On - Steve Gibbons 4:19

* Song based on "Clothes Line" by Kent Harris. The US & UK MCA LP lists this track as "Clothes Line (Wrap It Up)"

SIDE 2

1.Day Tripper - John Lennon & Paul McCartney 3:26
2.One of the Boys - Steve Gibbons 4:04
3.You Gotta Pay - Steve Gibbons 2:55
4.Tulane - Chuck Berry 3:34
5.Speed Kills - Steve Gibbons 3:14
6.Rollin' - Steve Gibbons 6:09

BAND

Steve Gibbons - Guitar, Lead Vocals
Dave Carroll - Lead Guitar, Vocals
Bob Wilson - Lead Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Trevor Burton - Bass, Vocals
Bob Lamb - Drums

BIO

A critic once called Steve Gibbons "the English Bob Seger," which, as descriptions go, could have been much worse, but is really based on superficialities. Both guys are basically unpretentious, blue-collar rockers who achieved fame (Seger much more so than Gibbons) as veterans. But Gibbons' solo career -- which is the guise in which he is best known -- wasn't long enough to witness the kind of decline and formulaic emptiness that marked Seger's career after 1980. Still, for a career that lasted for five albums, Gibbons didn't do too badly; three of them are good, and one (Down in the Bunker) is great. Gibbons' career actually dates back to the very end of the '50s. A rock & roller with a special love of Elvis Presley's work, Gibbons was working as a plumber's apprentice in his native Birmingham, England, when he made the leap to a professional career, replacing Colin Smith as lead singer in the Dominettes, a local rock & roll band. He remained with the Dominettes -- who were renamed the Uglys three years later -- for the next eight years, as they went through numerous lineup changes and their sound evolved from rock & roll to R&B to psychedelia. Gibbons himself became heavily influenced by the music and songs of Bob Dylan during the mid-'60s, which manifested itself for years after (and, indeed, into the '90s), starting with the Uglys' single "Wake Up My Mind." The group experienced many false-starts and thwarted efforts at chart success, and by 1968 Gibbons was the only original member of the Uglys still in the lineup. And the band essentially dissolved in a disastrous series of behind-the-scenes machinations of manager Tony Secunda, and Gibbons was among those left to find a new gig. He initially joined former Move bassist Trevor Burton, ex-Moody Blues guitarist/singer Denny Laine, and his former Uglys bandmate Keith Smart in an outfit called Balls. by April of that year they had formed a new group called Balls, which didn't last long but did leave an album behind. Gibbons then joined the Birmingham band the Idle Race, which had lost Jeff Lynne to the Move not too long before. That configuration lasted for a few months, before it renamed itself the Steve Gibbons Band. It was in this guise that Gibbons finally began his rise to stardom, at least in England. Gibbons fancied himself a modern-day rock & roll outlaw: dark features, surly countenance, mean disposition. His songs were essentially Chuck Berry updates (in some cases, simply Chuck Berry covers) about thugs, dealers, and good lovin' gone bad. Tight with Who bassist John Entwistle, Gibbons was able to land a contract with the Who's American label, MCA, and share the same management company. The trouble was that being the English Bob Seger meant little, if anything, to most American rock fans (who preferred their own Seger by a wide margin), and Gibbons' career never amounted to much in the U.S.; he was fairly popular in England, though. Following Down in the Bunker, Gibbons released two early-'80s records for RCA, and On the Loose for Magnum Force in 1986. The 1998 Bob Dylan tribute The Dylan Project, recorded with members of Fairport Convention, marked a comeback of sorts for Gibbons. He has continued to tour with the Steve Gibbons Band into the 21st century and participated in various Birmingham rock & roll showcases with fellow Brummies Trevor Burton, Bev Bevan, and Danny King. © John Dougan & Bruce Eder © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/steve-gibbons-p17852/biography