Three years after
Blind Faith, and two years after the zoo that was Ginger Baker's Air Force --
Denny Laine essentially replacing
Eric Clapton in
Blind Faith with six more musicians added for good measure --
Jack Bruce mixes the blues of
Cream with the hard rock of
Mountain while the label gave them maybe a third of the
Blind Faith hype. The verdict?
West, Bruce & Laing's
Why Dontcha has aged gracefully as an authentic signature of what these artists were doing, but it lacks the staying power of
Blind Faith, the fault being the choice of material. There is no "Theme from an Imaginary Western" here, there is no "Sea of Joy," just a relentless hard rock assault best exemplified by the track "Shake Ma Thing (Rollin Jack)." Here
Leslie West and
Jack Bruce share vocals, so you get
Mountain-meets-
Cream, but where they played "Sunshine of Your Love" in concert, there is no riff that awesome here. And that's all it would have taken, a great riff and tune to carry this project from point A to point B. "While You Sleep" shows this wild bunch as creative and having fun, and it's a great album track, but not the thing to find them a new audience. The title tune, "Why Dontcha," is pure
Leslie West, but it doesn't reinvent
Mississippi Queen, and these gentlemen had to pull a rabbit or two out of their hats. If anyone doubts
Jimmy Miller's ability to make a record album rock, just listen to his protégé
Andy Johns fail to follow in his mentor's footsteps.
Miller had three days to put
Blind Faith together after months of
Steve Winwood and
Clapton trying not to step on each other's toes, and he came back for part two, the Royal Albert Hall concert that became Ginger Baker's Air Force.
Why Dontcha, on the other hand, despite the pluses, falls short because it tries too hard, while not putting the effort where it belonged -- in the songwriting and production. Bet these great talents wish they had this moment in time back. If these were ex-
Grand Funk Railroad members
Flint, this would be a great record. It falls far short of what
Jack Bruce,
Corky Laing, and
Leslie West were capable of.
In an interview with
Corky Laing, that legendary quote from
Flo & Eddie was brought to his attention -- their opinion that
Mountain keyboard player
Steve Knight was "the most useless man in rock & roll."
Laing quickly came to
Knight's defense and said that he played rhythms that were essential to
Mountain. A
Steve Knight on keyboards, or even better, a
Steve Winwood, was what was needed to bring
West, Bruce & Laing to another level, maybe even to superstar status.
Cream's vocalist brought that hit potential to the table. The sleeper track on the album is "Love Is Worth the Blues," with
Leslie West on violin, guitar, and a suitably painful downtrodden vocal, while "Pollution Woman" is, finally, what everyone was waiting for:
Cream-meet-
Mountain, with
Jack Bruce on synthesizer and vocals,
Leslie West and
Jack Bruce on acoustic guitars, and a brilliantly solid
Corky Laing. This was the direction they should have taken, and there just isn't enough of it -- a wildly charging modern sound that elevates the whole, proving it could be greater than the sum of its parts. ~ Joe Viglione