B.B. Blunder - Worker's Playtime (Remastered)

In late 1969 Blossom Toes were on their way back from a show in Bristol when they were involved in a serious motor vehicle accident.  At that time, they decided to take a break, but instead of a break, it ended up being the end of the band.  After the band broke up, guitarist Brian Godding and bassist Brian Belshaw continued to work together, occasionally working with singer Julie Driscoll, who was Godding’s sister-in-law.  The two of then teamed back up with original Blossom Toes drummer Kevin Westlake, and after they got together, they were given the opportunity to record some music for a film.  They went into the studio to do this, but the film didn’t happen and by that time they had already done a lot of recording, so they decided to work with what they had and then record more songs to make an album.  Along with a handful of guests including Driscoll, Mick Taylor, Brian Auger and jazz musicians Marc Charig and Nick Evans they recorded Worker’s Playtime, the sole release from B.B. Blunder.  While there is plenty of great music on the album, because of the way it was created, the album does come across as a bit scattered and almost a little unfinished.   As they recently did with the two Blossom Toes albums, Esoteric has done a great job with this new two CD reissue with a remastered version of the original disc along with thirteen bonus tracks, two of which are previously unreleased.  

Worker’s Playtime definitely finds them sticking closer to the sound of the second Blossom Toes release as opposed to their debut, but they still expand on that sound here.  Opening cut “Sticky Living” shows that perfectly.  It mixes together rock, funk and R&B with horns and guitars that often have a Led Zeppelin vibe resulting in a six and a half minutes of infectious chaos.   Another example is “Rocky Yagbag”, a very ragged rocker with banging piano that sounds like the Stones having a jam session with Little Richard.  “Research” is a slow dreamy instrumental that sounds like parts of it could be used as soundtrack music and “Lost Horizons” and “Moondance” are a couple of short cuts that are mostly sound effects with a little music that I assume were initially recorded for the film.  “Seed”, the highlight of the album, is a gorgeous, laid-back psychedelic track that is very powerful and emotional, full of outstanding guitar work that builds and builds to an epic climax.  Another notable track is the album closer “New Day”, which features Mick Taylor on slide guitar.  This upbeat rocker actually first showed up back in the Blossom Toes days and a demo version and live version can be found in the bonus cuts on the new reissue of their If Only For A Moment.  The other tracks on the album are the slow bluesy “You’re So Young”, the raw, hard-driving “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” and the easygoing rocker “Rise” (there is some really good guitar work in both of these tracks).  Closing out disc one are the two previously unreleased cuts from a 1971 BBC Radio Sounds of the 70s session.  By the time these were recorded the band’s lineup had changed a bit. Westlake had been replaced by Chris Hunt, Reg King (formerly of The Action) was now handling the vocals and Nick Judd was on keyboards.  “Go Have Yourself A Good Time”, is a non-album track that has a soulful rock sound and really showcases King’s vocals and the guitar work.  The other track is a live version of “Sticky Living”, which to me works better than the album version without the clutter of the horns. 

The second disc here contains eleven outtakes recorded at Olympic Studios during the same sessions as the album.  Some of the highlights on this disc are several acoustic tracks including an absolute gorgeous reworking of The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night”, the laid-back “Black Crow’s Nest”, which has a bit of an early Grateful Dead vibe, the quirky folk tune “When I Was In The Country” (complete with whistling accompaniment) and “Backstreet”, another leftover from the Blossom Toes days that is very reminiscent of Harry Nilsson (a Blossom Toes demo version can be found in the bonus cuts of We Are Ever So Clean).  Another standout track is “Come On Eyes”, a seven minute track that sounds like the Allman Brothers playing psychedelic tinged blues rock.  While it’s a little more hit and miss than the two Blossom Toes albums, Worker’s Playtime is an interesting chapter in the history of these bands and well worth checking out, especially with so many quality bonus tracks.

(Esoteric Recordings)