Frijid Pink - The Deram Recordings 1970-1971

Frijid Pink formed in Detroit in the late sixties and after releasing a couple of singles things took off with single number three, their cover of “House Of The Rising Sun”, which hit number four in the UK and number seven in the US (it was also number one in Germany).  Consisting of vocalist Tom Beaudry (aka Kelly Green), guitarist Gary Thompson, bassist Tom Harris and drummer Richard Stevers, they released their eponymous debut album in January 1970, followed five months later by the follow-up Defrosted, both on the Decca Records imprint Deram (for some reason while Larry Zelanka played keyboards on both albums, he wasn’t considered an official band member at this time).  The Deram Recordings 1970-1971 is great new two CD release that collects remastered versions of both of these along with the single tracks from this era of the band.   

Largely due to the success of that hit single, their self-titled album ended up peaking at number eleven on the US Charts (it was also number five in Canada).  “God Gave You Me” kicks the things off and is a solid midtempo bluesy rocker reminiscent of Free and is complemented nicely with Zelanka’s keys.  “Crying Shame” is a heavier rocker with some really good fuzzed out guitars and some extremely heavy drums that is at times strongly reminiscent of Cream’s “Tales Of Brave Ulysses”.  The bluesier side of things is in the forefront of the next couple songs with the hard driving boogie woogie of “I’m On My Way” (check out the slide guitar on this one) and the straight-ahead blues rock of “Drivin’ Blues”.  Up next is one of the weaker tracks, “Tell Me Why”, which is full of more fuzzy guitars and hard-hitting drums but is a little disjointed and a bit of a mess.  Zeppelin comes to mind with “End Of The Line”, another heavy, hard-driving track with a bluesy undertone that really showcases Stever’s drumming.   Their cover of “House Of The Rising Sun” takes the song and darkens it up a bit into a somewhat haunting, heavy psychedelic rendition with more fuzz guitars, a throbbing bass line and a powerful vocal performance from Beaudry.  It’s a mystery to me how this version could be so successful then but seems to be virtually unknown today.  Clocking in at just over seven and a half minutes, “I Want To Be Your Lover” is a hard driving bluesy psychedelic rocker but has a minute long drum solo in the middle that while good, really messes up the flow of the song.  The album closes nicely with the reflective “Boozin’ Blues”, a slow, laid-back track with more strong guitar work and gentle piano.  Disc one also includes a couple of non-album tracks that were released on singles in late 1970 and early 1971.  While their bluesy rock take on “Heartbreak Hotel” has some solid honky tonk guitar it really isn’t very good and seems like it may have been a misguided attempt at following up “House Of The Rising Sun”.  “Music For The People” on the other hand is a really pretty ballad that utilizes a gospel choir and pushes the organ more to the front.  It is a definite standout and really different than anything else they’d done before.  

With their sophomore release following so close on the heels of the debut you would think that, like so many other bands, they might fall victim to it being a virtual clone, but to their credit that was not the case.  On Defrosted they did away with a lot of the psychedelia and fuzz guitars, often moving in a heavier, more stripped down sound, with the hard rock of opening track “Black Lace” being a great example of where they were heading.  “Sing A Song Of Freedom” is a blues rocker that sounds like a cross between Led Zeppelin and the Guess Who (the guitar solo is actually almost a little too close to “American Woman”).  They also fall into that trap on “I’ll Never Be Lonely”, an organ heavy track that is extremely reminiscent of “A Whiter Shade Of Pale”.  “Bye Bye Blues” is a powerful cut with some moodier guitar work that shifts between slow, bluesier sections and the heavy rock of Led Zeppelin.  The centerpiece of the album is “Pain In My Heart”, an eight minute plus heavy blues rock barnstormer with another great vocal and guitar performance and an extremely catchy groove.  They shift gears a bit on the instrumental “Sloony”, an interesting cut that’s basically a guitar solo played over a fast paced, jazzed tinged boogie.  “I’m Movin’” is another straight-ahead bluesy rocker that is a little more mainstream than anything else here, while “I Haven’t Got The Time” is the last song on the album and finds them moving in a harder Southern Rock direction, not so unlike The Allman Brothers.  Disc two also contains four more bonus tracks that were originally released on singles in June and December of 1971.  Most definitely the strangest of the four is “We’re Gonna Be There (When Johnny Comes Marchin’ Home)”, their take on the American Civil War song “When Johnny Comes Marchin’ Home” that harkens back to the harder edged psychedelia of their debut and is enhanced with female backing vocalists.  For some reason they also renamed it and somehow got away with crediting it to themselves.  On the flipside of that single was “Shorty Kline”, a bouncy track with more of a funk rock groove, a little glam and female backing vocalists once again. The tracks from the final single are “Lost Son”, a powerful ballad that’s a little heavier with a soulful blues side and a driving piano, and “I Love Her”, which has a Stones-like swagger, but with a little more of a glam pop feel.  Even though it was another strong release, Defrosted wasn’t a success like their debut.  In late 1971 the band left Decca and by the time their third album, Earth Omen, was released in 1972, Stevers and Harris were the only remaining original members (ironically this album also found Zelanka finally listed as a band member).  Over the years there have been various incarnations of the band including one that was a completely new lineup with no prior members.  The band still exists today with drummer Stevers as the only original member.  Sadly, Beaudry passed away in 2021. The Deram Recordings 1970-1971 is rounded out with a very informative booklet and is well worth diving into. 

(Esoteric Recordings)