Ancient Grease - Women and Children First

In the mid sixties there were numerous bands making their name in the South Wales music scene, although most were largely unknown outside the area.  By the late sixties, bands from the area were making themselves knows across the UK.  These bands included Amen Corner with Andy Fairweather-Low as a member, Love Sculpture (lead by Dave Edmunds) and The Bystanders who evolved Man.  Another band coming out of the area was Eyes Of Blue, who originally were a covers band called The Mustangs, before changing their name and then releasing several singles and three albums (for some reason the third was released under the name Big Sleep).  Sometime in 1968 or 1969 their drummer John Weathers came across Strawberry Dust, a covers band from South Wales, consisting of Graham “Morty” Mortimer on lead vocals, Graham Hedley Williams on lead guitar, Jack Bass on bass guitar and Dick Ferndale on drums.  He felt there was something to the band and helped them record a demo, which he then took to Mercury Records, resulting in a licensing deal and then an album that he produced.  Women And Children First ended up being released under the band name Ancient Grease, a decision made by the head of Mercury Records, Lou Reizner, who didn’t like the name Strawberry Dust. This newly released version from Esoteric Records marks the first time it has been remastered using the original master tapes instead of being taken from vinyl.  Interestingly, since the band were primarily a covers band and hadn’t written much of their own stuff, Weathers ended up contributing four songs he had written that were more straight-ahead rock and didn’t really fit Eyes Of Blue (he also co-wrote two with Ancient Grease guitarist Williams and another with his bandmate Gary Pickford-Hopkins).  As for the music, the songs often tend to have a wandering feel to them, sounding like the band just got into the studio and let loose as opposed to following a strict song structure.  They also quite often shift from genre to genre within the context of a song.  The album blasts out the gate with “Freedom Train”, a stomping, bluesy hard rocker full of dirty, fuzzed out wah wah guitars that’s raw and gritty.  Next up is “Don’t Want” a loose, kind of rambling bluesy rocker.  “Odd Song” starts off with some gentle piano and acoustic guitar followed by Mortimer’s vocals, then about halfway in it picks up with some electric guitar and drums and turns into a laid back and easygoing funky rocker with a hint of psychedelia.  One of the album standouts is “Eagle Song”, a twisting turning track that has a definite bluesy Zeppelin vibe, but is much rawer and dirtier.  Written by Eyes Of Blue keyboard player Phil Ryan, who also contributes outstanding organ and keys to the cut, “Where The Snow Lies Forever” is a powerful track with vocals that are somewhat reminiscent of early Rod Stewart.  With a bit of a Hendrix vibe in the guitar work, “Mother Grease The Cat” is an expansive track that has some prog elements.  The largely acoustic “Time To Die” is a beautiful, yet sad and dreamy psychedelic track with some really nice, soulful electric guitar in the middle.  There’s a bit of a bluesier pub rock sound to “Prelude To A Blind Man” which has a lot of tempo shifts throughout and a loose vibe that almost sounds like they are just jamming.  “Mystic Mountain” has a really lazy groove and shows their rootsier side.  The album closes like it starts with the title track, another hard-driving bluesy rocker driven by outstanding organ and more fuzzy wah wah guitar.  Also included is an alternate version of “Freedom Train” that is similar to the album version but sounds like it may have been a demo.  Unfortunately, the album didn't sell much, which has been partially blamed by the lack of promotion (word is the label had put all their money into promoting Rod Stewart, who had been recently signed by the label, and had released his latest album).  With the lack of support and sales the band went back to South Wales, once again playing live under their original name, and eventually went their separate ways.  In 1971 Weathers, Pickford-Hopkins and Williams joined Wild Turkey, a band that had been formed by former Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick.  Shortly after, Weathers and Graham left to join Graham Bond in his band Magick and then went on to join Gentle Giant and then Man.  In 1973 Williams and Mortimer formed the band Racing Cars who released five albums and had a hit in the UK with the song "They Shoot Horses Don't They?".    As usual with Esoteric, this outstanding reissue is rounded out with CD booklet containing a handful of pictures and a very informative essay on the band.  

(Esoteric Recordings)