Snafu - You Know It Ain't Easy: The Anthology

The roots of Snafu go back to the early days of Procol Harum, when Bobby Harrison and Ray Royer were kicked out of that band.  They then formed Freedom, who released five albums from 1967 to 1972.  When that band didn’t take off and broke up, Harrison’s management suggested he do a solo album.  He had songs he had written for Freedom, but he wanted to shift directions and add some funk to his sound and recorded a solo album called Funkist.  The album featured the likes of Tommy Iommi, Ian Paice, former Procol Harum bandmate Matthew Fisher, former Freedom bandmate Walt Monaghan and Juicy Lucy guitarist Micky Moody, who also co-wrote the album track “Long Gone”.  After working together on the album, Harrison and Moody decided to form a band resulting in Snafu.  Unfortunately for Morrison, when his management got wind of their plan, they decided to shelve his solo album and focus on the band (that album did get a US only release in 1975).  While he was in Freedom, Harrison was initially just the drummer and then also took over lead vocals, but in Snafu he was able to focus on just the vocals with the drumming handled by Moody’s former Tramline bandmate Terry Popple.  Rounding out the band was Colin Gibson (Skip Bifferty and Ginger Baker’s Airforce) and keyboardist Pete Solley, who had played with the likes of Chris Farlowe, Terry Reid, Arthur Brown and Paladin.  From 1973 to 1976 the band released three albums, all of which are included in the new four CD box Set You Know It Ain’t Easy: The Anthology, along with non-album singles, BBC sessions and a live show recorded in Nottingham.  

Their eponymous debut was produced by Vic Smith (Vic Coppersmith-Heaven), who had worked with Gibson producing Skip Bifferty, and a few years after producing the Snafu album, would become best known for producing the first five albums from The Jam.  The album opens with "Long Gone" a super funky, down and dirty rocker that Harrison originally co-wrote with Moody for his solo album.  Along with some elements of Little Feat and some rootsier parts that are reminiscent of The Band, “Said He The Judge” has a lot in common with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s southern rock and has great guitar work from Moody.  “Monday Morning” and “Funky Friend” are a couple of upbeat, fiddle heavy tunes that sound like a bluesy hoedown.  In addition to the originals, the album contains a cover of the Gamble/Huff song “Drowning In The Sea Of Love”, which had been a US Top Twenty hit for Joe Simon in 1971.  Their take has a really strong Santana vibe, but interestingly you can also hear a bit of a soulful funk groove mixed in that’s reminiscent of Isaac Hayes’ “Theme From Shaft”.  The laid-back rootsy sound of “Country Nest” brings to mind The Band and has some really nice honky tonk piano.  Taking inspiration from Steely Dan, “Goodbye U.S.A.” is completely different than anything else on the album.  It’s a laid-back jazzy tune that is quite infectious, with really interesting synth playing from Solley and some hints of Chicago.  It could be considered similar to early yacht rock.  The album closes on a high note with the powerful, gospel rocker “That’s The Song.”  Disc one also contains four bonus tracks starting with the non-album single “Dixie Queen”, a funky boogie woogie tune.  At almost six and a half minutes, “Sad Sunday”, is an organ-driven hard rocker that is heavier than anything else they had released (there aren’t a lot of details about this track except that it was a bonus track when the album was reissued in 1993).  The final two bonus tracks on disc one are live versions of “Said He The Judge” and “Goodbye U.S.A.” taken from BBC Sessions recorded on January 9, 1974.  

Following the release of their debut, they appeared on the British TV show, The Old Grey Whistle Test, recorded sessions for Radio 1 and performed with bands like The Kinks, ELP, The Doobie Brothers and The Eagles.  There was a lot of positive media coverage, but unfortunately the album didn’t do much in the sales department.  To make matters worse, when it was time to release their second album, Situation Normal, in October 1974, their management/record company WWA were on the brink of collapse.  The album ended up being the label's last release and the promotion was pretty much non-existent.  It opens with “No More”, which at first starts out laid-back and funky with a jazzy undercurrent, highlighted by Moody’s guitar solo, but about halfway through shifts to a sound reminiscent of Santana with Latin percussion and rhythms.  “No Bitter Taste” is the first of two strong ballads on the album with a soulful blues vibe and some nice slide guitar from Moody.  Following the fun and lighthearted bluegrass of “Brown Eyed Beauty And The Blue Assed Fly” is “Lock And Key”, an absolute killer track propelled by Moody’s stellar slide guitar.  It’s a dirty, foot stomping bluesy rocker that in a perfect world would still be blasting out on classic rock stations today.  The super infectious and fun “Big Dog Lusty” is a funky boogie track with an ever-present thumping bass, synths and harmonica.  At over eight and a half minutes, “Playboy Blues” is laid-back with a super slow funk groove and a hit of that Steely Dan jazz influence highlighting Solley’s synth work with an extended solo.  Another album highlight is the second ballad “Jessie Lee”.  It’s a gorgeous, laid-back rootsy track with some really strong synth work and vocal harmonies.  Unfortunately, the album closes with what to me is the weakest track.  With a sax section featuring Mel Collins (King Crimson, Camel), Steve Gregory and Bud Beadle, “Ragtime Roll” has a fifties rock and roll sound that comes across a bit generic.  Disc two also contains five more bonus tracks consisting of a thirty-minute BBC In Concert session from March 25, 1974, with two songs taken from the debut and three more from the sophomore effort.  Both the band and recording sound great on this session.  

Following the release of Situation Normal, Pete Solley left the band, and while he was initially replaced by Brian Chatton, they ended up adding a second keyboardist, Tim Hinkley, on the third album, All Funked Up.  Solley’s departure also contributed to a shift away from the country influence towards a more straightforward funk.  There was also less emphasis on original songs, with four of the ten songs being covers.  Opening the album is a cover of The Allman Brothers’ “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’”, which is a slightly funked up version with some powerful vocals and prominent bass.  Next up is the slow, laid-back greasy funk of “Bloodhound”.  This one has tons of great solos and really lets everyone in the band shine.  “Lock and Key”, the standout track from the sophomore album, is back here with a new arrangement.  It’s harder with more of a rock edge and has a little more drive.  Their cover of Otis Redding’s “Hard To Handle” gives the song a little more grit but seems a bit of a misstep.  On the other hand, “Every Little Bit Hurts”, which was a hit for Brenda Holloway, is a really nice soulful cover with strong, emotional vocals from Harrison and female backing vocals from Liza Strike and Viola Wills. Driven by some absolutely killer bass playing, "Turn Around" is a super funky tune with a soulful undercurrent. Featuring more really nice sax from Mel Collins, “Deep Water”, is reminiscent of the soulful rock of The Doobie Brothers.  The final cover is Stevie Wonder’s “Keep On Running”.  Their take is a faster paced, more rocking version that hearkens back to the sound of their first two albums, and also has more of Collins’ sax and some really fun synths.  “Bar Room Tan” is a hard driving, bluesy rocker where all the pieces really come together with killer slide guitar, harmonica, keys, great vocals and a driving rhythm section.  It also brings to mind their earlier releases and is another album standout.  The final track on the album is “Dancing Feet”, a nice mid-tempo soul / funk tune.  They recorded another single before calling it a day, which is also included on disc three as one of three more bonus tracks.  That single “Are You Sure” is a nice, laid-back soulful cover of a track that had originally been recorded by The Staple Singles.  The other two are recordings of “Jessie Lee” and “Playboy Blues” that were recorded Sept 25, 1974 for the BBC.

The final disc consists of two sets of live recordings from late 1975 and early 1976 that were initially released on CD in 2017.  First up is a John Peel session, featuring four tracks from All Funked Up, that was recorded on August 28, 1975.  The remaining six track are a live set recorded in Nottingham at Trent Polytechnic on January 23, 1976.  The recording is a little rough, but is very listenable, and as has been proven on the earlier bonus tracks, shows they were a band to be reckoned with when playing live.  It is also notable for the only recorded versions of three songs.  The first one is their impressive cover of Jimmy Reed’s funky blues tune “Big Legged Woman”.  The originals "Unsettled Dust" and the raw "Highway", with some great guitar work from Moody, both give off a strong Allman Brothers vibe (Harrison's band Nobody's Business ended up releasing both these tracks).  Shortly after the album's release, Moody left the band to work with David Coverdale on his solo album and what would later become Whitesnake. Harrison approached Clem Clempson (Colosseum / Humble Pie) about joining the band, but when that didn't happen, the band called it a day.  This is a fantastic box set from a band that deserved to be much bigger than they were.  it is rounded out with a well-detailed CD booklet covering the history of the band, along with tons of pics of the band and memorabilia.

(Grapefruit)