Rough and Ready (album)

Rough and Ready is the third studio album by the Jeff Beck Group and the first of two by the second Jeff Beck Group. Released in 1971 by Epic Records, it featured more of a jazz, soul and R&B edge to counter Beck's lead guitar. As a songwriter, Beck contributed more pieces to Rough and Ready than he had before, or ever would again. Beck enlisted Bobby Tench as vocalist and it is also the first time keyboardist Max Middleton is heard. Other members of this line up are drummer Cozy Powell and bassist Clive Chaman.

For other uses, see Rough and Ready (disambiguation).

Rough and Ready
Studio album by
The Jeff Beck Group
Released25 October 1971
RecordedApril–July 1971
StudioIsland, London
GenreJazz fusion
Length36:48
LabelEpic
ProducerJeff Beck
The Jeff Beck Group chronology
Beck-Ola
(1969)		 Rough and Ready
(1971)		 Jeff Beck Group
(1972)

History

In early April and still signed to RAK, Jeff Beck reformed The Jeff Beck Group with keyboardist Max Middleton, drummer Cozy Powell and bassist Clive Chaman and vocalist Alex Ligertwood. Later in April that year the new band began recording sessions at Island Studios, London. They worked on songs by Beck and focused on "Situation", which had lyrics by Ligertwood. Other songs such as "Morning Dew" were given attention, with the help of producer Jimmy Miller, who had worked with Traffic and with The Rolling Stones.

During May 1971, after a week of recording sessions, Beck left RAK and signed a new record deal with CBS. Epic, a subsidiary of CBS, was assigned to release Beck's work, and having heard the Island studio tapes were not happy with the vocals. During May, Beck started looking for a new vocalist. In late May, after hearing Bobby Tench perform with his band Gass,[1]:111 he employed him as vocalist for the band. Tench was given only a few weeks to write new lyrics and add his vocals to the album, before mixing resumed on tracks previously recorded by Beck and the other band members. During early July 1971 the band returned to Island Studios to finish the album and Beck took over as producer. Rough and Ready[2] was released in UK on 25 October 1971 with the US release following during February 1972, a sixteen-day promotional tour in USA followed[1] and the album eventually reached #46 in the album charts.[3]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]
The Village VoiceC+[5]

In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau found Tench's singing pretentious and the songs tedious: "Despite some superb textures, this is as sloppy and self-indulgent as ever."[5] Roy Carr, writing in NME, felt that the album "falls into that trap whereby the performance far exceeds the material. Beck hasn't lost any of his fire as he rips off solo after solo with flashy confidence".[1] On the other hand, Rolling Stone magazine's Stephen Davis said that Rough and Ready is "a surprisingly, fine piece of work from a man who wasn't really expected to come back. Beck is back, and in pretty good shape too."[4] Derek Johnson of NME reviewed the single "Got the Feeling" positively and called it "an excellent disc combining a strong commercial element with an altogether more progressive approach".[1]

Rough and Ready finished 23rd in the voting for the best album of 1971 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual critics poll run by The Village Voice.[6]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Got the Feeling"Jeff Beck4:46
2."Situation"Beck5:26
3."Short Business"Beck2:34
4."Max's Tune
  • On original United States releases, this track is titled "Raynes Park Blues" and credited to Beck; subsequent pressings are titled and credited as above."
Max Middleton8:24
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."I've Been Used"Beck3:40
6."New Ways / Train Train"Beck5:52
7."Jody"Beck, Brian Short6:06
Total length:36:48

Band members

Discography

Original release
  • Epic KE-30973 1972

Reissues
  • Epic EK-30973 (1990)
  • Epic PET-30973 (1990)
  • Epic MHCP583 (2005)
  • Sony 4710472 (2006)
  • Sony Japan 960 (2007)
  • Epic EPC40-64619 Cassette (US)

Singles
  • "Got that Feeling" / "Situation" Epic(US) 5-10814 (6 December 1971), Epic (UK) 7720 (7 January 1972)

References
  1. Hjort, Chris & Hinman, Doug (2000). Jeff's book : a chronology of Jeff Beck's career, 1965-1980, from the Yardbirds to jazz-rock. Rock 'n' Roll Research Press. ISBN 0-9641005-3-3.
  2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Jeff Beck Group - Rough and Ready (1971) album review | AllMusic". allmusic.com.
  3. Rees and Crampton. Rock Movers & Shakers. p. 43.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  4. Davis, Stephen (25 November 1971). "The Jeff Beck Group - Rough and Ready (1971) album review". Rolling Stone.
  5. Christgau, Robert (2 March 1972). "Consumer Guide (24)". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  6. "The 1971 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. New York. 10 February 1972. Retrieved 18 July 2014.

Further reading
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