Quintessential 70's Prog Rock. One notable feature of this outfit and rare for both the genre and the era was that they had no lead guitar in the traditional sense. The melodic and thematic lead on most of their songs was taken by their horn player, Gowan Turnbull. One could draw comparisons with Howard Werth's Audience who paired Werth's acoustic guitar with Keith Gemmel's sax, flute and clarinet to such great effect. Likewise, the Steve Brown Band used the wide range of woodwind articulation and dynamics to tell their musical tales. The tight rhythm section of Jeff Barak and John Farmer were fond of compound time signatures which would confound today’s musicians but only served to add colour to their tasteful imaginations. Steve Brown himself has a Blues shouter’s larynx and may have been happier with a format more akin to Mick Abraham and Jack Lancaster’s Blodwyn Pig – exact contemporaries of the SBB. Last up is Charlie Gordon’s keyboards. My enduring opinion is that he could have benefited from a sustaining instrument such as a B3 or a Farfisa as an adjunct to the percussive beast that is the Wurlitzer 200. Had that been the case, however, we may have heard less of the horns. I’m torn on that one but not on the fact that the SBB are undoubtedly the best UK band never to have had a recording contract during its gigging lifetime. by Rik Bergen
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Steve brown formed this outfit in 1971, and they quickly developed a tight style of cool but potent jazz rock, characterized by lengthy powerful instrumental breaks and sax, and infectious beats. This LP pieces together what should have been a debut record on Transatlantic from remaining studio tapes and acetate sources. The six tracks are pure killer, opening with ‘Hitman’ which is sung first person from the point of view of an assassin for hire; stone cold cool with a fantastic bass-line and rhythm it conjures up early seventies nihilistic film and TV imagery. The side ends with a genuine lost anthem in ‘Shine A Light,’ epic and melancholic. The lyrics are fab, and have a worldly wise quality about them. One of the greatest bands no one has heard of, hereby rescued from slipping into the ether, despite once being on the verge of a deal with Transatlantic and garnering a massive live following in their native Newcastle area during the early to mid seventies. A completely pro band, with brilliant songs, and a unique style. In 1973, the band hit a bad patch, burnt out by extensive gigging, they crashed their Transit Tour Van on a motorway, miraculously surviving.