Sunday, June 5, 2011

Amar Caballero

When I first heard of Babe Ruth, I was a young teen no more than 14, 15 , maybe 16 years old at the time. I was at a friend's house playing cards when he pulled out their debut, First Base. The album's first track, "Wells Fargo", took me by storm with the killer intro guitar riffing, Janita Haan's Joplin-like vocals and the hot sax solo in the end! As my buddy explained it to me then, Babe Ruth had broken up a long time ago and the album was out of print.

Not deterred by the out of print status, I spent much of the decade searching high and low for a copy of the album. Back then, there was no Internet, no Amazon, no way to order for it. If it was out of print, it was OUT of print. Years later, at a rummage sale, I finally did get it on vinyl...

Fast forward to now...During a recent trip to the library, I stumbled across a CD of Babe Ruth's First Base AND their second album, Amar Caballero. Whoa... An incredible find, if you ask me. Well, I could use a CD copy to crank it in my car and as for the second album...I NEVER even heard of it before! I snatched that baby up right away...

Glad I did...

Acknowledged more here in the States, than their homeland of England, Babe Ruth enjoyed their moderate success in the early '70's with a cult following. After hearing both First Base and Amar Caballero, one could easily see why. Babe Ruth is one of those bands that are willing to stick their necks out and take a risk. Amar Cabellero is a prime example of that.

Starting off with the bluesy/jazz classical "Lady" this 1973 release is a cornucopia of styles and genres led by guitarist Alan Shacklock. A mellowed out "Broken Cloud" follows. Rocker tune "Gimme Some Leg" has got some wild Joplin like vocals from Janita Haan with a killer guitar solo to end the track. The Spanish flamenco styled guitar work on "Baby Pride" was relaxing as it was impressive.

By halfway through this album, it was more and more apparent of the Latin influences that dominated this record. The crazy assed "Cool Jerk" gives prog rock a salsa twist. My head just spun around to hear the tone of the record change so quick. An instrumental classical tune called, "We are Holding On" was preceding the weird psychedelic funk of "Doctor Love". The eight minute title track end the record reminds me of Santana.

I'll admit that this album is not for everyone. It does take awhile for a listener to get used to. The band shows a great potential and that's because the wide variety of influences displayed here. That's were the understanding of the cult status comes in...

5 comments:

john said...

Wow! This group is really nice! The video you included made me seek out more from them and it was time well spent. Many thanks for bringing Babe Ruth to my attention.

music obsessive said...

A school mate of mine was into this band so I had it rammed down my throat for years in the early 70s! I also saw Jennie Haan in her 'Haan's Lion' period when she played my university bar around 1975/6. They were always on my horizon but never really a complete favourite. Interesting stuff, nevertheless.

drewzepmeister said...

Glad that you are john! Babe Ruth is one of those bands that hardly get any recognition. Every little bit helps...

Wow MO! I never even knew that Haan had her own band going.

I never really was a die hard Babe Ruth fan. I appreciated them as far as the fact that they had some talent within them, however some tunes like "Well Fargo" I felt really made an impression on me.

TAD said...

Hey Drew: I've HEARD of Babe Ruth, but the only thing I've ever heard BY them was "Private Number," & that was a LONG time ago....

drewzepmeister said...

Given from your tastes in music Tad, I have a feeling Babe Ruth would right up your alley. You should check them out!