Albert Hammond - The Free Electric Band

Epic Records

"The Free Electric Band" opens very peacefully with smooth, comfortable guitar work on "Smokey Factory Blues". While not close to blues in any direction, it certainly functions as a downer--a lament about how soulless and crushing working blue collar jobs in a capitalistic society, how trapped it makes you feel. There are nice little bass pickups but they don't seem exactly fun to play grouped together, however the tension in the song is wonderfully built up throughout the verses with the gradual additions of more instruments. The resolve finally snaps in the choruses, but I wouldn't call this song intense by any means. If vague psychedelia is more of your bag, then you'd probably enjoy the cover Steppenwolf did in '74. 

"The Peacemaker" cuts in with some lovely, Buffalo Springfield-esque guitar work, giving it a much more '60s communal folk feel then the other songs on the record. The rasp and anger is quite a surprise, causing everything discussed to feel more like demands then sweet nothings. All of this probably never came to fruition and was just wishful thinking. 

Saccharine to the nth degree is "Woman of the World", which definitely could've passed as a Billy Joel song had i not been paying attention to who I was listening to. It is rather heartfelt, though, and after a while does begin to get to you. I'm sure many people serenaded their college girlfriends with this one when it was released. 

"Everything I Want to Do" has a very childish atmosphere to it, and I'm not exactly fond of the guitar or some of the percussion work. The added chorus vocals provided by 'Carol Carmichael and Friends' make the song feel overproduced and are just plain annoying. The narrator states "I don't want kids of mine/Running around 'n raisin' hell", yet is excruciatingly adamant that he is willing to give up everything he has ever wanted for this woman--he is pitifully desperate. I wouldn't call this song terrible, but it certainly isn't good. 

The guitar stylings on the introduction of "Who's For Lunch Today?" are folky and mystical, contrasting well with the very dramatic and pained instrumentation in the rest of the song. Hammond's voice is overwrought with a long-developed hatred for whoever this song is addressed to, the kind of person who takes a lot but never, ever gives anything in return. It's all a little depressing, but the strings are a nice addition. 

Of course, the title track of "The Free Electric Band" is the song to feature the greatest use of electric instruments. The song is very fun to listen to and probably resonated with a lot of teenagers at the time. It tells the story of a young man who manages to escape all the high-pressure expectations placed upon him by his parents and teachers by going to California to join the title band, and he even lets go of his girlfriend because she was too conformist for him, choosing freedom and music over it all. It almost feels like a tribute to the hippie age, though of course lacking in all the overt politics we came with. 

"Rebecca" is bitterly sarcastic and almost mournful, with buzzy guitar, tight drumming, loose bass and sweet strings. It would be a rather nice tune if it weren't about a man falling in love with a barely-of-age woman who he doesn't even know. 

You'd think "The Day The British Army Lost the War" would be a poignant piece about all the young men who died while in service, but the dramatic and pinpoint-focused song is about a man who "made the army his career", hoped his daughter would marry a bombardier, and then proceeded to argue with a working class man when his daughter instead fell for his son. Obviously, this was so much more important then the duties the major held, and it is assumed the army lost the war because the two men were too busy arguing over this, which the narrator finds quite amusing.  Of course that is probably the most literal interpretation of the song--my personal favorite is the idea that the British army officials finally gave up on trying to keep what they consider their superior caste separate from the working class civilians. I don't have much to say about the instrumentation, but the ending guitar solo is energetic and ecstatic. 

Kicking off with a sad, sappy piano part and more dramatic string pulls, "For the Peace of All Mankind" is another song about being a hopeless romantic. It isn't an attention-grabber like the other songs off this record, , as it is an overly melancholic tune about a man who has a one-night-stand with some lady and has found he can't get her out of his head. It's all rather soap opera-y, but if you dig that sort of thing then I can't stop you.

"I Think I'll Go That Way" has some really wonderful guitar work in the intro but quickly becomes too close to Barbara Streisand, especially with the yet-again overproduced choruses. It's a little piece about a hitch-hiker rejecting the offers of security and material things he is offered, instead sticking to his ideals about freedom and such. The thing is very romanticized, but then again who would want a song about the hardships of being a travelling vagabond anyway?

Overall, "The Free Electric Band" is a pretty alright album. The songs are all decently distinct from each other, the guitar work is unique and the lyrics all tell nice little vignettes that, if this was later in the decade, probably could've been tied together to make a nice concept album. Despite having been a lyricist since 1963, however, Hammond does feel a bit like the johnny-come-lately of the burgeoning singer-songwriter scene. Too bad Hammond's later work isn't as fun as this. 

Rating: 3.5/5