Reg King

As the singer for mod heroes the Action Reg King staked a claim as one of the more impressive vocalists on the scene, delivering rockers with a strutting glee and breaking hearts like so many twigs on tear-jerking ballads. When he left the group in the late 60s, music was starting to change rapidly as psychedelia ran out of steam and a more organic, home cooked sound as exemplified by the Band and Traffic, not to mention various solo Beatles, took over. As he did when the Action moved from being Motown-covering mods to trippier, more introspective turf, King sounds very at home in those surroundings and his 1971 self-titled solo album is an underrated gem. Working with members of his old group along with guys from Blossom Toes off-shoot group B.B. Blunder and guests like Steve Winwood, Doris Troy, and Mick Taylor, he concocts a sound the blends acoustic and electric instruments, touches of deeply funky grooves and laid back ballads, and pushes his velvety vocals to the breaking point now and then as he reaches for that last bit of emotion..This last point is key as it points to a looser, more emotionally free style of singing that King adopted to fit in with the limber, stuffed to the brim with jamming arrangements. The lead off track "Must Be Something Going On" sets the tone as the rhythm section works up a gritty, flowing groove and a variety of guitars and keyboards fight it out to see who can lay down the toughest lines while King soars, roars, and shouts over the top of the low-key maelstrom. Its a thick and satisfying sound; feeling like an off the cuff jam session caught on tape. Many of the songs fit this general description and they are balanced well by songs like "You Go Have Yourself A Good Time" and the wonderfully light "That Aint Living" that dig deep into soulful feelings and end up landing next to more acclaimed heavyweights like the aforementioned Winwood, Frankie Miller, and even Rod Stewart. To go along with the newly-written songs, King rescued two tracks he had demoed with the Action near the end -- "In My Dreams" and "Little Boy" -- and they benefit from the more expansive arrangements, possibly giving a clue to what the Action might have sounded like if they had followed Kings path instead of what they chose to do as Mighty Baby without him. Wishful thinking aside, this record is a fine continuation to Kings career and while it didnt make much of a splash upon release, it certainly fits in nicely alongside the best back-to-basics rock & roll sounds heard at the turn of the decade. ~ Tim Sendra