US listeners probably heard the name Long John Baldry before. But unless they were into the sounds of the Brits in the early ’70s, they probably know little else about him. That’s fair. He never had a major hit in the States, and was never given any semblance of promotional push to the budding FM stations that were starting to play rock ‘n’ roll on a regular basis.
But Baldry paid many a due in the ’60s to get to the point where Warner Bros. signed him in 1970. He also had a huge ally in Rod Stewart, who was in the band Faces at the time (you remember “Stay With Me”, don’t you?). In fact, Stewart was asked to produce Baldry’s first disc for the label, titled “It Ain’t Easy”. Stewart, who was recording and touring with Faces at the time, only managed to produce six of the 10 tracks that originally appeared on the album. Ron Wood and Sam Mitchell also played on those six songs. Needing someone to finish the album, Elton John jumped at the chance and produced the final four cuts, playing keyboards on two.
The album, originally released in 1971, showed off Baldry’s voice and spirit to good effect. The album was all over the road, showing off several different stylings, and Baldry was able to handle them all. One year later, Everything Stops for Tea, the second of the Stewart/John co-productions came out, and had a similar feel. The big difference between the two is that on Tea, the John-produced songs featured 75 percent of what would be the mainstay Elton John band, with John on keyboards, Davey Johnstone on guitars, and Nigel Olsson on drums. (Longtime session man Klaus Voorman played bass.)
The packaging of the collection scores huge points with some of the pictures (one has Baldry in full-length mink coat walking a sheep on a leash), and by using the old olive green Warner Bros. label on both discs. There are also bonus tracks on both discs, including covers (Neil Young’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, Robert Johnson’s “Love in Vain”), alternate takes of some of the main songs, and radio spots featuring Baldry himself.
Both albums are wonderful listens. It Ain’t Easy gets right into a Faces mode with Baldry’s biggest stateside hit (such as it were), the rollicking “Don’t Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll” — not exactly a stretch when you have Ron Wood helping out on guitar. Next up is the cover of Leadbelly’s “Black Girl”, which sounds like a blues waltz. Baldry also tackles Randy Newman’s “Let’s Burn Down the Cornfield”, and a John-(Bernie) Taupin song titled “Rock Me When He’s Gone”, both with Elton on piano. Baldry’s voice is both playful and soulful throughout the album, and the musicianship is first-rate.
Everything Stops for Tea is exactly the same, except the John-produced songs take up the first half of the album (Stewart’s comprised the first half of Easy). Here, Willie Dixon’s “Seventh Son” and “You Can’t Judge a Book”, the New Orleans standard “Iko Iko”, and “Hambone” (among others) get the Baldry treatment. The surprise is “Hambone”, which is usually a fast, fun number. Baldry slows it down to give it a whole new feel.
Is it blues? Well, yes… to a point. Baldry is able to take anything and put a blues spin on it, even if the song is steeped in another genre — and that’s the biggest key to his success. With Faces making a small dent in the US (mostly on the strength of the song “Stay With Me”), it’s a bit surprising that Long John Baldry didn’t accomplish as much success on the State-side side of the pond as he did back home. But with his two Warner Bros. recordings now in a limited package (only 2,500 of these suckers are available; see RhinoHandmade.com
for details), it’s a good chance to discover what the likes of Rod Stewart and Elton John have known for years: Long John Baldry is a talented artist who made some excellent music. Boogie Woogie: the Warner Bros. Recordings is worth the investment of time and moula.