Word: sax
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...rare photograph of the late Howard Hughes taken during his Chinese period," cracks Peter Sellers. Actually, it's Sellers in his newest movie, The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu. Sellers, ranging between the Himalayas (actually the French Alps) and London's Limehouse district, plays the legendary Sax Rohmer villain as a 168-year-old man who steals jewels to crush them into an elixir of life. No, the chefs attire wasn't necessary to cook up such an outlandish plot. It's for the Chinese feast he's preparing for the Tower of London...
...leads to a thick, atmospheric recording best listened to with headphones. The sound is unmistakeable and very pleasing, and so far Reed has been able to write songs that take full advantage fo it. On "I Want to Boogie With You," Don Cherry's trumpet and Marty Fogel's sax thicken the soup of a repeated chord sequence in the bass and guitar; indeed, throughout The Bells these traditional jazz instruments are worked into Reed's rock songwriting better than most so-called fusion bands ever manage. Reed advertises his new orientation on the album sleeve, prominently displaying his statement...
...bizarre disco medley of "Anarchy in the U. K.," "God Save the Queen," "Pretty Vacant," and "No One's Innocent" follows on the same side. These, along with a French cafe version of "L'Anarchie Pour le U. K.," sung by Jerzimy on side four, and a delightfully absurd sax solo on "Belsen Vas a Gassa," evince a comic vision which makes this one of the funniest albums cut in a long time...
...next three sides highlight individual performances. Gayle Moran's rendition of "Come Rain or Come Shine" falls flat--she should know enough to stay away from such a gutsy jazz singer's standard. Serenade features Joe Farrell's tenor sax, an undersung quantity if there ever was one. Stanley Clarke performs a lengthy acoustic bass solo that is more a technical coup than a creative improvisation. His sheer enthusiasm makes the cut listenable despite serious intonation problems. Corea begins the show's finale with a 17 minute piano solo. His playing is so damned interesting that he very nearly carries...
...either. "Messin' With the Kid" features some fine guitar work by Murphy and especially Steve Cropper, the legendary Memphis session man, producer, and mainstay of Booker T. and the MGs. Belushi smooths out his vocal delivery a bit in "Almost," and Tom Scott of the L.A. Express handles the sax break as the rest of the horn section punches away. Next comes Aykroyd's only solo number, a wonderfully obscure bit of nonsensical babbling called "Rubber Biscuit" which is, believe it or not, quite faithful to the original version. Murphy takes the spotlight in the classic 12-bar "Shot...