Here is the youthful Central Florida band Tin House on this their 1970 debut forged progressive rock and blues with a hint of pop/rock.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Tin House
ALBUM: Tin House
LABEL: Epic
SERIAL: E 30511
YEAR: 1971
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Floyd Radford – guitars, vocals * Jeff Cole – bass, vocals * Mike Logan – drums, vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 I Want Your Body * 02 30 Weight Blues * 03 Be Good And Be Kind * 04 You’ve Gone Too Far * 05 Silver Star * 06 Personal Gain * 07 Jezebel, Give Me Your Lovin’ * 08 Tomorrow * 09 Endamus Finallamus * 10 Lady Of The Silent Opera
Background
Florida band Tin House were reviewed a few years back thanks to their reformation and MPG‘s David Mikeal‘s involvement with their 2009 reunion CD ‘Winds Of Past’. Up to that point, the band had been inactive for decades, their 1971 debut (and one and only album till then) was a closet classic in the power trio mould.
Formed in 1969, the trio were all still relatively young, guitarist Floyd Radford for instance was 17 when the album was recorded, and they were one of the first Central Florida bands to be signed to a major label (Epic) back then. Forging progressive rock and blues with a hint of pop/rock (think melodies and choruses), Tin House had a few heavyweight resources to help them out, namely producer Rick Derringer and Edgar Winter.
The Songs
Reviewing this LP 40 years later, it sounds as solid and entertaining as it must have been back then. There was no fancy modern digital recording gear back then, only a 16 track analog machine mastered down to 2-track analog, so what you hear is what you get, and I gotta say, if power-trio stuff from that era is your thing, then step right up.
The opening duo of ‘I Want Your Body’ and ’30 Weight Blues’ are kinda lightweight and of a shorter run-time when compared to the remainder of the songs on the album. Things turn into bash and crash for ‘Be Good And Be Kind’, with Radford’s guitar tone taking on an Eric Johnson identity on some parts. Reverting to ballad territory for a moment, ‘You’ve Gone Too Far’ floats above the fuzz and distortion found elsewhere.
‘Silver Star’ is one of the better moments, with guitar leads flying off the handle after the 3 minute mark. Fans of southern rock from Texas to Florida should enjoy this. ‘Personal Gain’ is typical of the southern fried boogie sound of the time, played convincingly by the three band-members. So too the hazy ‘Jezebel, Give Me Your Lovin’ with a cool pop/rock chorus underpinning an early Pat Travers Band vibe. The second ballad ‘Tomorrow’ is filled with acoustic guitar and weird vocal and background effects.
It’s back to primetime rock n boogie with the strangely titled ‘Endamus Finallamus’, but let’s forget the title for a minute and listen to the near psychedelic nature of the music, which permeates this song for all it’s worth. Radford sets his six-string alight at the 2 minute mark adding some grit to precedings.
‘Lady Of The Silent Opera’ is the odd-man out on the album. It’s less about hard rock, boogie and blues, taking on a progressive and symphonic direction, you can hear violins throughout, and just as you’re about to shout out ‘I think I hear Kansas!’, Tin House shift the song about the soundscape just to confuse everyone!
In Summary
Despite the excellent prowess demonstrated on this LP, the trio finished up not long after recording this. Radford hooked up with Edgar Winter‘s band. The album has been reissued in Europe, though most likely these are bootlegs, but you should be able to find a fileshare online easily enough. As mentioned earlier, Tin House reformed in 2008/2009, and after a 40 year absence, they are sounding as good as ever.
