Hatcher, George - 1978 Rich Girl
-
gdazegod
June 12 2008
- 1978 Articles
- 2831 Reads 2 Comments
ARTIST: Hatcher, George
ALBUM: Rich Girl
LABEL: Shark Music
SERIAL: 148 502
YEAR: 1978
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
LINEUP: George Hatcher - vocals * James Morgan - guitars * Pete Goshing - guitars * Geraint Watkins - keyboards * Victor Young - bass * Mac Poole - drums * Renate Mauerer, Claudia Schwarz, Gitta Walther - background vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Back To Dixie * 02 Hell Hole * 03 Blue Skies * 04 Rich Girl * 05 It's All Over Now * 06 The Price I Pay * 07 Regrets * 08 Black Rose * 09 Fly Away
Background
In much the same way that Canadian blues guitarist Pat Travers did his OE and apprenticeship in Britain during the 70's, so too did blues/southern rock singer George Hatcher. A North Carolina native, Hatcher decided to set up shop in the UK, and to compound the international flavour, set himself up with a German record label - Shark Records. The George Hatcher Band recorded two albums: 1976's 'Dry Run' and 1977's 'Talkin' Turkey'. His band featured 'Big' John Thomas and Phil Swan on guitars, Steve Wren on keyboards, bassist Harris Joannou and drummer Chris Slade. However, neither record set the world on fire, and despite a support tour with Status Quo, GHB amounted to nothing. Legal issues forced Hatcher to disband GHB after the 'Talkin' Turkey' LP, he then moved to Germany as a form of self-exile, and released a solo album called 'Rich Girl' the following year. The record features mainly session musicians, non of whom ring any bells with me. The GHB southern rock inspired sound continues pretty much onward for Hatcher, and for fans of the Confederate South, and perhaps a dash of Crawler for good measure, well.. you'll get some change outta this one.
The Songs
Things get off to a rollicking start with the dixie boogie of 'Back To Dixie', the twelve bar rhythm and boogie hopefully a sign of things to come. 'Hell Hole' is a dirty sounding rock n roller, with a lot of wah, coming across like a very early version of Thin Lizzy, especially Hatcher's Phil Lynott flavoured vocal. Sounding a lot brighter and sunnier is 'Blue Skies'.. must be the weather huh? The title track 'Rich Girl' is a rock ballad that sounds like a cross between Crawler and 70's era Triumph. Nice tune! Hatcher's version of 'It's All Over Now' is true in the southern rock vein though played in a slower tempo. It's not a patch on the Molly Hatchet rendition which followed a year later on their classic 'Flirtin' With Disaster' album.. a far racier version by comparison. 'The Price To Pay' is a gentle paced British blues flavoured workout with Crawler as a reference point yet again. Back to the wholesome boogie approach we return with 'Regrets', it's followed by the wide and spacious acoustic flow of 'Black Rose', which segues into the equally expansive 'Fly Away', which fuses Joe Cocker and gospel flavours to finish up the album.
In Summary
The more I played this, admittedly the more I enjoyed it. The boogie strains got my feet a-tappin, and has opened up a whole raft of albums that I need to cover off in future album reviews. Despite adding to his discography, Hatcher did not add to his overall popularity or legacy. Another album was forthcoming beyond this, 'Coming Home', also released on Shark Records in 1980. Hatcher then left the industry, never to be heard from again. Of his ex band members, Big John Thomas moved on to a distinguished stay with Welsh rockers Budgie, while drummer Chris Slade has played in many bands, most notably and more recently - AC/DC.
Copying of material without permission is not permitted.
Comments
Post Comment
Please Login to Post a Comment.
Ratings
Rating is available to Members only.
Please login or register to vote.
Please login or register to vote.
No Ratings have been Posted.