Stan Webb's Chicken Shack - Live in Germany '75  
Bob Daisley
http://www.bobdaisley.com/news/chicken-shack-live-germany-1975

Rating: B

Chicken Shack is not as well known in the USA as they are in other parts of the world.  This was a band that played rocking blues mixed with chunks of funky stuff.  Led by Stan Webb, the members of Chicken Shack changed often, but were usually top notch players for the time.  Now, thanks to bass playing icon Bob Daisley, we have a live album that Bob is offering on his website! 

Bob discusses how this album came to see the light of day, "I recorded this gig 40 years ago, so this has been sitting in my archive since 1975. I'm pleased to be able to share it and air it. This show epitomizes Chicken Shack at the time – raw Blues, Rhythm and Blues and a bit of Funk thrown in.  It was my second stint with Stan Webb; I'd been with the Shack from early 1972 until mid '73, when I left to join Mungo Jerry, which didn't quite satisfy my lust for real Blues, hence my return to Stan."

This is an album that now drips of rock and roll greatness, but at the time it was just a bunch of guys in a band.  Joining Bob for the gig was a guitarist named Robbie Blunt (who a few years later would play guitar on the first two Robert Plant solo albums) and drummer Bob Clouter.  Dubbed as Stan and the Three Bob's, the band was on tour in 1975 with Deep Purple and ELF (featuring Ronnie James Dio) and on off-nights Chicken Shack would find a club or a theatre and do their own gig.  This recording is one of them.

Daisley states, "This lineup, to me, was one of the best... we'd been gigging a lot, our musical communication was almost telepathic. Stan and the 'three Bobs' were on tour with Deep Purple and an American band called Elf. Their lead singer, Ronnie James Dio, and I ended up in a band called Rainbow two years later with Deep Purple's discontented lead guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore.  In those days, bands used to jam on songs when they played live, so this is typical of how we played the basic structure of a song then improvised and had fun with it; I'm very proud of how we sound on this.  At the end of our show the tape ran out, but only the tail-end of the last song was lost. So until that point comes, sit back, relax and enjoy; these are 'those days'..."

To sum this one up, Bob is right, as there is a lot of jamming going on.  The band is having fun and the free spirit performance is addictive. 

It’s so nice that Bob has allowed us all to go back to the shack, Jack! 

This is not just a cool live concert... any rock nerd worth their salt will have to add this rarity to his or her collection. 

Track Listing

Homework
Have you Ever Loved A Woman
I'm Tore Down
Rain On My Window Pane
Delilah
Poor Boy
Crying Again
Dust My Broom
Going Down

By Jeb Wright