Bloody Mary
Band members Related acts
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line-up 1 (1974) - Donnie Dimola -- - John Parisio -- - John Tattos -- - Larry Goodman -- - Richard Incorvaia -- - Vito Albano --
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- none known
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Genre: rock Rating: 3 stars *** Title: Bloody Mary Company: Family Catalog: FPS
2797 Country/State: New York Grade (cover/record): VG/VG+ Comments: small cut out notch on edge, minor edge wear to cover Available: 1 Catalog ID: 1040 Price: $80.00
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Another mystery on Artie Ripp's short-lived and infamous Family label ... As you'd expect from a label notorious for abusing its artists, 1974's "Bloody Mary" carried little in the way of credits. If you trust the liner notes, the album was recorded at UltraSonic Studios in new York with Vinny Testa producing and Ray Incorbaia shown as associate producer. There were no performance credits and all seven compositions were credited to Bloody Mary.
Musically this was decent, professional early-'70s hard rock that bore some comparison to the likes of Bull Angus, Deep Purple, Judas Priest (?), and maybe even a bit or Uriah Heep thrown in the mix. Tracks like 'Highway', 'Riddle of the Sea, and 'You Only Got Yourself' featured lots of decent guitar and keyboard interplay. That said, there wasn't a great deal of originality across these grooves and the lead singer's arch, occasionally screechy voice was best described as an acquired taste. The thing is, these guys were actually quite good; especially if you were willing to invest more than a quick spin to check the album out Yeah, he was a bit heavy handed, but the lead singer was quite talented with the rest of the band showing an unexpected knack for sweetening the mix with nice harmony vocals (check out the opening rocker 'Dragon Lady'). The rest of the band were equally good with the lead guitarist deserving special mention for consistently impressive contributions to the set. Standouts ? Hard to pick them on this one ,but I'd give the nod to the opening rocker 'Dragon Lady' and 'Riddle of the Sea'. As an aside, the album may have been released in 1974, but to my ears it certainly sounded like something recorded at least a couple of years earlier.
"Bloody
Mary" track listing: 1.) Dragon Lady (Bloody Mary) - 5:10 rating: **** stars Based on everything I'd read, I have to admit the percussion heavy opening came as a surprise to my ears, but once the lead guitar and keyboards kicked in (along with the screeching lead vocals), I felt more comfortable with the collection's hard rock reputation. The opener actually boasted what may have been the album's best melody. 2.) Highway (Bloody Mary) - 2:51 rating: *** stars 'Highway' found the band playing it funky - well as funky as a bunch of New York white guys could get. The funny thing is the track was build on a really catchy melody. It didn't immediately reveal itself, but after a couple of spins it wouldn't leave you alone.. 3.) Riddle of the Sea (Bloody Mary) - 4:08 rating: **** stars Complete with acoustic guitars, harmony vocals, and an unexpected degree of subtlety, the ballad 'Riddle of the Sea' was a major surprise to my ears. Add in some progressive leanings (at least until two minutes into the tune), and you had one of the album highlights. The accompanying guitar solo was certainly tasteful and one of the best things on the collection. The other thing that was funny about this one was that it wouldn't have sounded out of place on a mid-'80s hair band album - imagine something a band like Warrant or Whitesnake might have recorded. 4.) Free and Easy (Bloody Mary) - 5:10 rating: *** stars The band at their most progressive .... To be honest, the vocal performance on 'Free and Easy' has always reminded me a bit of Jack Bruce (not a good thing), though that was overshadowed by some wonderful lead guitar.
(side
2) Another track that initially didn't do a lot for me, but eventually grew on me ... 'You Only Got Yourself' found the band adding a jazzy edge to the proceedings with the singer toughening up his voice (sounded like he'd been gargling with pebbles). Another one that showcased the band's nice group harmonies. I would have given it another star, but for the fact it was just too long at seven minutes. 2.) Can You Feel It (Fire) (Bloody Mary) - 5:37 rating: **** stars Conventional frenetic hard rock with a touch of Santana-influence embedded throughout (guess it was the heavy percussion), and the addition of some surprisingly commercial harmony vocals ... Not sure why, but I've always liked this one. Where's Arthur "King of Fire" Brown when you needed him ? 3.) I Hear the Music Playing (Bloody Mary) - 4:51 rating: *** stars Opening a song with some classically inspired piano was certainly a change of pace for the band. In fact, In fact, starting out as a highly melodic power ballad, 'I Hear the Music Playing' was a complete surprise. Yeah, the song eventually found them returning to their rock roots. Great lead guitar on this one.
For folks into conspiracy theories, I'd personally ignore any suggestion this was a late inning version of Sir Lord Baltimore ... The fact that Sir Lord Baltimore drummer John Garner has gone on record as saying this wasn't them should put that story to rest.
Well played hard rock in the style of many other non-mainstream early 70's guitar & keyboard driven hard rock bands such as; Bull Angus, Indian Summer, Jackal, and yes...even Sir Lord Baltimore at times. Though to me this album comes off sounding more like 1970 than 1974. Musically it's great, and for some the only thing holding it back may be the vocals (desired taste)...depending on how particular you are. I acquired this LP by chance while in Oregon attending an annual vinyl collectors convention during the late 70's. I used to go down there quite frequently and visit a buddy who owned a record store and hang out, party a bit, and bring a few obscurities his way on each visit. He'd return the favour, as I'd always wind up lugging a big box of vinyl back up to Canada on my return...this is how I discovered Bloody Mary. At the time, there was no talk of former Sir Lord Baltimore members being a part of this bands lineup. That all came in more recent times as internet fuelled speculation, which eventually morphed into misinformation perceived to be true via music related blog & website chatter. To this day I've never seen any sound evidence of this, as even Sir Lord Baltimore drummer John Garner (rumoured to be a Bloody Mary member) denies any involvement, and claims he'd never heard of Bloody Mary until he was asked about them. I consider myself to have a discerning ear, and after listening to Sir Lord Baltimore and Bloody Mary countless times over the years or, I do see some very slight similarities in the vocals, but not enough to convince me that it's John Garner. I actually like John's singing, be it with Sir Lord Baltimore, or the early 00's band The Lizards. But I don't care all that much for Bloody Mary's vocalist...whoever he is, but I accept it as a part of this bands sound. Quite honestly, if it wasn't for the musicianship itself, I doubt very much I would have played this album as often as I have over the years. That said, it's really the music found herein that warrants a 4/5 rating from this fan. Another mystery on Artie Ripp's short-lived and infamous Family label ... As you'd expect from a label notorious for abusing its artists, 1974's "Bloody Mary" carried little in the way of credits. If you trust the liner notes, the album was recorded at UltraSonic Studios in new York with Vinny Testa producing and Ray Incorbaia shown as associate producer. There were no performance credits and all seven compositions were credited to Bloody Mary. Musically this was decent, professional early-'70s hard rock that bore some comparison to the likes of Bull Angus, Deep Purple, Judas Priest (?), and maybe even a bit or Uriah Heep thrown in the mix. Tracks like 'Highway', 'Riddle of the Sea, and 'You Only Got Yourself' featured lots of decent guitar and keyboard interplay. That said, there wasn't a great deal of originality across these grooves and the lead singer's arch, occasionally screechy voice was best described as an acquired taste. The thing is, these guys were actually quite good; especially if you were willing to invest more than a quick spin to check the album out Yeah, he was a bit heavy handed, but the lead singer was quite talented with the rest of the band showing an unexpected knack for sweetening the mix with nice harmony vocals (check out the opening rocker 'Dragon Lady'). The rest of the band were equally good with the lead guitarist deserving special mention for consistently impressive contributions to the set. Standouts ? Hard to pick them on this one ,but I'd give the nod to the opening rocker 'Dragon Lady' and 'Riddle of the Sea'. As an aside, the album may have been released in 1974, but to my ears it certainly sounded like something recorded at least a couple of years earlier. [Review "Scott Blackerby" USA) Strongly Recommended to fans of early 70's hard rock. 01. Dragon Lady 05:04 02. Highway 02:51 03. Riddle Of The Sea 04:08 04. Free And Easy 05:10 05. You Only Got Yourself 07:01 06. Can You Feel It ( Fire ) 05:37 07. I Hear The Music Playing 04:51
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