Search - Brownsville Station :: Yeah!

Powerful Stuff!

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 04/19/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Give Wounded Bird Records credit for finally putting back in print one of the great party albums of the seventies. This 1973 release featured their biggest hit, the million-selling "Smokin' in the Boy's Room." Co-written by bassist Michael Lutz and guitarist Cub Koda, this song showed the rest of the country what the Midwest already knew-Brownsville Station was one of the rockinest bands on the circuit.



Though the album contains only one other original (another Lutz-Koda song, "All Night Long"), they included well chosen covers, like The Balloon Farm's 1968 hit "A Question of Temperature," Ray Parker's 1966 hit "Barefootin'" and Hoyt Axton's "Lightnin' Bar Blues." They even covered fellow Ann Arbor native Terry Knight's "Love, Love, Love."



Sadly, Koda died of kidney disease in 2000 at the age of 51. As a music journalist (he was a staff writer for "Goldmine" magazine), Koda was a champion of all kinds of music. This album is a testament to his talents. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

"

A Lost Classic!

John Loovis | Schenectady, NY | 07/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No, this is not the worst album in history. That award goes to the Shaggs. Of course there is nothing cerebral or particularly original about this 1973 release, but that's not the point. Just like Black Oak, Humble Pie, Foghat and many bands like them, the point here is to crank it up and have fun.



In 1973 I was 12 years old and living on Long Island. My mother picked this album up for me that summer and I thought it was the coolest thing I ever heard. I couldn't wait for her to leave the house so I could turn it up as loud as it could go! Of course that was before I discovered Deep Purple.



Well it's been at least 25 years since I heard this gem, and I couldn't help feeling like a 12 year old when I put it on! Sure, "Smokin' In the Boy's Room" is here, but there's also a few other great tracks worth mentioning. "All Night Long" is the only other original track, and like most of the tracks here, it is fun to listen to and very catchy. There's also Hoyt Axton's "Lightning Bar Blues" which I like even better than Hoyt's. Then there's "Barefootin'"...perhaps the heaviest track on the album.



It's definately a blast from the past and one of those L.P.s that you would never expect to see on CD. The only thing I didn't like was the short playing time and no additional or alternate tracks."

SMOKE 'EM IF YA GOT 'EM, BOYS!

Jukebox Dave | RECORD TOWN, USA | 07/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I feel sorry for all the deprived youngin's who have been raised on MOTLEY CRUE's ummm..."motley" cover of SMOKIN' IN THE BOY'S ROOM, the uncontested juvey delinquent anthem of the early seventies. YEAH! is a short n' sweet, snarling, sweaty testamant to the charismatic GARY GLITTER-meets-BO DIDDLEY garage rockin' blooze-bustin' punk pioneers christened BROWNSVILLE STATION. In one thirty minute in-yer-ear blast, music historian/record collector CUB KODA's impeccable taste in genre-jumpin' cover tunes spans country's HOYT AXTON (LIGHTNING BAR BLUES), reggae's JIMMY CLIFF (almost hit LET YOUR YEAH BE YEAH), New Orleans soulman ROBERT PARKER (BAREFOOTIN'), punk Godfadda LOU REED (SWEET JANE), and psychedelic one hitters BALLOON FARM (QUESTION OF TEMPERATURE), all rendered in BROWNVILLE's patented slam-bang-thank-you-glam delivery. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em, boys! No one owned rock and roll covers (or created their own covers to be) like these Ann Arbor overgrown high school greasers. More fun than cherry bombs in the boy's room urinal!"