Search - Freewheelers :: Waitin for George

Roots infused rock 'n roll hearkening back to 1970

loce_the_wizard | Lilburn, GA USA | 04/07/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Waitin' for George" is one of those lost, underrated rock`n roll albums with a heavy leaning toward roots music but a big sound that reminds one of Joe Cocker and Leon Russell's traveling road show, Mad Dogs and Englishmen. While most bands opt for piano or organ, The Freewheelers employ both together, and it's that component coupled with leader Luther Russell's Cocker like growl and the spirited female chorus that give the band their signature sound and hearken back to 1970.



Russell's voice, however, does not have quite the resonance of Cocker's and the material is solid though rarely exemplary, but it's all played with such sincerity that it's worth looking past those shortcomings and enjoying something tempered by real rock `n roll sensibilities.



That said, I paid a buck for this CD but would still argue that it holds up better the techno noise of bands such as Nine Inch Nails or any of the ego driven materialistic rap nonsense that proved the darlings of commericial radio in the '90s.



The title might seem prescient given this CD was issued during the span Clinton's presidency was sandwiched between the two Bush presidencies, but it apparently refers to the band's producer.

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