Search - Savoy Brown :: Raw Sienna/Looking in

Sitting An' Thinking This is Fabulous

jansley | Vernon, Texas | 01/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Arguably Savoy Brown's 2 best albums packaged together in 77 fabulous minutes and 18 songs. I always liked the more rocking sound of "Looking In" over the more intimate blues bar sound of "Raw Sienna", but both albums really kick. The best songs for me are are "Stay While the Night Is Young" and "Needle and Spoon" on Sienna and "Leavin Again", "Money Can't Save Your Soul" and "Sunday Night" on Looking In. But, believe me, ALL the songs are great on Looking In if you like rock with a little blues thrown in and some great guitar solos that aren't overblown like Skynyrd's "Freebird". The music is similar to Wishbone Ash and pre-Stevie Fleetwood Mac. Both Chris Youlden on "Raw Sienna" and Lonesome Dave on "Lookin In" provide excellent soulful vocals and to me sound more similar than different.



Liner notes are OK but author Alan Robinson much favors Raw Sienna over Looking In - I disagree. Also, there is a major mistake on the back page of the booklet - the credits for each album are switched. My only other complaint is they don't list the times of the songs anywhere.



I never cared much for Foghat, except their first hit, "I Just Wanna Make Love To You" but you can definitely hear pre-Foghat in Looking In. Lonesome Dave doesn't scream as much as he did with Foghat. It's a shame everybody except Kim Simmonds left for Foghat after this, but Simmonds landed on his feet and later editions of Savoy Brown produced a few fine albums after this, like Street Corner Talking.



One final note: anybody hear the similarity of Sienna's "Stay While the Night Is Young" to the recent hit by Jack Johnson called, "Sitting, Wishing, Waiting"? "Stay While.." is a little slower pace but the acoustic guitar strumming, laid-back snare drums and vocals sound very, very similar like these could be 2 songs on the same album. Wonder if Johnson ever listened to "Lookin In" or if this is just music evolution circling back on itself.



Fine, fine collection. Buy it!! I hardly ever hear Savoy Brown played on classic rock radios, yet I remember they were BIG in the early 70's! And that was in Nebraska! I think this kind of music is going to come back after people tire of nu metal."

"Desert Island" Savoy Brown

Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 08/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Raw Sienna was my introduction to Savoy Brown through the kind encouragement of a junior high school girlfriend's hip older brother. To me, the album was easy to like. I liked horns, Raw Sienna has horns, and Savoy Brown's use of them sounded a lot more avant-garde to my young ears than either then-current radio favorites Chicago or Blood, Sweat and Tears did. So I became a fan and remain one to this day.

But tastes change, and my reasons for liking Raw Sienna today are vastly different than they were 37 years ago. When I first heard Raw Sienna, I played the first five songs constantly but rarely listened to the "B" side of the album. Now the songs of what was that flip side of the album (from I'm Crying through When I Was A Young Boy) are the ones I like best both musically and lyrically. It is singer Chris Youlden's voice and his songwriting skills that contributed in a huge way to making Raw Sienna the best of the band's first five albums.

Unfortunately, Youlden left the band and what came on Looking In was a shock to the young ears of a kid looking for some musical continuity. Gone were the horns and front and center was the twin guitar attack of Kim Simmonds and Lonesome Dave Peverett. Not to say it wasn't good, but it just didn't sound at the time like Savoy Brown. But what blues-rock fan doesn't like the hard-driving rockers Poor Girl and Looking In or the slow-burning blues of Money Can't Save Your Soul and the fine instrumental Sunday Night? In retrospect, Looking In is an excellent album and the lyrics of the title cut provide a bridge to the Youlden years with its message of introspection.

Reading the liner notes of a reissue is often educational as far as knowing what the writer's angle is with regard to the music within. It is obvious that Alan Robinson, the writer of the fine mini-biography of the band presented in the booklet that accompanies this CD, prefers Raw Sienna and the Chris Youlden era. So do I. But don't sell Looking In short. If Raw Sienna is to be considered the apex of the Youlden era, then Looking In is right behind it at the apex of the post-Youlden era.

Over the years, I have acquired all of the early Savoy Brown albums. I never saw Shake Down in any record store stateside but I did pick up a copy at WOM in Munich. I also went forward with the band to Hellbound Train, but dropped them when they slipped into mediocrity thereafter.

Savoy Brown was once a very important part of the music scene in the US. Despite the sloppy editing of the booklet, as noted by an earlier reviewer, this twin-pack still deserves five stars based on the quality of the music alone. If you were allowed to bring only one Savoy Brown recording along to exile on that proverbial "desert island", this would be the one I recommend."