Search - Terry Knight & The Pack, Reflections :: Terry Knight & the Pack/Reflections

A Missing Link

Little Willie | Boston, Ma | 06/26/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I first encountered Terry Knight in 1964 when he became the nighttime DJ on CKLW. I was a kid in Boston who had just discovered this clear channel Detroit station which played music that was so much more interesting than my local stations. As a DJ, Knight championed British blues-rock groups like Them, The Pretty Things, and especially The Rolling Stones - none of whom were successful in the US at that point. When the Stones came over for their first US tour, playing to small audiences, Knight hung around with them, hyping the band and his friendship with them on the airwaves constantly. Soon he left CKLW, announcing that he was going to make records produced by Brian Jones. When Knight resurfaced two years later, it was without Jones but with music that had a definite Rolling Stones influence. The band's first album is pretty straightforwardly the blues-rock of those bands he had championed, watered down with a Middle America rock feel (and a relatively bland and less threatening vocalist). As such, it's a natural evolutionary step towards the arena rock Knight later helped Grand Funk Railroad create. Knight knew he was not much of a singer, but between his radio-ready speaking voice and his own commercial instincts, he crafted an album of songs that worked well within his limited range. The one hit, "I Who Have Nothing" was as much recitation as singing (and also included the kind of orchestral string section that The Stones had used on some recent ballads). By the time the second album was recorded, psychedelia and experimentation were in vogue and Reflections was much less focused. There is more variety, but much of it is too ambitious for this band. (The same could be said for many bands of the period - all of whom wanted to be The Beatles but most of whom were way short in the talent department.) With so many different sounds to choose from, anybody is likely to find some tracks on Reflections that they enjoy, but it's much less likely that anyone will like everything on the album. I would give the first album 4 1/2 stars, and Reflections 3 stars.

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