Sunday, August 19, 2012

Elvin Bishop-Hog Heaven

Hog Heaven
On the front, Elvin is feeding his hog Budweiser and on the back, there are red hearts floating into the air symbolizing the hog to be rather high. There are a couple of songs that are influenced by Bill Haley styled rockabilly, with one being "Oh Babe" and the other "Right Now Is The Hour". My favorite two songs are "Arkansas" and "Southern Dreams". The last song on the CD, "Midnight Creeper" has a touch of humor dealing with references to the side effects of drugs and Elvin saying that he prefers a 50 or 60 year OD on Budweiser. Since the release of "Hog Heaven" in 1978, Elvin has give up alcohol and is, as far as I know, still clean and sober. Elvin is an excellent Blues Rock guitarist. If you can find this album, I recommend it to be added to your collection as I have once again. I don't believe you would be disappointed. Capricorn Records, having switched distribution from Warner Brothers to Phondisc, was on its way out by the time it released this, its sixth Elvin Bishop album, which may help explain why, only two years after he was in the Top 10 with "Fooled Around And Fell In Love," he didn't even reach the charts with this album. It's also true that lead singer Mickey Thomas had decamped to join Jefferson Starship, leaving Bishop to reestablish his country blues boy persona. But Maria Muldaur had signed on (she sings lead on "True Love"), and with two years between studio albums, Bishop had found the time to write some good vehicles for his guitar work and Southern rock backup band.

No comments:

Post a Comment