I have already spoken on other occasions of The Groundhogs, which formarón in the early 60s, and was initially called The dollarbills, but changed its name in homage to a theme of his idol John Lee Hooker, Ground Hog Blues. They started as a band of classic blues, playing alongside greats like John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Memphis Slim and Little Walter; however in the next three years their sound evolves into a progressive hard blues especially experiments McPhee, underrated guitar virtuoso. This time I bring the fourth album of the band, recorded in 1971 and titled Split. Definitely a great job that could carry the title of his best album. The first part of the album contains a song called Split, divided into four parts according McPhee tells a mental breakdown he suffered after smoking some herbs in the mid-sixties. The four parts of Split have a fierce rhythm section and serves as a perfect accompaniment to McPhee who looks experimenting with wah-wah, fuzz and delay. Below Cherry Reed undoubtedly best known song of the band, fast, strong, pure hard rock with psychedelic touches. With A Year In The Life down the revolutions still surprise with a soft but full of pleasant harmonies sound. Junkman is much more experimental passages filled with echoes and a saturated guitar sound. Finally we Ground Hog, masterfully executed blues reminiscent of the origins of the band. No doubt we are facing an album where the band shows its talent using a wide range of sounds and leave your own signature sound Groundhog, who was part of the evolution of blues rock.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 17:38:50 +0000