Thunderhead: Thunderhead (1975)
My recent explorations into the darker reaches of Southern rock have yielded nothing but disappointments (Blue Jug, Two Guns, Beaverteeth!), but I knew my luck was bound to change eventually, and that's when Thunderhead came along.
Not to be confused with a German heavy metal band active in the late '80s and early '90s, this Thunderhead hailed from New Orleans, where they formed in 1973 from the ashes of local cover bands, and eventually signed to the Paragon Agency out of Macon Georgia (same as the Allman Brothers).
Singer Mike Daggar, guitarist Ronnie Dobbs, and bassist Otho T. Ware had all paid their dues with the colorfully named Paper Steamboard, drummer Bobby Torello did the same with David and the Giants, and second guitarist Pat Rush rounded out the line-up.
Within two years, Thunderhead had signed to ABC Records, which was looking to broaden a roster dominated by mainstream pop and M.O.R. acts (Paul Anka, Eydie Gormé, Jim Croce, etc.) with, errr ... whatever it is those crusty boys in "Leonard Skinner" were playing.
Enter Thunderhead, who'd already recorded an album independently at nearby Studio in the Country, in Bogalusa, LA, with some help from early supporters Johnny Winter (*), before re-recording most of it at the behest of ABC.
And a great record it is too, led by hardly groundbreaking but superbly-crafted southern rock gems like "More Than I Can Chew," "Breaux Bridge Rag" (*), and "Busted in Georgia" -- don't let those police sirens startle you if you're listening in your car.
Along with other solid cuts like "Got to Get Away," "Armed Robbery" and "Rock Me, Roll Me," they deliver that classic hard rock sound with country accents: snarling, drawled vocals, biting, slashing geetars, a rock-solid rhythm section, and, of course, transverse flute!
Wait, what? [Insert noise of record being scratched here.]
Yes, turns out frontman Daggar was an accomplished flautist, and he brought inevitable, if unexpected, Jethro Tull vibes to distinctive fare like "Lay it On the Line," "Showdown," "Hit and Run Driver," and "Juliette," where Dobbs helpfully subs on lead vocals.
In fact, given the band's solid but far-from-revolutionary songwriting, Daggar's flute embellishments would go down as Thunderhead's most distinctive quality, in the end -- and I say "the end," because ABC quickly dropped the group and they sadly never record again.
Daggar and Torello reformed Thunderhead with new bandmates in 2009 for selective live work, though no new recordings ensued, which is probably just as well, but I strongly recommend giving this 50-year-old platter a listen.
* I believe this might be it!
** Previously recorded by bluesman Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown.
More Southern Rock: The Allman Brothers Band’s Idlewild South, Beaverteeth’s Beaverteeth, Black Oak Arkansas’ High On the Hog, Blackfoot’s Strikes, Blackhorse’s Blackhorse, Bloontz’s Bloontz, Blue Jug’s Blue Jug, Creed’s Creed, Doc Holliday’s Doc Holliday, Epitaph’s Outside the Law, Grinderswitch’s Pullin’ Together, Hydra’s Hydra, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Second Helping, Molly Hatchet’s Flirtin’ with Disaster, Navasota’s Rootin’, Nitzinger’s Nitzinger, Point Blank’s Point Blank, Potliquor’s Levee Blues, Two Guns’ Balls Out, Winterhawk’s Electric Warriors, ZZ Top’s Rio Grande Mud.
