This 45-year-old obscurity is the work of a bunch of studio hacks (at least seven, count ‘em!) led by noted session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan.
Well, he was extremely busy throughout the ‘60s, ‘70s and beyond, as a performer, arranger and producer, working with the likes of ... big breath now:
Tom Jones, Billy Fury, Johnny Hallyday, Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfield, Bobby Darin, Serge Gainsbourg, The Walker Brothers, Donovan, David Bowie, Thunderclap Newman, Long John Baldry, Marmalade, The Small Faces, George Harrison, even Frank Zappa -- the list goes on and on.
Why, back in the early ‘60s, Big Jim allegedly even gave Ritchie Blackmore guitar lessons!
But before you get too excited, I should point out that the only remarkable thing about Tiger’s self-titled LP (one of two released in 1976, the other tellingly called Goin’ Down Laughing) is how perfectly UN-remarkable it is.
In fact, this is a perfect illustration of why these guys were career sidemen: for all their talent and chops they lacked that ineffable, je ne sais quoi -- call it star-quality or charisma -- necessary to elevate their efforts above mundanity (for reference material, see 20 Feet from Stardom), no matter what style they’re playing in.
Said styles include hard rock (“I’m Not Crying”), jazz-fusion (“Lay Back, Stay Back”), tranquil symphonic prog (“Tyger, Tyger”), even funky disco (“Suzy Slicker”); but the album’s standout track, for me, is the slow, epic blues “Long Time,” and not even it can surface a really great hook.
Nor is the album intended to showcase the musicians’ virtuosity, per se, even though Big Jim shreds like Yngwie fucking Malmsteen on the otherwise forgettable “Lay Me,” Dave McCrae unleashes synthesizer hell on “Ordinary Girl,” and the portly Nicky Moore lends his soulful pipes to the hymnal, richly orchestrated “Prayer.”
Incidentally, Nicky would later resurface -- a little trimmer, but not much -- as Bruce Dickinson’s replacement with New Wave of British Heavy Metal also-rans Samson!
But, just as I wouldn’t recommend that anyone spend too much time or money on those latter-day Samson albums (Before the Storm, Don’t Get Mad -- Get Even, etc.), I’ll do the same with Tiger, which sounds very much like the sidemen’s side project that it is.
More Obscure Mid ‘70s Hard Rock: Agnes Strange's Strange Flavour, Armageddon’s Armageddon, Back Street Crawler's The Band Plays On, Baker Gurvitz Army’s Elysian Encounter, Bedlam’s Bedlam, Black Sheep’s Black Sheep, Black Spirit’s Black Spirit, Blackfoot’s No Reservations, Blackfoot Sue’s Nothing to Hide, Blue Goose’s Blue Goose, Brownsville Station’s Motor City Connection, Bux’s We Come to Play, Cain’s A Pound of Flesh, Diamond Reo’s Diamond Reo, Dirty Tricks’ Dirty Tricks, Earth Quake’s Rocking the World, Elf’s Trying to Burn the Sun, Epitaph’s Outside the Law, Gedō’s Gedō, Goliath’s Hot Rock & Thunder, Good Rats’ Ratcity in Blue, Granicus’ Granicus, Granmax’s A Ninth Alive, Growl's Growl, Hammersmith’s Hammersmith, Hustler’s High Street, Legs Diamonds’ Legs Diamond, Magi's Win or Lose, Mariah's Mariah, Max Webster’s Max Webster, Mother’s Finest’s Mother’s Finest, Moxy’s Moxy, Murasaki’s Murasaki, Nitzinger’s Live Better Electrically, Nutz’s Nutz, Painter’s Painter, Pentagram’s First Daze Here, Piper’s Piper, Primevil's Smokin' Bats at Campton's, Silver's Children of the Lord, Starz’s Starz, Stepson’s Stepson, The Storm’s The Storm, Strider’s Exposed, Strife’s Rush, Target's Target, Thunderhead's Thunderhead, Trooper's Trooper, Truth and Janey’s No Rest for the Wicked, Widowmaker’s Widowmaker.
