Translucent Blues

Ray Manzarek (keyboardist in The Doors) and Roy Rogers (notable session slide guitarist) have teamed up for some old-school blues-rock (except the last two jazzy instrumentals). This record could have come out in the 70s or just about any decade for that matter. As you’d expect, there’s a lot of organ and a lot of slide guitar. Ray and Roy split the songwriting duties about equally, and each sings lead on his own songs.

Songs # 5 and #8 are FCC no nos.

1. Funky organ, Stax-ish guitar. Lyrics sorta goofy. Sounds a bit like a novelty song. (4:28)
2. More of a rocker. On the seedy side of LA. Sounds like a decent warm-up band. (7:09)
3. Up-tempo burner. Elec piano rather than organ. Hot slide guitar work. (4:01)
4. Same description as #3 (except add a psychedelic Door-ish piano in the middle) (4:03)
5. FCC warning: “shit” and it means the stuff you flush. It’s a shame—good song. (4:49)
6. * Gets a star for variety. Both singers for a change. Mid-tempo. Good slide guitar. (6:18)
7. * Good blues rock on piano & guitar. Of the similar 2, 3, & 4, this seems the best. (4:51)
8. FCC warning: “fucking” as an adjective (4:45)
9. Bit of jazz feel on drums, piano, vox. Sorta Mose Allison. Shared writing credits. (4:56)
10. ** Traditional “baby did me wrong” blues. Vox by Roy. Real cool reverb sound on guitar. If in concert, this would be the big encore. (3:32)
11. ** Wow! Where did this come from? A lovely jazz instrumental on a blues-rock record. Real nice, slightly Latin sax solo. Also very nice work on both piano and guitar. (4:24)
12. * Up-tempo, bluesy/jazzy instrumental. Ballpark-style organ. Good extended sax solos. Good tune. Like the previous one, this would work on a jazz show. (5:42)