Crawler - Crawler (1977, Wounded Bird 2008)

Artist: Crawler
Title Of Album: Crawler
Year Of Release: 1977/2008
Label: Wounded Bird
Country: UK/US
Genre: Hard groovy classic rock
Audio codec: FLAC | lossless

Many people thought Crawler were over once Paul Kossoff had sadly passed away. There was even a story of them coming off stage from one gig and finding a coffin in the dressing room.

The first Crawler album to me is a classic. The second one is rockier but it is the first one I always come back to. Geoff Whitehorn was a very different guitar player to Kossoff but still played with tremendous feel and emotion. Hie guitar solo on ‘Pasttime Dreamer is sublime. The band should have been more successful than they were especially in the USA where ‘Stone Cold Sober got a lot of airplay.

The vocals are soulful and emotive, Terry Wilson-Slesser is a brilliant vocalist. The rhythm section from Terry Wilson and Tony Braunagel is inventive and with many of the songs written by John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick, you cannot help but think this is what FREE might have sounded like if they had continued. Live they were brilliant, they basically played this whole album with a couple of Free tracks thrown in. I chatted to the band afterwards and they were really friendly.

Tracks
1. Without You Babe (Terry Wilson) - 3:30
2. You Got Money (John "Rabbit" Bundrick) - 3:31
3. Sold On Down The Line (Terry Wilson, Tony Braunagel) - 3:47
4. One Too Many Lovers (Geoff Whitehorn, Mike Rutherford) - 4:03
5. You Are My Saviour (John "Rabbit" Bundrick) - 4:50
6. Pastime Dreamer (Terry Wilson) - 4:34
7. Never Loved A Woman (Terry Wilson) - 4:15
8. You And Me (John "Rabbit" Bundrick) - 4:08
9. Stone Cold Sober (John "Rabbit" Bundrick) - 5:38
10.Stone Cold Sober (John "Rabbit" Bundrick) - 2:55

Personnel:
Geoff Whitehorn - Guitar, Vocals
John "Rabbit" Bundrick - Keyboards, Vocals
Terry Wilson - Bass, Vocals
Tony Braunagel - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Terry Wilson-Slesser - Lead Vocals
With
Lord Ted - Saxophone
Stevie Lange - Vocals
Ted Bunting - Saxophone
Tony Carr - Percussion
Chris Wood - Flute