The Butts Band: Hear & Now! (Blue Thumb 1975)
Ok, in the pantheon of bad band names, this has to rank pretty high It’d make sense if someone actually IN the group was named Butts but, no, the leads are Robby Kreiger and John Densmore. No Butts there. Who knows why this ’70s rock group decided to pay a tribute to the power of the ass (not that it doesn’t deserve a tribute or anything) – all we know is that they did.
What I can’t figure out – besides that whole silly name thing – is why more kids aren’t really up on this. I mean, this LP has at least three solid breaks on it plus some fun, soulful rock that gets damn funky for a bunch of white folk (plus a token brother in the mix). I mean, dig on “Don’t Wake Up” which is solidly a funk cut with its chicken scratch guitars, grooving basslines and slick drums. Not to mention the 4-bar break that kicks off my favorite song on this album, the soulful “Caught In the Middle” which, honestly, has some really laughable songwriting (ex: “I think of myself as a grain of sand/here I sit/infinite/just a grain/I feel no pain.”) but it has a ska-feel to it and I can imagine swaying to it on some beach as it plays. And then there’s a cover of “Get Up, Stand Up” which is pretty solid (though who knows if Bob would have approved), at least enough to fool drunk frat guys. Seriously though, I like this album. Think you might too.
chatter