COAST ROAD DRIVE - DELICIOUS AND REFRESHING - VERY RARE ORIGINAL 1974 DREAM LP

	£		37
	$		49

ORIGINAL UK DERAM LABEL SML 1113 LP - FIRST UK PRESS - 1W/2W MATRIX - EX/VG+ CONDITION. APART FROM A SCUFF MARK ON SIDE ONE (SEE PHOTO), IF I'M BEING OVER PICKY, SLIGHT SURFACE NOISE BUT ONLY BETWEEN TRACKS BY SCUFF MARK. OTHERWISE IN EX CONDITION, PLAYS WELL THROUGHOUT- NICE COPY, STRONG SHINY VINYL, OTHERWISE BARELY USED, LAMINATED COVER HAS NO REAL COVER WEAR OR TEARS OR WRITING ON, NICE CLEAN REAR, LABELS CLEAN AND UNMARKED. ORIGINAL INNER.

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                                                                              Coast Road Drive – Delicious And Refreshing

Gathered together from various British bands, Coast Road Drive was a quartet of excellent musicians. Les Nicol (guitars and vocals) and Steve Chapman (drums) were earlier members of legendary psych outfit Distant Jim, along with Craig Austin (backing vocals) who was in Methuselah. Les Nicol had also been with Methuselah, Steve Chapman had also been in Pandamonium and Juniors Eyes, Charlie Harrison (bass and vocals) had previously played in Judas Jump. Steve Krieger (guitars and vocals) possibly had a brief spell with Fynn McCool, although I cannot confirm this. Their only achievement during their brief existence is the excellent LP, “Delicious And Refreshing” which appeared in 1974 on the famous and now highly collectable Deram label. Often miss-labled as country rock, the music of Coast Road Drive is so much more than that. From hard rock to soft rock, funk and boogie and a nice swampy rural feel at times, throw in some great twin lead guitar interplay, effortless harmony vocals and you have a minor classic that’s revered by the few collectors of the genre who actually own the LP. Comparisons can be made to Brinsley Schwartz, Cochise, Hokus Poke and Anno Domini and even The Band, Little Feat and Derek & The Dominos, although Coast Road Drive have an identity that’s all their own. Delicious And Refreshing offers a well-chosen mix of British pub rock a la Brinsley Schwartz, Country Rock, American roots rock and prog rock, combined with strong playing and great compositions, which make for a truly enjoyable listen. The album opens with ‘Sail Away’ a great tune with dual vocals and nifty guitar licks that really sets the mood and leaves the listener wanting more. ‘Coal Black Night’ follows and slows the pace somewhat to a funky swampy southern rock flavoured tour-de-force. The best track, 'It's All So Easy' is a beautiful ballad and at over five minutes is the longest track on the album. ‘Take My Time’ conjures up a country rock boogie sound on which guitar’s, piano and harmonica dominate. The tempo slows down again for a rural country ballad 'Jason' which embellished with some nice organ is another excellent song. 'This Time Around' is an atmospheric moody rock ballad, some nice background keyboards and a cracking guitar solo rounds things off nicely. Country funk is the order of the day on ‘Hard To Handle’ and is easily as good as anything Quiver, Cochise or the Brinsleys were doing at the time. ‘If You Ain’t Got The Key ' is lazy southern influenced rocker, enriched with some fatty slide guitar and harmonica. ‘Keep On’ is a lighter mid paced rocker which grooves along nicely with some tasteful brass and a vocal that sounds uncannily like Van Morrison. All of which all too soon leads us sadly to the last track ‘Over The Mountain' a catchy country guitar rocker with flourishes of organ and funky bass lines and finishes with some fine duelling twin lead guitars, leaving the listener wanting more, sadly there is no more, that’s it! Delicious And Refreshing, with guest appearances of Mick Weaver, Henry Lowther and Stones pianist Nicky Hopkins amongst others, is an excellent calling card of a band that was in fact virtually defunct before the album appeared. Some British obscurities such as Coast Road Drive deserve a much wider audience. Original copies are at a premium and just so rare that when they come onto the collectors market they can fetch well into three figures.

Personnel

Les Nicol – Acoustic and Electric Guitars,Vocals

Steve Chapman – Drums, Percussion

Charlie Harrison - Bass, Backing Vocals

Steve Krieger - Acoustic and Electric Guitars,Vocals

Guest Musicians

Mick Weaver - Keyboards, Clavinet

Nicky Hopkins - Piano

Henry Lowther - Trumpet

Chris Mercer - Tenor Sax

Craig Austin - Backing Vocal         

Tracks

1 - Sail Away

2 - Coal Black Night

3 - It's All So Easy

4 - Take My Time

5 - Jason

6 - This Time Around

7 - Hard To Handle

8 - If You Ain't Got The Key

9 - Keep On

10 - Over The Mountain