Stillwater
Reissues
The original Stillwater (not the one in the film Almost Famous) came from Macon, Georgia and made only a brief mark on 70s southern rock over two albums, but these remastered versions show they deserved more.
Their best-known moment is the US Top-50 single Mind Bender, a slow, bluesy tale of finding a talking guitar in a junk shop, from their self-titled 1977 debut (8/10). Even their use of a Frampton-style talk box still sounds like a neat trick, even when half of all chart music in the current era seems to use the increasingly insufferable effect.
Elsewhere, they showcase impressive versatility: the defiant boogie anthem Rock’n’roll Loser is punchier in this remastered form. And if they don’t achieve the heaviness of some of their southern contemporaries, this was always a band who were as much about the roll as the rock. Two versions (one live) of the Santana-ish Out On A Limb exemplifies that, along with some dazzling three-guitars-and-keyboard excursions.
Ill-fated second album I Reserve The Right (6/10) suffers from a few too many AOR tendencies, but closer Ain’t We A Pair relights their fire, with Bonnie Bramlett lending a vocal counterpoint.