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Although Status Quo have been awarded National Treasure status for some time, Francis Rossi has always been an underrated and undervalued songwriter. At the top of his game for what must be seven decades now, his partnership with Bob Young – often referred to in the early days as the unofficial fifth member of Status Quo – has delivered many Quo standards that have stood the test of time: ‘Paper Plane’, ‘Caroline’, ‘Down Down’, ‘Dirty Water’…kind of just roll off the tongue, don’t they. And it’s this partnership that features on ‘The Way We Were Vol 1’, a seventeen-track collection of Status Quo offerings from the early 2000s and select cuts from Rossi’s solo material.
Seventeen previously unreleased demos picked by Rossi himself from his archives, including five being heard for the first time. Demos are usually rawer and devoid of the polish that is often added at the mixing stage, so in theory, what the listener is hearing is how Rossi and Young first created the songs some time ago.
‘Gotta Get Up and Go’ (from 2005’s ‘The Party Ain’t Over Yet…’) is a fantastic way to open ‘The Way We Were Vol 1’ as it is a quintessential Francis Rossi Quo track. The guitar tones throughout are easily recognisable as Rossi’s, as are his unmistakable vocals that seem quite effortless. Chugging riffs, stellar, simple drumbeat, the biggest difference from the original seems to be the lack of keyboards, and the guitar solo is not as flashy, all of which makes it more right-here-right-now.
‘Pennsylvania Blues Tonight’ is more bass-oriented and less commercial than the original (from 2007’s ‘In Search of the Fourth Chord’), and Andy Bown’s wailing harmonica is still prevalent. It’s the thick bass licks, though, that hang around for weeks afterward.
‘Electric Arena’ also featured on ‘In Search of the Fourth Chord’, and here it sounds heavier, more blues-filled, and with lashings and lashings of gorgeous guitar licks from Rossi. Bown’s piano is high up on the mix on the original; here, though, it’s non-existent, and the bass is pushed further forward to give the track a grittier feel, with the result being arguably the standout moment on the album.
Other highlights would be: ‘Faded Memory’ from Rossi’s 2010 solo album ‘One Step At a Time’. The version here throws up a conundrum. The original could be called Quo-by-numbers, but here, the demo version is played at a waltz-like pace, and the overproduction that featured on the album in 2010 is gone. Instead, the emphasis is on Rossi’s vocals and lyrics. The difference is like night and day, and begs the question of why this version wasn’t on the album originally? One can only assume it was for commercial airplay reasons. And ‘Another Day’ lifted from 2002’s ‘Heavy Traffic’. Minus Bown’s honky-tonk piano solo, the demo version is a heads-down boogie-filled romp.
Quo completists will mostly be interested in the five tracks that are available to own for the first time. Of these, ‘Scary Mary’ will more than likely gain the most plaudits as it has that trademark Quo groove to it (even has a Roxy Music-esque glam feel to the intro), but ‘Can’t Change The World’ runs it a close second, thanks to the boogie-filled tempo.
Demo collections often feature as tacked-on afterthoughts on a multiple-disc box set, where sometimes you get five different versions of the same song purely as filler material. Not here, though. ‘The Way We Were Vol 1’ flows perfectly, holds the listener’s attention throughout, and is anything but disjointed. An essential standalone album that is pretty much flawless.
Available now via earMUSIC, more information HERE.
Francis Rossi tour dates can be found HERE
Review – Dave
Photocredit: Christie Goodwin
10th May, Aylesbury Waterside, fantastic energetic, wow, the guitar, he knows how to create the original sounds, playing like no other, definitely will see again, bought Status Quo to the stage.