EARTH QUAKE - Rocking the world

EARTH QUAKE Rocking the world cd 1975/1987 Beserkley 320 kbps

Route 66 / Power glide slide / Friday on my mind / (Sitting in the middle of) Madness / Mr Security / Tin soldier° / Head help high / Ma Ma Ma Belle*.

Produced by M. K. Kaufman & G. Kolotkin.

Earth Quake : S. Miller : bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on* / J. Doukas : vocals, piano / G. Phillips : guitar, backing vocals , lead vocals on° / S. Nelson : drums / R. Dunbar : guitar, backing vocals.

Originally Purple , Earthquake, the band drew its influences from rock and blues bands of the , such as the Kinks, Muddy Waters and the Yardbirds, and played clubs and ballrooms in California in the late 1960s. They were managed by Matthew K. Kaufman, who won them a contract with A&M Records, where they released two albums, "Earth Quake "(1971) and "Why Don't You Try Me?" (1972) but with little commercial success. After experiencing frustration at what he saw as A&M's incompetence in handling the band, Kaufman set up Beserkley Records in 1973. Earth Quake released four albums on Beserkley between 1975 and 1979, as well as working with other musicians including Jonathan Richman (who they backed on his 1974 recording of "Roadrunner"), Greg Kihn (who sang backing vocals on some of their records), and guitarist Gary Phillipet (aka Gary Phillips - previously of John Cipollina's Copperhead). The band split up in the early 1980's, but a compilation album, "Sittin in the Middle of Madness", was issued in 2000. In 2007 G. Phillipet sadly passed away in 2007.

Creatively, Earth Quake had its ups and downs. There were times when the obscure Northern California rockers sounded inspired, and other times when they seemed unfocused and confused. Consisting of live performances from 1975, Earth Quake's first album, "Rocking the World", finds the quintet sounding like a neighborhood bar band. Think of a raw, hard-rocking bar band from 1975 and you'll get an idea where Earth Quake is coming from on covers of Bobby Troup's "Route 66," the Electric Light Orchestra's "Ma Ma Ma Belle," the Easybeats' "Friday on My Mind" nice version and the Small Faces' "Tin Soldier" as well as original material like "Mr. Security" and "(Sitting in the Middle of) Madness." Bar bands, of course, can either go through the motions or really get into what they're doing. On this album, Earth Quake sounds like a bar band that is inspired rather than bored. "Rocking the World" isn't mind-blowing, but it rocks and generally fun. Allmusic