CHRIS SPEDDING - Cafe Days

CHRIS SPEDDING Cafe Days cd 1990
Smoke My Cigarette / Parchman Farm / Hostage / Put It On Hold° / Catch 22 / Cafe Days / Call Of The Wild / Girl In The Video / Flirt / Save The Life / Portobello.
Produced by S. Berlin & M. Linnet.
C. Spedding: guitar, bass, vocals / S. Berlin: keyboards, percussion, soprano sax on° / G. Ferguson: drums / B.L. Eager: backing vocals / P. Carrington & Southside Johnny: backing vocals on°.
Although he has performed as a sideman for dozens of top rock and pop acts, guitarist Chris Spedding is far more than a rock-and-roll footnote. A list of his accomplishments and session contributions would fill a book and, in fact, Chris Spedding: Reluctant Guitar Hero by Kimberley J. Bright was published in 2006. A short recap of his career includes his stint as front man for the highly underrated British rock group Sharks with former Free bassist Andy Fraser and future Talking Heads sideman Michael "Busta" Jones. Spedding also produced the demonstration tapes that earned the Sex Pistols their record contract; produced and played with British punk band the Vibrators; produced the Cramps; was a member of Roy Harper's backing band Trigger; and performed session guitar work with the likes of Paul McCartney, Elton John, Dusty Springfield, Harry Nilsson, Gilbert O'Sullivan and Bryan Ferry. He also toured as a gun-for-hire with Roxy Music, the Pretenders, and John Cale, in addition to releasing a string of albums and one bona fide British hit single, "Motorbikin'." Source
Chris Spedding's last solo effort for a decade is a solid rock & roll album, steeped in rootsy, bluesy sounds, and while the guitar playing is its most impressive attribute, the vocals aren't bad, either. With a band that included Steve Berlin on keyboards and various other instruments, and Gary Ferguson on drums (with Southside Johnny providing backing vocals on one track), the music is as good as any back-to-basics effort of the period, and that's saying something considering that much of what's here (apart from Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm") is original. "Put It on Hold" is the best-sounding track, but it's all eminently listenable, and ought to have done better in the marketplace. "Cafe Days" was reissued in 2001 in an expanded edition with six bonus tracks, but either version is well worth hearing. Source
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