Published on Oct 4, 2000
Of all the “good-ol-boy” bands that came out of the Southern
Rock explosion of the ’70s, possibly one of the biggest bands
forgotten by history is Molly Hatchet. Oh, sure, they had their
share of the spotlight in the late ’70s, but as time passed and the
currents of popular music turned in their ever-changing course, the
band seemed to quickly fade into the background, becoming a blip on
the musical radar screen.
Of course, they’ve been around all this time, fighting it out
for recognition among the crowded rock scene. And with the addition
to their discography of
Live At The Agora Ballroom, Atlanta, Georgia, April 20,
1979, people can travel back in time to try and re-discover the
spark that made these guys something special way back when.
Like many live concerts from this time period, this particular
album already has to fight an uphill battle in that its sound is
quite dated. Led by the triple-guitar attack of Dave Hlubek, Duane
Roland and Steve Holland, Molly Hatchet plow through 12 tracks
which run from the exciting to the bland, even to the
“didn’t-we-just-hear-this-before?” style. More on that
momentarily.
Admittedly,
Live At The Agora Ballroom gets better the more you listen
to it. Maybe this is because Molly Hatchet really isn’t a band
you’ll get into with just one cursory listen. You need to allow
yourself to be swept away by the music and the grooves the band
lays down — and it’s not always the easiest thing to allow
yourself to do. Maybe it’s because sometimes, as on “Gator Country”
and “The Harp Jam,” the trip is a bit stormy.
Yet Molly Hatchet does redeem itself often throughout the course
of the disc. From their cover of The Allman Brothers Band’s “Dreams
(I’ll Never See)” to their originals such as “Bounty Hunter,”
“Boogie No More” and “The Creeper,” vocalist Danny Joe Brown and
company demonstrate that there was some substance to the southern
style these guys absolutely oozed from every pore.
Yet sometimes it’s that reliance on being a Southern band that
threatens to derail Molly Hatchet’s train. Listen to their versions
of “T For Texas” and “Crossroads,” and don’t be surprised if you
find yourself thinking you’ve heard these before. If you own Lynyrd
Skynyrd’s
One More From The Road, or you’ve ever listened to the whole
album, you’ll realize that Molly Hatchet’s versions are almost
carbon copies (except for the minor obscenity Brown drops in “T For
Texas”). I don’t know if this was necessarily the best strategy for
Molly Hatchet — but you could look at it as being a tribute to
Lynyrd Skynyrd, who had suffered the tragic plane crash 18 months
prior to this show. So I’m willing to cut a little slack here.
The only real drawback to
Live At The Agora Ballroom is that I question whether this
disc will win the band over a new group of fans. For those people
who followed the band back in their early days, this disc should be
like manna from the skies. But the younger generation might be
better served checking out the studio albums such as
Flirtin’ With Disaster or the band’s self-titled effort
before diving into this one; if anything, it might provide them
with a little more understanding of what this band was (and is) all
about.