Rolled Gold by The Action (Review)
Here we go with yet another ‘must-have’ ’60s re-issue for those who just can’t seem to get enough of the greatest genre ever to hit rock and roll — the British Invasion! What’s more is that this CD is actually a collection of demos that The Action were shopping to labels in the zeitgeist of 1967. Lo-fi enough for you? Yes, and then some! Chock-full of R&B inspired songwriting with bare twinges of folk and psychedelia? Yes indeedy!
As a matter of fact, I enjoy this much more than the proper recordings I have heard by The Action, which seem a little stultified. For instance, there’s the George Martin-produced semi-famous “Shadows and Reflections” where singer Reg King sounds too much like a real zombie. Here now on this collection, he sounds more like figurative Zombie Colin Blundstone (imagine demos for pre-“Odessey And Oracle” output), or for that matter, Badfinger’s Pete Ham (again, I’m picturing the “7 Park Avenue” or “Golders Green” demos) or Billy Nichols (or anything representative of the early Immediate Records sound, including “December’s Children”-era Rolling Stones/Small Faces). There’s even a foreshadowing of New Zealand’s the Clean.
Rolled Gold, the first release on Rik Menck’s (The Velvet Crush) new label, Reaction Musik, boasts a set of 14 songs — a perfect number I might add — so you won’t feel overwhelmed with one of those 79 minute discs that you’ll never get through, or a stringing out of rarities that were better left forgotten. This is a sweet, concise spin with some sludge at the end, but enough highlights early on to suck you in.
There’s “Icarus,” a funky vocal-pop song that recalls both the Beatles and American stuff like Motown, the Byrds, or the Association. Or the forward thinking “Something To Say” and “Things You Cannot See,” which hit on hooks that both the Jam and Guided By Voices would find in the future. Or “Love Is All,” which recalls vintage Zombies or the original freaks of LA, Love.
Slam-bo! If this is your parcel of pudding, you needn’t much more reason to check out these mods that were neck and neck with the Who for a while before falling into obscurity. These recordings were, however, previously released on a UK Action CD titled “The Brain” in the ’90s, so don’t get too excited.
Written by Jonathan Donaldson.