WHITE WITCH

I usually dismiss Capricorn Records as a southern rock label, given I was never a fan of said rock. But the label sure pulls a few surprises. Captain Beyond, for example, in which their debut really blew me away. Eddie Henderson recorded Realization and Inside Out, which you wonder how on Earth those albums ended up there and not on Columbia (perhaps Columbia having cold feet over Herbie Hancock's Sextant not selling too well, and these two albums were the same Mwandishi band, and in similar sound). Then there's White Witch.

I tend to cringe whenever I see this band described as a blueprint for the 1980s hair metal scene, given how I detest that scene. I have no issues at all when a band like KISS was described as a blueprint for said scene, that should surprise no one at all (and even KISS jumped on the bandwagon in the 1980s after taking off their makeup). But White Willow has too much going on to be thought of as a proto-hair metal band. Well, this is their debut, and it's a fascinating combination of hard rock, prog, with the occasional southern boogie. Hardin Pendergrass really had a creative use of the Mini Moog synthesizer. You can easily see that on "Help Me Lord", which is a truly great song that I can't get enough of. "Don't Close Your Mind" is very catchy. I can do without "Home Grown Girl", typical generic boogie number, but "And I'm Leaving" is a ballad that reminds me of something Todd Rundgren would do, it's really a nice piece. "Illusion" really rocks with some ELP type of organ solos. "It's Nice to Be Stoned", in my opinion, should have been the ending song. It's basically a joke song, but with lyrics highly critical of the criminalization of marijuana in America. I put this song in the same category as Fraternity of Man's "Don't Bogart that Joint". Luckily it's back to the more hard rocking stuff that they did so well.

Overall, this is a bit uneven album, but there is some really brilliant material that can't be denied. It may not appeal to everyone, but it's worth it.