STUD - Stud
Stud were a UK band who were something of a supergroup of the time. Charlie McCracken and John Wilson had previously been in Taste with Rory Gallagher, Jim Cregan had been a member of Blossom Toes and would later join Family, and Snowy White played on their thrid album. Despite all this they could not get themselves established in their home country, and their last two album were German only releases. This was their debut, and it was issued to critical acclaim in 1971. It contains some good songs well played, with opener 'Sail On' one of the better ones. The instrumental '1112235' contains rather overlong bass and drum solos, but tracks like the lyrically intriguing 'Turn Over The Pages' and the jazzy 'Harpo's Head' more than compensate. 'Horizon' has some understated violin which accentuates the gentle melody, and then towards the end erupts into some heavy riffing which ends up making it one of the most successful tracks. Both of their first two albums have recently emerged on CD (the second coupled with their live album), and this one is certainly worth hearing, encouraging me to try their follow-up at the earliest opportunity.