"I wanted to do something very much along the lines of
Led Zeppelin, something a little more 'hard rockish'. Zeppelin were becoming
huge in the States. I wanted to do that more hard-edged thing but John, Mick
and Chris hated that kind of thing. In 1974 it was fresh and they thought it
was just a load of crap. I suppose there was validity to that. Led Zeppelin
were very brash and raucous."
Bob Welch
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| Bob Welch in Fleetwood Mac |
By the end of 1974 Fleetwood Mac guitarist/vocalist Bob Welch had had enough. Welch joined the band in 1971 along with Christine McVie upon the departure of Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer. Welch was originally from Southern California, and joined the band while living abroad in France. Welch originally joined as the rhythm guitarist, with Danny Kerwin on lead guitar. As time wore on the band began to disintegrate. Welch at this point began to take matters into his own hands. He was instrumental in getting the band to relocate from England to Los Angeles (which would prove to be a very provident move later when it resulted in the recruitment of Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks!) to be closer to the record labels base of operations. This move did not help resolve the internal conflict in the band, and by the end of 1974 Welch had moved on.
At the insistence of his brother in law, well known producer/engineer (Jimi Hendrix/Led Zeppelin/Sammy Hagar) Jimmy Robinson, Welch created a power trio. As the opening quote shows that, at least at the time, he wanted to go in the direction of Led Zeppelin, and play some heavier music (in 2011 Welch would release a cover of "Black Dog").The group that Welch assembled under the moniker Paris had Thom Mooney (the Nazz/Fuse) on drums, and Glenn Cornick (Jethro Tull/Wild Turkey) on bass. I have to guess coming up with the band name was a rather easy thing for Welch as he had spent quite a bit of time living in France.
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| Paris were Thom Mooney, Bob Welch and Glenn Cornick |
The band's self titled first LP was recorded at the Record Plant in Los Angeles and "The Pit" in Sausalito in 1975. Jimmy Robinson handled the production chores, and the record was released on Capitol Records in January of 1976. The cover showed the word "Paris" in green neon, with the letter "A" shaped like the Eiffel Tower. The logo itself was designed by Glenn Cornick.
Review:
A few observations before I go into a song by song description of the album itself. I think Jimmy Robinson, being related to Welch, night have been given lots of leeway in the recording booth due to the relationship. There are lots of interesting effects used at times, and several songs with heavily effected, almost dream like sections. Possibly these ideas were conceived by Welch, but one has to wonder. All told, Robinson did what I think was a fine job of producing on this album. Lots of different musical "textures" are used on the album. That said, this is a great listen with headphones on!
All of the words and music on this LP are all of Welch's own creation. Some of the lyrics are rather simple, and not high concept by any means. Other songs are built around literary concepts are metaphysical ideas, and a bit more complex. Overall the album has a dark, moody feel to it. The music itself was pretty hard rocking for the day. I think the band was viewed by critics as having slavishly copied Led Zeppelin. I personally don't see it. Do I find some similarities to Led Zeppelin; yes. I think every hard rock band from the 70s tipped it's musical hat to Led Zeppelin at one time or another. As a matter of fact we will see at least one instance where Paris were doing things that Led Zeppelin wouldn't do for another four years. Bob Welch's vocals are, I have to admit, an acquired taste. His voice isn't necessarily strong, which at times isn't an asset. One thing I do notice 40 years after this LP was released was the strong drumming from Mooney. He and Cornick did an admirable job holding down the bottom end.
The second track is "Religion", and this tune has a definite Led Zeppelin quality to it. It is a bit reminiscent of "Black Dog", but ironically it also sounds strangely like Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well" too. A bit like the case of the chicken and the egg! The song structure is very similar to both songs mentioned. We get the riff, a chorus sung without accompaniment and then the verse. The last three minutes of the song are just a lot of special effects under layed with bass and drums. In some ways it reminds me of several of the songs from Aerosmith's "Rocks" LP. Lots of random bits that sort of float in and out of the mix. I'm guessing Welch let the producer Robinson have some fun with this. One oddity of this song is that on both album and CD version it sounds like the recording tape was backed off ever so slightly to give the song a bit of a slightly off key, "out of kilter" feel.
I find the third song "Starcage" is of special interest. It is mostly driven by a synthesizer line, with Welch's heavily effected solos riding over the top. A bit of irony here, as "Starcage" sounds very similar to Led Zeppelin's "Carouselambara" from their "In Through the Out Door" album that was released four years later. A strange coincidence I'm sure.
The last two songs on the first side of the album are the best on the first side in my opinion. The first of the two is "Beautiful Dreamer". Lyrically it seems to be based loosely on Nathanael West's novel "Day of the Locust" which is about the a group of Hollywood outcasts in the 1930's. He mentions the book title, and period Hollywood hotel's like the Garden of Allah and the Chateau Marmont. I think Welch uses the words to create a mood, but he isn't necessarily telling a story. The music itself begins with a picked, muted guitar and a subdued drum part with Welch's lyrics a sung over them. The song builds from this rather quiet section to a big riff played by both bass and guitar. Welch takes a solo, and then another verse and the outro. A solid effort, and it sets the table for the last track on the side "Nazarene". A song that seems to be about a lost love, the song is built around a basic riff, and the song builds on variations of that riff. a solid rocker, the band really locked in on this tune.
The second side opens with the tune The Narrow Gate (La Porte Etroite) which I believe is based on the novel of that name by French author Andre Gide about a couple who meet as children, and love each other but never seem to "find" each other in adulthood. A repeated motif in the lyrics themselves is "don't wait too long".That is a short description of a complex story. The song opens with ethereal keyboards, and a faintly heard heartbeat. Welch sings the first few lines of the chorus over this swirling intro. All fades to silence, and then an acoustic guitar accompanied by a Fender Rhodes organ comes in over a steady drum beat. We get another verse as things begin to get louder. A heavy riff then crashes in, and things get a bit "Zeppelinesque". Welch's singing takes on a Robert Plant like wail, and then the song changes gears. The next section moves into a passage with a guitar part doubled by a synthesizer set to a deep bass tone. This section slowly dies away as a rapidly strummed acoustic guitar takes us out with Welch playing some country inflected leads as the song races to a finish.
A sound clip of Paris' "Narrow Gate (La Porte Etroite)
The next song is a mid paced heavy rocker called "Solitaire". the song chugs along with a repeating riff, and a lead guitar mimicking the vocals with different embellishments as the song moves along. About two thirds of the way through the song the band lays a different riff on us, and then reverts back to the original song pattern. Oddly enough, I could see Fleetwood Mac doing this song, if in a slightly altered version.
The next tune "Breathless" crawls along at a glacial pace, and always reminded me of something Black Sabbath would do! the band grinds along, while Welch lays down a heavily distorted, wah wah pedal driven leads. The tune never picks up speed, it just rumbles on to a funky little ending.
Next are two rockers "Rock of Ages" and "Red Rain". "Rock of Ages" could very easily be a Led Zeppelin song. I can't say it copies any particular style, It just has some of the key "features" of a Led Zeppelin song. It features a big drum sound, a phase shifter being used on the guitar much as Jimmy Page would and histryonic vocals right out of Robert Plant's playbook. I don't really say this as a knock, I have always liked the song. Sometimes imitation is the highest form of flattery! The last song "Red Rain" initially has a bit if a country feel to it, but this changes rapidly into another riff driven tune. We are put through a lot of musical stops and starts, and unique guitar solo, and then the song ends abruptly with echoes of Welch saying "rain"
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| Paris recording at the Record Plant in LA |
Parting Thoughts:
This was the first of two albums from Paris, "Big Towne 2061" being their second. Both were released in 1976, and neither made much of a dent in the charts. By the second album original drummer Thom Mooney had left, and was replaced by Hunt Sales (son of comedian Soupy Sales). "Big Towne 2061" was a quieter, funkier, poppier affair than the first Paris LP. The music was very similar to what Welch was recording in his solo career post Paris. As a matter of fact some of the material for a proposed third Paris album ended up being on Welch's "French Kiss" LP. The second LP was as many as Paris would make. With low record sales and turmoil within the band Paris disbanded in 1977. Welch went on to successful solo career, while the other musicians faded into musical obscurity. The producer Robinson went on to produce records for many more projects, two of them being bands I quite liked in Detective and Yesterday and Today.
I still really like this album. I think I picked it up at a time when I was really into heavy riffs and big drums, which Paris delivered in spades. Welch would never again deliver anything musically that rocked as hard as the first Paris LP did. I like what he did as a solo artist, but it was much closer to what he was doing in Fleetwood Mac than in the first edition of Paris
This review is a bit of a labor of love, and in one way not very helpful to a reader even if you think you may like the hear this band. The CD reissue of this LP can be prohibitively expensive. It was issued on CD by Zoom Club Records in the 2002 in a unremastered version (which I own). It can also be found, with some hunting, as a remastered import from Japan. If you are old school and still like to use a turn table vinyl copies of this can be found pretty easily.
If you liked this album you might also enjoy:
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| Led Zeppelin: Presence |
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| Widowmaker: Too Late Too Cry |
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| Detective: It Takes One to Know One |
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