Roy Wood - Original Album Series

 I gotta say that I really am enjoying this "Original Album Series" that has five records packaged with their original album artwork in a simple box set for a discount price (often less than buying a single one of the records). Generally, this is quite the deal for a large amount of music!

While I had probably read about Roy Wood in some music mag somewhere, I believe that I first (knowingly) heard him when I got his Boulders album from my local library in Indiana (they carried some interesting stuff there, as I look back - someone must have been cool in town!) on a whim. Since I hardly had any money as a kid, I sought out music cheaply wherever I could and discovered a few bands that I still listen to today from that library!

This set has an engaging mix of Roy's work, starting with the final record from the Move, followed by the debut of the Electric Light Orchestra, before we get to the aforementioned Boulders. Roy has often worked with some sort or orchestration (that he often played), and his productions do have a similar sound - eclectic pop with fun twists'n'turns and clever hooks, usually with a generous sense of humor.

The Move CD, Message From The Country, is basically early ELO, as it is Roy with Jeff Lynne, along with Move drummer extraordinaire, Bev Bevan. Roy plays a vast array of instruments and the layered harmonies are quite a feat, and while the songs might not be entirely as memorable as earlier Move, this is still a fine offering. Roy loved his 50's parodies and "Don't Mess Me Up" is the one for this album, complete with doo-wop backing vocals, and there is a Johnny Cash/Country parody (?) in "Ben Crawley Steel Company" as well as a goofy vaudeville number in the closing "My Marge". The rest is nicely orchestrated, without being overdone, rockin' psych-moving-into-prog-ish pop, with enough guitars'n'drums'n'hooks to keep your interest.

For me, though, the Electric Light Orchestra record, despite a strong opening (great guitar sound'n'riff) with "10538 Overture" and the following "Look At Me Now", gets a bit too overly orchestrated and loses the hook and the "songs" in its own pomposity. In "Nellie Takes Her Bow" they steal from the likes of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and various classical pieces, and by "The Battle of Marston Moor", they have kinda gone over the cliff for me. "First Movement" has a bit of "Classical Gas"-styled acoustic guitar, "Mr. Radio" is a Kinks-ish vaudeville number, and the rest are just not overly memorable.

As I said, Boulders (his first solo album) was the first Roy Wood record I was aware of and thoroughly enjoyed his whimsical pop numbers here, with Roy playing (almost) everything and multi-tracking his (sometimes manipulated) vocals to great effect. This was originally meant to simply be a side project from his work with the Move, but it ended up being the beginning of his new career. With an incredible sense of melody and a wacky sense of humor, he moves from the gospel-ish opener, "Songs of Praise" to the woodland-folk-pop of "Wake Up" to a rocker (with orchestration) in "Rock Down Low" to his unique brand of pop in "Nancy Sing Me A Song". He admitted that one reason he did this record was to try out some instruments he had acquired and "Dear Elaine" utilizes a number of different ones, along with more fine harmonies, which is also a major contribution to the fun "All The Way Over the Hill/Irish Loafer" medley, and "Miss Clarke and the Computer" is a very silly but very pretty acoustic ballad, while he goes bluegrass in the fairly goofy "When Gran'ma Plays the Banjo" and then more country, complete with pedal steel for the beginning of his "Rock Medley", which then goes into kinda 60's pop followed by a uniquely Move-ish take on "Locomotive".

Roy went in a completely different direction for Wizzard Brew - as opposed to doing everything by himself, he brought in a half dozen other instrumental collaborators along with multiple singers, all while still playing a huge list of instruments himself. The proceedings can get a bit ponderous but he does manage to rock out despite it all in "You Can Dance The Rock'n'Roll" and "Meet Me At the Jailhouse" has a catchy riff somewhat reminiscent of "Brontosaurus" that devolves into a kinda cool sax dual before coming back as an upbeat rocker, complete with extended wailing guitar and sax solos (this time with a rockin' backing). From there we get basically circus music for the beyond whimsical  "Jolly Cup of Tea" interlude before coming back to another fine, upbeat rock'n'roller in "Buffalo Station - Get On Down To Memphis" (that has a bizarre Dixieland/Rockabilly bridge), Roy's fascination with 50's rock'n'roll is in full bloom in the grammatically awkward "Gotta Crush (About You)" while the closer, "Wear a Fast Gun" is a more orchestrated, Beatles-esque psych/pop number.

The final disc, the unimaginatively (particularly for Wood) titled On The Road Again is also my least favorite selection here - this late 70's offering is fairly AOR-ish, with sappy tunes, uninspired arrangements and lackluster performances. Of course, there are times when Roy still shines through, but just not nearly enough to carry the album for me. I don't mean to be too harsh, as this isn't terrible, but it just doesn't strike that proverbial chord with me and does seem more of an unfortunate product of the time than his other work.

So, this is certainly a mixed bag, to say the least, but it does give a good overview of Wood's various talents, instrumentally and songwriting, even if it is not necessarily his best work.