Cochise - Cochise (2002 Kissing Spell) 1970

Biography There was a lot of talent involved in the making of Cochise's debut album. Guitarist Mick Grabham went on to play in Procol Harum; bassist Rick Wills would later join Foreigner; B.J. Cole would be an in-demand pedal steel player on many sessions over the next few decades; drummer Willie Wilson would play with Pink Floyd; Dick Taylor, who'd just left the Pretty Things, produced; and Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis (famous for working on Pink Floyd LP covers) designed a striking and, for the period, daring cover of a woman's unadorned breasts. The credits on a résumé don't always guarantee an outstanding album, however, and Cochise is one of those '60s-turning-into-'70s records that treads an uneasy line between eclectic diversity and a lack of direction. It's so-so period 1970 British rock, distinguished just slightly by a more country-ish flavor than the norm, courtesy of Cole's pedal steel. It's not country-rock, however, and some of the songs in fact owe little or nothing to the form. Numbers like "Painted Lady" and "Moment and the End" are tense, meandering hard rock tunes; the latter cut, in fact (as well as sections of some others, like "Velvet Mountain") sounds kind of like late-'60s/early-'70s Guess Who LP filler. There's a wistful rural feel to parts of the material that suggests some promise, but that mood's shattered by an unnecessary, pedestrian heavy rock cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "59th Street Bridge Song." allmusic.com

Tracklist

01.Velvet Mountain 3:28

02.China 3:57

03.Trafalgar Day 5:11

04.Moment And The End 6:00 

05.Watch This Space 3:59

06.59th Street Bridge Song 3:42

07.Past Loves 3:41

08.Painted Lady 7:06

09.Black Is The Colour 0:56

Line-up

Stewart Brown - guitar, vocals

B.J. Cole - dobro, guitar, pedal steel, cello, steel guitar

Mick Grabham - organ, guitar, piano, keyboards, vocals

Rick Wills - bass, vocals

John "Sly" Wilson - percussion, drums, vocals