Black Claw & Country Fever

2017 collection from the British guitarist. This was originally a German release with a collection of late-'60s material from Albert Lee's groups Black Claw and Country Fever. This release finally sheds some light on this era in Alberts history. As the Black Claw and Country Fever sessions have always been shrouded by apocrypha and mystery. There were two bands, with the same members who went by both names. The only difference between them in 1969 was the Country Fever vocalist was Albert Lee, and the Black Crow vocalist was Chas Hodges. To make matters more confusing there was another Country Fever in England in 1969, and Lee played with them in live settings. While some of this gets ironed out by the liner notes, two things are certain: the first is that Lee played guitar and/or sang on everything here and that all of the material with the exception of his two solo singles - the title track and a cover of Bob Dylan's "Too Much of Nothing" - was recorded in 1969. As for the music itself, there are a hell of a lot of Dylan covers here, and they were all recorded just after Dylan himself released them: "Lay Lady Lay," "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You," and a great cover of the Dylan/Richard Manuel classic "Tears of Rage." The Band is also referenced outside of this cut by the inclusion of a cover of "Across the Great Divide." Other covers include tough, rollicking reads of "Six Days on the Road" and "Rocky Top.", all highly sought after. The production on this CD sounds contemporary still and the integrity of the performances wears as well or better than the Byrds' attempts at country-rock and still astonishes with it's sheer verve and virtuosity. For anyone interested in hard country and alt-country, this is an essential addition to the collection.