Page 46 - BiTS_02_FEBRUARY_2023_Neat

Dyer Davis – Dog Bites Back – Wildroots

Dyer Davis’ father was a musician who instilled in his son a love
of the music of the 60s and 70s, particularly the blues-based
music of early Jeff Beck with Rod Stewart on vocals. After an-
nouncing his arrival with a stunning vocal on ‘The Bad Seed’,
acknowledged as one of the top tracks on the label’s various

artists showcase “WildRoots Sessions Vol. 2”, Dyer now has his
own full album.

The majority of the tracks certainly fall into the hard-core blues-
rock bag, and Dyer wastes no time in proclaiming his major influences: the opener is a very
creditable cover of ‘Let Me Love You’ from Jeff Beck’s 1968 debut album “Truth”. Listen carefully
too and you might hear traces too of Robert Plant, Paul Rodgers and Jimmy Page. It sets the bar
high, but Dyer continues to impress mightily throughout.

There are occasional changes of approach and style. Try bass player Stephen Dees’ composition,
‘Lifting Up My Soul’ which is indeed a fine soul tune, or the Americana of ‘Angels Get The Blues’,
and in a different fashion, ‘Don’t Tell My Mother’, whilst ‘Long Way To Go’ is an inspirational
gospel-tinged duet with label (co-) boss and pianist Victor Wainwright.

Fans of both vintage UK blues-rock and the contemporary sound will find plenty to enjoy here…

Norman Darwen

(www.dyerdavismusic.com)

Hundred Seventy Split—The Story So Far—Repertoire Re-

puk 1450

Ten Years After (TYA) were one of the biggest names in blues-
rock around the end of the 60s and beginning of the following
decade, with guitarist and vocalist Alvin Lee enjoying far, far
more than fifteen minutes of fame as “the fastest guitar player in
the world” and the band’s amazing appearance at the 1969
Woodstock Festival. At first I felt I should apologise for starting
this review detailing a different band, but no, it’s all about context.

Alvin Lee left TYA in 2003 (there had already been a hiatus from around 1974) and was
replaced by Joe Gooch, who left TYA around 2010 with founder member bass player Leo Lyons.
These two then started Hundred Seventy Split, with this line-up completed by drummer Damon
Sawyer.

Got all that? Right! This release is a retrospective of not only the band itself, but also referencing
TYA. The material was chosen by Leo Lyons himself and mixed live and studio recordings from
the band’s previous five albums – there are also two previously unreleased tracks. The most
obvious TYA connections are via ‘I’m Going Home’ (made world-famous in the “Woodstock” film
and recreated in this band’s 2019 album “Woodstock ‘69”, and TYA’s sole UK hit single, ‘Love
Like A Man’. The band stands in its own right, mind you, with deep blues roots, as on the shuffle