THE FROST

Dick Wagner uno de los fundadores del grupo (futuro socio de Lou Reed), se le puede considerar como otro guitarrista "LETAL" de ese rugiente y llameante sonido Detroit (MC5, Amboy Dukes, Grand Funk Railroad, the Stooges, etc.), posible antesala del Heavy Metal. De este disco que os presento destaco la 鷏tima canci髇 "We Got to Get Out of This Place", con un solo de bater韆 comparable al magnifico tema de COLOSSEUM "The Time Machine". Que lo disfrut閕s. Biography Detroit rockers the Frost were led by singer/guitarist Dick Wagner, a longtime staple of the southeast Michigan music scene who during the early 1960s led local favorites the Bossmen. After the Bossmen disbanded -- bassist Mark Farner later went on to form Grand Funk Railroad -- Wagner founded the Frost with guitarist Don Hartman, bassist Jack Smolinski and drummer Bob Riggs; after exchanging Smolinski for Gordy Garris, the group debuted in 1968 with the single "Bad Girl," and upon signing to Vanguard they issued their 1969 debut LP Frost Music, scoring a regional smash with the single "Mystery Man." Rock and Roll Music, recorded live at Detroit's famed Grande Ballroom, followed later that same year, but despite earning a cult following throughout the midwest the Frost failured to capture a national audience, and in the wake of 1970's Through the Eyes of Love the group disbanded. Wagner later went on to considerable success as a session guitarist, working with artists including Lou Reed, Alice Cooper and Peter Gabriel. Rock and Roll Music The Frost's second album on Vanguard, Rock and Roll Music, has the 1969 Dick Wagner four years before he would tour as part of the Lou Reed Rock & Roll Animal Band. The title track, recorded live at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit by engineer Ed Friedner, has an incessant chant over a bellowing guitar foundation. It is a good, raw picture of early Wagner music, a vital document of a Michigan band that helped shape that scene. "Sweet Lady Love" is the group in the recording studio with a tune that rocks like latter day Guess Who around the time of their Live at the Paramount LP. Producer Sam Charters balances the live tracks with the studio ones, ?la John Simon's vision for Janis Joplin's Cheap Thrills. An acoustic ballad, "Linda," is placed in between that hard rock and is a far cry from the nice madness of side two's live tracks. In fact, the delicacy of Dick Wagner's voice and guitar playing might've found some chart action if it wasn't put in the context of a near metal album. Wagner sounds more like a British folky, say solo Paul McCartney, than American contemporary songwriters/singers James Taylor and Jonathan Edwards. "Linda" also sounds more like the type of music one would expect to hear on Vanguard. The parallels between Lou Reed and Frost cannot be ignored. Reed's signature tunes during RR Animal were "Sweet Jane," "Lady Day," and "Rock & Roll." Wagner's titles, "Rock and Roll Music" and "Sweet Lady Love," are side by side here -- just an eerie premonition of the shape of things to come. "Black Train" on this album has the same vibe as the Velvet Underground's "Train Coming Round the Bend" off of Loaded, though the style and melody are different. "Help Me Baby," on the other hand, has a throbbing Blue Cheer bassline from co-singer and bassist Gordy Garris and rhythm guitarist Don Hartman, as well as a Grand Funk style blitz. "Donny's Blues" opens side two, almost eight minutes of the band vamping with Hartman on vocals and harmonica. It melts into the song the Animals made famous for Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, "We Gotta Get Out of This Place." Vanguard should go through the vaults and expand the live segments of this recording. One can feel the framework which would benefit Alice Cooper when the Rock & Roll Animal Band moved on to back that rock star. And Dick Wagner played a big role in writing some of Alice's biggest hits when they collaborated. The Frost has glimpses of the sound that would be so instrumental in defining '70s hard rock.