The movers and shakers of Britain's mid-Sixties blues boom are still with us. Although their influence and ingenuity may be waning, their vigor and productivity have hardly dimmed since the blues boom peaked some five years ago. Among the most successful of these performers is Savoy Brown (together for seven years) who dropped their blues band tag awhile back and are rocking to new heights with no sign of slowing down. For a number of years "Lonesome" Dave Peverett (vocals, guitar), Tony Stevens (bass), and Roger Earl (drums) were stalwart members of Savoy Brown, but not long ago they left to wend their own ways and teamed up with guitarist Rod Price to form Foghat.

The band's first album (tellingly titled Foghat like this one) was well-received and a period of extensive touring followed. This album was recorded at some 11 studios, presumably as the band dashed from gig to gig and continent to continent. For the most part, Foghat plays honest, energetic and enjoyable rhythm and blues which currently masquerades under the name "boogie" although the British variety is probably most accurately tagged rhythm and booze.

Everyone involved turns in a good and occasionally very good performance although no one in the band could really be called a virtuoso. The album's high point (for me at any rate) is "Helping Hand," which is certainly one of the outstanding songs of the Brittanico-Bo Diddley school of composition, very much in the tradition of "Mona" and "Magic Bus." It's an extraordinarily powerful performance and Roger Earl in particular (along with his multi-tracked drums) deserves special credit.

Other standout cuts are "What A Shame" which really rocks along with the help of a restrained and well-used horn section, and "Long Way to Go" which has good singing, a pleasantly springy bass and some very effective use of multi-tracked guitars. "It's Too Late," a low-key lament with a very pretty melody is quite different from most of Foghat's material and Dave Peverett's vocal is well-sung and convincing, although on the whole the song is played a bit too broadly and the cloyingly tremulous rhythm guitar as well as the rather heavy-handed percussion could have been toned down a bit.

Both "Feel So Bad," which received a pretty lackluster treatment, and "Ride, Ride, Ride," another one of those "gonna hit the highway and head to New Orleans" songs, could have been left off the album with no ill effects. Foghat hardly breaks any new musical ground and their lack of subtleties sometimes verges on the wearisome. But there is a lack of pretense and an endearing enthusiasm and directness in their playing. While perhaps it's all been said before, Foghat say it and play it well and that certainly makes them worth listening to. (RS 135)

LOYD GROSSMAN