One of the nicest things about Left Coast Live is that it's a single album, which isn't meant as a slam against Willie so much as against the imitative marketing technique that has glutted us with double sets since Frampton showed rockers the way to big bucks. What makes the record a winner, though, is the good-rocking ease with which Wet Willie ran through this Roxy set. Though they've never consolidated a formidable national following, Willie's gritty R&B-influenced Southern rock carries more integrity than a plantation-ful of Allman Brothers imitators.

Side one is an unmitigated joy, though the prudent should be advised that three of the four tunes come from the sadly overlooked The Wetter the Better. The tough-rocking Chuck Berry variation, "No, No, No," kicks things off in fine fashion with Jimmy Hall's voice bopping just ahead of Ricky Hirsch's riffing guitar. After a well-executed tip of the hat to Southern soul—"Grits Ain't Groceries"—Willie strides into "Everything That 'Cha Do (Will Come Back to You)," a hypnotic tune that finds Hall and Hirsch at their rhythmic best. Closing with Michael Duke's restrained "Teaser," Wet Willie's naturally combustive playing makes the side zip by like a single.

"Lucy Was in Trouble" stretches out side two with a long blues vamp enlivened by an attractive horn-powered bridge and some lightning-quick blues riffing from Hirsch. The easy compatibility which makes the first side such a whirlwind similarly keeps the long track from bogging down under its own weight; while only Hirsch, Hall and drummer Lewis Ross are true standouts, the band's assured execution weaves the good times of Willie's live performance through the grooves of this collection. (RS 242)

JOHN MILWARD