Reverb Central .:. Review .:.

Volume 3 in the Instrumental Diamonds seriers features more British guitar instros from the early sixties. A few bright spots rise above a historic collection of a once proud genre.

Picks: Before The Beginning, Out Of This World, Bullfight, Caravan, Land Of 1000 Dances, Comin' Home Baby, The Big Beat, Honky Tonk, Red Cabbage, Ding Dong John, Baja, Gospel Train, The Green Man, Completely, Explosive Corrective Joseph, Eleanor Rigby, Revenge, Peanut Vendor, Mad Goose, Be A Party, Eclipse, I Walk The Line, Exodus - Main Theme, Telstar '69, Happy Talk, Parade Of The Tin Soldier

MOR (Instrumental)

Orchestral and poppy, "Before The Beginning" doesn't grab your attention at all. It's entirely too top forty, with male chorus and whistling organ.

UK Vibrato Exotica (Instrumental)

Tony Hatch was a studio session guy in the UK. Like US session man output, this sports little chemistry, just lot's of precision. Yet, the vibrato guitar and cool exotic space cadet sounds and percussion keep it on the list of possible. Very cool.

UK Near Surf (Instrumental)

This relatively common melody finds an interesting vehicle in vibrato guitar. It's not produced like Duane Eddy, yet there's a sense of him here, as well as something slightly related to the Sentinals, maybe in the phrasing. Pretty cool, infectious and fun.

UK Rock (Instrumental)

Duke Ellington's "Caravan" is oddly arranged. The rolling rhythm circles in front while the near surf guitar and sax languish in the next room. Coulda been a rocker.

Bongo Rock (Instrumental)

Chris Kenner's "Land Of A Thousand Dances" is bongoed and thumped with big guitar chords (fort the period). It;s really light weight when compared to any of the US vocal versions, or the Ventures for that matter.

UK Rock (Instrumental)

Herbie Mann's sinewy "Comin' Home Baby" is way too thin and soul free. The organ is almost carnival like, and the the faux jazz leanings insincere.

Spy Rock (Instrumental)

Orchestral like a John Barry films score, "The Big Beat" is more pompous than rockin', though it has something that's catchy about it.

UK Rock (Instrumental)

Bill Dogget's "Honky Tonk" has been done and done. This is yet another cover. Nothing remarkable.

Rock (Instrumental)

Inspired by Booker T. and the MG's "Green Onions," "Red Cabbage" is a lesser cousin, with less soul, and with more of a British combo feel. Peter Miller's imitation of the Memphis twang is pretty credible.

UK Guitar (Instrumental)

While slow delicate covers of "Baja" can work really well, John Paul Jones takes it to the max with all soul drained out and anything remotely resembling surf destroyed. Big horn bridge and a low key performance. Low-low guitar and odd tambourine. Really pompous.

Organ Jam (Instrumental)

Pumpin' jammin' organ rave up... non melodic, but high spirited and influenced by a sped up Jimmy Smith sound and tuff drums. Pretty cool.

UK Organ (Instrumental)

Like a poppy flighty "Telstar," this features organ and compression with plucky guitar. The melody is quite good. Pop writer Mitch Murray penned "The Green Man."

Blues (Instrumental)

"Completely" is one of several instrumentals recorded for the soundtrack to the film Percy. It's a slow bluesy slide guitar epic with Jimmy Page on guitar. Very cool.

Soul (Instrumental)

A very cool soul bass line and a bit of soft funky guitar chunk out a soul groove - a jam. It's a cool backdrop to something, but doesn't stand up to focused listening.

UK Guitar (Instrumental)

"Eleanor Rigby" is pumpy and tweaky with big kettle drums and dry guitar. The jammin' organ and contrived arrangement is very strange.

UK Sax Guitar (Instrumental)

During the recording of the Kinks debut album, Jimmy Page wrote a rhythmic and slightly Bo Diddley influenced blues instro. The riff became "Revenge." It's blues harmonica is gutsy, and the chunky guitar lines are cool. The "yah-yah" chorus towards the end on the other hand is kinda strange.

UK Latin Surf (Instrumental)

An infectious cow bell and a cheesy chorus... this is an often covered tune. It would make a great subject for some enterprising surf band, like maybe Agent Orange or King of Hawaii (how's that for spectrum coverage!). Some excellent double picking, but mostly in the MOR part of town. Still, with that guitar work, I can't pass it up.

Sax (Instrumental)

The band name says it... The sound is a pale imitation of the Piltdown Men, which were a studio session group to begin with. Big kettle drums and sax leads.

Sax (Instrumental)

Again in the Piltdown Men vein, this simple riff rocker pumps with kettle drums and dry sax honks. Fun, if not remarkable.

UK Fifties Guitar (Instrumental)

Bordering on frat, but too melodic and tight, "Eclipse" is infectious, yet not really memorable.

UK Guitar Sub Surf MOR (Instrumental)

Acoustic guitar under a great low-E vibrato lead that borders on surf playing the Johnny Cash tune. Despite the male chorus, it holds up well. I still think the best DCV instro is "Chaquita."

UK Guitar (Instrumental)

This n is a very Shadows-like rendering of the film score. Nothing special. It lacks the charm of the Lively Ones or Halibuts versions.

Surf (Instrumental)

This is not Mel Torme, the Velvet Fog. This is the late sixties UK heavy psych-prog band. They issued but one album and a single, before fading into a well deserved obscurity. The oddity here is their inclusion of a bizarre version of the Joe Meek classic "Telstar," made famous by the Tornados.

MOR (Instrumental)

"Happy Talk" is an MOR soft rock guitar whisper with a pretty melody line. Previously unreleased.

MOR (Instrumental)

"Parade Of The Tin Soldier" is likewise an MOR track based on the classic fairy tale march. Previously unreleased.