Search - Merryweather :: Word of the Mouth

Timeless gem

Bret | Nairne, South Australia | 01/17/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I discovered this album by first of all being a Traffic fan and noticing in a bio of Dave Masons (original Traffic guitarist) that he had played on an album with Charlie Musselwhite and Steve miller. After looking around a bit here in Adelaide, I found a 2nd hand LP copy of Neil Merryweather's "Space Rangers". Even though Dave Mason wasnt on it I took a punt. I thoroughly enjoy Space Rangers and this then led me to investigate this chap called Merryweather. Today I received a CD copy of Merryweather - Word of Mouth. If you can listen to an entire (originaly dbl LP set) double album and hear that the musicians are relaxed, loose, having fun and in absolutely no hurry to get to the next bridge or chorus, then in my opinion its gonna be a long time before you get sick of listening to it if ever. I mean these guys sound like the crew have gone home and they are just doin it for each other. When each other means Musselwhite, Miller, Mason and Merryweather you gotta be impressed.Just get yourself a copy. Mine has just been put next to my copy of "Dear Mr Fantasy ~ Traffic" and "Postcard from LA ~ Tim Buckley""

Super Session II

running_man | Chesterfield Twp., MI | 02/15/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The year was 1969, one year after Al Kooper brought Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills into the studio to record what became the legendary 'Super Session' disc. It's difficult to resist comparing that historic trio with the trio Neil Merryweather brought together for his 'Word of Mouth' double LP. As on 'Super Session', only harpist/vocalist Charlie Musselwhite actually gets together in the studio with the other name performers, Steve "Guitar" Miller and Dave Mason. While Stills and Bloomfield never shared studio time on 'Super Session', there is no evidence that Steve Miller and Dave Mason ever recorded together for 'Word of Mouth'. In most respects, in fact, the contributions of Miller, and especially Dave Mason, are nominal. But just as Harvey Brooks added some stunning bass lines on 'Super Session', Neil Merryweather receives some stunning support from lead guitarist Dave Burt, and quality contributions from a host of talented session musicians. Even the multiple photographs of the studio scene included in the liner notes are reminicent of the 'Super Session' package.



As mentioned, the original vinyl 'Word of Mouth' product consisted of four album sides and just over sixty-one minutes of music. The contributions of Miller, Musselwhite, and Mason are scattered about rather democratically. Steve Miller is credited with a co-write, lead vocal, and lead guitar on 'Just a Little Bit', featured on side one. It has a two minute piano coda, so Miller occupies only about half of the track. Side two offers a Charlie Musselwhite co-write, harp, and vocal on the standard blues piece, 'Hello Little Girl'. Dave Mason gets his turn with a co-write and lead vocal on the six-minute side three opener, 'Sun Down Lady'. Each featured performer has a co-write and lead vocal on side four. So, all told, only six of the fourteen tracks feature the three M's.



Neil Merryweather himself does a good deal of composing for the disc, revealing himself as a specialist in heavy rock ballads, such as he serves up on the two opening tracks, 'I Found Love' and 'Teach You How To Fly', and later on 'The Hard Times'. He also supplies the bass and the majority of the lead vocals on the disc. He's adequate at all three, but rarely exceptional, and this is the major shortcoming of the disc. Many of the songs come off as generic rock numbers without memorable hooks or melodies. Songs such as 'Where I Am' and 'News' suffer from weak lyrical passages and derivitive instrumental backing. The choicest segment of the disc kicks off with the nine-minute 'Mrs. Robert's Son', apparently an homage to guitarist Howard Roberts, who plays on the track. It features an outstanding two lead guitar jam that progressively becomes less and less structured. More excellent guitar work follows on 'Licked the Spoon' and 'Sun Down Lady'. 'The Hard Times' concludes this stellar quartet of songs, featuring a unique electric violin lead from Bobby Notkoff. Another highlight appears on side four, with Charlie Musselwhite delivering an impressive lead vocal on an electric blues number he penned with Dave Mason, 'Rough Dried Woman'. That track is also interesting as Mason takes on bass guitar duties. Two other tracks from side four, the closer 'Hooker Blues' and the opener, 'We Can Make It', deserve mention as well. 'Hooker Blues' is the most psychedelic piece in the set, winding things up with some cool sound effects produced through playing tapes backwards. And I could be wrong, but it sure sounds to me like the melody from Steve Miller's 'We Can Make It' was borrowed for the 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' theme song. Give it a listen and judge for yourself.



Neil Merryweather's 'Word of Mouth' certainly has its moments, but much of the disc, unfortunately, is rather generic sounding. Few of the tunes stick in your head and/or demand a fresh replay. So the potters are working with substandard clay, but we are fortunate to be in the presence of such acclaimed potters. The musicianship is clearly the main attraction to this production, and their talent comes through loud and clear. At times Merryweather forces his talent over the brink, such as on the opening track, where his lead vocal resembles David Clayton Thomas on methamphetamine, or the overdone string accompaniment on 'Where Am I'. But all in all, 'Word of Mouth' is certainly deserving of a listen or two, especially for fans of Mason, Miller, and especially Charlie Musselwhite, whose contributions may be the most impeccable of the bunch. It's a rarity often overlooked from a sparkling period in rock and roll music."

A little background...

50 | hermitage, pa United States | 03/04/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I don't believe this album was ever intended to be another "Super Session", but rather an attempt to raise the profile of the band who "hosted" these jam sessions. The band was a quartet who used leader/front-man Neil Merryweather's name, calling themselves simply "Merryweather"; they had one album already out on Capitol Records and this release was their sophomore effort. There were, unfortunately, no liner notes in the vinyl release explaining how or why this album came together: perhaps the band was having a bit of the "sophomore slump" and finding it difficult to come up with enough material for a second album, but apparently someone got the idea to bring in a bunch of big-name musicians to jam with the band. For the most part, the results are pretty good but do sound like songs that were thrown together in the studio. There are a handful of tunes that feature ONLY the band Merryweather, and these tend to be the strongest and most developed. For the rest, you get Dave Mason with Merryweather, Howard Roberts with Merryweather, Charlie Musselwhite with Merryweather, and so forth (other participants included Steve Miller and Barry Goldberg working in tandem, and violinist Bobby Notkoff). Overall, I always enjoyed this album quite a bit, my favorites being the band's tunes by themselves and the stuff with Howard Roberts and Dave Mason (and I got the impression that Dave Mason was the participant who enjoyed himself the most and seemed to really throw himself into the project). It seems, though, that the band broke up sometime later and Neil Merryweather went on to lead another group."