“Rockin’ Chair” by Judas Jump (UK, 1970)

https://www.facebook.com/prognotfrog Judas Jump were apparently considered something of a supergroup at the time, with mainman/guitarist/keyboard player Andrew/Andy Bown and drummer Henry Spinetti being ex-The Herd (with Peter Frampton), while other members had played with various minor British ’60s pop outfits. Their sound was that very of-its-time mixture of barroom boogie, hard rock and prog (!), that hasn’t really dated very well. Scorch was their sole album, and actually isn’t at all bad, though their attempts at barrelhouse stuff (Beer Drinking Woman) or countryish material (Mississippi Turnpike) would probably, with hindsight, have been better left on the cutting-room floor. Bown plays plenty of Mellotron (presumably MkII) on the album, to the point where sometimes you wonder if it’s slightly overdone, although much of it is obviously an attempt to replicate string and brass sections, rather than using it for its own sound. Strings on John Brown’s Body, then brass (alongside real sax), plus more strings on Rockin’ Chair, with more of the same across the other highlighted tracks, with the most minor use being about three seconds of faint strings at the end of the first part of the second medley, Primrose Lady. For some strange reason, the US issue appeared in 1972, after the band has split up, and removed the last track, Private Holiday Camp. It’s this version I’ve reviewed here, so I’ve no idea whether or not there’s any ‘Tron on it; more info should I ever source the UK version. Anyway, a reasonable enough album, if rather unexciting, but with a fair bit of the ol’ ‘Tron, though more for proto-prog completists than the general listening public, I suspect. Oh, and if you weren’t aware (assuming you care), Bown went on to become Status Quo’s onstage keyboard player, before finally being accepted as a full band member many years later, well after they’d gone down the pan. http://www.planetmellotron.com/revj2.htm