We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago……
One of the more pleasant surprises in the rock world of the early to mid 70’s was the emergence of a band from Wales called Budgie.
The trio from Cardiff released a number of highly listenable records and developed a small but loyal core of fans.
In 1972 their 2nd album was called “Squawk” and it was a nice mix of rockers and acoustic tunes.
Tony Burge could deliver crunchy power chords or shredded solos as the situation called for but he could also get out his acoustic and deliver quieter gems like “Rolling Home Again” and “Make Me Happy”.
Burke Shelly sounds fine on vocals and bass and drummer Ray Phillips is perfectly servicable.
The rockers deliver too although some, the record company included, complained about the thinness of the mix at times. My faves include “Rocking Man”, “Young As The World”, “Stranded” (in which they channel Black Sabbath) and “Hot As A Docker’s Armpit” which should be on any list of great rock song titles.
Budgie would release LPs through the 70’s. This album was as good or better than many rock offerings of the period but really didn’t get much traction.
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