Week of September 28, 2003
Personnel:
Rod Coombes - Vocals, Drums
Brian Rogers – Orchestration
Alan Ross - Vocals, Guitar, Recorder
Neil Sheppard - Vocals, Keyboards
Rose Warwick – Bass
John Weider - Guitar, Violin
Album:
Meet At The Water (Regal Zonophone SRZA 8510) 1972
45s:
Here I Go Again/What You Gonna Do (Parlophone R 5920) 1971
Goin' Round My Head/Down On The Road (Regal Zonophone RZ 3056) 1972
Blackbird/Feel It Coming (Regal Zonophone RZ 3076) 1973
Competent, slightly melancholy-tinged country-rock in the vein of Bronco,
Cochise, Moonrider,
Quicksand and Quiver, to name but a few, although at times comparisons to
Lindisfarne also wouldn’t be out of place – especially on the singalong title track, which closes vinyl side A! The vocalist possessed the kind of soulful, low-register throaty voice that marked the works of period Dutch popsters
The Shoes (Van Es) and The Tee Set (Peter Tetteroo).
Melancholic, minor-key acoustic guitar instrumentals such as “Mandala” add a bit of variety to an otherwise pretty straight-laced period country-rock piece.
Vocalist/guitarist Alan Ross and bassist Warwick Rose formed the core of the band – hence the name
Ro-Ro. Alan later formed his own band Ross which recorded two excellent mellow funk-rock albums for RSO that were not unlike the works of
Tommy Bolin in the mid-70s.
John Weider had, of course, played with Eric Burdon and the
Animals, Family,
Stud and Moonrider.
The LP is now extremely hard to find and fetches high numbers on the collectors market, as indeed do most Regal Zonophone releases! A CD “reissue” exists, but only as a bootleg with bad quality of sound, RVCD010. Time for a proper reissue!
Alex Gitlin
September 2003
Discography taken from The Tapestry of Delights
- The Comprehensive Guide to British Music of the Beat, R&B, Psychedelic and
Progressive Eras 1963-1976, Vernon Joynson
ISBN 1 899855 04 1