The Earl Slick Band — 507

ALBUM: Razor Sharp (1976)

MVC Rating: 3.5/$$

I remember exactly why I got this record but not where.

Earl Slick played guitars on one of my all time favorite albums, Tonio K’s ‘Life in the Foodchain.’ The wall of guitar sound on songs like the title song are amazing.  Of course that album also had legendary surf rock guitar  player Dick Dale, and country guitar great Albert Lee, among others, so that was a good picking group.

The Slick album is fairly generic hard rock. Kind of like Bad Company without the great hooks, or UFO without the in-your-face blasts of metal guitar.

But Slick can play.

Some of his solos mid-song really made me sit up and listen.  As a guitar fan,I will keep this record out and play it some more.

I could definitely hear that distinct wailing guitar sound he contributed to Foodchain. (Dale I believe contributed the clucking chicken guitar noise to  Foodchain’s ‘Funky Western CIvilization.’)

Slick played on several tours with David Bowie and also worked with John Lennon post-Beatles.

The unusual thing about the  Slick’s record, ‘Razor Sharp,’ and probably one of the things that pushed me to buy it is it’s odd cover.

It has a  three dimensional depiction of a  razor blade with what is obviously supposed to be blood dripping and a slit, an actual slit, in the front cover as if the razor had made it. (See the pictures).