By 1970,
there were certain things you could count on with an Alexis Korner album. Those
included an almost manic stylistic diversity that ran from near-trad jazz and
blues to near-blues-rock; a top-notch cast of supporting musicians, and
seriously inconsistent quality, in large part because of Korner's hoarse lead
vocals. Both Sides has all of these, and remains one of his more obscure
efforts, in part because it was issued only in Germany and Holland. Certainly
Korner enlisted some top talent, including Free's Andy Fraser on bass; Paul
Rodgers (also of Free) on backing vocals; Lol Coxhill on tenor and soprano sax;
John Marshall on drums, and Ray Warleigh on sax. Give Korner credit, too, for
trying to move with the times, including some nods to soul and heavy rock music
along with the blues and jazz that were at his musical core, and making
substantial use of a horn section within a loosely blues-oriented format.
Still, it must be acknowledged that the material was both erratic and wildly
eclectic in nature, including a cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Mighty-Mighty
Spade and Whitey"; a generic soul-rock instrumental (the Korner-penned
"Funky"); a Free cover, "Wild Injun Woman," which was much
better suited to Free themselves, and yet another cover, of the Staple Singers'
"I See It," which couldn't help but pale next to the original. Adding
to the unevenness are a couple of live cuts, one of them a jazzy eight-minute instrumental
duet between Warleigh and bassist Colin Hodgkinson, the other a ragged,
overlong 12-minute performance of the traditional blues "Rosie."
Korner came off best on the gentle folk-blues of his self-penned "To Whom
It May Concern" and an interpretation of William Bell's "You Don't
Miss Your Water (Til Your Well Runs Dry)" that, while again no match for
other versions, is heartfelt and doesn't over-reach.
Review by
Richie Unterberger. AllMusic.com
