Bronco - Country Home `70 & Ace Of Sunlight `71 (2010)

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Bronco - Country Home `70 & Ace Of Sunlight `71 (2010)

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Two albums on one disc-72 minutes in length approximately. This set is somewhere between 3 and 4 "stars". The sound has been remastered from the original tapes and is clean, with good separation between the instruments. The booklet contains song information, notes on the band and, most importantly, some information on Jess Roden. There's also period photos of the band, including the cover for their first album "Country Home", which is where vocalist Jess Roden and his wife lived for a time.

BRONCO was a very fine band who never became even remotely popular. Touring both England and the U.S. West Coast- never rising past supporting groups like FREE, TRAFFIC, LED ZEPPELIN, and MOTT THE HOOPLE, they released two fine albums ("Country Home" in 1970 and "Ace of Sunlight" in 1971), which went nowhere-so they then split up. Signed to Island Records, their West Coast sound was influenced by Crosby, Stills and Nash, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell, among others.

BRONCO was formed in 1969, and the band consisted of Jess Roden-vocals/acoustic guitar (who sang earlier with THE ALAN BOWN SET), Kevyn Gammond-acoustic/electric guitars/vocals, Robbie Blunt-acoustic/electric guitars/vocals, John Pasternak-bass/vocals, and Pete Robinson-drums/harmonica/vocals. The band's West Coast sound was a combination of Roden's very fine, soulful vocals and an equally fine group of players. Roden was often compared to Paul Rodgers (FREE) vocally-his tone, inflection, and timing were out of the same school as Rodgers. Songs like "Well Anyhow", "Time (So Long Between"), "Amber Moon", and "New Day Avenue") show the reason for the comparison. But Roden was no imitator, his style was his own, who also contributed lyrics to the majority of songs on both albums. While never as hard rocking as FREE, the acoustic and electric guitars laid a bed for Roden's wistful, disparaging (listen to "Sudden Street" or the vocal/piano song "Joys and Fears"), emotion filled vocals.

Most of the songs on these two albums are taken at a medium tempo, but the band seemed to focus an inner intensity on the slower songs. This gave Roden a chance to use his uniquely soulful voice to great effect. The mid-tempo songs (hear "Some Uncertainty" as an example) roll on in the best West Coast tradition of the time. Don't let the first few songs on the first album throw you. They're good to pleasant sounding, but it's on the slower, brooding songs where Roden's vocals rise in feeling not heard in many bands of the time. There's a subtle, slow burning intensity in the best of these songs, while other tracks ("Misfit On Your Stair") have an almost West Coast, good-timey feel to them. "Sudden Street" makes fine use of acoustic guitars, which are out front along with Roden's vocals, but it's the subtle use of electric guitar whispering in the background which brings this track up a notch. "Woman" is a song which is as close to a flat out rock song the band ever recorded. It's here that the similarities between Roden's and Paul Rodgers become clear. Even the guitars sound like (the late Paul Kossoff) FREE in spots, and when Roden and the band come together-the comparison to FREE is evident. "New Day Avenue" is another song with apt comparisons to FREE, but the addition of some beautiful vocal melodies sets this song apart. Of the two albums, "Ace of Sunlight" is better overall. By this time the band's sound was fully formed around Roden, and with a batch of good songs they showed how good they were.

After their second album, which also included members of MOTT THE HOOPLE as occasoinal sidemen, the group broke up. Both Robbie Blunt and Kevyn Gammond went on to work with Robert Plant on his solo albums. Jess Roden joined the BUTTS BAND with John Densmore and Robbie Krieger of THE DOORS for an album, and then went solo. The only readily available album of his solo work was released in 2009. He also worked with Paul Kossoff on his album "Back Street Crawler", and sang backup with MOTT THE HOOPLE. Increasingly dismayed with the record business, Roden then disappeared from music and became a graphic artist. Word is now he's retired and is not connected with music in any way.

Why BRONCO never made any headway is a real mystery. Signed to a label who also boasted artists like Nick Drake, John Martyn, FREE, TRAFFIC, and FAIRPORT CONVENTION, the mystery only deepens. Maybe it's because their music was not strictly rock, or folk, or blues, or any other easy to categorize style. The band's musical abilities were very fine, and in Roden they had one of the best vocalists of the era. This West Coast sounding English band should be heard by everyone who likes British bands of the era, or a vocalist approaching Rodgers. These two albums benefit from repeated listenings-not simply background music-but as something worth hearing. I still own the original vinyl albums (in a beautiful gatefold style), and had hoped for years that they would be re-released on CD. So one of my small prayers has been answered. For me, this is one of the best re-releases of the year. And now, with this set, a major wrong has been righted-listen and hear for yourself.

~ amazon

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Bronco - Country Home `70 & Ace Of Sunlight `71 (2010)

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Bronco - Country Home `70 & Ace Of Sunlight `71 (2010)

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