Charlie Pickett & The Eggs - SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING - Live at THE PLAYPEN 1983

Charlie Pickett & The Eggs Live at the PLAYPEN 1983
lay down a fine rendition of Howlin' Wolfs " Smokestack Lightning"

Charlie Pickett - Vox - Guitar
John Salton - Guitar
John Galway - Drums
David Froschnieder - Bass

These Floridans throw original tunes in with covers of wildly varying notoriety, shake it all up and pour out fiery stuff. That frontman Charlie Pickett's own tunes often compare favorably to those he chooses to cover makes their scarcity on the live LP disappointing, and using three tunes by the Pirates (during and after Johnny Kidd) and three written or adopted by the Flamin Groovies on one album is a bit much, even if Pickett's slide work and the nasty ensemble nearly makes numbers like "Slow Death" sound newly minted. (Other borrowings come from Manfred Mann and Lou Reed.)

For their long-awaited second vinyl outing, the Eggs took to the studio and cut five songs, including the great Miami localisms of "Overtown" and "Marlboro Town," a dopey "Louie Louie" adaptation that was a local hit two decades ago for its author, Charlie's cousin Mark Markham. (Markham also penned "If This Is Love, Can I Get My Money Back?" which is included on the live LP and was also recorded and issued as a 1982 Pickett single.) Even without the special charge they get onstage, the Eggs reel off true-blue high-energy rockers, further establishing guitarist John Salton as a first-rate student of Thunders, Fogerty and Sky Saxon (not to mention a dead-great slide player). It's hard to believe this band isn't as big a global legend as it deserves to be.

Jim Green/Ira Robbins]

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