From Amazon.com
Tuna in their prime
Album Rating: (4 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: Great great great tuna album. I hadn't heard it in about 20 years and forgot how great of an album it was and still is. A must have for all of us old Tuna fans, and folkies, and rockers too !
Yet another great album....
Album Rating: (4 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: The only reason I rated this a "4" is that I personally prefer some of their other efforts a little bit more than this one. That said, "Burgers" is truly a great album that any rock/blues fan will enjoy....
A Burger That Is Healthy In Any Dose!!
Album Rating: (4 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" and a former radio disc-jockey, I am often asked to write and or discuss various recordings from the 60's and 70's.
Hot Tuna's third release and first studio effort "Burgers" is a well conceived album with plenty of diversity.
Opening the album is "True Religion", Jorma's careful construction makes us feel as if we have heard the song before. He captures the country/blues style from yesteryear. The tune is indeed a Jorma original and a fine one at that.
The cover to "99 Year Blues" shows on the first listen Hot Tuna's rendition is the gold standard. Every vocal phrase and bit of instrumentation gives the feeling that it's a Jorma Kaukonen composition. Jorma did this with the legendary "Keep On Truckin.'" These tracks are permanently engraved in the Hot Tuna arsenal.
One of the greatest tracks of beauty is "Sea Child." The lyrics run through your head from the initial listen. An antique that gets better with age.
The "Water Song" is in some ways an updated "Embryonic Journey" (From the Jefferson Airplane) only longer. They both have taken their rightful place as tow of the finest instrumentals ever penned.
"Ode For Billy Dean" doesn't fit into a rock and roll hole. Its unique sound is another tribute to Jorma's full spectrum of musical arrangements. The passion shown is evident even to the casual fan.
This is one "Burger" that is healthy in any dose.
Enjoy the music and be well,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"
"Hot F***** Tuna!"
Album Rating: (4 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: BURGERS, the first studio release for this band, followed hard on the heels of the live HOT TUNA (acoustic) and FIRST PULL UP, THEN PULL DOWN (aka HOT TUNA ELECTRIC) and blends the best of both. Hot Tuna, for those of you who don't know, originally began as a splinter group of the phenomenally successful Jefferson Airplane. As the Airplane moved further and further into electric anthem political rock, guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady decided they wanted to explore the blues roots underpinning the Airplane's origins. Hence Hot Tuna.
The blues are well represented on BURGERS, from the Reverend Gary Davis' "True Religion" to "99 Year Blues" and the whoop-and-holler Davis composition "Let Us Get Together Right Down Here." Jorma remains in form on "Highway Song," "Sea Child," and "Ode To Billy Dean," a Hot Tuna live performance staple. "Sunny Day Strut" by Kaukonen is a growly electric-blues piece that showcases Casady's talents. While Kaukonen is definitely an acquired taste as a vocalist, his scuffed voice adds another unique and instantly recognizable dimension to the sound that is Hot Tuna.
Jorma's dynamic finger-picking style and his virtuosity on the acoustic guitar had been well camouflaged since "Embryonic Journey" on the Airplane's SURREALISTIC PILLOW. "Embryonic Journey" is a beautiful 1:30 minute guitar minuet. On BURGERS he gives us "Water Song," a more complex, polyrhythmic variation on a theme that is simply breathtaking.
Much of the fabric of BURGERS is contributed by blues violinist Papa John Creach, drummer Sammy Piazza and Casady as bassist. Hot Tuna comprises a freestanding rhythm section that moves in and out of improvisational jazz with an ease born of true musicianship. While never as successful as the Airplane, with it's more simple, spare, and clear sound, Hot Tuna is obviously a tighter and much more talented band.
By far the most well-known song on the album (and Hot Tun's only charted hit) is "Keep On Truckin'" a rockin' song which is as intimately identified with Hot Tuna as is the 1934 Buick Victoria that graces the cover.
In short, BURGERS has taste.
Hot Tuna's First Studio CD
Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: BURGERS was Hot Tuna's first studio album, following two live ones, and their second two feature electric instruments. Several songs are acoustic, but a couple point the way to the masterpiece of AMERICA'S CHOICE. The fact that founders Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady believe that the young Australian tourist jailed in Indonesia since 2005 on drug-smuggling charges was unjustly convicted makes BURGERS an essential purchase for both your ears AND your conscience.
Purchases
1 True Religion
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