Keef Hartley Band - Halfbreed (1969)

Year: March 1969 (CD 2008)
Label: Esoteric Recordings (Europe), ECLEC 2050
Style: Blues Rock, Progressive Rock
Country: Plungington, England (8 April 1944 - 26 November 2011)
Time: 50:48
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 296 Mb

Trk. 1a) “Sacked (Introducing Hearts and Flowers)” (Arranged by Keef Hartley) In this mock-up of a cringe-making phone call, John Mayall rings up Keef to say “I’ve got a bit of bad news for you….” and terminates his position with the Bluesbreakers, whereupon there’s
1b) a very short snatch of the old tune by Moses Theodore-Tobani which was so famously used to accompany all the sad bits in the silent movies, and a few disjointed noises before
1c) “Confusion Theme.” Credited to Hartley and Cruickshank, this minute-long instrumental opens with tom-toms, followed by a solo guitar improvisation on an eastern scale. A menacing, funky riff develops behind the guitar, before it all fades out. I’d love to have heard more, but instead we get
1d) “The Halfbreed.” Softly plucked guitar and a roll of toms lead into this compelling 12 bar instrumental. Credited to Harley, Cruickshank and Dines, the sequence is similar to Ben Tucker’s “Comin’ Home Baby” recorded first by the Dave Bailey Quintet in 1961, then shortly after by Herbie Mann, and in vocal form by Mel Torme. There’s Hammond riffing, and lead guitar with a somewhat Santana-like flavour, smooth and overdriven but with bite and some very strong vibrato. I see “Spit” pictured with a Gibson SG, and that sounds about right to these ears. Stabbing brass punctuates, drums rattle, and a very moody organ solo follows. Keef subtly runs through different rhythmic patterns without upsetting the flow, taking a turn round the tom-toms during the final guitar solo, then bringing the beat onto the snare as the brass returns and the piece fades. Very enjoyable.
Trk. 2) “Born to Die” is credited to Dines, Hartley, Thain, and Fiona Hewitson – Miller Anderson writing under his wife’s name for contractual reasons. Hymnal Hammond and thoughtful guitar open this slow Blues, which benefits from a chord sequence differing from the usual straight twelve. Anderson’s voice is at once strong, expressive and questioning as he bewails his situation. Tuneful guitar fills which are drenched in reverb during the verses give way to a very lyrical and understated solo from ‘Spit,’ which over the course of four rounds, slowly escalates to a fiery pitch. The band sympathetically builds up with him, but never dominates, and the sounds are rich and warm. Everything drops down to a whisper for the last verse, then another chromatic turnaround on the outro swells to a powerful climax with pounding percussion, as the track slowly fades. Ten minutes of Blues heaven.
(full version: https://earlyblues.org/british-blues-classic-albums-halfbreed/)

01. Confusion Theme - The Halfbreed (07:56)
02. Born To Die (10:01)
03. Sinnin' For You (05:53)
04. Leavin' Trunk (05:57)
05. Just To Cry (06:21)
06. Too Much Thinking (05:32)
07. Too Much To Take (05:37)
08. Leave It 'Til The Morning (03:27)

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